Medical packaging, such as blister packs and Tyvek pouches, often require unique handling and inkjet printing systems, and it’s typically found that offline coding systems work best. An offline feeding and transport system helps to automate the printing process or can completely replace the need for a label by printing directly onto the packaging.
What are the benefits of using a thermal transfer offline transport and printing system for medical packaging? Here are a few:
- These systems can accommodate large print width and have an almost limitless print length
- They can print bar codes in any orientation
- The ribbons in an offline printer are ideal for printing on Tyvek and other medical papers, and flat blister cards
Thermal inkjet (TIJ) printers utilize cartridges for printing and that helps to ensure high resolution, reliable printing over surfaces that are not perfectly flat. Other benefits of TIJ printers include:
- The ability to print 2D codes
- Barcoding capabilities
- High speed capacities
- Ink cartridge and print head in one unit, so the print head is new again with every ink change
Continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers are also an option for those looking to print on medical packaging. They bring along their own unique benefits that include:
- They can print at very high speeds
- The ink solvents give very fast dry times on a wide variety of materials
- But operating costs and overhead for printing can be quite high
Knowing the packaging substrate type, the amount of information to be printed, its location on the package and size of the print job is necessary to being able to choose the ideal inkjet printing system for the task.
