Thermal Transfer Ribbon Innovation Drives Efficiency In An Ever Growing Flexible Packaging Market

Recent studies indicate the global flexible packaging market is continuing to grow, predicting its value at $248 billion by 2020 due to rising demands  from end-user industries such as healthcare, personal care, food & beverage, and pharmaceuticals.

The food and beverage segment is the largest application in the overall flexible packaging market, and is increasingly adopting the use of flexible film and foil materials in packaging applications.  These types of substrates, together with consumer demand for more variety in packaging formats, have driven a particular trend in pouch applications.

“In the last three years alone, the global pouch packaging industry has grown by over 16%, reaching more markets due to the inherent cost and performance advantages of lightweight bags and pouches”, says Heidi Wright, Business Unit Manager, Supplies, at Videojet. “In fact, the Videojet Ultra Grade ribbon was developed for Videojet TTO products, specifically for superb performance on flexible films and foils commonly used in pouch packaging.”

Approximately 165 billion stand-up pouches were used around the world last year and the popularity is expected to grow over the next few years as flexible pouches provide a lightweight, versatile and durable packaging solution. Flexible pouches help to reduce transportation and storage costs, providing more compact packing options that allow more products to be packed into the same amount of space. In addition to the operational benefits, pouch producers also gain retail advantage by providing consumers with more attractive packaging that delivers great shelf appeal.

As well as shelf presence, pouches provide increased branding opportunities with attractively colored, high-quality artwork. Brand marketing teams aim to maximize the packaging artwork for marketing and promotional purposes, and therefore want to avoid unattractive or poor quality codes that could detract from the design.

Manufacturers in the flexible packaging market can benefit from excellent print quality and superior adhesion with the Ultra Grade black ribbon. The Videojet Dataflex 6320 and 6420 TTO printers are industry–proven products ideal for marking variable information such as date, time, batch code, ingredients, logos and marketing information onto flexible packaging.

The Ultra Grade black ribbon is the latest product offering in the Videojet line of thermal transfer ribbons. It is specifically designed to improve performance in flexible packaging applications, offering excellent compatibility with flexible films, metallic foils and coated papers. The Ultra Grade ribbon offers up to 9,000 more prints, on a typical 2 line date code, compared to competitive 1,100m ribbon**** and helps ensure consistent quality on every print.

Featuring advanced backcoat technology, all Videojet ribbons help ensure outstanding print quality and extended printhead life, making them a great option for printing high quality text or graphics that don’t detract from the flexible packaging design.

The Ultra Grade black ribbon is available in various lengths and widths for extended run times with fewer ribbon changes, helping to increase throughput of coded products per roll of ribbon. Fast print speeds are also enabled by improved heat conductivity through the ribbon.

“The Ultra Grade ribbon is another example of how Videojet continuously focuses on delivering products that meet and often exceed manufacturers printing requirements,” concludes Ms. Wright.