Diagraph's Blog

According to a recent PMMI Business Intelligence Report, the meat, seafood, and poultry packing industries are experiencing “a global boom” due to several factors including import and export opportunities expanding into new markets, growth in foodservice, and growth in ready meals.  Food producers are rapidly moving to automate processing and packaging to be prepared to meet increased demand and be flexible enough to adapt to changing product coding requirements.

For food producers and processors with small character coding requirements, Diagraph offers the Linx 8900 Series Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) printer family. The 8900 Series is designed for maximum uptime and provides the flexibility to meet the demands of complex food manufacturing plants.

Moving towards an automated continuous inkjet coding solution can solve the following problems commonly found in the meat, poultry, and seafood manufacturing industry:

High manual labor costs: Consumer demand dictates changes in the packaging materials used for meat and seafood products. Flexible and clear packaging for shoppers to verify freshness and quality in-store, smaller portion sizes and clean labeling to indicate product varieties – i.e. GMO-free, grass-fed, etc. – leads to more changeovers and a need to produce high-quality, durable codes on a range of substrates. The costs associated with managing a large manual workforce are cited by many manufacturers in this industry as one of the highest expenses. Manufacturers are looking for automated processes that can be run with little to no training required and an easy-to-understand HMI to make product changeovers as effortless and error-free as possible.

How the Linx 8900 meets this challenge: 

• Easy self-service preventive maintenance (no skilled labor required) means you can plan interventions when most convenient for you and don’t need to schedule an outside technician.
• Quick and easy message editing with prompts for guidance with a 10” Capacitive touchscreen that can be used with gloves in a refrigerated environment.
• Icon-driven user interface reduces and simplifies editing time.
• Simple product changeover with the 8920/8940 models that can store up to 50 named production line specifications for seamless setup.

Food safety and sanitation issues: Threats of contamination are a constant worry in the meat, poultry and seafood industries. To integrate new automated machinery requires that the process reduces human handling and has clean-in-place and washdown capabilities.

How the Linx 8900 meets this challenge:

• The 8900 Series is made of stainless steel for reliable and efficient operation in wash-down environments, available with an IP65 rating for the harshest environments
• Linx CIJ features hermetically sealed printhead design which allows for 100 starts and stops with no cleaning. 

Maintenance downtime: Manufacturers want to continue to increase their throughput to fulfill growing demand. To keep production going, predictive maintenance features are essential in preventing unexpected shut downs for repairs, printhead cleanings or fluid refills.

How the Linx 8900 meets this challenge:

• Printhead components are set at the factory so there are no manual adjustments to be made. Less touches equals less downtime.
• Advanced System Monitoring performs health checks on the printer in real-time and prompts operators to perform preventive maintenance actions and avoid unscheduled stoppages.
• The one-touch fluid refill process is easy, mess-free and can be changed as your line is running.

Are you facing these challenges in your business? If you’re in need of a date, lot or batch coding printer, the Linx 8900 Series might be the right option to help you efficiently automate your meat, poultry or seafood packing operation. For more information, visit our Linx 8900 Series product specification page or arrange to see it in action by contacting us for a demonstration.

Source: PMMI Business Intelligence Report, 2017 Trends Shaping Meat, Poultry and Seafood Packaging and Processing