Inkjet & Digital Printing
Contract Packer MPF benefits from Linx 7300 ease and versatility
Friday 18. March 2011 - Linx Printing Technologies has supplied its versatile Linx 7300 Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) printer to leading contract packer MPF Group for the coding and marking of a wide variety of consumer items ranging from foods to wet wipes.
MPF offers integrated contract packing, distribution and recruitment services, with a high-profile customer base that embraces several of the UKs leading retailers and FMCG brands such as Britvic and Cadburys. Understandably, the company requires enormous flexibility with its coding solutions depending on the products being packed, which include promotional and export goods.
“Every customer requires a different format, and sometimes we are asked to print some very unusual configurations,” explains the companys Director Ian Wright. “Examples include special codes for the outer packaging on promotional twin-packs, or relevant data for the territory where products are to be sold, where export legislation demands that the production date is displayed rather than the Use By date.”
Deciding that its existing coding equipment was unable to provide the required versatility, MPF looked at other options on the market, with an emphasis on ease of use and flexibility. Based on personal recommendation, the company checked out the Linx 7300 and found it was exactly what it was looking for.
The Linx 7300 is designed to avoid the hidden costs of coding through the lowest possible running costs, minimised production downtime, error-free coding and future-proof features.
MPF was particularly impressed with the Linx 7300s ability to change codes quickly between different products and customers. “Templates can be saved to the system so that job selection can be achieved within seconds, and new details can be added via integral USB port for guaranteed accuracy,” explains Ian Wright
Another feature that attracted MPF is the design of the coders apertures for ink and solvent bottles, which are different shapes to prevent the risk of incorrect loading – a simple feature standard to Linx printers but not available on MPFs previous choice
“Refilling fluids can be achieved in a matter of seconds,” Ian Wright confirms. “With different aperture sizes for ink and solvent bottles, there is minimal risk of operators from making costly mistakes.”
With the majority of MPFs operation done manually, speed of coding is not an issue, with the Linx 7300 easily able to accommodate the average 20-25 packs per minute. Nonetheless, as the majority of MPFs coding is three lines, the company was delighted that this comes as standard, with optional 4 and 5-line printing available should this become necessary in the future.
Since its installation, the machine has performed admirably for MPF, and Ian Wright is enthused by the attitude of Linx. “We wanted somebody who would be a great partner with the right attitude, and Linx is exactly that. Theyve done exactly what they promised, and the result is a convenient, intuitive and high-quality coding solution for all of our needs.”