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What does your company do when products are marked with the wrong product identification codes? Scrap? Rework? Mismarked and mislabeled products can create big hits to the bottom line. When encountering marking mistakes with regularity, companies can find it difficult to keep profit margins under control. What’s worse is if mismarked or mislabeled products make it out to market, manufacturers can face penalties from retailers and the risk of product recalls.
There are several factors to consider when trying to reduce marking mistakes:
The first step to reducing marking mistakes is picking the right coding technology for both your application and your manufacturing environment. When choosing a technology, some factors to consider include:
Available coding technologies include inkjet coders, labelers,thermal transfer printers, and laser coders. Each of these technologies have their merits and should be considered carefully with the help of experts familiar with the advantages and disadvantages. Success will be realized when the best technology is chosen for your unique situation.
Choosing the right technology often comes down to identifying the best possible combination of cost-per-mark and mark adhesion quality. There are numerous inks, label stock types, and ribbon formulations that can help you achieve a durable, lasting code on your product.
If you are marking onto a particularly tricky surface or operating your equipment in a hotter or cooler than average environment, you will want to run code adhesion tests and even demo the full solution for a period of time to ensure that code adhesion is strong once a mark is applied to your product packaging. A quality supplier will be able to run print samples and set you up with trials of their equipment.
Although choosing the right equipment and matching it with the right ink, label or ribbon is important, an often-overlooked aspect of achieving code compliance is material handling. Heavy vibrations in your production line and skewed products that are not presenting well to the coding technology can impact the overall quality of your mark.
Reviewing your material handling practices and making recommendations for the best use of your equipment is vital to achieving high quality marks on your products.
You can take your coding and labeling operation a step closer to guaranteed compliance by adopting a product verification or validation step after the mark has been applied to your product. There are several levels of verification that ensure that a mark:
Verification and validation require the use of scanners or vision systems as well as connectivity to your coding equipment and product databases.
When incorporating a verification or validation step into your coding and labeling operation, you will need some form of reactive material handling after verification takes place if a printed mark is considered to be illegible. When manufacturers encounter poor code quality, a signal can be triggered to stop the production line altogether to correct what is causing the poor print or a reject and redirect action can take place to separate the questionable product from the rest of production. If too many poor quality codes are encountered, production can be stopped to allow for a remedy.
Having issues with achieving packaging compliance and encountering too many marking mistakes? At Diagraph, we can help you quantify the true cost hitting your bottom line and will work with you to develop a game plan to minimize errors and ensure proper code adhesion.
Call us today at 800.722.1125 to learn more about how Diagraph partners with manufacturers to achieve product identification and packaging compliance success.
NEW DIAGRAPH IJ4000 INKJET SYSTEM COMBINES INDUSTRY-LEADING BARCODE DECODE-ABILITY AND INDUSTRY-LEADING RELIABILITY
(March 1, 2016) – Diagraph (www.diagraph.com) announces the launch of the IJ4000 high-resolution large character impulse inkjet system for printing alphanumerics, barcodes and graphics onto porous substrates. The cost-competitive printer combines industry-leading barcode decode-ability, industry-leading system durability and industry-leading print throw distance with the lowest maintenance requirements on the market.
Industry-Leading Barcode Decode-ability & Print Throw Distance
Three unique features combine to allow the IJ4000 to provide best-in-the-market print consistency on challenging packaging lines where boxes are rarely perfectly uniform.
First, precision print placement is ensured by a unique roller retractor and a digital level sensor accelerometer. The roller retractor provides a consistent gap between the print surface and print engine. A green LED light on the digital level accelerometer indicates when the print engines are perfectly aligned and perpendicular with the packaging material to be printed- regardless of floor variations. This ensures high-quality print and optimal readability for bar codes.
Secondly, the print engines of the IJ4000 provide throw distance of ½ inch for alphanumerics and an industry-leading ¼ inch for barcodes. This is double the 1/8 inch throw distance currently provided in the market for readable barcodes. In addition to ensuring high-quality print, the increased throw distance also reduces the impact of corrugate dust, glue and contaminants resulting in reduced maintenance needs.
Finally the unique design of the print engine ensures print is up to 15% darker than the last generation offering.
Combined these features allow the IJ4000 to offer a 35% improvement on barcode decode-ability compared to competing systems available in the market.
