AN Edinburgh craft beer start-up company is said to benefiting from improved codes after splashing out on a CSL30 laser coder from Linx Printing Technologies.
Edinburgh Beer Factory is using the product to code best before dates and batch codes on its automatic bottling line, which processes around 2,000 330ml bottles per hour.
Highly legible codes that always appear in the same position on the bottles are crucial for the firm. Since it is a laser coder, the CSL30 uses no ink, removing the need for drying time or risk of smudging.
“For various reasons, our original coder for batch and date codes wasn’t quite right for us,” said Martin Borland, head brewer at Edinburgh Beer Factory. “We started looking into alternatives and laser technology fitted the bill, with Linx offering the most competitive price as well as a turnkey solution.”
Linx said the CSL30’s colour LinxVision touch screen makes operation “extremely intuitive”, leading to fewer mistakes.
“We can turn it on, type in the details, press start and forget about it all day,” Martin added. “When you process 2,000 bottles per hour, you need to be confident that your BBEs and batches are being printed, and the Linx coder gives us this. Everything we wanted – cleaner codes, more reliability, the potential to grow – we now have. It’s even more cost-effective than our previous coder.
“Most importantly, we’re now confident about the future because we know the machine can go faster if we need it to, and from running successful trials, we know it works well on larger bottle sizes too.”
Established in 2015, Edinburgh Beer Factory is a family-run, independent brewery that has already grown to more than 20 employees in just three years.
