Keeping bakery products that are packaged in bags or flexible wrapping fresh and undamaged when they arrive on the store shelves can pose a problem for bakers. Items such as breads, muffins, or cookies are soft and fragile and no one wants to buy them if they are damaged, broken, or have unappealing or ripped packaging. Bakery lines operate at very high speeds and product freshness is paramount. So when adding lot numbers, sell-by dates, and nutritional information to the package, selecting the right technology for coding is a key element in this fast-paced process. ID Technology has a range of products that fit into your production line to maximize coding of your bakery products.
Our CIJ print systems from Citronix provide a non-contact method of coding bags and flexible film. Perfect for use on bread bags and film wrapped items. Add identifying marks such as date and lot codes, barcodes, traceability codes and logos on a range of packaging types. CIJ printers produce high contrast marks for best readability across a variety of product colors and packaging materials. CIJ printers are easy to use and integrate seamlessly into your production line. With minimal maintenance and great print quality, a CIJ printer is the best way to add non-contact, real-time coding to your products on high-speed production lines. Achieve consistently clear coding on a range of substrates anywhere on the package. CIJ offers excellent ink adhesion with quick drying inks so there’s no unsightly smearing.
Another method of coding bakery products is our Macsa laser coders. Macsa lasers produce high-quality lot codes, sell-by dates and variable data directly onto film, paperboard, paper labels and plastic bread closure tags. No consumables are needed, the lasers require minimal maintenance and are user-friendly. Operators have the flexibility to make adjustments to change or move the codes without stopping the production line. Fully enclosed systems are available for bakeries in which baking flour creates a high dust environment.
Our range of Thermal Transfer Overprinters (TTO) adds variable information – date codes, lot numbers, price, barcodes – to flexible packaging. A digitally controlled printhead precisely melts ink from a ribbon directly onto flexible films to provide high resolution, real-time prints. The EasyPrint thermal transfer overprinter is capable of both intermittent and continuous printing, allowing for integration into both intermittent and continuous packaging equipment, such as bagging and flow-wrap machines. The TTO printer can also be integrated with our labeling systems to print date codes and other variable data onto the label. Thermal transfer overprinting results in a sharp, clear image without compromising production speed.
Apply our durable flexographic, digital, direct thermal and thermal transfer labels to your delicate products with labeling systems from EPI. Tamp/Blow label applicators are a non-contact way to apply labels to products such as bread and bun bags. Each label is fed onto the labeler’s tamp pad and held by a vacuum. When a product is detected the pneumatic cylinder extends and the label is blown onto the surface of the product. This type of applicator allows for a variable distance. Another version is the Vac/Blow label applicator used for flexible packaging. The label is fed onto the labeler’s tamp pad. A burst of air blows the label onto the surface when a product is detected without impact or damage to the product.
Want to find out more about how our products can help you label and code your bakery products? Visit us at the upcoming IBIE show this October 8 through October 11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. See demonstrations and talk to experts from both ID Technology and EPI Labelers. Over at the ID Technology booth (2373), we’ll be showing the best-selling label printer applicators on the market, designed to help you with barcoding your shipping cases and pallets to meet GS1 and customer labeling mandates. Visit EPI’s booth 3931 to find out more about labeling onto bread packaging, labeling clamshell style packages, with both top & bottom and C-wrap versions available. You’ll be able to see these as well as other EPI solutions in operation at the show.