Citizen supply innovative mobile cloakroom wristband printer

Citizen Systems Europe, a leading manufacturer of dot matrix, label and barcode printers, has supplied its latest thermal printing technology to Cloakvroom, a new mobile cloakroom service for events and festivals in the UK.

Citizens CLP621 printer and dedicated keyboard is enabling the company to offer a fast and efficient service through the use of bar coded wristbands that can be printed on demand and on site.

Cloakvroom is owned and operated by M40 Media, the specialists in event sponsorship and publications. After 10 years working on festival sites, the company noticed a growing need for secure on-site storage leading to the creation of Cloakvroom, a service designed to provide event organisers with an on site yet outsourced cloakroom facility that offers event-goers a safe place to leave their bags, coats and valuables.

Garry Pitt, Managing Director of Cloakvroom explained how the innovative service works, The Cloakvroom concept is based around a system where a numeric code and a bar code are printed onto a wristband when an item is deposited. The wristband is then given to the customer and checked when they return to collect their item. Its an essentially simple yet effective method of stock control, but critical to its success was a method of printing the wristbands quickly and reliably.

Looking for a printing solution that could meet these requirements, the company approached Citizen Systems Europe. Following close consultation between the two companies, Citizen offered its CLP621 thermal printer with a dedicated keyboard, enabling simple and fast printing that requires no PC and therefore no computer skills, no need for software updates, and none of the downtime associated with hardware crashing.

The CLP621 and keyboard offers instant start-up and the ability to produce the printed wristbands as they are required. On each band is printed the code for the item deposited, for example, BG101 for a bag or CT061 for a coat, in addition to the bar code, which can simply be checked or scanned when the customer returns.

In addition, the Citizen software allows for a sponsors details or other promotional information to be printed on each wristband. This can either be used to strengthen a sponsors brand presence or to promote other services as details can be changed quickly and easily between events, or even for daily promotions.

The compact design and small footprint of the printer makes it ideal for the Cloakvroom service, which is based inside a mobile storage vehicle that can operate from wherever it is required. As wristbands can be printed on demand at speeds of up to four inches per second there is no need to store large volumes of pre-printed wristbands in the vehicle, once again minimising he space required by the solution.

The printers contain a number of innovative features, such as Citizens Active Ribbon Control and Positioning System, which eliminates many of the problems associated with conventional wristband printers, ensuring wrinkle-free printing and superior print quality. This results in consistently minimised barcode failure rates and therefore enables Cloakvroom to offer a fast and reliable service. In addition, the printhead on the CLP621 can be raised vertically, allowing quick and easy cleaning, servicing and ribbon loading.               

Garry Pitt is impressed with the results, The printing solution Citizen offered us has enabled us to realise the fast and reliable service that Cloakvroom was set up to provide. It really couldnt be simpler to print the wristbands using the dedicated keyboard, and every bar code is printed clearly making them simple to read when our customers return. The CLP621 from Citizen is now an integral part of our company and, furthermore, offers us the flexibility to evolve our business as our customers needs change.

About Citizen Systems Europe

Citizen Systems Europe operates from locations in the UK and Germany covering Europe, Middle East and Africa.  It offers a wide range of thermal printers for industrial, retail, healthcare and mobile barcode and labelling applications.   In each case, the companys products are sold and supported by a network of specialised partners.

Citizen Systems Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citizen Systems Japan and part of the Citizen Watch Company of Japan, a global organisation that manufactures products ranging from its world-famous watches, mini-printers and industrial printing systems, to machine tools, quartz crystals and oscillators.