Domino’s TIJ technology is ideal for pharmaceutical manufacturers looking to implement item level serialisation - one of the key themes of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) and other emerging legislation. Global legislations place an increased focus on product authenticity, making way for changes to pack coding and marking to protect against counterfeit goods.
“The change from batch to item level unique identification is the single greatest challenge the pharmaceutical industry has ever seen,” says Craig Stobie, Domino’s global life sciences sector manager. “Serialisation implementation will impact right across the business and through the supply chain, requiring a complete re-assessment of operations.
“For coding and marking, this means that printers must be able to handle unique numbers at speed, inks must be durable, and any newly purchased equipment must be easy to integrate into existing lines. Domino’s G-Series thermal ink jet products are industry leading in all these areas and more.”
The video focuses on key characteristics of Domino’s TIJ range that include high speed serialisation at item level, achieved partly by independently certified market leading dry time for its BK652 ink.
Stobie says: “We know that most pharmaceutical manufacturers will want to apply tamper evident labels immediately after printing. Our BK562 ink dries in less than half a second, when many common inks would smudge and subsequent rework would be required.” Other key characteristics of Domino’s TIJ inks include maintained ink contrast and light fastness, vital for pack authentication at point of dispense.
Simple integration is an important factor for pharmaceutical manufacturers, many of whom will not be purchasing entirely new lines but retrofitting kit to existing lines. “Our G-Series TIJ range has been developed with compact controllers and print heads that can be easily fitted almost anywhere,” says Phil Parkins, TIJ product manager at Domino. “Our unique OEM board controller can be controlled from a central user interface using the G-View browser, and offers a fully integrated solution.”
One of the most pressing issues for many pharmaceutical manufacturers centres on Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE); in a recent Domino survey, over half of respondents believed legislative compliance would reduce OEE by up to 20%.
Domino’s Auto Swap system aims to reduce this risk. “Serialisation has the potential to significantly impact OEE,” warns Stobie. “The features we have developed as part of our TIJ range are unique to Domino and mean that the line never has to be stopped to replenish ink, meaning OEE levels equivalent to laser can be achieved.”
The four-minute video is available to view here.