2020 will go down in history as a challenging time for food producers. It is vital that food supplies to supermarkets and shops are uninterrupted and rigorous hygiene maintained – but we should not forget the importance of the printed information that is provided to the consumer when it is on the shelf. There are heavy fines for batch and date codes that do not meet the required legislation, and the printed codes must meet stringent traceability requirements should any recall be needed.
What to research
So, how do you go about ensuring you have the best possible coding equipment for the job in hand? As with any purchase, it always pays dividends to do your research and you may want to take into account the following:
Substrate – think of the range of different materials you will need to print on. It’s a good idea to ask for samples coded by the printer you are considering. Rest assured Linx offers this as standard!
Line speed – can the printer keep up with your line speed and what will the degradation be to the code if it cannot? Also, make sure you future-proof your printer for a potential increase in output. No-one likes to buy twice!
Factory environment – this can be tricky for coding onto food products. You need to ensure your printer and ink can cope with greasy environments, plastic film and the cooking process to name but a few. (Check out our ink blog for the latest ink developments at Linx, specifically developed for the food industry).
Budget – don’t be swayed to purchase based on the printer price alone. Take into account the total cost of ownership and factor in reliability – there is nothing more costly than a breakdown and we all know they never occur at a convenient time. Also bear in mind that there are a number of options when it comes to financing your equipment, to give you the best value in the long run.
Why Linx is a good choice for the food industry
Linx’s Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) printers, with a minimum IP55 rating to withstand washdown, are an excellent choice for the food industry. They deliver quality coding with exceptional reliability, ease of use and efficient operations. Simple user interfaces with built-in mistake proofing help keep uptime to a maximum. Touch screens are solvent and alcohol resistant so they can be operated while wearing plastic or rubber gloves, and operators can use hand sanitisers to stay healthy and still operate the printer.
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