Industry-Leading Flexibility & Ease of Use The IJ4000 was carefully designed based on customer feedback for optimal ease of use. The system features a unique HMI (Human Machine Interface) wherein the print engine, encoder and photocell connections run directly and cleanly to the connection hub. This allows the HMI to be moved to a remote location for greater ease of use. The HMI can be as far away as 100 meters when connected via Ethernet and an unlimited distance when connected through a Network.
The system offers a great deal of flexibility with both on-floor and in-office editing capabilities. The intuitive interface provides the option of use with a personal PC, eliminating the need for a separate controller and reducing cost by as much as 15%.
The integrated 10.2 inch touch screen controller interface eliminates the need for a separate keyboard, thereby reducing the system footprint. The system print head is also smaller in all three dimensions and further flexibility is provided by a dovetail track on both side of the print engines for ease of mounting on either side of the conveyer.
While many printing technologies advertise that they are ‘Unicode-ready’ they often mean that language characters are used as locked images. This is not the same as true real-time, variable print Unicode capabilities. Diagraph’s IJ4000 printers were specially designed to provide real-time printing in 11 languages.
Lowest Maintenance Requirements in the Market
The IJ4000 was carefully designed to provide the lowest maintenance requirements of any similar system in the market today.
The printer features a unique single point ink supply that can feed as many as four different print engines. This greatly reduces downtime and simplifies the fluid refill process as it is not necessary to monitor and maintain individual ink supplies.
The system´s unique digital level accelerometer has a sensor which indicates if the print engine has tilted plus or minus 1.5 degrees both for ease of installation and to assure the print gap between print head and carton is consistent along the entire print image.
A new auto-channel purge allows all 256 printhead channels to be quickly checked by a simple push of a button on the print head right on the packaging line. Maintenance is further simplified by hard-mounted, easily accessible filters and a centralized connection point that simplifies and reduces cabling requirements.
Taken together, these features allow the IJ4000 to provide as much as 30% less downtime than alternative technologies.
Industry-Leading Print Engine Durability
Featuring unique-in-the-industry stainless steel construction, and patented repairable (rather than disposable) design, shock resistance capability and automatic maintenance modules, the Trident print engines in the IJ4000 provide industry-leading durability. Whereas traditional print engines might need to be replaced as often as every few months, Trident technology can last as long as 10 years or 300 billion firings. This allows the IJ4000 to provide industry-leading durability with projected lifespan being as much as 5 times longer than competitive technologies.
“The IJ4000 is the result of over 5 years of intensive research into user needs,” said Steve Liker, LCIJ Product Manager at Diagraph. “It was thoughtfully designed with a number of unique-in-the-market features to provide customers with significant new performance benefits at the same price point as our last generation technology. We are proud to offer significantly more value at the same competitive price.”
The new print engines are reverse compatible to older IJ3000 systems for existing customers and are available with two inch print height. Technology featuring market-leading four inch print height is anticipated to launch in 2016 and will be forward compatible with the IJ4000 system.
About Diagraph, An ITW Company
Diagraph, An ITW Company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of marking, coding and labeling systems and supplies, and has been in the product identification industry for over 120 years. Diagraph’s products include all-electric printer applicator labeling systems, LINX continuous ink jet and laser coders, large character ink jet printing systems and thermal transfer overprinting systems.
Contact
For more information, call 800-722-1125, send emails to info@diagraph.com or visit diagraph.com.
Many companies, especially in meat and dairy processing, struggle with the requirement to mark variable information onto slick packaging for a couple key reasons:
The packaging substrate High surface tension substrates like HDPE, polypropylene (PP) containers and caps, treated and untreated Orientated Polypropylene (OPP) for flow wraps and stand-up pouches, glass and metal all make ink adhesion difficult.
The manufacturing environmentFood packages of butter, margarine and salad dressing often leave a thin layer of condensation or grease on the packaging surface, inhibiting the preservation of code quality.
For manufacturers who experience difficulties using continuous ink jet (CIJ) coders on substrates and products with slick or greasy surfaces, specially formulated inks that cut through light films of oil or condensation are necessary to preserve print quality and contrast.
Linx’s new 1063 Grease Penetrating Black is a dye MEK based ink, developed for the market-leading Linx 8900 Series CIJ coders. 1063 Grease Penetrating Black ink has aggressive adhesion before and after refrigeration and resists removal by a wide range of oils and chemicals such as acids, alkalis, detergents, petrol and water. It dries in seconds and provides excellent contrast and legibility on transparent or light colored materials and, as the name implies, penetrates light layers of condensation and grease for a robust, durable mark.
