Read the latest news as Linx celebrates 25 years

Two new large character printers from coding and marking specialist Linx Printing Technologies can cut production costs while maximising line uptime and print quality.

 

The Linx IJ355 and IJ375 high definition case coders offer a cost-effective, easy to use alternative to other large character printers, and to the labelling or pre-printing of secondary packaging.   

 

Their innovative ReFRESH® ink recirculation system, robust design, and printhead protection technology mean significantly reduced downtime and savings on consumables.  

 

The patented ink recirculation system’s ReFRESH technology ensures premium print quality and also avoids wasted ink during printhead cleaning, thus saving time and money ordinarily wasted on purging procedures.  Ink and dust that collect on the nozzles is removed with an air knife, an ink purge takes place, then ink from this procedure is collected, passed through a high performance filter to remove impurities from the system, and re-circulated. Operators only need to perform a quick simple maintenance on a regular basis in order to keep the printer in optimum operating condition.

 

The tough stainless-steel nozzle guard protects the printhead from possible damage, caused by impact with the boxes on the line, while remaining close enough to the packaging to ensure superior print quality is maintained.                     …/

The robust stainless steel lower casing and printhead protection mean the Linx IJ355 and IJ375 are robust enough to cope with the busiest production line demands, delivering significant savings on consumables and in minimised downtime.       

           

Jason Remnant, Linx Product Manager, says: “Eliminating wasted ink is a hugely significant way of saving money. Standard printhead cleaning techniques can waste enough ink in a single clean to code 2,000 boxes.

 

“The ReFRESH ink recirculation system ensures the printer uses every last drop of ink for its intended purpose – printing.  

“In addition, the nozzles within the printhead are at an optimum distance to the substrate to be coded, which gives excellent print quality. Added to that is the printhead protection. When you consider that a printhead accounts for a large proportion of the cost of the machine, it is vitally important that Linx customers can rely on printheads with the longest possible working life.”

 

Error free coding is assured with the IJ355 and IJ375’s full colour LCD interface and touchscreen operator controls, with print preview and icon-based message selection. The versatile touch screen control unit is detachable for hand-held use, or for mounting in a more convenient location. A new set of robust accessories is also available from Linx, to ensure simple and accurate mounting of the printer onto the production line.

Adds Jason Remnant: “The Linx IJ355 and IJ375 are designed to meet customer demands for low cost of ownership and reduced downtime alongside high-quality, reliable printing.”

 

Newlane Cosmetics of Vietnam has won a Linx TJ225 thermal inkjet printer in the June prize draw which forms part of the Linx 25 jubilee campaign.
The Linx TJ225 provides a reliable, digital case coding solution, and is easy to install right out of the box.

Nguyen Luc from Newlane entered the monthly prize draw on the competition website set up to celebrate Linx's 25th anniversary this year. Each month since April one winner has been drawn at random, to win a Linx TJ225.

 

Then on Linx’s 25th birthday, 6 July 2012, the owner of the oldest Linx CIJ printer in each of four global regions will be chosen to win a new Linx CIJ printer, fully installed, plus an ink and solvent pack to get them started.

 

Newlane Cosmetics, based in Ho Chi Minh City, offers customers access to state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and technical expertise as well as the proven experience of its key production staff, all of whom are trained in a technology-driven multinational manufacturing environment.

 

Its plant in Vietnam offers a fast-track route for private labels to establish high quality products in a cost-competitive economy. The wide portfolio of products ranges from personal to skincare items to a broad selection of packaging such as exclusive bottles and tubes.

 

To register for the Linx 25 prize draw, and for full terms and conditions, please go to www.linx25.com. Everyone who registers their details will receive a Linx commemorative mug. Applicants can also enter Linx's 'Oldest CIJ printer' competition.

Dave Kelly at Wrigley’s in Plymouth has won a Linx TJ225 thermal inkjet printer in the May draw prize draw which forms part of the Linx 25 jubilee campaign.

 

The Linx TJ225 provides a reliable, digital case coding solution, and is easy to install right out of the box.

Dave entered the monthly prize draw on the competition website set up to celebrate Linx's 25th anniversary this year. Each month one winner is drawn at random, and wins a Linx TJ225.

 

Then on Linx’s 25th birthday, 6 July 2012, the owner of the oldest Linx CIJ printer in each of four global regions will be chosen to win a new Linx CIJ printer, fully installed, plus an ink and solvent pack to get them started.

Meanwhile April's winner of our Jubilee campaign has been presented with his prize by Linx Lithuanian distributor UAB Pralo.

 

Giedrius Poviliūnas, Plant Manager of Akvatera, received his Linx TJ225 printer from Andrej Bagrincev,Head of Technical Equipment Sales at UAB Pralo.

