Product category:
Inkjet, Laser, Digital, Thermal, Graphics, Wide Format Printing Systems
News Release from: Jetrion | Subject: 3025 Inkjet System
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 July 2005
Inkjet Printers Meet Automotive
Labelling Demands
Whitlam Label, a member of the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), is one of only a few Tier I companies that produces harsh environment labels for major motor manufacturers.
Whitlam Label, a member of the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), is one of only a few Tier I companies that produces harsh environment labels for major motor manufacturers Those customers include General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Ford and Toyota amongst others and it is the first automotive label company to be granted ISO/TS 16949 status
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 25 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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According to Jetrion, maintaining the readability of barcode data on harsh environment labels had always been a challenge until last year, when Whitlam engineers began a technology partnership with Jetrion LLC, a subsidiary of Flint Ink Corporation.
The joint development effort, centred on in-line integration of Jetrion's drop-on-demand 3025 Inkjet System in to Whitlam's Mark Andy presses, has yielded a solution that both companies describe as a major breakthrough in variable data label printing.
Rick Shaieb, the president of Whitlam, said: "When we first saw the Jetrion 3025 Inkjet System, we immediately recognised its potential for our automotive label applications.
It offers tremendous flexibility with Jetrion UV inks that print high quality, clean and sharp variable images on virtually any type of label substrate, at much faster speeds than our other variable print units can give us." Whitlam's engineers and programmers worked in partnership with technology teams from Jetrion and Mark Andy to integrate a 3025 inkjet system as an in-line inkjet printer on one of Whitlam's 15 Mark Andy flexo presses.
After some fine-tuning of the programming, Whitlam now has an in-line label production system.
Ray Parnell, technical director of Whitlam, pointed out that as an in-line unit, the Jetrion 3025 inkjet system significantly increases efficiency by eliminating the re-handling operations required with other types of variable imaging technologies.
He noted that high-resolution printing at 526 dots per inch (dpi) plus the the ability of Jetrion's UV inkjet inks for tough-to-print high-gloss and film substrates, results in harsh environment labels with unprecedented premium barcode quality and exceptional wear endurance.
"We printed prototype labels with the Jetrion 3025 on many types of harsh environment substrates, and exposed them to extreme conditions in our test laboratory.
They were oven-aged under high temperatures, exposed to solvents, abrasion and UV.
Under every condition, the Jetrion UV ink held up incredibly well under the testing.
Most important, the label barcodes remained completely readable," added Parnell.
Kevin Hayes, Whitlam's vice president of sales and marketing, commented: "We're excited about this new technology from Jetrion.
It has given us some unique capabilities that we will take to a lot of new markets." One of those markets is Whitlam's consumer product label business.
Already in the works are plans to install at least one additional 3025 inkjet head on press to print variable information in formats wider than the 2.4-inch width of the single unit.
One Jetrion controller can manage up to four inkjet heads on a press, claimed Jetrion.
Security labelling has also become a very large programme for Whitlam.
According to Shaieb, the automotive industry is very concerned about the counterfeiting of aftermarket parts.
He said: "We have developed an innovative security labeling solution that has become an integral part of the systems used by our customers for identification of parts and packaging.
Our engineers have designed certain security features in to our labels that are visible only with special equipment." And Ray Parnell said: "We have a label that works even when it's illegally removed.
You can peel our label off a part and install the part in a different vehicle and our device will still detect that the part is not on the original vehicle." Jetrion commented that Whitlam's drive to innovate has built relationships with automotive customers that go beyond the printing of a label.
Many of the companies send engineers to Whitlam to study the process of creating labels for use in its production lines.
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