"Something up our sleeve for Netflix"

To help Netflix automate the creation of their DVD sleeves, Bronway customised our ultra-reliable SL-2200 Sleever.

Task

Due to significant customer growth and an increased number of DVD titles Netflix realised the need to automate their DVD sleeving process. This is a process that inserts DVDs into a blank sleeve, prints and applies a synopsis label (the label that tells customers what the movie is all about) and assigns a unique serial number and barcode to every DVD. This serial number is crucial for Netflix to track the DVD throughout its life in the rental process. Having already worked with Bronway, they turned to a partner they could trust.

Solution

The solution we designed involved the customisation of three SL-2200 sleever machines. The SL-2200 was already an industry proven solution for the insertion of DVDs into sleeves and easily the best platform on which to base a solution for Netflix. We added a customised print and apply system to apply the required label onto each sleeve.

Bronway had previously integrated three of our desktop DVD250 Spindle Counters into Netflix’s receiving process and so the information required for each DVD title had already been recorded on the Netflix database for each spindle of DVDs.

Our solution reads the barcode on the spindle of DVDs, communicates with the Netflix servers and downloads the required information for each label including DVD title and description. An individual serial number is then assigned and the label is applied for each sleeve. The data printed on the label is then verified and the results posted back to the Netflix server for final logging. All of this is done at 80 parts per minute.

Result

The results have been spectacular, even by Netflix’s high standards. The three systems have run in excess of 150 million cycles, regularly running three shifts around the clock with little or no maintenance needed.

The performance of this solution further proved to Netflix that Bronway could design and build automation that performs by far in excess of the specification and performance required.

John Voris, Netflix’s Vice President of Operations Engineering, remarks:
“..on those three Sleevers, we've processed over one hundred and fifty million DVDs”.

Read on to see the next step in the process, inserting the sleeved disc into the iconic red Netflix mailer.