Squid Ink offers the CoPilot line of industrial inkjet printers to provide high-speed, high-resolution printing at an entry-level price. But this alone is not the only reason to seriously consider CoPilot Case Coders from Squid Ink, here are just a few of the interesting features of CoPilot Case Coders:

1 – They Can Use Oil-Based or Solvent-Based Inks

This provides the ability to use the CoPilot for printing on a wide variety of substates. You can use solvent-based inks to print on non-porous surfaces and products such as plastics, glass, metals, shrink-wrap and even coated cartons. And you can use oil-based ink for all porous surfaces.

2 – Provide High-Quality, Sharp, Clear Printing

The Squid Ink CoPilot is specifically designed to provide excellent print quality for small character text and scannable bar codes, as well as for sharp-looking logos for your products at 185 DPI on vertical surfaces and 205 DPI on flat surfaces.

3 – Numerous Options and Accessories Available

Squid Ink’s CoPilot Case Coders are designed for industrial work environments and for this reason they need to be able to work with a wide variety of equipment to meet specific production line needs. Some of these options include:

• Floor Stands and Conveyor Mounting Brackets – Which can be configured for your specific production line needs.
• Wireless USB Router – For wireless connectivity on your production line.
• High-Speed Printheads – That can print up to 200 feet per minute.
• Bar Code Laser Scanner – To scan and retrieve messages.
• And many more.

4 – Adaptable, Rugged and Durable Construction

Squid Ink CoPilot Case Coders are designed for harsh industrial environments where the print engines and printheads are designed to withstand heavy daily use with limited downtime. CoPilot Case Coders are designed to work seamlessly with other production line equipment, as well as using a variety of connectivity options such as USB, Ethernet or even wireless interfaces.

CoPilot Case Coders come in a number of different sizes and configurations to support a wide variety of print jobs, sizes and functions. For example, the CoPilot 500 is designed for printing large content without moving the printhead–up to 2.8” print area per printhead–and can use up to two printheads with a single controller.

5 – Easy to Use

The Squid Ink CoPilot Case Coder uses a built-in 4.3” full-color touchscreen–as well as other, larger optional displays–for managing print jobs. It can also use Squid Ink’s Orion™ software for designing and editing content such as barcodes, logos, QR codes and much more, using your PC to create them and transfer them to the Case Coder.

Get a Squid Ink CoPilot Case Coder from All Pro Technical Service

All Pro Technical Service is your premier Squid Ink CoPilot Case Coder provider. We sell, repair, and provide industrial inkjet ink and solvent for the entire CoPilot Case Coder product line. Give us a call at (636) 724-0332 or fill out our online contact form for more information.

The food and beverage industry is strictly regulated and requires a lot of information to be printed on the products they supply. In addition, food and beverages need to be produced under stringent hygiene requirements, making it a unique challenge for continuous inkjet printers.

Below is a list of the requirements that an excellent continuous inkjet printer must meet to fulfill the requirements of working with food and beverages.

Clear, Consistent & High-Quality Marking

Because all of the information coded on food and beverage products is important–even required by law in some cases–the printing must be very readable, even when printed at extremely small font sizes. Some products don’t have a lot of space to work with so clear print is essential.

Fast Printing Speed

Food and beverage production is a very fast process. The average factory churns out thousands of individual products each hour, so the continuous inkjet printer you select needs to be fast to keep up with the pace of production at the plant.

 

Ability to Print on Multiple Surfaces

The continuous inkjet printer you select needs to be able to print on many different surfaces. From standard cardboard to plastic containers, bags, and films, glass bottles and aluminum cans, the industrial inkjet printer you choose must be able to handle different surface types seamlessly.

Some printers even need to have the ability to print on the food products themselves for marketing and promotion purposes or for specific FDA requirements. One example is the Leibinger JET3up EP egg coding printer, specifically designed to print directly on the shell of the egg.

Ability to Print a Variety of Information

Production line inkjet printers don’t only have to print expiration dates and lot numbers, they need to be able to print EAN and DataMatrix codes, barcodes, QR codes, and even company logos. The continuous inkjet printer you select must be able to print these easily and without a lot of fuss.

Marks Clearly in Extreme Conditions

Industrial coding and marking equipment used in food and beverage production must be able to handle extreme temperatures as well as dusty, humid and wet conditions and still mark clearly. The industrial inkjet printers used in these industries must be water-resistant and able to handle the daily mandatory cleaning process in most food and beverage production facilities.

Feature to Monitor and Verify Printing

Because of the strict regulations in the food and beverage production industries, the printing needs to be carefully monitored and logged–not only for regulatory purposes, but for quality control as well.

All Pro Technical Service Helps You Select a Continuous Inkjet Printer for Food Production

Let All Pro Technical Service help you select a continuous inkjet printer that meets all of the requirements above and then some. We highly recommend the Leibinger JET3up PRO industrial inkjet printer for most food and beverage applications. We also carry FDA-compliant industrial inkjet ink and solvent for these production line printers. For more information, give us a call at (636) 724-0332 or fill out our online contact form to speak to production line inkjet printer specialist today.

Buying a production line inkjet printer is a significant investment for your business. Here are 5 things you should look for when making this important purchase:

1. Fast Printing Speed

On the production line, time is money, and your production line inkjet printer needs to be able to keep pace with the speed of everything else within the system. Make sure you know how many characters per second your production line requires in order to select an industrial inkjet that can deliver that speed. In addition, your continuous inkjet printer should not take a while to warm up. It should be ready for printing within one minute.

\For example, Leibinger printers use an automatic Sealtronic nozzle seal to create a hermetically sealed, airtight circuit to prevent the ink from drying out and allowing the ink to flow quickly upon startup, no matter how long the production line has been down.

2. Intuitive, User-Friendly Design

If your production line continuous inkjet printer is difficult to use, this decreases productivity. Look for a continuous inkjet system that is easy to read, well-lit, easy to program and has the ability to easily create and edit jobs on the fly during production.

3. Durability

One of the major issues with some production line inkjet printers is that they tend to break down or clog at the most inconvenient times. A solid industrial inkjet printer must be durable and be able to sustain the rigor of daily production without breaking down or clogging. The printer should be of a solid construction and able to handle the daily wear and tear of life on the production line.

4. Availability of Ink, Solvents and Service

Since the most important aspect of a production line is to keep it running, you cannot afford to have it stop because you run out of industrial inkjet ink or solvent. Have a reliable resource on hand that provides the specific ink formulation in the colors that you require, as well as solvents and replacement parts for your continuous inkjet.
Having well-trained, certified continuous inkjet service technicians available to troubleshoot, make repairs or replace parts is also important to minimize downtime. So, select a production line inkjet printer that has an excellent service team at its disposal as well.

5. Compatibility with Other Production Line Equipment

We all know that there is no such thing as a standard production line. Each production facilitym and each production line within that facility, is a unique combination of equipment, speed, cabling and product to be marked. An excellent production line inkjet printer can fit into any production environment through the use of different ports and cabling, digital inputs and outputs, product detectors, shaft encoder input, and compatibility with different types of print head stands, floor and conveyor mounts, external warning lights/indicators, and much more.

All Pro Technical Service is Your One-Stop-Shop for Production Line Inkjet Printers

All Pro Technical Service carries a complete line of production line inkjet printers from Leibinger, Linx, Squid Ink, and Polytij. We also carry industrial inkjet ink and solvent for these industrial printers. If you need some help selecting the production line inkjet printer that is right for you, give us a call at (636) 724-0332 or fill out our online contact form to speak to production line inkjet printer expert today.