Case Study : The basic requirement was to print Serial No., Batch No., PIN No…etc on scratch cards according to various settings for printing locations and sizes. Summerised requirements listed as follows.

• Label can be alpha numeric characters
• Selection of fonts (industry standard fonts available in the printer) and font sizes for each label
• Importing MS Excel file (containing particular records) for the list of labels to be printed
• Labels should be able to position (4 positions) according to the line numbers and adding spaces in between 2 labels
• Up to 4 labels should be able to print
• Up to double line printing
• Printing of whole Excel file or from a specified point
• User authentication for operators

Solution : Printer Manager 9000 was designed to fulfill the above requirements with more additional features as well as with user friendly tools. The solution proposed with Imaje 9020 inkjet printer with the software and the list of features available in the software shown below.

• Alphanumeric character printing with specific fonts, selection of font sizes (up to 3) for each label, specifying character length, character “Bold” option and selection of print speed
• Positioning labels up to 4 lines with space in between labels (within the printable area specified by the printer manufacturer)
• Up to 4 labels can be printed
• Separate label configurations can be saved for each job and provides a test print prior to save. So that the user can have several test prints till the requirement matches by changing the configuration. Test print ensures the configuration is correct.
• During the configuration cell position of the Excel file for each relevant label can be assigned. Therefore once the configuration is done, the entire Excel file can be loaded to get print.
• The MS Excel file records will be validated during loading the file to the software. Once any mismatch found, terminates loading records and prompt a message for no. of records can be printed.
• An option is provided to enter password if the file is password protected or to specify a range of records to be printed.
• In addition to that several tools are bundled with the software for below mentioned operations.
• For printer operations (jet start/stop, start/stop printer, activate/deactivate non-double printing feature)
• To acknowledge faults, check printer/counter status, test printer by sending predefined characters
• To make a direct print
• During the printing, the operator has facility to pause, cancel the current job. This is provided to use in case of any emergency situation.
• In addition to that current printing record no., waiting time (the time takes to print the current record after sending it to the printer), summary of configuration and the status of the current print display in the printing window.
• User accounts handling option provided to make particular users to operate the software.
• For customer information an event log is created at every important operation. A viewer for log information is provided to view them, so that it helps to troubleshoot any mistakes done by the operator.
• Accurate and fast printing can obtain and the speed has been successfully tested for 350 cards per minutes with 3 labels in a single line (print speed depends on the size of the label and the no. of lines configured)

System Layout :