Creating a great ink formula is similar to cooking a fantastic meal. It begins with high-quality raw materials, and the better the ingredients, the better the end-product is. However, quality doesn’t matter much if the materials themselves don’t complement one another.
In the culinary world, a dish with incompatible, low-quality ingredients will end up tasting terrible. Similarly, in the coding and marking industry, ink formulas made with the wrong materials will lead to a host of production issues, including:
As a result of these problems, manufacturers and packaging operations could inadvertently mark their products with illegible codes. With flawed product markings come supply chain issues, production line downtime, and the possibility of significant fines from distribution partners and regulatory bodies.
Fortunately, the coding and marking field is filled with expert ink developers who understand how to make excellent application-specific formulas—including ones for industrial plastic marking.
If you need high-performance inks for plastic printing, the three formulas detailed below are a great place to start.
Videojet has maintained a high profile in the industrial printing field for decades, and its production of quality ink formulas like V411-D is part of the reason why. Compatible with Videojet’s 1000 series CIJ printer line, V411-D is a black MEK ink that is compatible with a variety of plastic materials, including BOPP, polyethylene, HDPE, and LDPE. These plastics are commonly used to make flexible packaging and films for processed foods.
With V411-D, companies can place well-defined codes and sharp images onto their products. Designed to dry within one second, V411-D is a great choice for those who work with flexible packaging, heat-shrinkable overwraps, and other popular plastic containers. Additionally, the formula offers:
The only other ink that is more popular than V411-D is also made by Videojet—V410-D. Both V411-D and V410-D are general-purpose inks.
Akin to Videojet’s V411-D, DC411 from InkJet, Inc. is a quick-drying formula that excels in marking flexible packaging films found throughout industries like food and tobacco packaging. Black and MEK-based, DC411 offers superior adhesion to plastics, as well as a one-second drying time.
Since InkJet’s formation in the early 1990s, the company has made a name for itself by creating aftermarket formulas that are both more affordable and higher quality than its OEM alternatives. With options that are compatible with Videojet, Markem-Imaje, and Domino hardware, InkJet, Inc. takes pride in replicating and improving upon OEM formulas, and DC411 is no exception. Beyond great film adhesion and a quick drying time, DC411 is one of today’s top high-performance inks for plastic printing because it offers:
Based in Arlington, TX, Citronix is a subsidiary of the international coding and marking giant, Domino Printing Sciences. Citronix entered the market as a worldwide distributor of high-quality printers during a time when very few brands were focused on distribution. Because of this, Domino Printing Sciences purchased Citronix as a complementary brand that wouldn't diminish its CIJ market share. Formed around the core values of reliability, simplicity, capabilities, and value, Citronix’s CIJ printers are intuitive to use and are capable of achieving speeds up to 10.6 meters per second (636 meters per minute).
With solutions designed for food and beverage packaging, industrial material production, and consumer good manufacturing, Citronix’s printers utilize OEM formulas that are compatible with metals, wood, paperboard, and more. For plastic applications, 302-1032-001 is one of its best formulas.
Citronix uses 302-1032-001 as a general-purpose formula because it can handle a wide variety of substrates on the market, and since a large percentage of manufacturers use plastic as their packaging material, using a plastic ink as a general-purpose ink helps to decrease the risk of adhesion issues during product changeouts.
Black and MEK-based, 302-1032-001 is a fast-drying formula that is compatible with leading plastic materials like PP, LDPE, and HDPE. With its ability to cut through layers of moisture and oil, 302-1032-001 helps workers resist environmental concerns to maintain maximum uptime. Whether you need to mark plastic bottles, cable coverings, pipes, bags, or film, 302-1032-001 is a reliable and high-performing choice. It's highly esteemed in the coding and marking industry and has helped Citronix build the good reputation it holds today.
Recent market research reveals that the coding and marking industry is growing across the world. Pushed by industrial printer usage in the industries of food, pharmaceuticals, and beverage packaging, the coding and marking field is continuously developing new products that help companies improve their daily operations. With this expansion comes new hardware, software, and ink formulas.
When these developments occur, C&M Digest will be there to give you the latest details, reviews, and thoughts on printing technology. Stay tuned to find what may be the missing piece of your production line!
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