Müller’s Mühle

“ Taste and quality”

Featuring small character inkjet printers

Traceability of rice and pulses

“Müller’s Mühle trusts

Markem-Imaje to guarantee
the traceability of its
products.”

Name: Müller’s Mühle GmbH

Group: VK Mühlen AG
Location: Gelsenkirchen-Schalke (Germany)
Business: Rice and pulses processing and
packaging
Annual production: 120,000 tons
Turnover: 65 million euros

A longstanding partnership over laser or thermal transfer printers. This is because with
Müller’s Mühle, with its little man logo, is well known in just one type of equipment, Müller’s Mühle can mark both
Germany for its rice and pulses. Created in 1893, over the flexible plastic packets and the cardboard packs used
the years the company has gradually established itself in the packaging of its products.
as one of Europe’s biggest rice refiners and the leading After having consulted several manufacturers and conducted
pea, bean and lentil processor in Northern Europe. At its a range of tests, Müller’s Mühle has opted for Markem-Imaje
headquarters located in the domestic port of Gelsenkirchen- and its 9030 printer. A number of factors won the support
Schalke, the company processes and packages some of the company’s managers: the reliability of the equipment,
120,000 metric tons of food products per year. Its broad the excellent marking quality and – above all – the system
range of high-quality products, including an organic line, for changing consumables. Thanks to its sealed cartridges,
along with the choice of packagings and markings, meet consumables are changed easily and cleanly.
the specific requirements of German and European trade
partners and downstream companies.
Müller’s Mühle has been using inkjet printers to mark its
primary packagings for a number of years now: this choice
is dictated by the recognized flexibility of the technology
and its capacity to apply messages to a very diverse array
of materials. With the first generation of printers starting to
show their age, the company has decided to invest in new
equipment. Inkjet technology has once more won the day
 Traceability of rice and pulses

Excellent marking legibility

Today, nine 9030 mono-jet inkjet printers are installed
on the different production lines at the Gelsenkirchen
site. With a throughput of 150 codes per minute,
they only print the use-before date. This information
alone is sufficient to guarantee the traceability of
products. Based on this, the shift, production line
and batch can be identified. For those customers
who wish to
have additional
Müller’s Mühle, the information,
German rice and a second line
pulse processor, can be added,
relies on Markem- with, for example,
Imaje inkjet printers the production
to guarantee the time. To ensure
traceability of its good legibility,
various packagings. the marking is
applied to a
white rectangle
provided for the purpose or, for some of the cardboard
packs, on a light section of the closure flap. At Müller’s Mühle, Markem-Imaje 9030 printers
All the printheads are equipped with a pressurization are used to apply a use-before date on the closure
kit. This simple device is enough to fully protect the flap of rice packs.
printheads from the dust generated by production or
cleaning of installations.
At present, the 9030 printers operate independently.
only to easily create and edit messages but also to
To change the messages to be printed, operators use
manage coding data, control the printers and even
an SD card to transfer the data from a PC to the printers.
automate tasks during production. All this will help
An additional step is scheduled to network the printers
reduce packaging costs and optimize coding
using Markem-Imaje’s CoLOS software. In its Enterprise
activities…
version, CoLOS software will allow Müller’s Mühle not

For more case studies, visit www.markem-imaje.com

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Photos : Christa Weil - 09/11

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