Food and beverage product manufacturers across the world need to ensure that their packaging meets a wide range of standards. While there are requirements that on-pack information be clear, permanent and easy to understand so as not to mislead customers, there are a variety of other product information standards that must be met. These could be in regards to allergens, nutritional information or alcohol level. Whatever information they may transfer, and whatever part of the world you are in, it’s vital that they can be easily recognised and understood by the target consumer.
This is even before the number of different special codes, such as barcodes or QR codes, are mentioned. The content of codes is becoming ever more complex, sometimes ahead of user skill, so it’s necessary that any coding and marking machine be simple to use and cost-effective, as well as packed with future-proofed features. However, with the increased use of new coding technologies across the market, it’s crucial that food and beverage product manufacturers have the capability to deliver product marking that conveys this information.
While simplicity has been identified as a key concern in the market through Linx’s research into this area in 2011, and continued Voice of Customer investigation, flexibility is also a must. Coders need to be quickly portable, allowing them to be fully integrated into any area of the production line, with accessories that allow them to print on a variety of products at whatever angle needed. This flexibility when printing allows the manufacturers to match modern principles, reacting to smaller batch sizes and ever faster delivery times while still maintaining the same high quality codes.
With a wide variety of sustainability requirements coming ever more into focus in regards to packaging, manufacturers are also under increasing pressure to maximise efficiency not just for cost benefits but also to reduce their impact on the environment.
Coding machines are increasingly efficient in terms of waste. However, there’s always more that’s being done by printer manufacturers. For example, ensuring that not one drop of any consumable such as ink is wasted in the printing process through innovative design that recycles any unused ink can really make a difference. Focusing on reducing the need for replacement parts is also something that can help a manufacturer lower their carbon footprint.
The cost of applying pre-printed labels is something that can be allayed through the application of direct printing. However, while it reduces cost, it’s important to ensure that all of the above conditions are met even in the most difficult of production environments. Beverage product manufacturers, for example, will need to ensure that codes can be reliably applied onto wet or curved surfaces, even on fast-moving production lines.
There’s a wide range of coding and marking solutions to offset every one of the above concerns, whichever one the manufacturer chooses depending on their specific market. Whether through the use of continuous ink jet, thermal ink jet or laser technology, printer manufacturers are constantly working to make the coding and marking of food and beverage packaging more cost-effective and reliable.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024