 

To register for the Linx 25 prize draw, and for full terms and conditions, please go to www.linx25.com. Everyone who registers their details will receive a Linx commemorative mug (subject to availability).

Further draws will take place on 6th  June and July.

 

Applicants can also enter Linx's 'Oldest CIJ printer' competition, and sign up to receive a limited edition Linx 25th Anniversary mug.

Linx has always designed its equipment and consumables to minimise waste, as this helps our customers reduce their running costs.  

As we introduce new products, we always aim to improve their efficiency, and therefore further reduce consumables usage and waste.  

For example, the Linx 7300 Solver is a continuous ink jet printer that reduces solvent consumption by up to 40 per cent compared to its predecessors, and far more compared to other products on the market.

In addition, as new sustainability guidelines and requirements are introduced, such as RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE, Linx equipment has been designed to meet these new requirements.  

Linx also offers a range of continuous ink jet consumables to allow customers to choose between conventional solvent based printing fluids and inks that are MEK and ketone free, depending on their needs.

Linx is determined to develop products with lower running costs, partly by reducing the amount of consumables used in running and maintaining coding equipment.  

By developing products with more sustainability, we further reduce running costs for our customers whilst benefiting the environment.

Whatever type of coding and marking equipment you choose, selecting one that uses fewer consumables reduces the amount of packaging waste, disposal and logistics required, as well as reducing running costs.  
 
Power consumption of coders can vary enormously. Printers relying on heating elements or which incorporate heat sources for maintaining ink viscosity use more energy. Also, some printers need factory air in addition to an electricity supply. Inevitably, this increases costs and environment impact alike.

Another way of minimising impact of waste is to choose a printer where fewer parts need to be replaced on a regular basis.  

Some coders on the market are fitted with specialist assemblies with a short life span; while the use of such parts enables a lower initial purchase price, it disguises a much higher long-term cost of ownership and increases waste which will need specialist disposal.  Choose a printer which uses parts that are fit for life.

Choosing wisely will give you a solution that meets your needs without unnecessarily impacting on the environment – and will also save you money.

Linx Printing Technologies has announced the first winner of the prize draw which forms part of the Linx 25 jubilee campaign.

 Lithuanian Pet Food manufacturer Akvatera has won a Linx TJ225 thermal inkjet printer in the April draw. The Linx TJ225 provides a reliable, digital case coding solution, and is easy to install right out of the box.

Giedrius Poviliūnas, Plant Manager of Akvatera, told us he was delighted to win and plans to use the printer to code onto a range of Super Premium pet food products.

Akvatera entered the monthly prize draw on the competition website set up to celebrate Linx's 25th anniversary this year. Each month one winner is drawn at random, and wins a Linx TJ225.

Then on Linx’s 25th birthday, 6 July 2012, the owner of the oldest Linx CIJ printer in each of four global regions will be chosen to win a new Linx CIJ printer, fully installed, plus an ink and solvent pack to get them started.

To register for the Linx 25 prize draw, and for full terms and conditions, please go to www.linx25.com. Everyone who registers their details will receive a Linx commemorative mug (subject to availability).

Further draws will take place on 6th May, June and July.
Applicants can also enter Linx's 'Oldest CIJ printer' competition, and sign up to receive a limited edition Linx 25th Anniversary mug.

The smuggling and counterfeiting trade is worth $75bn and growing at 13% a year, so pharmaceutical companies are constantly looking for ways to combat this threat.

In addition, many manufacturers are looking for effective and unobtrusive ways to track products throughout the production and packaging processes.

Pharma counterfeiting represents a real problemto end users, who want assurance that the product is what they purchased and will be effective and not harmful.

The coding and marking industry is able to offer some solutions to the problem of counterfeiting.  These include complex high-definition digital graphics from thermal inkjet or large character printers, special security inks for continuous ink jet printers, or laser coders which mark an indelible code.

Serial numbering of packs can help the end user to identify that their purchase is genuine, through the use of codes that can be linked back to a central warehouse for authentication.

However at a basic level it is possible to duplicate that serial number and make a counterfeit product look genuine.

So hiding the identification or serial number in an encoded format such as a Data Matrix barcode makes it more difficult for these codes to reproduced.

Combining this with supply chain management, whereby individual products are scanned as they migrate from manufacturer to end user can provide added security and highlight where counterfeits maybe originating.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have proven a popular method of hiding data so itis not easily accessible by counterfeiters. This comes at a cost though – RFID programmers, readers and application processes carry a higher investment than that of a printed digital code.

High resolution digital printers, such as the Linx TJ225, which have the capability to quickly produce graphics with resolutions in excess of 180dpi, allow the production of not just encoded dynamic Data Matrix codes but also images that can contain covert data, which can only be read with a specialised electronic system. Designs may take the form of image forensics, digital watermarks or copy detection.  Laser coders can also produce these codes indelibly on certain types of packaging material.

