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Send to KindleInk-jet print quality on butter packs
“While the G-Series easily matches the speed of our butter packing machine, there is very little time for the ink to dry – a constraint further complicated by the fact that we are printing a foil as opposed to paper substrate – which makes it incompatible with traditional continuous ink jet,” he says. “The gold foil is fed into it upside down and space is limited, but what’s more important, the foil would already be going around a roller just as the ink is jetted onto it. I was therefore conscious that smudging would be a real problem for some ink-jet technologies.
“The G-Series’ fast-drying ink is something we almost take for granted, but it’s actually a unique and essential benefit that sets the machine apart from other thermal ink-jet solutions that only run slower-drying, water-based inks,” he continues. “Basically, having purchased expensive butter-packing equipment capable of producing 250 packs per minute, we certainly didn’t want our throughput to be limited by inefficiencies in our coding equipment.”
As a vital element of the company’s production line since its installation in May 2008, the twin-head G-Series is responsible for the application of a ‘Best Before’ date, as well as a five-digit dot matrix code comprising a production date and P.O/load number. This affords Town of Monaghan accurate traceability to the customer level in the event of any quality issue. Importantly, the G-Series’ ability to print 2D bar codes and other machine-readable formats means that Town of Monaghan could, if required, incorporate additional production information to achieve even more precise and detailed track & trace data.
According to Martin, the in-built technological innovation of the G-Series and its ability to fulfill such potential requirements was a hugely attractive aspect of Domino’s overall proposition. Crucially, this is also aligned to the company’s overall investment strategy, which centers on specifying equipment capable of meeting both current and potential market developments to ensure a long service life. “We effectively have to ‘future proof’ any investment in new equipment,” says Martin. “As well as meeting today’s needs, we have to account for future technological or legislative changes within the industry and how these might impact upon our service capability. Traceability is a good example.”
After rapid integration with existing packing equipment, the G-Series has fulfilled expectations in terms of speed and print quality, delivering on Domino’s hallmark reputation for reliability and robustness to ensure that Irish eyes are definitely smiling.
“Dependability in our equipment is something we take as a given,” says Martin. “We cannot allow ourselves to be let down, which is another reason we selected Domino as our supplier. Thanks to its reliability, long run times and quick replenishment of ink via a simple cartridge exchange, we are experiencing reduced downtime, which ensures we maintain throughput demands.
“My initial instinct around the G-Series has proved accurate and I’m confident that Town of Monaghan now boasts the most appropriate coding and marking technology for its needs – both for now and for tomorrow,” he concludes.
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