4PL-personal protective equipment

Swedish Manufacturer Restructures Production To Supply Protective Equipment In The Battle Against COVID-19

4PL print & apply from Koenig & Bauer Coding with Zebra ZE500 print engine

Headquartered in Smålandsstenar, Sweden, Trioplast manfactures polyethylene film and associated products for a range of industries and applications worldwide. Founded in 1965, the group now has over 1,200 employees, an annual turnover in excess of SEK 5.3 billion and operates production facilities in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and France.

Challenge

When the COVID-19 crisis reached Europe, Trioplast was approached to see if it could produce any personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff.

Solution

A team comprised of material and production was quickly assembled; and, in cooperation with customers and end users, it only took a matter of weeks for Trioplast had been able to adapt its highly automated production lines at its Smålandsstenar site for large-scale production of protective aprons for healthcare workers and carers.

Local partner Koenig & Bauer Coding, has supplied Print & Apply (4PL 600) technology, service and support to Trioplast for many years. This technology enables Trioplast to accurately print and apply data and information, variable in shape, colour and material, onto a variety of products and packaging with pinpoint precision. Trioplast’s 4PL labelling solutions rely on the Zebra ZE500 print engines and can be modularly configured with different applicators.

“Moving to producing COVID-19 protective aprons, we had to reprogramme APL print & apply systems in our production lines, so we could attach printed instruction labels to our COVID-19 protective aprons."

John Gustavsson, Production Technician, Trioplast

Result
With more than 200,000 protective aprons leaving its Smålandsstenar factory every day, as well as the aprons being produced by other companies within the group, Trioplast is playing its role in Sweden’s fight against COVID-19, helping to provide life-saving PPE to workers on the frontline. The universally sized aprons are soft and comfortable to wear. The success of this project can be attributed to the speed and ease with which Trioplast could adapt its production lines, including the innovative, flexible 4PL print & apply with Zebra ZE500 Print Engine.

"It was quick and easy to set up the new printing layouts and labels we needed and, as ever, the APL with ZE500s are providing reliable, high-performance printing.”

John Gustavsson, Production Technician, Trioplast

Summary

Trioplast has been able to restructure its production lines to produce vital PPE with minimal disruption and downtime
The APL Print & Apply systems with Zebra ZE500 Print Engines, designed to be flexible and efficient, were easy and quick to re-programme; they continue to deliver quality, high-throughput printing.

Project partner