The pros and cons of various digital technologies in decreasing costs and improving traceability over more traditional, mechanical approaches are explored in a new white paper looking at flexible film coding.

Flexible film is the largest and fastest growing packaging material and, traditionally, rotary coding and hot stamping have been used to code these surfaces. However, now that variable data is increasingly used to optimize inventory and enhance traceability, among other benefits, these inflexible, high downtime and expensive methods are ill-suited for modern manufacturers, particularly those with Industry 4.0 initiatives. This latest white paper from Markem-Imaje shares insights for coding flexible film more effectively via digital technologies instead.

‘Selecting the right coding technology for flexible film’ begins with an analysis of the factors driving the popularity of flexible film and the trend to more complex codes. It then outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the four most popular digital options −thermal transfer (TTO), continuous inkjet (CIJ), thermal inkjet (TIJ) and laser technologies− as compared to each other, and to the more traditional mechanical approaches. Factors covered in the white paper include setup, handling, code quality required, speed, product type and size of print area.

Case studies from leading manufacturers are provided:

Hotel Chocolat: Faster speeds and greater line efficiency while maintaining a premium print for this leading British chocolatier

Noberasco: Insights into an evolving Industry 4.0 strategy at this Italian soft and dried fruit producer

East Coast Bakehouse: Doing high speed coding on fully automated packing lines at an Irish biscuit manufacturer with one of Europe’s largest bakehouses

Sabarot Wassner: Deploying a variety of coding solutions at this French manufacturer of dried lentils, pulses, cereals, seeds and snails.

To download the white paper, please visit: https://www.markem-imaje.com/industries/solutions/how-to-code-flexible-film-efficiently.