Thermal Transfer Coding Vital For Efficiency

Coding systems are a vital, yet often over-shadowed area of technology when companies concentrate production line efficiency.

According to Rotech Machines that is understandable when the focus for many manufacturers is the number of hours in a day in which they are producing and the speed at which their production lines run.

In most cases, the coding system is a small part of such a line, yet it can be one of the more complex systems.

In addition the range of coding technologies available for use on-line can be limited by the speed and production method deployed by companies.

Rotech said that whilst coding packs off-line may not suit all applications it could be beneficial if a large amount of high quality print needs to be added to a pack.

It can also solve the problem of how to supply one, or a number of hand-pack lines with coded components, whether cartons, sleeves, envelopes or labels.

One such technology commonly employed off-line is thermal transfer printing as it offers a high-resolution print on a package and it is a systems that is easy to set-up and isclean in operation.

There can be few production facilities that do not somewhere have a bench top thermal printer producing some form of label, added the company.

In Rotech's opinion, by combining the right type of thermal printer with a suitable feeding system almost any item can be printed off-line and at high rates of throughput.

The company said that for many years it has produced a feeding system for folded and glued cartons and sleeves that has satisfied the demands of the food, pharmaceutical and healthcare markets when there is a need to add a simple lot number, expiry date, or use-by date to packs off-line.

More recently the range has expanded to include systems that can feed a wider range of materials, such as blister cards, seed envelopes, medical device pouches and even single cut sheets of paper.

Rotech has also expanded the system's capability with the addition of it being able to handle bags and sacks made from either paper or film.

Fitted with a thermal transfer printer those systems can address a range of coding applications, including for example, the printing of seed packs with all the information relating to the product inside, which can save on stocks of pre-printed products whilst delivering only the packs that are needed, when they are required.

In addition the marking of medical device pouches with a bar codes, expiry date and bar codes where the only alternative is to pre-print a label and apply it by hand is now possible, as is the customisation of a generic automotive blister pack with a bar code and product description where the number of variants runs to several hundred.

Also within the scope of the system is printing single cut sheets of medical paper, used as lidding devices, with a 2D bar code along with the usual traceability codes, which guarantees product integrity because the code is printed on, not stuck to the lid and it cannot be removed or tampered with.

Printing direct on to large sacks of food ingredients instead of hand applying a pre-printed label is also an option.

With all those examples the task of overprinting has been carried out, in the customer's facility under their full control, prior to the product being packed, said Rotech, which said that delivering pre-printed components to the line can reduce complexity and help maintain production efficiencies at a high level.

Rotech Machines added that it provides systems for a range of off-line overprinting applications.

Also, as well as in-house testing facilities, the company can take a variety of systems to a customer's site to demonstrate their capabilities with the products the machines would need to handle.

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