Talk to a Diagraph specialist today at 1.800.722.1125 or info@diagraph.com to discuss whether the new Linx 1063 Grease Penetrating Black ink may be a solution to your slick or oily manufacturing conditions.
What was wrong with barcodes that Wal*Mart has placed the burden of new expense and complication into the midst of regular production woes? The answer to this can be found by looking into the past and the future. First, the past and how cellular came to be more than just a luxury item for the wealthy. The first cellular radios had one channel to communicate, and if someone was already using the “line”, one would have to wait until it was free. As the technology evolved, several channels were created, but still there was a limit. Using cell towers that could cover several miles in all directions, a system of frequency re-use was established. If channel 868 was in use in one part of the city, channel 868 wasn’t used by another cell tower for 20 or more miles. A hexagonal pattern was created to help determine what frequencies could be used where, and further division of the frequencies could be accomplished if the channels radiated at 60 degree angles (thus creating 6 directions of signal beams), versus the omni-directional (circular beams) patterns of the past. As the cellular industry boomed and nearly everyone had a phone, city areas could not service most subscribers, resulting in “No Service”. How did they resolve this issue? Smaller, less powerful cell towers, call microcells where implemented in a dense pattern throughout the city, reusing the frequency channels over and over, but in a “micro” fashion. This meant less expensive tower construction, less power consumption, better reception, and most importantly, more customers talking whenever they wished. In this new age, the phone booth had become a small history museum.
There is no doubt that RFID will one day replace the barcode. The barcode will still exist, just like the phone booth, for the occasional need. The need for RFID today is not easy to understand, since today’s version is much like the first cell phones, bulky and cumbersome, and “who is really going to use this?”. Go several years into the future, where the RFID tag is a fraction of a cent (yes, just like every memory technology, the cost will 1/2 itself each year for the same memory size), and nearly every product that would make sense to include it has one attached or embedded. Take the cellular analogy and go RFID microreaders, where dock door portals and hand scanners are antiques. Picture every cubic inch of the superstore covered in the RFID read sweep. Aisles are embedded with inexpensive microreaders, and any product (tagged) can be inventoried real-time. Warehouses, supply trucks, freezers, storage areas, and checkout counters are all inventoried and instantaneous decisions are made. Would you run a tighter and more efficient business if you knew exactly how much product you needed to create, down to the single item level? Would you re-route a supply truck to a store with a higher out-of-stock level than an alternate store? If your product was placed on the wrong shelf, would it sell as well as it could have on the appropriate shelf? If this product was a featured sales item in a marketing campaign, but the item was not yet in some stores, would you advertise differently.
As the technology blankets the product at all stages of its supply chain, decisions can be made real-time, saving millions, if not billions of dollars in lost perishables, incorrect sequencing of batch runs, overstocks, stock shortages, and stock shrinkages. Barcodes simply cannot provide this level of information due to the physical nature of the technology. Line of sight readings, corruption of the barcode markings, and environmental conditions limit the ability to perform mass reads to a population.
As the RFID technology matures, and cost of implementation is reduced, the number of products tagged will increase. As the collected data becomes available and it is interpreted, new thoughts and ideas on how to optimize the supply chain structure will become apparent. By removing the lag in response time to changes in the supply flow, the corrections can be applied sooner, and reduce waste in the process.
There are many who believe that the barcode can provide many of the same pieces of information today, but the same level of collection is not performed today for barcodes. This is true of singulated events, such as barcoding performed in production batch runs. Once the product is cased, bundled, or containerized for shipment, the tracking capabilities have become significantly reduced.
Looking into the past, and then back in the future, it seems apparent that RFID has capabilities beyond the present-day implementations, and the electronic format of the data allows yet another layer of separation from the barcode. Even with the miniscule size of memory being 96 bits, the entire product id can be assembled completed with a fairly large serialization field number. Further technological features can be implemented as dictated by the product, such as temperature, shock, and expiration period.
RFID today is a new technology to the supply chain, even if RFID is not a new technology. Implementing the technology is a several phase undertaking, including the foundation level of properly encoding a tag, the infrastructure of selecting the correct data to encode, management of the database, interfacing systems to share data, and the physics of RF communication environments. Knowing where the technology is ultimately headed helps prepare for the journey, and justifies the trip expense.
