Inkjet & Digital Printing

The chain of demand – product identification at the heart of production

Tuesday 11. January 2011 - Look at the contents of your fridge or medicine cabinet and you'll see why coding and marking today is about a lot more than applying 'display until' and 'best before' dates. Food and pharmaceuticals provide the most visible evidence that product identification has evolved into a fast-moving, complex, multidisciplinary business driven by a host of trends — legislation, regulation, combating illegal trade, supply chain optimisation and environmental responsibility, among others.

By Will Edwards, General Manager Domino UK
Look at the contents of your fridge or medicine cabinet and you’ll see why coding and marking today is about a lot more than applying ‘display until’ and ‘best before’ dates. Food and pharmaceuticals provide the most visible evidence that product identification has evolved into a fast-moving, complex, multidisciplinary business driven by a host of trends — legislation, regulation, combating illegal trade, supply chain optimisation and environmental responsibility, among others.
This paper describes how — and why —manufacturers and integrators of product identification systems are developing highly innovative coding, marking and traceability solutions in response to wide-ranging demands from multiple industries. It starts by demonstrating how the industry is being shaped by forces that extend beyond the packaging production line. These stem in some cases from changing demographics in society as a whole. It then examines how these forces are influencing manufacturers’ R&D programmes and new product pipelines, before looking in more detail at some recent advances from Domino.
The war on illegal trade
Nothing better illustrates the importance of secure, robust product identification technology than its role in combating the illegal trade in counterfeit goods, from DVDs to handbags to pharmaceuticals to automotive components. Counterfeits impact almost every industry, damaging balance sheets and brands and, in the worst cases, killing consumers. There is no shortage of evidence of this, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. According to some estimates, the market for illegal drugs is worth anywhere between $75 billion and $200 billion. The human costs are also high: counterfeit medicines are thought to kill over 100,000 people every year, most of them in poorer countries, and errors in dispensing can prove fatal too. Beyond pharmaceuticals, illegal trade affects industries such as construction, aerospace, automotive and defence — the number of counterfeit components in US military purchases doubled between 2005 and 2008. According to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, counterfeit and pirated goods could represent as much as 7% of all world trade.
Governments cannot ignore such numbers, hence the flood of new regulations fuelling an explosion in innovative coding and marking technology and applications. This is most notable in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, where products have to carry more and more variable information, coded to higher quality. Food and drink must display their origin, ingredients, nutritional data and allergy warnings. Medicines demand secure, robust product identification technology to combat illegal items and prevent errors in dispensing treatments. The latest major example of such a scheme is France’s imminent CIP13 coding regime for pharmaceuticals: from January 1st 2011, every product must incorporate a 2D Data Matrix code comprising product code, batch number and expiry date alongside human-readable data. This will allow automatic, accurate reading and storage of essential product data right through the supply chain and will eliminate the time and accuracy issues associated with collecting and recording the information manually.
The ‘societal’ dimension
Food, drink, pharmaceuticals and medicines are prime candidates for regulation. We cannot do too much to ensure the authenticity and safety of what we eat, drink and medicate ourselves with. But the intense regulatory activity in these sectors also highlights how developments in coding and marking are determined by trends in the wider consumer society.
As an example of this ‘societal’ dimension, take the influence of the UK’s ageing population. Over the last 25 years the percentage of the population aged 65 and over increased from 15 per cent in 1984 to 16 per cent in 2009, an increase of 1.7 million people. And the fastest increase has been in those aged 85 and over: in 1984, there were around 660,000 people aged over 85; by 2009 the number was 1.4 million. An ageing population consumes more medicines, which must be authenticated, tracked and traced through the supply chain, from manufacturer to patient. At a more basic level, the patient information for each treatment needs to be large and clear enough to be read by ageing eyes.
Ingenious solutions
These demands alone are challenging enough for manufacturers, without having to respond to the needs of other sectors. Major retailers, for example, continue to push for improvements that streamline their supply chain logistics, such as shelf-ready packaging: by aggregating packs into corrugated boxes designed to be placed directly on the shelf, stacking operations are made faster and displays more attractive. Fortunately, the product identification industry is nothing if not innovative, and continues to come up with ingenious solutions, a number of which exploit the ubiquity of smart- and camera-equipped mobile phones. New applications empower the consumer by enabling smartphones to routinely capture Data Matrix codes of various types: in the consumer goods and services arena, this is an increasingly popular means of delivering information to build customer relationships while for product authentication, uploading an image of an on-pack Data Matrix code so that it can be cross-referenced with an online database provides an instant and on-the-spot means of product authentication. Another good example comes from mPedigree, a Ghanaian start-up, whose solution requires drug companies to emboss a special code on their products which consumers reveal by scratching off a coating; they then text the code to the manufacturer to verify if the pack is genuine.
Productivity is paramount
However, it is one thing for industry to meet — and anticipate — customers’ demands, and another to persuade the same customers to pay for the improvements. Unable to pass on many of the costs of new solutions, increasing the productivity of existing installations is paramount. Broadly speaking, manufacturers can do this in two ways, both of which are additional drivers of change in coding and marking.
The first option is to achieve economies of scale through consolidation. But the larger organisations that result from this mean larger production operations, more SKUs (stock-keeping units) and bigger workforces (often with a higher staff turnover and a transient workforce including seasonal workers). These factors all increase the potential for error and the need for investment in product identification to accommodate increasingly complex coding requirements.
