Product category:
Laser marking systems
News Release from: DataLase | Subject: Marking and printing additive - plastics bags
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 July 2005
Plastics bags can be laser marked
Bag closure manufacturer will be adopting colour change technology using marking and printing additive that enables plastics to be marked using low power CO2 lasers.
Sherwood Technology announces that bag closure manufacturer, Kwik Lok Australia Pty, will be adopting Sherwood's DataLase Masterbatch colour change technology in order to date code bread bag closures for George Weston Foods (GWF) DataLase Masterbatch is a new generation coding, marking and printing additive that enables plastics to be successfully marked using low power CO2 lasers
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 16 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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GWF is one of Australia's largest food manufacturers, with over 75% of Australian households buying its bread.
The bread is sealed using Kwik Lok all-plastics bag closures which are marked to provide information on cost, freshness and other package information.
Traditionally Kwik Lok worked with laser vendor Markem Corporation to apply the data to the bread bag closures using a thermal transfer printer; however GWF found that the information tended to rub off the closures.
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As a result, GWF requested that Kwik Lok, Unimark (Markem's agent) and Sherwood Technology work together to provide an alternative date coding solution.
Unimark has supplied GWF with a number of Markem CO2 laser units in the first phase, although the intention is to eventually use colour change technology as the default date coding method across all new lines at GWF.
Kwik Lok applies DataLase Masterbatch directly to the bread bag closure polymer by extrusion.
The additive is non-toxic and environmentally friendly, and is capable of producing an image when marked by a low power CO2 laser (around 10W power).
Once exposed to the laser on the production line, the additive undergoes a simple colour change to create a stable and high contrast date code.
By combining DataLase Masterbatch with low power CO2 lasers, GWF was able to produce high quality date codes that could not easily be removed from the closures.
The introduction of this solution has also resulted in faster production run times for the company and removed the need for expensive consumables on the production line.
"By using DataLase Masterbatch with GWF's all-plastic bag closures we are able to create added value for our customer through considerable cost reduction and productivity gains," comments Alex Anselmo at Kwik Lok Australia.
"We are already seeing a great interest in the potential use of DataLase Masterbatch for a variety of applications," comments Andrew Jackson, Applications Marketing manager at Sherwood Technology.
"It is extremely encouraging to see end-users such as GWF requesting partnerships between Sherwood and its existing suppliers".
"We are very excited to be working with Unimark and Kwik Lok on this application.".
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