Not only does James Turner build his own labeling equipment for his family-owned business that specializes in heat-transfer decoration, but he also founded a separate company – Concept Machine & Design – that custom designs and manufactures heat transfer labeling equipment for the packaging industry. Whether it’s providing labeling services or providing innovative equipment, Turner’s businesses are known for quality. And he credits a portion of his success to his 10-year partnership with Baldor.

That’s why when his company, based in Burlington, Kentucky, was awarded the contract to build 15 heat transfer labeling machines for a large food manufacturer, there was no doubt that Baldor motion control products would be used on these machines.

System integrator Steve Ziegler, with Zigtronics Inc., also has a long history working with Turner, Baldor and the Cincinnati district office. He was a part of this latest project from the beginning and says the machine the team designed is a very sophisticated piece of equipment that uses a heat-transfer process that labels three panels of a round container in one motion, instead of doing each panel individually.

“The container is moved into a nesting nozzle that grabs the container and indexes it to a specific mark putting the container into position,” explains Ziegler. “Next the label is applied using a heat process to apply the label on in a 3% stretch onto the container before it exits the machine. The label placement has to be plus or minus 1/32" at the part seam, and we rely on the Baldor equipment to maintain this position accuracy.”

The Baldor products selected to make sure that the motion, position and pressure are right every time include the NextMove® e100 motion controller, seven MicroFlex® e100s and seven servo motors. Ziegler says because the motion controller is an Ethernet Powerlink integrated hub, it communicates to each individual servo drive, creating seven axes of motion.

“The system is sophisticated in the way that all seven axes are moving at the same time to control the paper and wax label and the container,” says Ziegler. “The paper label itself is floating on a layer of wax, which is heated up just enough to get the wax to liquefy. Then, right at the point when we apply it to the container, we heat the adhesive up a little hotter so it adheres to the container.”

After more than two and a half years in operation, in what Turner describes as a harsh environment with high temperatures and high humidity, the machines have performed flawlessly with no failures. He says the customer was looking for a new machine that would help them increase productivity, and that’s just what’s happened.

“The customer wanted labeling equipment that would help reduce their scrap rate,” says Turner. “In the past, they had a scrap rate of 7% at 50 bottles a minute. With this new equipment, that rate has dropped to less than half of 1% at 60 bottles a minute, and the customer couldn’t be happier.”

As the system integrator, it’s Ziegler’s responsibility to install the equipment at the customer site and get it up and running. He says what he likes about using Baldor motion control products is that he can design a complete machine that quickly drops into place, requiring nothing else but a connection to power and air. But more importantly, Zeigler says he likes the way his customers can easily use the equipment.

“Within just a short amount of time, I can train the customer on how to use the products and the software because it’s all designed to be user friendly,” says Ziegler. “Plus, Baldor offers the software for free and provides free upgrades via the Internet – that’s a huge benefit to both me and the customer. Others have tried to get my business, but I continue to use Baldor motion control products because it’s a much easier package to work with, the products perform, and they are reliable.”

Quick access to products is also a key reason Ziegler and Turner continue to partner with Baldor. They build a large amount of high-speed motion equipment for all types of applications and often have only a limited amount of time to get the machine built, installed and running. Turner says they count on Baldor to respond to their requests quickly, and they’ve never been disappointed.

“Baldor keeps products stocked, and that kind of availability is so important to us,” says Turner. “Plus, we get fantastic support from sizing, product selection and training. Bottom line is that we get everything we want from Baldor – that’s why we have partnered with them for the past 10 years, and it’s why they will be a part of our future."