Food and Beverage
High-Resolution, and Low-Maintenance Coding Solutions
Safe and Efficient Food and Beverage Packaging
Smart-Jet® Thermal Ink Jet (TIJ) technology is perfectly suited for food and beverage applications due to its high resolution print, wide range of available inks that can print on a variety of substrates, from plastic, glass, and flexible film, to glossy chipboard and kraft cartons, and practically no maintenance. In applications where quick changeover is a necessity, Smart-Jet® Printers provide fast, simple message call-up. With up to 23 MB of storage, all your messages can be created and stored on the controller. You can also connect printers via Ethernet to remotely control and monitor the printers. Additionally, you can use a bar code scanner to call up messages using the Scan-To-Print option. Simply scan the GTIN-12 (UPC-A) symbol on the product to print the corresponding message, or create a page of bar codes that correspond to the messages to print.
With Smart-Jet TIJ Printers, you can expect lower costs, both in capital and operational costs, compared to other print technologies, as there are no pumps or other mechanical components to wear out or service. The non-contact, drop-on-demand technology also ensures a cleaner printing process, which is crucial for food safety and brand integrity.
Key reasons why Smart-Jet TIJ is the perfect choice for food and beverage applications:
High-Resolution, Legible Codes: Smart-Jet® printers produce sharp, clear images and text, with resolutions up to 600 x 600 dpi, ensuring that vital information like date codes, expiry dates, text, logos, and nutritional facts are legible for consumers and meet regulatory requirements. And with Sunrise 2027 looming, Smart-Jet® printers are the ideal technology to take your product identification to the next level.
Versatility: Smart-Jet® printers have a variety of inks (water-based, solvent-based, UV-curable, edible) and can print on a wide range of porous and non-porous materials, including paper, plastics, and coated cartons, to name a few. Pretty much any packaging material used in food and beverage packaging applications has a compatible Smart-Jet ink. With the various packaging shapes, sizes, and designs, food and beverage manufacturers distinguish their products from their competitors by offering unique package design and appearance. Smart-Jet® printers can print any font style from 1 mm to 25.4 mm height. This includes the ability to import and print True-Type fonts, all linear bar codes and 2D symbols, logos and graphics, and much more, on a wide range of packaging materials.
Low-Maintenance, No Mess: We are hesitant to say zero maintenance, since these are manufacturing environments. However, other than occasionally wiping the nozzles, there is nothing else required to maintain Smart-Jet® printers. Unlike other ink jet technologies, Smart-Jet® printers feature printhead cartridges with no pumps or other moving parts, which means a new, clean printhead is installed with every cartridge change, eliminating the need for complex maintenance and cleaning. Additionally, because there are no pumps or other mechanical ink delivery process, there is no ink spillage. There are no bottles of ink or solvent required. In contrast, Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) printers require an ink and solvent be mixed in the printing process, which ultimately creates a potential messy situation.
Speed and Flexibility: Smart-Jet® printers can print on high-speed production lines while still delivering high-quality prints. You also offer the flexibility to print different designs, logos, and variable data on each package, supporting customization and marketing needs.
Food Safety and Integrity: Smart-Jet Smart-Jet® printers print product information that is permanently and legibly marked, which is vital for product traceability, consumer safety, and adherence to food industry standards.
Compact and Mobile: Smart-Jet® printers are generally more compact and mobile than other industrial marking options, making them easier to integrate into existing production lines. We also offer a range of Smart-Jet® handheld printers for direct product marking.
Capability: With the various shapes, sizes and designs of packaging, the industry distinguishes its products from its competitors by its unique package design and/or look. TIJ offers any font style in 1mm to 12.5mm height true-type fonts, all linear and 2D code structures, graphics and much more on a wide range of packaging materials, both porous and non-porous substrates.
Easy Integration: Smart-Jet® printers are simple to integrate into your existing packaging lines. Mounting and installation are simple, which also means little production downtime is required.
Conclusion: Smart-Jet® printers are ideal for any food and beverage packaging application where ease of use, zero downtime, and high quality constant or variable data print is required.