Everything Packaging - the 42nd Best Packaging Podcast

If your company is switching to the new GS1 2D barcodes, you'll probably have to print them only your package - unlike the UPC codes that are usually pre-printed. 

Thermal Tansfer Overprinters and thermal inkjet are two technologies you could use - but which is best?

What is Everything Packaging - the 42nd Best Packaging Podcast?

Packaging touches everyone every day.
This is the Everything Packaging podcast with David Holliday.

Is your company looking to move to the new GS1 2D barcodes, GS1 Datamatrix or Digital Link?

If so, you'll probably be thinking about the best way to print these onto your packaging since, unlike the UPC barcodes, they will contain production information that can't be pre-printed.

For adding these barcodes and other information onto flexible packaging such as labels films and foils, two print technologies that often enter the conversation are Thermal Transfer Overprinter or TTO and Thermal Inkjet TIJ or TIJ.

Which is best? The answer of course is, it depends! Let's take a look at how the two contenders stack up in some key areas:

Print Quality

Print area

Speed

Print durability

Ease of installation, use and maintenance Costs

OK, let's get started with Print Quality

I'd rate this one a tie. Both technologies can produce excellent quality print and are great for 2D barcodes. TTO printers use a 300dpi printhead and while TIJ printheads can operate at up to 600dpi, in my experience, most applications are set to 300 as well.

TTO 1 : TIJ 1

Print Area
Both types of printer can produce messages that are longer than anyone usually needs, but TTO has a major advantage in in print width.

While TIJ printheads are usually 12mm (or around 1/2") wide, TTOs can be specified up to 5 inches wide. Yes, I know there are now wider TIJ heads, but they are generally for porous materials only, and I don't like stitching multiple heads together.

With the amount of data that a GS1 Digital Link QR code might need to encode, the printed symbol can easily be over 12mm square, a problem for TIJ printheads.

In addition, if the print needs to be printed across the web, it often means a TIJ printer needs to be traversed across the packaging machine, whereas a TTO printer can be stationary. The wide printhead version of TTOs can also print much more data, including Nutritional panels, ingredient and allergy information.
A win for TTO

TTO - 2 : TIJ - 1

Speed
The print speed of any packaging printer is hugely dependent on the application so it can vary a lot.

Let's take a look at a couple of popular manufacturer specs: Markoprint Thermal inkjet printers can print up to 90 meters per minute if you buy the advanced version.

For thermal transfer, Domino's latest model claims 72 meters per minute if you buy the advanced pack.

Personally, I don't think I'd want to buy either system to operate all the time at those speeds, but I would be confident that either of them would handle the requirements of almost all flexible packaging applications, apart from maybe the fastest flowrappers.

Note that the GS1 2D implementation guide suggests about 60 m/min as a maximum for both technologies to get the best barcode quality, so I'm going to call this one a tie.

TTO - 3 : TIJ - 2

Print Durability
This is another win for TTO. While TIJ inks have made huge progress over the last few years, particularly with the introduction of solvent-based inks for non-porous materials, the resin ribbons for TTO printers can produce a print that can survive a wide range of tough environments.

Also, the print from a TTO printer dries almost instantly; the ink from a thermal inkjet head might need a few seconds to dry. This sometimes means adding additional rollers to extend the web path on the parent machine to allow for the extra time needed.

TTO - 4 : TIJ - 2

Ease of installation, use and maintenance

An easy win for thermal inkjet in this category. The small size of the TIJ printheads makes them simple to install and set up. For the operators, changing the ink cartridge on a TIJ printer is easier and faster than removing the cassette and adding new ribbon on a TTO.

Another plus for thermal inkjet is that changing the ink cartridge (and despite what the label might say, they nearly all use HP or Funeii inkjet technology) effectively changes the complete printer, so minimal maintenance is needed.

TTO - 4 : TIJ - 3

Costs
This final category has to be a win for thermal inkjet. The lower capital cost, faster installation, less downtime for consumable changes and for maintenance, with per print consumable cost being similar, the overall costs of TIJ make a lot of sense.

The Final Score is therefore TTO - 4: TIJ - 4 an honorable draw!

Which would I buy? To be honest, it comes down to which is best for the application. If you work for a brand that is implementing GS1 2D barcodes, you should check out the GS1 implementation guide and talk to a printer OEM that is a GS1 solutions partner, that has experience in working with implementing for the new barcode standards.