Thermal Inkjet Printer

In the trading industry, packaged goods, especially food products, must have a use-by date on the primary packaging, and a best-before date in most other cases. Moreover, retailers also require date code information on secondary packaging of finished goods. In order to meet these standard requirements, manufacturers use batch codes are used in order to assist with product QC procedures, including product traceability.

Retail date codes must be clearly read and easily visible to the end consumer, thus should be indelible. Printing Use-by, Best Before Dates & Batch Codes There are many possible methods to print date codes on retail items, including Continuous Inkjet (CIJ), Thermal Transfer Overprinting (TTO) and Laser Coding. CIJ printers have the benefit of being able to indelibly and clearly mark on all packaging substrates at all production speeds.

Furthermore, they are also very easily integrated on to a conveyor production line. Lasers on the other hand, require fewer consumables and therefore offer lower total cost of ownership in some applications, though they are not suited to all substrates. They typically carry a higher initial capital cost and require specialist mounting, safety guarding and fume extraction.