Tracking and traceability is also enhanced and these techniques can even be used as a detection tool, by deliberately putting particular covert data into certain stages of the supply chain, or geographical areas, to identify where counterfeiting is taking place.

Modern coding and marking printers  generally tend to have this inherent printing capability but need to be backed up with software or image creation software that allows integration of this additional data into the original files.

In providing this additional capability, system interfaces have to be intuitive to use and minimise the chance of coding errors during setup,or printing the wrong code for the product.

Security inks have also been developed for discreet coding and marking applications such as anti-counterfeiting or internal traceability.

These are almost invisible in normal light but fluoresce under UV. Linx security inks for Linx continuous ink jet printers are available in different colours and different solvent bases to offer more choice.The distinctive colours that they fluoresce in are achieved using unique dyes, making imitation of the code even more difficult. The inks are fast drying and water resistant once dry.

What’s clear is that thorough anti-counterfeiting processes must encompass all aspects, including the supply chain, consumer activity and even through to investigators and law enforcement.

Twenty five years after Linx started on the path of innovation, today’s buyers of coding and marking technology need to ensure the equipment they purchase is capable of meeting many demands.

These can include print quality (barcode compliance), ease of use, cost of ownership, reliability and integration with software packages and external devices such as barcode scanners or ERP systems.

For manufacturers such as Linx, customer demands are increasing and becoming more complex. In many instances coders are no longer standalone systems. A coder may need to be quickly portable, but equally may be part of a fully integrated production line, and the data links between the coders and external devices are an increasingly important part of any sales process.

At Linx, we undertook ‘Voice Of Customer’ research around the world in 2011, to determine exactly what customers wanted from coding and marking machines.

Simplicity of use was a key factor. As technological developments open up new possibilities, feedback from across a range of FMCG and industrial markets suggested that users prefer a simple, cost-effective solution rather than complex, feature-heavy machines.

Code content is becoming more complex, but user skills are not. This means there is a need for simpler on-board user interfaces, and the ability to control code content remotely

Reliability is a must: as other parts of the production line become faster and more flexible, coding equipment has to be able to match this flexibility, being ready to work where and when it is needed.  So, for example, printers are becoming more portable within the factory, to reduce the need for multiple printers and to be able to get up and running at a new location in minutes.

Modern printers also deliver reduced environmental impact. While coding and marking equipment produces relatively low amounts of waste in itself, there is an ongoing focus on reducing the need to replace parts and reducing consumables usage. Innovative machine design can help to minimise efficiency loss in manufacturing processes.

Today’s lean manufacturing principles require production to be more flexible, to react to smaller batch sizes and faster delivery. Therefore printers must be more flexible – capable of dealing with faster product changeovers and easily moveable between production lines.

Maximising productivity means reducing unscheduled and scheduled maintenance time and costs. Printers have to be equipped with quicker trouble-shooting and servicing capabilities, and ‘self-service’ options to allow basic maintenance to be carried out without the need to bring in an engineer.

With many coding and marking customers under increasing margin pressure, it’s clear that printer manufacturers can play a key role in helping reduce costs.

Coding and marking specialist Linx Printing Technologies is celebrating 25 years of innovation in technology and design with some fantastic competition prizes.

A quest to find the oldest surviving Linx continuous ink jet (CIJ) printer will form a central part of the jubilee celebrations. 

On Linx’s 25th birthday, 6 July 2012, the owner of the oldest Linx CIJ printer in each of four global regions will be chosen to win a new Linx CIJ printer, fully installed, plus an ink and solvent pack to get them started.

What’s more, once a month, from April to July, one registered prize draw entrant will win a Linx TJ225 thermal inkjet printer.

Paul Doody, Marketing Director, says: “This is a significant milestone for Linx and we’re proud to have spent a quarter of a century coming up with many industry ‘firsts’.

“We now look forward to sharing with new and existing customers even greater reliability, lower costs of ownership and enhanced ease of use.  These key characteristics have helped us serve our customers so well over the last 25 years, and will remain our focus for the next 25 years and beyond.”

Linx, based in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, began manufacturing and selling CIJ printers in 1987 with the 5200, 5100 and 5150 models.  …/

The company’s two founders, Mike Keeling and Hillar Weinberg, introduced new technology from the very start, including a totally sealed, adjustment-free printhead, time of flight viscosity control, and one-button start and stop.

These features went on to be adopted by other manufacturers and remain key features of all leading CIJ printers today.

Later innovations included the first autoflushing printhead, the first multi-message memory, the first icon-driven interface and the first manufacturer to offer IP55 as standard.

To register for the Linx 25th Anniversary prize draw, and for full terms and conditions, please go to www.linx25.com. Everyone who registers their details will receive a Linx commemorative mug (subject to availability).