Making the mark: Selecting right ink for application

A trusted partner can be the difference for ever-evolving industries in these rapidly progressing times. Forged on a foundation of communication, such relationships can yield mutually beneficial results for both business firm and client.

Take packaging professionals: Aligning with the right coding and marking supplier can help navigate the crucial ink-selection process. And the best ink suppliers study the evolution of packaging materials, understand the range of manufacturing environments, and proactively apply rigorous ink development processes to ensure code performance and integrity.

Bausch+Ströbel (B+S), a leading international manufacturer of primary packaging production lines for pharmaceutical products such as ampoules, bottles, vials, single-use-syringes and cartridges, approached, global coding and marking specialists, Videojet to select the right ink for their applications . B+S’s highly precise material-handling solutions, including vacuum starwheels, provided the smooth, vibration-free transport necessary for printing high quality DataMatrix codes.

Relying on over 40 years of industry experience and a rigorous ink development process – including extensive analytical instrumentation to aid substrate evaluation, ink durability testing, and compliance with environmental and safety regulations such as REACH, EuPIA, VOC’s and FDA/GMP, and Statistical Process Control - Videojet identified a number of solutions for B+S’s coding needs. The 1510 Continuous Ink Jet printer, with 70 micron nozzle and V459-D ultraviolet fluorescing ink, was implemented to ensure repeatable and reproducible ink composition and performance across all global manufacturing locations. Videojet V459-D ultraviolet ink was also selected since it addressed a number of application requirements including high fluorescence, outstanding edge acuity on plastic and glass surfaces, and excellent adhesion and resistance to autoclave processing. The B+S solution includes an integrated inspection station to provide further assurance of code quality.

With the Bausch+Ströbel –Videojet case study as a vivid, real guide of this critical partnership, we can examine the many different factors to consider when using ink jet coding equipment to make sure you choose the right ink that meets your specific application requirements.

Identify what you need
Printing equipment suppliers focus heavily on new product design to provide the packaging industry with innovative, class leading coding solutions that support stringent production needs. However, research and development investment should not stop at the coding equipment. The demand for new speciality inks suited to an increasing variety of innovative packaging is both a sign of real customer challenges and an indicator of where hardware suppliers should direct investment and expertise.

In preparation for discussing ink selection with the experts, you should ask yourself these questions:

• What material am I coding onto?
• Are there any surface coatings or contaminants from the manufacturing process present on the product either before or after coding?
• What product surface color variation exists, and what is your or your customer’s requirement for visual or machine readable code contrast?
• What is the printer operating environment and what temperature extremes will the product itself experience and the code need to endure?
• When and what components come into contact with the ink code after printing that may impact ink dry time and durability?

The material being coded influences ink performance. New high-performance plastics are constantly being developed that can present complex challenges to ink code adhesion. The production environment also plays a significant role in how inks adhere. Factors like moisture, temperature, and humidity can all impact initial ink code adhesion and durability. Drying and set times afforded by product processes and manufacturing environments must be accommodated. Understanding these fixed ‘constraints’ is crucial to selecting an ink that can survive the manufacturing process environment.

The time between printing the code and its first contact with a material handling component, like a belt or guide rail, or even adjacent products may influence the code’s adhesion and legibility. These manufacturing process conditions can result in problems such as ink transfer or code smudging, and therefore should be considered when selecting the required ink.

Access experts
Manufacturers should take full advantage of the ink expertise offered by their marking and coding ink and equipment partner. There are multiple options and considerations to take into account when choosing ink, but by engaging hardware application specialists and ink chemists together, you can achieve a better fit to your exact needs. For example an ink that worked yesterday might not work today due to a subtle change in a manufacturing process or an undisclosed change to the substrate by your supplier. An ink specialist and their unique set of tools can help diagnose these problems and recommend solutions that get code performance back to an optimal state.

Keeping up with new technology
Just as manufacturers are always improving their processes, ink specialists are constantly researching new formulations to meet new coding application challenges. Manufacturers need to take this into consideration as they upgrade or expand their systems.

However, resist the temptation to cut corners. Some packaging teams may move to save money by purchasing fluids from a third-party ink supplier. Since these fluids are engineered without taking into consideration the printer specifications, these fluids can degrade a printer’s performance and code appearance over time. As a result, off-brand supplies can end up costing much more in the long run due to costs associated with excessive maintenance, premature part failures, and unpredictable downtime.

Bottom Line
Packaging professionals will be well-served by partnering with a thorough coding and marking company in order to choose the proper ink for their applications. This relationship can be the critical difference in any business climate.