There is no doubt that RFID will one day replace the barcode. The barcode will still exist, just like the phone booth, for the occasional need. The need for RFID today is not easy to understand, since today’s version is much like the first cell phones, bulky and cumbersome, and “who is really going to use this?”. Go several years into the future, where the RFID tag is a fraction of a cent (yes, just like every memory technology, the cost will 1/2 itself each year for the same memory size), and nearly every product that would make sense to include it has one attached or embedded. Take the cellular analogy and go RFID microreaders, where dock door portals and hand scanners are antiques. Picture every cubic inch of the superstore covered in the RFID read sweep. Aisles are embedded with inexpensive microreaders, and any product (tagged) can be inventoried real-time. Warehouses, supply trucks, freezers, storage areas, and checkout counters are all inventoried and instantaneous decisions are made. Would you run a tighter and more efficient business if you knew exactly how much product you needed to create, down to the single item level? Would you re-route a supply truck to a store with a higher out-of-stock level than an alternate store? If your product was placed on the wrong shelf, would it sell as well as it could have on the appropriate shelf? If this product was a featured sales item in a marketing campaign, but the item was not yet in some stores, would you advertise differently
As the technology blankets the product at all stages of its supply chain, decisions can be made real-time, saving millions, if not billions of dollars in lost perishables, incorrect sequencing of batch runs, overstocks, stock shortages, and stock shrinkages. Barcodes simply cannot provide this level of information due to the physical nature of the technology. Line of sight readings, corruption of the barcode markings, and environmental conditions limit the ability to perform mass reads to a population. As the RFID technology matures, and cost of implementation is reduced, the number of products tagged will increase. As the collected data becomes available and it is interpreted, new thoughts and ideas on how to optimize the supply chain structure will become apparent. By removing the lag in response time to changes in the supply flow, the corrections can be applied sooner, and reduce waste in the process. There are many who believe that the barcode can provide many of the same pieces of information today, but the same level of collection is not performed today for barcodes. This is true of singulated events, such as barcoding performed in production batch runs. Once the product is cased, bundled, or containerized for shipment, the tracking capabilities have become significantly reduced.
Looking into the past, and then back in the future, it seems apparent that RFID has capabilities beyond the present-day implementations, and the electronic format of the data allows yet another layer of separation from the barcode. Even with the miniscule size of memory being 96 bits, the entire product id can be assembled completed with a fairly large serialization field number. Further technological features can be implemented as dictated by the product, such as temperature, shock, and expiration period. RFID today is a new technology to the supply chain, even if RFID is not a new technology. Implementing the technology is a several phase undertaking, including the foundation level of properly encoding a tag, the infrastructure of selecting the correct data to encode, management of the database, interfacing systems to share data, and the physics of RF communication environments. Knowing where the technology is ultimately headed helps prepare for the journey, and justifies the trip expense.
RFID Solutions High Speed RFID Applicators PA/5000LT RFID Label Printer/Applicator RFID Videos
Diagraph RFID solutions providers Diagraph U RFID Training Center Dual Technology Industrial Labeling Products
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When it comes to contract packaging, companies are increasingly looking to consolidate their code printing requirements. Using multiple devices to print onto different sized containers and different material types is costly and inefficient. Companies now need to offer a full-service solution to be relevant and competitive.
Coding requirements may differ between the primary and secondary packaging. These requirements include printing on different substrates such as plastic, cardboard and metal. Traceability requirements such as visible, permanent codes to manage product recalls may not differ, but code sizes will likely be different. You could be wasting time and money if you are using multiple printers to achieve these requirements.
Contract packagers also need to support packaging trends such as new substrates, packaging product shapes and sizes and environmental initiatives such as reducing materials. For example, packaging a product that offers single serving portions as well as the standard size portions requires a coder which can print the same information on different packaging shapes and sizes. The information must be accurate, legible and permanent to ensure traceability—it’s no use if a code can be smudged or wiped off a particular substrate.
Many contract packaging companies are introducing manufacturing techniques to cut costs and improve competitiveness. By implementing the right printing technology into your contract packaging business, you can significantly cut costs, remain competitive and offer more to your customers.
You can significantly cut costs in the following areas with a single printing solution:
Diagraph’s Linx continuous inkjet printers (CIJ), thermal inkjet, large character printers, laser coders and thermal transfer overprinters can print information such as text, dates, barcodes and logos on a wide range of porous and non-porous substrates. This enables both primary and secondary coding with easy-to-use, easy-to-maintain printers, making your contract packaging operation more efficient and cost effective.
