Inkjet & Digital Printing
Domino At The Double As Forthcoming A-Series Plus Duo Continuous Ink Jet Printer Is Previewed At Emballage
Wednesday 19. November 2008 - Dual ink jet nozzle system set to greatly increase efficiency in coding and marking applications
Domino Printing Sciences plc, a world-leader in total coding, marking, printing and traceability solutions, will provide one of the highlights of this years Emballage exhibition, when it offers visitors a sneak preview of its forthcoming A-Series plus Duo range of continuous ink jet (CIJ) printers. Scheduled for commercial launch at the end of this year, the new A-Series plus Duo is set to deliver important new performance and efficiency-enhancing benefits to manufacturers in Dominos mainstream CIJ markets, such as the food and beverage sectors.
In particular, the easy-to-use A-Series plus Duo directly answers industry needs for improved print performance, by offering the capability to print double the amount of lines at the same speed – i.e. two lines at the speed of a single line, or four-line printing at the speed of two lines. This is achieved thanks to an innovative dual nozzle printing system, which uses two streams of ink, rather than a single ink jet, with each ink stream deflected independently.
As a result, the A-Series plus Duo is able to match the throughput levels demanded of high speed canning/bottling lines, which can run at up to 2000 products per minute. This speed boost effectively overcomes a problem encountered by beverage manufacturers operating the fastest lines, who can find that the speed of the ink jet coding and marking stage of their workflow reduces production line efficiencies. In such environments, the A-Series plus Duo offers an extremely cost-effective solution by eradicating the need to install additional printing solutions to match high-speed production-line capability.
In addition, the A-Series plus Duo directly answers manufacturers needs to apply additional lines of data to their products, beyond standard date/batch codes – without compromising production line speeds. This might typically include quality related data, or track & trace information necessary to meet supply chain compliance and ensure manufacturing efficiencies are achieved. Once again, the ability to lay down extra data without slowing down or putting strain on their ink jet coding and marking solutions, enables throughput levels to be maintained and operational efficiency upheld.
“The typical speed achievable when printing three lines is normally only around half that of printing two lines”, says Nick Plaister, Product Identification Director at Domino. “This is not the case with the A-Series plus Duo, which eradicates such inefficiencies.”
The user-friendly A-Series plus Duo also benefits from the hallmark technological excellence in-built into Dominos portfolio of CIJ products, thereby ensuring quality ink jet printing from basic coding requirements to tough industrial applications in harsh environments. Based on the established heritage and proven reliability of Dominos flagship A-Series range, the A-Series plus Duo delivers robustness and dependability and meets user needs for improved overall equipment effectiveness and availability.
“Our new A-Series plus Duo delivers double the benefits that users have come to expect from the established technology of the worlds best-selling continuous ink jet printer,” continues Plaister. “Dominos thirty years of experience in delivering coding and marking solutions that meet the requirements of users is epitomised by the A-Series plus Duo, which answers the need for ever-increasing efficiency. This together with our unparalleled reputation for after-sales, training and support represents an extremely attractive product proposition, which we are certain will create a stir among visitors to Emballage.”
The A-Series plus Duo prints up to eight lines of code, text, automatic serial or batch numbering and real-time clocks, while meeting the same objectives for sustained uptime and manageability as Dominos successful A-Series plus range. This is achieved thanks to: remote management capabilities for monitoring areas such as message selection, system status, alerts & alarms, ink levels, production counts and service due dates; as well as Ethernet Communications Protocol as standard, which offers greater control over network- or enterprise-wide printers.
In addition, the A-Series plus Duo is geared towards minimal operator intervention to further avoid performance issues. An improved user interface increases accuracy and eliminates costly training overheads by guaranteeing simplicity and ease of use, while installation is assisted by familiar set-up wizards that reduce the chance of error. Downtime is also avoided by the printers large volume ink system which decreases the need for consumable changes. Ink supplies can be replenished cleanly and easily during printing, thereby preventing interruptions to production.