Dairy Producers Turn To Continuous Inkjet And Laser Solutions To Meet Evolving Code Placement Challenges

Chicago — Take a trip to your local grocery store and you will see no shortage of brands, types or flavors dairy products. As cheese, butter and other dairy product consumption grows, retailers, manufacturers and consumers continue to rely on “best if used by” dates and other information printed on the products. Stressing the importance of marking clear, accurate and consistent dates and codes within a readily-visible space on packaging, Videojet Technologies, a global leader in coding, marking and printing solutions, offers dairy companies insights to consider when responding to important labeling trends and highlights solutions that address dairy coding challenges.

Trends in Dairy Code Placement

Expiration dates are often printed directly on a dairy product’s seal or lid, which can be easily misplaced or thrown away by the consumer. To help solve this problem, and to bolster consumer confidence, many producers are moving code placement to the main portion of product packaging. In order not to impede production, this change may require additional flexibility from coding equipment in order to print codes in constrained spaces or in various orientations while still maintaining high line speeds and code quality. Moreover, the printed codes must be clean, clear and readily visible. Videojet suggests that the relocation of codes requires a careful evaluation of a dairy’s production and coding equipment. 

Meeting the Challenge with Multiple Coding Solutions

Videojet works with dairy producers to assess and integrate a number of printing and marking technologies into the dairy production line. Continuous inkjet (CIJ) printing, for instance, is a non-contact method that prints crisp and readily visible codes in various orientations. Videojet CIJ solutions can deliver dual and tri-line codes while utilizing food grade and other inks manufactured in an ISO 9001: 2008 certified facility. These inks can provide high adhesion in temperature and moisture-variable environments. Printable materials include rigid plastic, glass, metal, paperboard and flexible film. 

Laser marking is another technology that can meet the challenge of applying high-contrast expiration dates and product information at high speeds and in constrained spaces on dairy products. Depending on the packaging type, lasers work by etching, ablating, causing a color change, or removing a layer of preprinted ink on a packaging’s surface. 

For permanent marking on many plastic and glass containers, cartons, pouches, labels and sleeves, Videojet recommends CO2 lasers for their efficiency and flexibility and the variety of mark windows and focal distances they can provide.  

Dairy producers can take advantage of proven CIJ and laser systems when modifying code placement and for integration into today’s dairy filling, flow wrapping and cartoning lines. 

For information on how Videojet CIJ and laser products and solutions can help dairy manufacturers keep up with industry trends, please visit http://www.videojet.com/us/homepage/industry-solutions/dairy.html

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About Videojet

Videojet Technologies is a world-leader in the product identification market, providing in-line printing, coding, and marking products, application specific fluids, and product life cycle services. Our goal is to partner with our customers in the consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, and industrial goods industries to improve their productivity, to protect and grow their brands, and to stay ahead of industry trends and regulations. With our customer application experts and technology leadership in Continuous Inkjet (CIJ), Thermal Inkjet (TIJ), Laser Marking, Thermal Transfer Overprinting (TTO), case coding and labeling, and wide array printing, Videojet has more than 345,000 printers installed worldwide. Our customers rely on Videojet products to print on over ten billion products daily. Customer sales, application, service and training support is provided by direct operations with over 4,000 team members in 26 countries worldwide. In addition, Videojet’s distribution network includes more than 400 distributors and OEMs, serving 135 countries.

Source: Videojet Technologies