The customer had specified a clear set of objectives for the team of the Schreiner Services competence center: reliable sealing of sample parts with an opening seal. The challenge: the manual processing system was to function with equal precision on diverse designs and be able to apply seals around edges. The new seal applicator developed by the team is a customized solution delivering compelling results.

It is the mix of manual and automatic elements that makes this seal applicator unique. Whereas the label is automatically dispensed off the roll underneath the stamp, a worker operates the stamp manually to position the label, assisted by a guide rail ensuring that the seal always sits precisely in the same spot.

“Our subconscious mind subjectively judges the quality of a product,” explains Michael Reineke, head of the Schreiner Services competence center. “If the seal somehow sits in a different place every time and everything looks messy, we automatically have doubts about the product’s quality. However, emphasizing the outstanding properties of a product by means of the repeatably precise application of our label enhances the product’s value.” The manual and easy to use application solution was selected for cost reasons because it will initially be utilized only in low-volume production.

The development of the seal applicator took only a few weeks because Schreiner Group’s experts were able to build on previously existing versions and to create a new, customized solution quickly based on their specialized know-how. Due to the requirement that the machine accommodate designs of varying sizes, the team placed component holders on top of quick-change fixtures that are individually adapted to each component and guarantee that the closure seal always sticks to the component in the right place. This makes it possible for different components to be labeled consecutively with a flick of the wrist—quickly, easily, and very precisely.