Shiseido's Unique Small Label

Shiseido took the lead in applying a small labeling machine that can complete the work of five people.

The finest products are often inseparable from the finest manual operations. For Shiseido, one of the hallmarks of exquisite products is the small gold-coloured pressure-sensitive label.
This small label spans the lid of Shiseido's product, which has a width of 3.5 or 5.5 mm and a length of 106, 121 or 129 mm. The two ends of the label are wider and have an inverted exclamation mark. It conveys a subtle message that allows consumers to feel the high quality and exquisiteness of the product.
Prior to June 2003, Shiseido America Corporation was still sticking these labels by hand, and now it has begun to use machines to quickly and efficiently paste. This type of labeler, which can be pasted evenly and precisely, is said to be the world's first. The successful testing of this kind of machine and the subsequent formal selection was a gratifying event for Shiseido. In early July 2003, some senior management personnel from Shiseido’s headquarters in Japan came to the site to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Leading the company to complete this project successfully was Bernard Hvozdovic, director of service and warehousing engineering at Shiseido America. He told the PD editor: "We are already planning to introduce a small labeling machine into a specific packaging line, such as labeling the bottom of the container, packaging upright tubes, etc."
At present, the workload of small labeling machines is stable at 30 to 34 sheets per minute, but the company did not let it run at full speed.

Unique system

The TD-700M Alpha Digital Labeler, which is used with the entire packaging line, is produced by LogoTech and has a decoding feedback device. It is a two-camera device mounted in an 84-inch electric conveyor. The control level of this machine may be higher than the control level of military products. The operation of the machine is controlled by LogoTech's unique ST-300MD programmable logic controller. The main conveyor of the machine is driven by a servo motor. The servo motor is manufactured by Leeson Company, model number 098121.00. The linear operation mechanism of the machine passes Sick. The company's WL150-N122 package sensor triggers.
The same sensor is used on the head, and there is also a stepper applicator with a pneumatic rotary cutting board to remove the label from the 20 mm wide backing. The applicator has two sets of clamps. When the container is sent under the head of the applicator, it is first gripped gently by a set of clamps of the applicator to ensure accurate positioning of the container. A swivel cap at the applicator head end ensures that the label is affixed to the top of the container closure.
The only part of the machine that needs to be changed is the fixture. During the PD's stay at the factory, the factory used a labeling machine to process oblong glass bottles containing 40 ml of Shiseido Benefiance, and the 5.5 x 129 mm labels were affixed to unglazed glass bottles. The machine then moves the glass jar down to the second set of clamps and closes the label ends. The coating unit with Festo vertical applicator cylinders and valves, activated by Sick sensors, is pre-programmed to automatically raise or lower the container so that the label can be completely and firmly wrapped as required.
Other products from the Shiseido Benefiance line, such as the oval glass bottles with 15ml Vitality Eye Cream and similar 50ml filled massage masks, are produced by Koa Glass Products and printed on screen. The top of the bottle is a two-piece, threaded polypropylene cover with a decorative outer cover provided by Yoshida Sangyo.

When the coating tool sticks the label to the bottle side, the second set of special clamps grips the front and back of the bottle.

other apps

The small gold label is also used in 75 ml bottles of daily skin care lotion and 150 ml bottles of concentrated Balance Toner. Even if the label itself is thin, it is highly decorative and durable. The label is made from DuPont's 25-micron Mylar silver polyester fiber. After the material undergoes two letterpress printing processes, it will shimmer with golden light. Before embossing and punching, the label material was formed into a 16 micron thick polyester film layer. The backing is provided by Cultech, made of 93 micron thin cellophane paper and 20 micron PP film material; the company also provides a bottle-based pressure-sensitive printing on a 25 micron layer of non-woven polyester fiber. label.
The label fed by the roller points downwards to an applicator head having a rotating shaft cap, and a pneumatic rotary cutting plate is provided on the head to ensure that the tag can be accurately placed in the closed position of the container.

The biggest gain

The Shiseido U.S. company's packaging line was installed at the opening of the factory five years ago. It consists of a Japanese-made 10-disc rotary feed hopper and a double-headed positive displacement loader that can handle 10 discs of circular feed and then move the containers. To a single head sealer, this sealer comes with a special fixture that gently handles delicately decorated container closures.
Two custom machines have also been added to the production line. One is the Sch奻er Etiketten Combina label applicator for labeling the bottom of the container and the other is the Videojet Excel 178i printer. The downstream work maintains manual work and still requires many employees.
One of the biggest challenges encountered during the development period is how to handle the smallest container, the 15 ml bottle. Gary Wiesner, sales manager at LogoTech Label Systems, said: "So our design team designed and manufactured a second clamping device that lifts the bottle from the conveyor so that the coating tool can reach the bottom without using Touching the conveyor means this change is very important, because one of the requirements of this production line is that the labeling machine must be able to handle the full set of labels and the specifications of these labels must not be changed."