With the use of flexible packaging growing quickly, being able to add variable information such as date and lot codes to packaging films is a crucial aspect of many packaging lines.
There are a number of printing technologies that can be used for these applications and our Pack Expo demo stand was built to allow these to be shown in one location and to allow discussions to take place on which is more suitable for a particular scenario.
Here is a brief review of our film coding technologies - you can click the image or the link to get more info on each one.
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Thermal transfer overprinters (TTO) are designed to integrate into most types of flexible packaging equipment (both intermittent and continuous) and can print text, logos, and barcodes with very high quality.
There are two models installed on our film coding demo, one with a maximum print width of 2 inches and one that can print up to 5 inches wide.
The five-inch printer is ideal for printing large formats, such as nutritional information and ingredients onto food packaging.
The Pack Expo demo included innovative mounting hardware that allows for easy access to change-out ribbon rolls when installed on the parent packaging machine.
Get more information here: TTO Product Brochure
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Thermal inkjet (TIJ) printers from ID Technology and Code Tech are ideal for adding variable information to your flexible packaging.
We have a wide selection of TIJ printers, from simple single-head units to multiple printhead systems for printing across the web on form-fill-seal machines (with washdown environmental enclosures), we can handle just about every coding application.
TIJ printers are ideal for date codes, compliance logos, serialization barcodes, and more.
The Pack Expo display included our special zero-downtime printheads (no need to stop for ink cartridge changes) as well as washdown printers for tough environments.
Get more information here: TIJ Product Brochure
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ID Technology is the North America distributor for Macsa lasers and handles the complete product range.
Laser coding is fast, produces excellent print quality, does not use consumables (such as inks or solvents), and requires minimal maintenance.
At Pack Expo, we showed our UV laser, which is ideal for producing a high contrast mark on many synthetic materials. This is just part of the extensive portfolio of Macsa lasers that also includes fiber lasers, green wave lasers, and a comprehensive selection of CO2 lasers.
Get more information here: Macsa Laser Coders
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Many products are packaged on form-fill-seal machines where the tooling includes multiple packages across the machine.
Because there is a need to add product codes and date codes to each package, Greydon's traversing systems allow one or more printheads to traverse across the machine, printing multiple packages in the process.
While the traversing system on the film demo stand was traversing thermal inkjet (TIJ) printheads, we can carry out the same process with continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers and also thermal transfer printers.
Versions of the Greydon traverse system can be specified to operate in tough environments that are subject to washdown, ideal for coding applications in protein processing and similar industries.
Get more information here: Greydon Traversing Systems
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Thank you so much for visiting us at the show. Please be sure to let us know if there is anything we can do to help with any of your labeling and coding problems!