Printed circuit board manufacturers need fast and reliable labelling solutions to optimally respond to any traceability requirements from their customers. Printed circuit board identification issues can considerably reduce production efficiency and negatively affect profitability.

Challenge: Avoid production inefficiencies caused by traceability labelling

A printed circuit board manufacturer was feeding pick & place machines with suboptimal labels printed on an outdated label printer. Changing label materials was especially slow, and properly identifying each printed circuit board in production required at least 2 differently sized labels. To make matters worse, print quality for the smallest labels was not ideal, and some pcb’s had to be manually labelled because the pick & place machine proved unable to pick up every label it was offered.

Solution: Fast and accurate printing on small, reliable labels

Brady Corporation offers a highly efficient printed circuit board traceability labelling solution for electronics manufacturers. The solution includes the BradyPrinter i5300 Industrial Label Printer and Brady’s auto-apply electronics labels. It can be expanded with automatic label feeders and Brady Workstation data automation and label design apps.

The BradyPrinter i5300 Industrial Label Printer prints precisely and extremely fast on Brady’s specialised auto-apply labels. With 600 dpi and great accuracy, the system can create even the smallest labels in superior quality and rewind them on reels ready to insert in any surface mount technology production line. In addition, swapping label materials is possible in less than 20 seconds thanks to an error-free product design with drop-lock-print principle, and automatic printer set-up, initiated by a smart chip in the label supplies. This also enables the BradyPrinter i5300 to print without wasting any label material.

Label materials that can be printed with the BradyPrinter i5300 include small and larger reliable polyimide and polyester labels with static dissipative features. They can resist wave soldering and cleaning agents to provide complete traceability throughout production and assembly, all the way to the end-user. The labels have been developed with auto-apply in mind and tested in pick & place machines at customers throughout the world. A Brady ALF Label Feeder can be added to the solution to automatically feed printed labels to any pick & place model.

Optionally, label templates are easy to design and protect with Brady Workstation apps. Label designs can automatically source variable data from ERP-systems via CSV-files and the Brady Workstation Data Automation app. Bi-directional communication between the consumable in the BradyPrinter and Brady Workstation will warn about label design and consumable misfits if necessary.

Results: Highly efficient labelling that complies with any traceability requirement

With one or more BradyPrinter i5300 and Brady’s auto-apply labels for printed circuit boards, electronics manufacturers can create high volumes of precisely printed labels fast, even in small sizes. Swapping label supplies is possible in less than 20 seconds. Brady’s reliable labels can be applied consistently at the speed of available pick & place machines, anywhere in the production line.