The benefits of CIJ printing in the beverage and bottling industry
In the beverage and bottling industry, speed and precision are essential. In such high volume environments, one way to ensure accuracy while retaining efficiency and production costs is with Continuous Inkjet Printing (CIJ). For beverage manufacturers with multiple high speed lines and products, CIJ can offer the quality, flexibility and control necessary to meet output demands.
Overview of Continuous Inkjet Printing and its Advantages
Continuous inkjet printing is an advanced technology that has been widely used in the beverage and bottling industry. Rather than using conventional methods of applying product information such as labels which come with additional waste materials and costs, CIJ can print directly on to a wide variety of materials including metal, plastic and glass. CIJ is capable of printing batch codes, use-by dates, logos and more, with a wide variety of sizes and shapes catered for in one single pass. Its adaptability also allows coding and marking in high-resolution with precision alignment, giving businesses more creative opportunity to increase brand recognition and customer engagement.
Low Total Cost of Ownership
Achieving a low total cost of ownership (TCO) is often a primary concern for manufacturers. This predominantly involves factoring in all costs associated with operating the equipment – from its purchase price, to maintenance & repair, spare parts, ink and also waste products. Continuous inkjet printing offers several advantages for companies looking to maximise their TCO; its inherent design promotes very low expenditure on routine end-user maintenance and servicing due to robust components. Furthermore, its high quality industrial grade printheads allow users to meet most professional coding requirements. As such, businesses can achieve significant savings in terms of total operational costs of the machine without sacrificing quality.
Faster Production Speeds
CIJ printers are designed to print at high speeds, a critical requirement for high volume supply chains such as those seen in the beverage and bottling industry.
Capable of outputting 80,000 droplets of ink every second, using CIJ within a supply chain can result in faster production speeds. In addition to the printing process itself, higher speeds are also achieved by removing bottlenecks in pre-printing processes. This helps to streamline operations and reduce time-consuming tasks, which leads to multiple benefits such as greater efficiency, lower costs and quicker turnarounds. Additionally, Continuous inkjet printing provides flexibility in terms of substrate selection; it is interchangeable and compatible with self-adhesive labels, cartons, shrink sleeves and more making it an ideal solution for a wide variety of product requirements.
Versatility for Different Type of Products
Product versatility is an often overlooked factor in the beverage and bottling industry. CIJ allows for a range of products, even odd shapes and non-standard containers, to be printed on quickly and cost-effectively. Flexibility and speed are key features when it comes to coding and marking for products with differing sizes, materials, surfaces or substrates in the market. Whether you want lightning fast processing, BBD, batch codes or use by dates on your products – CIJ can accommodate those demands with exceptional quality printing results.
Improved Quality Control and Traceability Standards
CIJ printing offers several advantages when used in the beverage and bottling industry, not least improved quality control and traceability standards. The benefits of CIJ printing – as far as quality control and traceability are concerned – are considerable.
Firstly, CIJ printers can be used to apply clear letters and barcodes at high speed with superior detail resolution – allowing for significantly more accurate identification and traceability of individual packages. Secondly, the versatility in terms of ink type usage and the substrate that CIJ can print on to enable businesses to utilise these machines across multiple applications.
In addition, CIJ also has the advantage of delivering less affected results due to slight variations in substrate positioning on a moving production line. All these factors mean that many manufacturers rely on CIJ printers for meeting stringent quality control protocols and highly accurate product tracing.
To summarise, continuous inkjet printing offers a wide range of advantages, specifically for beverage and bottling businesses. The total cost of ownership is low due to the affordability and long-lasting performance of these printers, while production speeds are increased to meet consumer demands. Advanced capabilities to ensure quality control and traceability standards can be easily maintained. It is also versatile enough to work with almost any type of product or application, no matter how complex they may be.