EKRA receives NPI-Award for RFID Setup Control

• Faster: verification by pushing only one button
• Easier: Setup sequence is not relevant
• Safer: only components which are in the printer are tracked
• Independent from operator

At APEX show in San Diego, USA, EKRA presented the RFID setup control in printers and received the NPI-Award for that. Thanks to the RFID technology the setup control could now be started by pushing only one button. The process becomes faster, easier and safer. With that solution EKRA lays the foundation for the machine-material-communication and consequently paves the way for the next step: when machines make decisions autonomously.

Up to now, machines are set up by use of hand scanners. This means, that each component to be set up is recorded manually and individually by the operator. In addition to that a fixed sequence has to be followed during mounting to make setup control possible. This process is now facilitated by EKRA by RFID technology. The components to be set up are marked with a tag and then are placed in the machine. As soon as the printer cover is closed the setup control could be started. All components are identified and compared to the loaded production program – if everything is correct, the production could be started immediately. The setup control happens automatically and easily, errors are prevented effectively. The RFID communication is fine tuned to only pick up tags that are inside of the printer.

Introduce actions automatically

RFID Setup Control synchronizes the material flow with the information flow making equipment smart. The communication of machine and material facilitates not only the identification of certain RFIDs, but also the data exchange to provide additional traceability features. The system can e.g. track the print cycle a stencil has had, and can trigger the need for exchanging it, before quality loss occurs.