News & Events

Matching

Issue

What does match do and how is it set ?

Description

In a normal production, products are personalized in the sequence given by the address file.

In Match (or print & verify) Production, a product is printed first, then a reader is triggered and a result is sent back to the controller by the reader (usually through a serial interface) to be matched against the data, a limit or a fixed text. Reading is done by means of a Camera, OCR reader, barcode reader, magnetic reader, or any other reader.

To produce in a matching mode, you have to declare what you want to match with.

Setup

First the match production mode has to be selected. Also, since you are now matching, what do you do with products that could not be read ?

You may have a gate for products read wrong. Remember that a reader is not always successful reading. The EditorGT allows you to define a gate for products that could not be read and consequently could not be printed on. Every Match application should have a divert gate or a machine stop defined !

You have to select the appropriate Reorder mode.

Second, you have to define the keys to be Matched in the address file. Obviously, it represents the same number that the reader is going to read and send to the controller. Usually a customer number, credit card number, etc.

You have 10 Match Keys to select from. That is, you can use Matchkey 1 for reader 1, 2 for 2.

Reader

The reader mode has to be set to Match. Trigger position and length depend on the position of the camera in reference to Product detect 1 in this case.

If you want to stop the machine after a number of errors in sequence, enter a number. If a reader does not read 3 times in a row, it is because there is a jam, the illumination is wrong, and many more reasons.

Since a reader can send a result that is longer than the key itself, the EditorGT allows you to extract from the result from a position in the string and a certain length. You can either match this result to a declared Match Key in the data, or check that it is within certain limits, or match it to a fixed text, or match it to the result from another reader.

Time Trigger-result will tell the controller to expect a result from the camera in a certain time frame. Some readers do not send anything if they cannot read.

Other tips

You can setup the reader, by calling the test menu on the right side of the application.

Set a product below the reader and press the trigger.

You will see the result and the time it took the reader to read and transmit the result. This time tells you how fast the reader can read, ultimately how fast you can produce with this reader.