Liquor distributor achieves compliance with a watchful eye

In the state of Texas, a tax stamp must be applied to each liquor bottle sold at the wholesale level. Goody Goody Liquor, whose wholesale division services more than 600 hotels and restaurants in the Dallas area, wanted to automate the process of reading the stamps to ensure each bottle has a tax stamp and the data is accurately stored in a database. Using a versatile bar code reader, the company has improved accuracy in variable conditions.

Working with an integrator Cisco Eagle, Goody Goody developed a system that automatically applies the tax stamps with 1D bar codes and reads the bar code for verification and tracking. The system processes one bottle per second, but the bottles have different shapes and backgrounds, and the label position varies. Lighting also continually changes, further challenging the readers.

When evaluating potential suppliers, the company first tested a bar code reader with about 95% accuracy, or one failure every 20 seconds. Another had difficulty integrating with the programmable logic controller (PLC). Finally, the team selected a reader Cognex that virtually eliminated misreads, including badly printed or damaged codes.

“It rarely fails to detect the label even on bottles with the most confusing backgrounds and difficult lighting conditions,” says Sam Chen, director of automation at Goody Goody. “The bar code reader played a major role in the success of this application which saves a huge amount of time that was previously spent applying labels, manually scanning labels and inputting the tax stamp information.”

Machine vision is needed to capture the tax stamp number so it can be entered into a database along with the bottle number, but machine vision also identifies bottles without a label in the event the automatic applicator fails.

Just before bottles are put on the conveyor, an operator uses a hand scanner to read the bar code on the label. The bar code number is automatically entered into a database. A photosensor detects the bottle as it begins to move on the line. The tax stamp is applied to the bottle, and another photosensor triggers the PLC to send a signal to the camera, which captures images until it finds and reads the stamp bar code. Based on the time and travel that has elapsed since the bottle was loaded on the line, the PLC knows the specific bottle and stores the stamp bar code in the same database as the label code. If the camera cannot find a bar code, the bottle is diverted.

“The new system has drastically increased our efficiency and reduced our labor cost,” says Joe Jansen, president of Goody Goody. “It ensures reliable, accurate and fast execution of an essential step in our warehouse distribution, which is mandated by the state government and has become an industry standard.”