Food & Beverage

Printing of "best by" dates and lot numbers has increased as food safety becomes a growing concern among consumers. Expiration dates and lot number tracking is critically important in the event of a product recall. Images must remain legible for tracking information. In addition, other applications such as barcodes, part numbers and item numbers require durability.
Printing barcodes on flexible packages is normally an integrated part of the assembly line process. The inline thermal transfer printer prints directly onto the substrate, typically a bag or some other type of container. Wax and wax/resin ribbons are commonly used in this application for printing on plastic bags (polybags) and do not have to be specially designed for this operation.
In the case of food packaging using inline direct packaging printing on polypropylene or other food and beverage bags, ribbons are specially formulated for compatibility with the substrate, as well as printing at high speeds.
Substrates
Film
- Acetate
- Acrylate
- Acrylic
- alphaMAX®
- COMPUcal®
- Durascan®
- Kapton®
- Label-Lyte®
- ORALITE®
- Overlaminate
- Plastic
- Polycarbonate
- Polyester
- Polyester (PET)
- Polyethylene
- Polyethylene (HDPE)
- Polyethylene (LDPE)
- Polyimide
- Polyolefin
- Polypropylene
- Polypropylene (BOPP)
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polystyrene
- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
- Valéron®
- Vinyl
- V-MAX®
Metallic
- Aluminum
Paper
- KIMDURA®
- Kromekote®
- Paper
- Paper (1C)
- Paper (2C)
- Polyart®
- Teslin®
- Trans-Therm®
- Vellum
Textile
- Nylon
- Polyester (Woven)
- Reemay®
- Rubber
- Satin
- Spunbound Olefin
- Taffeta
- Tyvek®
Ribbons
Versatility Series
- TR4085plus® Premium Resin-Enhanced Wax
- MP Mid Premium Wax/Resin
- V300 Versatility Defined™ Resin
- M295HD 4.0 High Density Near Edge Wax/Resin
Specialty Products
- M260 Ultra Durable Wax/Resin
- TRX-50 General Purpose Wax/Resin
- R300 General Purpose Resin
- R316 Specialty Resin
- R395 Textile Resin
- R510HF Ultra Durable Resin
- R510W Durable White Resin
- R550 Extreme Durable Resin
- TR3370 High Opacity White Resin
- M295C Color Near Edge Wax/Resin
- TR4500 Premium Near Edge Wax/Resin
- R390 Near Edge Resin
- R396 High Speed Durable Near Edge Resin