How Small & Midsize UK Manufacturers can Start their Digital Traceability Journey

Why Digital Traceability Matters for SME’s 

There is an evolving importance of traceability in manufacturing. Not only for big companies but for SME’s this is extremely important to keep up with the changes in digital traceability. Ensuring your products meet the latest digital traceability recommendations means your business will remain compliant, quality assured and will help to build consumer trust. This will also reduce the risks of recalls and promote your product and brand authenticity to consumers.   

Common Challenges with Smaller Manufacturers

A lot of SME’s face issues with budgets and resources. Ensuring you coding solutions provides the optimum performance with high quality service within your price range is vital.  Here at Linx, we understand and have flexible agreements and payment options, to help best suit your business.  

Small and midsize manufacturers may also face issues with the complexity of integrating new technology into an existing process. We have experts available to assess your specific production line to advise the best solution to your coding and marking needs. Whether its CIJ, LCM, TIJ or Laser, we offer unique support to ensure your line is efficient, safe and productive. We also offer training options both on your site and at Linx House to ensure you are trained to use our technology to the best of your ability. We offer a basic operator training and technical training, alongside a dedicated support team that are based at Linx house and are here to help should you run into any issues. 

Choosing the Right Printing Technology 

As a smaller manufacturer, we understand that figuring out which technology is best suited to your needs may be difficult. We have product experts who can assess your business needs, complete sample marking on your products and advise which printer is the most effective option for your coding needs. We also have a range of inks that suit different substrates which will impact the durability and quality of the code.  

CIJ – Offers fast accurate coding on a range of materials and surfaces. Ideal for batch codes and date codes on high-speed production lines.  

TIJ – Fast high resolution and zero maintenance provide coding on a range of surfaces such as cartons, films and labels.  

Laser – High-speed, high-quality coding for permanent traceability. Ideal for sectors such as food, beverage and pharma, with products that need to avoid chemicals.  

LCM – Removes the need for labels on secondary packaging by printing directly onto boxes, offers text, logos and graphics.  

Benefits of Remote Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance  

At Linx we offer benefits alongside our printers such as PrinterNet. This is an application that allows you to monitor your printer from anywhere at any time. This allows you to focus on the rest of your business knowing any issues with your printer will be notified to you, and subsequently our specialist engineers who can either log in remotely or if not, can arrange a site visit. Remote monitoring and scheduled maintenance reduce the risk of errors and disruption, minimising downtime and optimising efficiency and performance.  

Future Proofing Operations  

With GS1 proposed for 2027, where 2D barcodes will be a requirement on all products, ensuring you are using sufficient coding technology will enable your business to be prepared and digitally optimised. Additionally, Linx offer a range of products, inks and solvents that best suit your businesses sustainability and quality goals.  

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