Domino Printing’s new dedicated service helps customers meet environmental and quality objectives

February 7, 2020

An award-winning Cambridge company and global leader in coding, marking and printing technologies, has launched a new initiative dedicated to helping its customers meet changing regulatory requirements and achieve sustainability goals.

Domino Printing Sciences has made a significant investment at its Bar Hill headquarters – in both state-of-the-art testing facilities and a specialist team – so that it can advise customers wishing to review the recyclability of their packaging and ensure codes remain of the highest quality.

Susan Palmer, Head of Global Pre-Sales at Domino, said: “Product packaging requirements are constantly evolving and any change in packaging materials can have a significant impact on the reliability, durability and legibility of codes. Our team of technical specialists work closely with customers and the Ink Development team to find the best solutions.

“In recent years, we have noticed a significant increase in the number of recyclable cardboard samples that have been requested. In response to this, the Ink Development team has developed a mineral oil-free ink, specifically for these kinds of substrates. The recyclability factor has an impact on the types of inks we use and the advice that we give our customers.”

The new initiative is part of the company’s continued commitment to best-in-class customer service, providing quality assurance in coding and marking solutions.

Once a sample is received, a member of the pre-sales team will discuss potential solutions with the customer, considering factors such as speed, material type and customer-specific factory conditions, before being passed to the relevant lab for rigorous testing to ensure a clean, crisp code.

Susan Palmer continues: “It’s all about asking the right questions and understanding the limits and capabilities of the chosen material. Polyethylene and polypropylene are currently very popular in a range of industries because they are easy to process and recycle. However these materials can prove challenging when printing codes with ink because they have a low surface energy. From the tests carried out by our technicians we can determine which solution is the most suitable to get the code quality that the customer requires.

“Challenging production environments demand different solutions. For example on a beverage line, where moisture can build up on the outside of cans and bottles, you need to ensure you have a solution that can print through the condensation.

“Our Pre-Sales team has the technical knowledge and expertise to advise customers on the best coding solutions, even if this necessitates a move away from ink. If we think a different technology would better serve a customer, we will always advise this. We work closely with Domino’s Laser Academy to ensure that customers are offered the best possible solution for their specific requirements.”