Find out how Diagraph can help you expand your contract packing capabilities by contacting us.
3/24/05 INTRODUCING THE NEW TRIDENT-POWERED IJ/384 PRINTHEAD FOR THE IJ/3000™ IMPULSE JET SYSTEM
Diagraph, An ITW Company, introduces the new IJ/384 printhead for the IJ/3000™ Impulse Jet Large Character Ink Jet System. This IJ/384 printhead utilizes the new third generation print engine from Trident®. This printhead features a 2” imaging height at 192 vertical dpi for smooth true-type fonts and logos, as well as UPC/EAN and SCC-14 bar codes at 200 horizontal dpi. It is also the first of a new family of printheads that use the pigmented Scan True II ink. This pigmented ink minimizes the ink bleed for bar codes and small text, and offers better light fastness than dye-based inks.
The IJ/3000 Impulse Jet offers unsurpassed “smart” features: the ability to print high resolution bar codes, touch screen controls, worldwide networking connectivity, around-the-clock monitoring and diagnostic functions, and convenience features such as automatic cleaning.
The IJ/384 printhead offers the automatic cleaning feature, which allows the operator to program the IJ/3000 controller to self-clean at selected times over a 24-hour period. The pump and vacuum device in the CIDS/3000 ink delivery system automatically remove accumulated contaminants from the faceplate of the printhead and transport them to a reservoir, for future disposal. This will keep the printhead clean and printing clear marks as part of the preventive maintenance process.
IJ/384 Printhead Specifications:
Image Height: 2” (51mm) Number of Orifices: 384 (3 per channel)
Vertical Resolution: 192 dpi Addressable Channels: 128
Interface boards per printhead: 2 Ink Type: Scan True II Black
Maximum line speed: 200fpm Printhead Orientation: Horizontal
With the addition of the IJ/384 (2”) printhead, customers have four IJ/3000 Impulse Jet printhead choices to satisfy virtually any marking or coding application: IJ/96 (3/4”), IJ/192 (1”), IJ/384 (2”) and IJ/768 (4”).
The IJ/3000 allows users the flexibility of multi-technology performance. It is engineered to drive either high-resolution Impulse Jet printheads, such as the IJ/384, Diagraph’s patented Integrated Valve printheads, or the PA/5000LT Label Printer/Applicator.
The Impulse Jet High Resolution bar code print solution comes with a touch screen that allows operators to control the system with the touch of a finger and enjoy previously unimagined levels of convenience and productivity. The graphical user interface visually displays menus and commands so operators can enter messages and codes in minutes. And batch codes can be changed during a run, without interrupting production.
The IJ/3000 Impulse Jet has a built-in high-speed Ethernet connection that permits networking with another printer on the other side of the factory, or on the other side of the world. For multi-location manufacturing customers with constantly changing batch codes, this smart feature is invaluable for making changes and checking status. The system is designed to work with Web browsers (including Netscape and Internet Explorer), existing local area networks (device net, arc net, etc.), or wireless (radio frequency) using off-the-shelf converters.
Another smart feature is 24/7 monitoring and diagnostics. Operating on PCs, PLCs, and LANs, it can be used to obtain up-to-the-minute system status. The IJ/3000 Impulse Jet can even be programmed to monitor ink levels and provide an alert when the supply needs to be replenished.
Like all Diagraph ink jet printing systems, the IJ/3000 Impulse Jet is built to last, with minimal maintenance, even in hostile industrial environments. It provides reliable performance in all kinds of conditions—hot, cold, wet and dry.
For more information, please contact Diagraph using the method most convenient for you:
Phone: 800-722-1125
Email: info@diagraph.com
Diagraph, an innovator in product identification technology for over 100 years, manufactures and distributes marking, coding and labeling systems and supplies. Diagraph offers a complete line of RFID; barcode label printers; small character ink jet, large character ink jet and high-resolution ink jet systems; label printer-applicators and label applicators; thermal transfer label printers; stock and custom labels; labeling consumables; and traditional marking and stenciling equipment and supplies. Diagraph is a global supplier, with sales and service offices located across the United States and throughout the world.
DIAGRAPH is a registered trademark of Illinois Tool Works Inc. TRIDENT is a registered trademark of Illinois Tool Works Inc.
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