How does Coding Technology Support the Pharmaceutical Industry?

The blister packets of pills that we see on a daily basis are all produced on high-speed production lines. Medicines and drugs must be identifiable and must meet regulatory requirements for unique labelling on both the boxes and capsules. You will have probably noticed various codes and pieces of information printed onto your medicine packaging at some point, but how does it get there and why is it important? Let's take a look.

Why do we need to be able to print onto pharmaceutical products?

Inkjet printing solutions are particularly suitable for implementing requirements for the identification of medicines. Inkjet printing can be used to generate both characters and 2D barcodes at high print speed and quality and apply them to a variety of surfaces and materials. Even multi-line prints and the combination of characters and graphics can be realised without any problems.

Consistent and clear coding provides very good legibility and high contrast and is permanent and durable. Both Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) and Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) provide good solutions for pharmaceutical companies, although which is more suitable will depend largely on the scale of the workflow being integrated into and the substrate being coded.

Examples of pharmaceutical Industry Applications

• Carton Coding and Inspection
• Foil Blister Packets
• Ingestible Capsules and Pills
• Bottles and Vials
• Single-Use Packets
• Oral Gels
   
• Sterilisation Pouches

Is it safe?

A number of solvents and aqueous ink variations are available to print onto the surface of tablets, capsules, and more. Pharmaceutical ink should ensure compatibility with the product surface that is being printed upon. With many types of coatings now available, each one has its own particular reaction to the ingredients contained in printing inks. Here at Needham Ink Tech, we are able to provide you with high quality, reliable edible inks for use across the medical industry.

We offer a powerful and reliable coding range with printers and inks specifically designed around the needs of pharmaceutical companies. Our coding machines can meet the demands of high line-speed environments with ease, with the ability to print very small code, using food-grade inks for ingestible products. Our range of specialist inks allows pharmaceutical products to be safely and effectively marked. Food-grade inks can be used to mark ingestible products, like capsules, or UV-readable inks for anti-counterfeiting measures.

What Technology do I need?

Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) works well for a range of materials – from paper and card to plastic and packaging films. The use of a microscopic nozzle and an adjustable ultrasonic vibration mechanism makes the inkjet droplets in a CIJ system very small. This makes CIJ technology an excellent choice for printing high-resolution designs. Small droplets also mean that they dry practically as soon as they hit the printing surface, offering speed as well as quality.

With all the benefits of CIJ printing, it has mostly been used in industrial applications where time is money and quality are a priority. The expiration dates found in most food products are some of the most common examples of CIJ printing. CIJ printing can be relied on to print these codes and marks clearly and accurately.

How can Needham Ink Technologies Help?

Our range of pharmaceutical printers offer easy integration onto your existing lines, the setup of codes is intuitive, and our team of expert engineers are on hand to have you ready to go in no time at all. Support for a full range of code formats including text, variable dates, and quality graphics and logos, maximises the coding options for contract packers who need to meet their customers’ stringent packaging printing requirements.

Not only do we provide the machines which enable you to print, but we also have decades of experience designing and manufacturing high-quality inks and consumables to keep you going indefinitely, with a wide range of inks suitable for any application.

If you'd like to learn more about our range of coding solutions for the Pharmaceutical industry, you can contact us:

Call: +(0)1948662629

Email: enquiries@needham-ink.com