Diagraph's Blog

Perfect Codes for the Personal Care Industry

Image is everything in the Personal Care industry and the companies producing cosmetics, toiletries, home fragrance and the like will spend a lot of time, energy and money in making sure their products look good.  But regulations often require variable information such as expiration dates and batch codes to be added to the packaging.  The required codes are usually designed to be discrete to help maintain a quality product image, but must be indelible, easily legible and visible.  As a result, coding is a small but essential element in creating perfect packaging for personal care products.

Continuous Inkjet Coding (CIJ) may be an excellent solution to this particular coding need. CIJ technology uses fast drying solvent based inks, and produces small character codes in a non-contact process capable of accommodating high speed production lines.

CIJ Solvent based inks are designed to bond to a wide range of substrates.  Shortly after printing, the solvent evaporates leaving a color mark.  There are a variety of inks whose solvent bases (Acetone, MEK, Ethanol, etc.) have the correct properties to leave marks on packaging used for personal care products such as plastics, paper, coated chip board, and glass.  Specialty inks are also available should the coding mark need to  have a distinctive property, such as withstanding alcohol, adhering to flexible film, or being free of ketone.  Counterfeiting is a common issue with designer cosmetics and fragrances.  CIJ offers UV readable inks (clear inks that fluoresce under UV light) for applications requiring a higher level of security. 

CIJ coders produce letters and numbers by placing a series of dots to create a character. Quality printing is achieved when the coder is able to keep up with the production line speeds. CIJ printers have options

for speed of marking and orientation of the print to ensure the mark looks as good as the rest of the product packaging.

A CIJ mark can be applied anywhere on a package to be as visible as you like. Because this is non-contact coding, printheads can be placed at any angle to product a print; from the bottom up, the side, or the top down.  Additionally, the printheads have some options such as right angle or cut-away covers to allow them to fit into other packaging line machinery.  With the ability to print on a large variety of substrates, at fast speeds, with premium print quality, and easy integration into the production line, CIJ is often the right solution for coding needs in the personal care industry.

To read more about solutions for the personal care industry, download Diagraph’s white paper.