Massively OT : Industrial, contactless inkjet printers?

Hey, and not forgetting ho,

This is so bizarre, the only place I can start asking is here - where
else.

A mate ( no, really ) has a flour mill, with 4 bakeries - he's looking
for some kind of contactless inkjet printer - not a full unit, more
like printhead only - so that he can tag this onto his bread-packing
machines to fire on variable data to the wrapper, pre-fill. This is
almost certainly a barcode and some text, to be used for traceability.

We've both snorfled around Google etc with loads of variants, but can't
come up with anything that even closely matches what he reckons he'd
like. So I'm guessing that it might not be available. We thought about
the thing that prints on eggshells, but from what we see these aren't
ideal.

I know this is clutching at straws, even for UKRM, but anyone got any
thoughts if there's owt about that'd be up for the job?

Obviously I suggested he saves that type of cash and just hires teenage
filipino girls, sisters preferably, to hand write this on. Leaves their
mouths free, that way.

Anyway, any thoughts/comments ( not on the chicks, the labelling ) be a
love and share, would you?

That is all.

 

Are you sure?

Googling turns up:
http://www.codent.co.uk/ - seems to be just the thing you want.
http://www.xaar.co.uk/packaging.htm - list of packaging printing
equipment suppliers
http://www.google.com/search?q=packaging+printing&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=&
ie=UTF-8
The google page with terms I used - i.e. "Packaging Printing"

You may like to look into label printers that fire the info onto
whatever you want to label, not paper or thermal printers. SWK about
barcodes may be along shortly though, and he may know more about this.

 

From memory, the best people to do such things are Domino:

http://www.domino-printing.com/uk/solutions/bytechnolo/codingandm/smallchara.cfm

Maybe more to the point they are the only people that actually did what
they said they could.

HTH

 

Christofire yik-yakked:

Obviously not!

Aha. Thanks for that. Obviously I'd google'd using I+am+a+fuckwit

Indeed. Bizarrely, we are specialist printers here, and do a massive
amount of barcoding and RFID work, but this was such an unusual medium
I was flummoxed by it.

Top, top man. Loads to at least run at there. Ta.

 

Ovenpaa yik-yakked:

Well, yes, we are aware of Domino but theirs is massively expensive
kit. Massively expensive, in a very real sense. That's why I thought
there must be others out there that do the units themselves, as Domino
seem to be more into supplying another entirely encased solution
whereas matey would rather utilise just a print head that he could make
room for on their existing filler lines.

Thanks for the heads-up though, we'll start trawling through all the
various ones now.

 

Cane yik-yakked:

A-ha. Promising indeed.

You use these guys for your stuff, or just know them? Hadn't heard of
them at all until now.

Contacted them anyway - thanks for that!

 

Ovenpaa has already mentioned Domino. I used/serviced these printers
several years ago when they were used on high-speed scanners, they
were excellent.

The ones we had could be programmed to print characters and barcodes
so I would think the latest ones would do the same but more
efficiently.

 

Cane yik-yakked:

Ta - some form of personal recommendation, or nod in the right
direction, is always more valued than just a name.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

 

Doesnotcompute yik-yakked:

Nope, we don't want labels - we want contactless printing, given away
by CONTACTLESS in the header. The printhead must fire the ink from a
certain distance onto the material. If he wanted to go RFID then it'd
be a piece of piss, but he doesn't. That's why we're flummoxed as we're
used to printing onto a substrate that's then stuck to something else,
not fired on like this requirement calls for.

As above.Contactless, ie no contact. Nada. None. Not a label. Remote
application, or even contactless as it were.

Pre-fill is the ideal time to apply this data. Some form of keyboard
display unit seems to be the norm, hooked in somewhere to the PC's
involved in production.

There's never enough time.

Happy to keep it here, unless specifically requested not to, ta.

 

<nods>

Could sting you.

 

Doesnotcompute yik-yakked:

Aha. The printing will be done pre-fill, ie before filling. Therefore
the packaging will be in a relatively static position.

Yup, I agree. His existing infrastructure is heavily barcode driven so
he has no cap.ex. with regard to implementing this apart from the print
heads he needs.

Yup, specific reason. Sort of his holy grail, but only because of the
new process he's bringing in for traceability etc. He produces 1m
loaves per week, never mind 4 times that on other bakery products, so
he's happy to invest as the new process will save him buckets in a
short period of time.

Ahh, but it isn't now. They're mostly RFID from Jan 1st next year.

Nope, Glasgow. Head office here and another in Stirling, with a view to
one in sunny Northampton soon.

It's more exotic by the minute, isn't it? ;-)

 

There's quite a buxx about it at the moment, tho.

 

Could be a swarm of interest if a solution can be found.

 

Doesnotcompute yik-yakked:

Yes, pre-fill in my tiny brain would mean before fill. But still
tricky, absolutely.

Yes and no. The technology does seem to be there, it's just adapting
what's currently available and been tested to suit. From what I've seen
no-one's tried it in this fashion yet, but that's where the fun is
-trying somehting new and getting it ( hopefully ) to work.

 

Ben Blaney yik-yakked:

Honeystly, we considered apiary alternative before thinking of
contactless.

 

"**** 'em, they're only bees"

 

Doesnotcompute yik-yakked:

Yup, it's *all* about the data. He wants to include this data on every
single item he produces as currently they receive *EEK* amounts of
pounds worth of complaints each week, mostly from one specific
supermarket customer who is infamous for complaining. If matey can
state categorically that loaf X came from batch X and was delivered
without any doubt on Y, then he can prove that the supermarkets own RDC
are at fault for screwing up the rotation - as it is he either fights
it which takes time, therefore money or simply pays up for the sake of
a quiet life. The contactless printing would cover the entire data
required to do this, including time of manufacture, which ingredients,
where these came from, etc and then most importantly how each specific
item was distributed, when, and to where.

Yet, but it is coming. WM have driven almost-compulsory RFID far more
than anyone, and made several big errors in doing so but their sheer
weight means that it's all proceeding much faster than anyone foresaw.

I know. Sometimes it even keeps me awake at my desk. Sometimes.

 

Doesnotcompute yik-yakked:

Well, his initial research into this seems to indicate to him that the
addtion of some of these print heads will enable the application of the
barcode at point of production. I know well the costs of RFID as we do
a lot of this - we're SUN Partners for RFID apps, mainly in the
document management arena but RFID is RFID - costs are the same,
generally, whatever the application.

Preaching to the converted here - as above, we do a lot of RFID. It's
the obvious medium, but he feels he's already invested heavily into
barcode infrastructure so wants to best utilise it for now, at least.
We just supplied some natty PDA/integrated barcode scanners to him that
are trick bits of kit, as an aside!

Eventually, yeah. Not mainstream yet, or even in a few years, but it's
knocking on the door and gaining speed daily.

You'll never know ;-)