Food and Beverage

• Real time coding
• Use by dates
• Sleeves and Cartons
• Outer case coding

Background

Environment can range from cold and damp in a salad processing plant to hot and dusty in a bakery. The emphasis is on getting products out of the door, with the odd underweight pack or misplaced label or code being tolerated. Products supplied mainly through supermarkets, so great pressure on margins.

Key drivers

• Ability of equipment to perform reliably for up to 24 hours a day in a difficult environment; breakdowns are costly in terms of lost production and revenue
• Quick response needed on coding consumables; changing forecasts might mean need for quick changes, with type, foil and ribbon often required at short notice.
• Good service support, with the emphasis on speed; queries are often simple ones, made out of hours but easily answered provided the supplier (e.g., Rotech) can be contacted.

Typical applications

• Printing a use-by date on a label applied to a pack of sliced meat: Hot Foil; Thermal Transfer
• Printing a use-by date, ingredients list and nutritional information directly onto the film that wraps around a bakery product: Thermal Transfer
• Printing a use-by date on the cap of a bottle of fruit juice: Thermal Ink Jet
• Printing a use-by date on a carton or sleeve containing a ready meal: Offline Overprinting; Thermal Inkjet
• Printing product details on an outer case or traded unit: Thermal Inkjet