Leather traceability is a major challenge and priority for all stakeholders in the leather industry. To help, CTC brings you its “traceability solution”, from the birth of the animal to the cutting of the leather.

In France, as in most European countries, meat traceability is a legal requirement. Each animal is given a unique identification tag as soon as it is born. This identifier accompanies the carcass from slaughter to butchering. However, traceability is lost when this identifier is separated from the skin during the flaying process. A solution was needed to transfer this information onto the skin in such a way that it would remain intact throughout the tanning process.

 

An industrial solution developed by CTC

CTC’s solution, called ALIS MARKING (where ALIS stands for Automatic Leather Identification System), consists of a CO2 laser marking system that engraves a unique code directly into the skin prior to the wet-work/tanning process.

This system is protected by European Patent EP3269829.

It uses:

• Thermal ablation using medium-power laser radiation between 120 and 180 W per CO2 source, with a marking time of approximately one second per 10 digits.
• The skins are marked at the raw salted stage, but it is also possible to mark them at the fresh stage.
• The marking is preferably carried out at the shoulder, on either side of the backbone, to be able to identify the leathers if strip cutting is carried out.
• Bovine hides and goat skins are marked on the grain side, whereas sheep skins are marked on the flesh side.

 

A reliable and safe solution

The CO2 gas laser, the most suitable type for marking organic materials, is a reliable technology that has been used and mastered in other industries for over 20 years.

• The marking obtained is permanent.
• It withstands the leather transformation process.
• It contains all the information needed to trace each individual hide and skin.

This contactless marking system can be seamlessly integrated into existing salting plant processes, without slowing down the production line or requiring an additional workstation. Indeed, the laser offers great flexibility and guarantees high speed thanks to its power.

Last but not least, safety is a major advantage of this technology. The beams are perfectly confined and the fumes are extracted at the source to avoid odours in the workshop and, above all, to ensure the safety of the operators.

 

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