Web Exclusive: Design Of Experiments Increases Hot-Ink Roller Impressions (And Perceptions)
The result of listening to customer concerns at Coding Products is more sales and more customers who are delighted with our company.
Process changes in a manufacturing facility are sometimes made without systematic testing or documentation, meaning critical process variables are adjusted according to intuition, not engineering science. When customers began voicing concern to us about the product life and inconsistent quality of our Hot Ink rollers, we began approaching problems in a more orderly manner. The first corrective tool we implemented was design of experiments (DOE) software. Since that time two years ago, DOE has not only dramatically improved our Hot Ink roller consistency and impression count, it now sends a message to customers that because we listen -- and because we have a superb manufacturing tool in DOE -- consumers have greater confidence in our entire product line. The result at Coding Products, an ITW Company (Kalkaska, Mich.), is more sales and more customers who are delighted with our company.
Coding Products’ top-selling Hot Ink Rollers, pre-inked foam rollers measuring approximately one inch in diameter, are impregnated with ink before being sent to our wide variety of customers. Food manufacturers, for example, use our rollers to print expiration dates onto candy bar and other food wrappers. End users heat the rollers, releasing ink that is available in an array of colors. This application method, which has been in use for decades, alleviates FDA and environmental wet-ink printing process issues.