Stick packs and sachets are commonly associated with pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic products that require a printed batch number or best before date. For food manufacturers they provide convenience and portion control, mostly associated with the hospitality sector. For pharmaceutical companies, they present a tightly sealed, single use product with a controlled dosage. Both instances demand accurate, visible coding and marking to guarantee consumer safety and peace of mind.
Hot foil Coders
Previously, stick packs and sachets would be embossed on the seam using a hot foil coder. However, limited information could be applied, with no real time coding available. There was also excess downtime when manually changing the type and from the stop/start motion of the coder.
Thermal Inkjet technology
Thermal Inkjet technology is a compact system that can be easily integrated into existing manufacturing equipment. Whether it be a multi lane installation on a complex form, fill and seal machine or a single printhead running continuously alongside a horizontal sachet machine. When space is limited on a production line, TIJ is the go-to option. It doesn’t require any maintenance apart from a quick cartridge change which is ideal in tightly packed stick pack & sachet machinery.
Each printer can be wirelessly connected and print real-time, high-resolution code without interrupting the flow of production. Unlike a hot foil coder, a TIJ printer is non-contact so does not damage the overall integrity of the packaging. TIJ will produce quality, readable fonts of up to 1mm on small areas of the packaging, without wastage from the drop on demand technology. The systems can generate 1D and 2D barcodes, a requirement of pharmaceutical and medical equipment.
