Case Study - Dimatix - Spectra Printing - Merlin FG System

The STI business unit of the Spectra Printing Division of Dimatix, Inc.needed customized rackmount industrial computers which would function as the core controller for their Merlin FG System. Because the entire system would be operated within a food processing environment where everything on the manufacturing floor is literally hosed-down with water at the end of a shift, the system would have to operate within a sealed stainless steel cabinet.. Their requirements included:

The system had to operate within a closed loop thermal environment inside the sealed cabinet.

Spectra had written their software for a specific high performance Firewire interface card so they needed that specific card to be bundled in the system.

The Spectra ink jet head systems are controlled by RS232 serial connections so they needed 5 serial ports.

Because each Spectra system is customized for a unique application, they needed several PCI slots to be available and able to accept full-height cards.

A power-factor controlled autosensing power supply was needed that would operate on anywhere from 100 to 240 volts.

Space within the sealed cabinet was limited, so a short chassis depth was required.

Spectra needed Adobe PhotoShop Elements and Roxio EZ CD Creator software to be pre-installed and configured to their specifications.

Windows XP PRO and Spectra's proprietary software needed to be pre-installed and configured to their requirements including specific icon placement on the Windows Desktop.

One of the first installations of the Merlin FG system was at the Proctor & Gamble Company. It is used to print directly onto the Pringles chips using edible food dyes. Read the press release below for more details.

STI is a business unit within the Spectra Printing Division of Dimatix. Founded in 1984, Dimatix has developed significant intellectual property and multiple generations of proprietary drop-on- demand, high performance ink jet printheads capable of producing high quality digital images in a wide variety of printing and fluid jetting applications. Today Dimatix is a leading global manufacturer of printing technologies and solutions to some of the world’s leading companies. Dimatix is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.