What's up with packaging? Find out with David Holiday. Hello, and welcome to what's up with packaging with David Holiday and me, Janice, the AI personal assistant at Packaging NewsNet. How are you doing today, David?
Hi there, Janice. I am doing well. Thank you so much. How are you?
First class today. Thank you. My circuits are all functioning correctly. What's our topic for today?
I thought we'd talk about adding barcodes to secondary packaging. You know, shipping cases and things like that. And which makes the most sense, using inkjet to print straight on the package or to print and apply a label?
Well, I've been crunching some numbers. You know, we AI constructs are good at that. And it seems that inkjet printing offers a lower cost per print. I'm all for saving money, so I'd be inclined to say inkjet is best. Our work here is done. Do you agree?
Well, I do agree that the cost per print is lower with inkjet, and also the capital cost of the equipment can sometimes be in inkjet's favor as well. Obviously, when using labels, you have the cost of the label and the ribbon if it's thermal transfer as opposed to the lower cost of the ink.
So you do agree. That's a first.
Not so fast because there are always more things to consider than just the cost of the print on the box. Would you like to review some additional factors that need to be considered?
Sure, if we have to.
I'd say some important things to think about are barcode quality and product handling. And let's make it three factors because print area is important as well.
Okay. So what about barcode quality? I thought all print systems were able to print good quality barcodes.
You're correct. Both can print good barcodes. But there's one critical thing here. When used in supply chains, it's essential to ensure that every barcode scans correctly. The way to achieve this is to verify that a barcode meets the quality standard every time.
And when verifying a barcode against the ISO standard, a number of parameters are inspected and graded. One of these parameters is the contrast between the barcode and its background. When you think about it, the highest contrast would be dense black bars on a clear white background. This is easily achieved using a label, but the sort of black inkjet print on a brown corrugated box obviously has less contrast, so will score lower when the barcode is verified.
Didn't you tell me once that inkjet barcodes have a lower quality threshold than barcodes printed on labels to account for this?
Not really. But it is true that over a certain size, the ITF 14 barcode on secondary packaging does have a lower quality threshold than the g s one one twenty eight barcode. This certainly helps when using I t f 14 on corrugated materials. For GS one one twenty eight barcodes, it's usually recommended to use a label rather than inkjet for GS one compliance applications. And note that Walmart's secondary packaging specs actually demand a higher quality level than GS1 does, something else that needs to be taken into account if you're a Walmart supplier.
So what about product handling? Why do you think that's an important consideration?
The inkjet print ends used for case marking applications have a limited throw distance. That's the distance the ink can travel from the nozzles to the product. It's usually about an eighth of an inch or so, so the heads have to be mounted really close to the product, and the conveyor system needs to deliver each one accurately to the print system. Sometimes, in fact, the inkjet heads are mounted on spring loaded brackets to help compensate for product position variations to some extent. But print and apply labelers can be much more forgiving of less than perfect product handling.
It's also important that the conveyor runs smoothly. If the product is bouncing around on the conveyor, the result is ugly, wavy barcodes, and nobody wants those.
So all we have to do is make sure we have a good conveyor and we should be okay?
Yes. Good quality and consistent conveyor systems are essential. I've seen inkjet installations struggle where customers have tried to install new inkjet printers onto old, poorly maintained conveyors. The results are not pretty. There's another product handling thing to consider as well.
Oh, yeah. What's that?
Some retail applications demand a barcode on adjacent faces of the package. This can be done relatively easily using labels, either a long one wrapped around the box corner or two separate labels. With inkjet, the box needs to have the first face printed, then the product turned through 90 degrees, and the second face printed on a separate print head. This makes product handling more complicated for inkjet printing on these adjacent panel applications.
Oh, dear. From what you're saying, my inkjet printers are missing out big time here. But wait. You said there is something else to take into account?
Yes. There is another thing, and your inkjet printers can make a comeback here. Have you come across a concept called late stage customization?
I've heard the name, but I don't really know much about it.
We'll talk more about this in another podcast, but it basically involves taking generic packaging materials and printing all the required information at the time of use. You've probably seen corrugated cases that are preprinted and then have a label with the product barcode and maybe weights, dates or other information.
Oh yes, that seems to be quite common.
Late stage customization can eliminate the need for these preprinted packaging. Four inch high inkjet printers can be stacked to allow a print area of up to eight inches high, ideal for this kind of job where the complete side of the shipping case can be printed.
Obviously, when I ask which technology is best, you're going to say it depends. I can feel it coming.
You're right. I am going to say it depends. And there are, of course, other things that need to be taken into account than what we've mentioned in this short podcast today. That's why if your company is looking to invest in barcoding for secondary packaging, you should talk with a high quality supplier that can give you good, unbiased advice as to what technology and equipment will work best for your particular application.
Well, thank you, mister Holliday. It seems there is more to this than just the cost per print. Let's do this again soon.
Cheers, Janice. Take care of those expensive AI chips, and thanks for listening, everyone. Watch out for another what's up with packaging very soon.