The second strategy is the continuing drive in all industries to squeeze additional productivity from existing production capacity. Under the banners of “lean manufacturing” and “overall equipment effectiveness” (OEE), packaging companies demand better, easier ways to operate equipment, eliminating opportunities for human error and so reducing downtime.
Chain of demand
Eventually all these influences create a ‘chain of demand’ — from consumers to regulators to governments to manufacturers — who in turn look to their suppliers to help them address the many and often-conflicting requirements they must address. Where product identification is concerned, the aim is to develop coding and marking solutions that combine maximum output and production efficiencies with more complex codes and higher levels of networking, automation and traceability, both in the production plant and through the supply chain.
Furthermore, because our customers need to curb costs, these solutions have to integrate seamlessly into existing production lines wherever possible. This presents us with a challenging balancing act due to the ‘technology disconnect’ between host packaging lines that might have a service life of years — decades, even — and coding technology that may regularly be rendered obsolete by the changing legislative and supply chain requirements. This is a serious issue: it is estimated that France’s new CIP13 code and other similar initiatives will render up to 80% of the coding solutions installed in pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging operations obsolete.
Changing dynamics
So how is the product identification industry meeting these major challenges? Recent developments at Domino demonstrate how that “chain of demand” is changing the market dynamics and driving innovation among suppliers. The recent introduction of new versions of our A-Series continuous ink jet (CIJ), V-Series thermal transfer overprint (TTO) and D-Series laser coding range represents the most significant reworking of our product portfolio in over a decade.
Across the three product ranges there are over 100 technological advances, all driven by customers’ demand for maximum productivity. This is achieved thanks to the widespread use of smart features under the i-Tech intelligent Technology banner. i-Tech is an array of technologies that minimise or even eliminate the need for engineering intervention and make routine operator maintenance functions as fast, simple and intuitive as possible.
In developing i-Tech, we assessed the contribution of every area of the products’ operation, from individual components, to maintenance, to the user interfaces, to environmental impact. An absolute imperative for the development team was to deliver tangible productivity and OEE benefits, with reduction or even elimination of planned downtime as one of the key objectives. Improved OEE is a crucial calculation in the lean manufacturing processes that drive procurement in major companies. Within OEE there is the additional concept of total productive maintenance (TPM), whereby machine operators perform most, if not all, routine maintenance.
The new A-Series goes further, embracing a concept that completely eliminates traditional preventative maintenance. Instead, production staff undertake the ‘plug and play’ replacement of consumables, which are colour-coded for easy identification and feature self-sealing valves for a safe and clean working environment.
The i-Tech system also enhances reliability and improves overall efficiency by constantly monitoring and managing the printer’s performance to deliver high quality print with reduced use of fluids. For example, it monitors the print job, printer environment and anticipated consumables usage, automatically adjusting the replenishment cycle to ensure fluids are always maintained in the optimum state. The working volume of ink is depleted automatically, saving time and reducing waste, while 100% depletion of the ink and make-up cartridges means that no fluid is left in exhausted cartridges.
The i-Tech ink system is a prime example of a solution that offers both efficiency and reduced environmental impact. It does away with planned servicing in favour of the Qube, a modular concept in which the ink and filters are separated from the pump and associated electronics. Disposable components are used to maximise efficiency and reliability – a trend that is reflected in industry and society at large. However, the number of disposable components and the frequency with which they need to be exchanged has been kept to the minimum, reducing environmental impact as far as possible. Given the increasing influence of environmental performance on purchasing decisions, it is a significant benefit. Furthermore, replacement of the Qube is a ten-minute job for production staff, and, depending on printer usage, might be required only once a year.
Of course, devolving more routine maintenance to operators calls for user interfaces that are up to the task. Starting with the new A-Series and V-Series, Domino is addressing this with a new, intuitive interface — QuickStep — that minimises operator errors and speeds printer set-up. Even the most complex coding tasks can be recalled and initiated by an operator in a few simple steps, increasing the appeal of QuickStep still further.
A recurring theme in each of the new products is that of reduced environmental impact. Domino is itself a world-class manufacturer recognised for its commitment to reducing the environmental of its operations on a global basis. This is evident in its policies on waste, recycling, energy and emissions, each of which continues to deliver a significant ongoing reduction in the carbon footprint of the company’s operations. Applied to the new A-, V- and D-Series, these principles have resulted in smaller and lighter products – in some cases the weight has been halved – and lower material content. The service-free nature of the A-Series reduces the lifetime carbon footprint of the printer, as does the i-Tech ink and solvent management system. Each of the new products utilises intelligent Technology to manage power as efficiently as possible, with features such as automatic power-down when idle.
A new kind of supplier
Looking forward, the influence of these drivers of change — regulation, productivity, supply chain optimisation and the environment – will only increase, and will continue to shape coding and marking in every industry. Manufacturers the world over are looking to make their production lines lower maintenance, lower cost and more efficient and coding equipment in all its forms has a significant role to play in attaining these goals. The application of coded information, be it variable data, text, graphics and/or one- or two-dimensional codes, is just one part of the equation.
Complete solutions that ally high quality coding with a package of design attributes, technological features and expert support based on a profound understanding of technologies and markets are now the order of the day — these are the essential tools of manufacturers seeking to address the chain of demand.
* Will Edwards joined Domino UK in 2000 as a Territory Sales Manager for the Product Identification Strategic Business Unit, working on new business accounts.
Subsequently he has worked in various roles including Regional Sales Manager and UK National Accounts Manager, with responsibility for co-ordinating Domino’s approach to larger companies and UK-based multinationals. Will was promoted to his current role of UK general Manager in September 2009.