Challenges and solutions
The bottling industry is a very dynamic industry, having its own specifics. These include producers of soft drinks, wine, beer, spirits, oil, mineral water, milk and other beverages.
Rapidly changing packaging substrates, the threat of counterfeit in high value drinks, increasing demands on production efficiency, and minimising impacts on the environment. These are only some of the industry challenges facing beverage producers.
The act of marking and labelling beverages (having information such as expiration date, batch, manufacture, barcode, supplier's name and other codes printed on the food or on its packaging) is a sign of guaranteed traceability throughout the production cycle and entire supply chain - from the producer, via distributor, retailer to the end consumer.
Characteristic of the bottling industry is the variety of packaging materials it uses, including metal cans, PET, pouches as well as single use and refillable glass bottles – all coming in varying shapes, sizes and colours. There can often be multiple variants within a single production facility. The plethora of formats across three packaging levels means the industry must use a range of printing methods. The specific coding method used depends on cost versus performance trade-offs, taking into consideration factors such as line speed, the surface to be coded and the type of code to be printed, the working environment. At the same time, manufacturers are looking for more effective solutions for marking or labelling secondary packaging - stacks, boxes, cartons, as well as at the end of the production line when labelling pallets.
We, at Betelgeus, offer effective solutions in the field of marking and labelling. The LINX 8900 series inkjet printers are a prime choice for manufacturers dealing with beverages. They produce accurate and legible codes while offering longer service and maintenance intervals at lower costs. These printers are characterized by speed and efficiency, which makes them ideal for marking products on fast production lines and in particularly difficult working environments. The BC (Bottle Coder) LINX inkjet printers are specially designed to mark wet bottles using the special 1058 ink that penetrates through the condensate and makes a lasting impression. Laser printers are particularly suitable for high-speed bottling lines where PET bottles are used. They are an environmentally friendly and low-cost operation and maintenance solution due to the lack of consumables.
To automate the processes of labelling secondary packaging (stacks, cartons, boxes pallets, etc.), we offer a variety of solutions, including industrial label printers and print&apply systems. We also provide complete solutions for automation of the processes of packaging bottles in stacks or cartons, palletizing and stretch wrapping of pallets. We are official representative of proven manufacturers such as LINX, Cab, FROMM, SOCO SYSTEM, LOGOPAK.
