New color print solution from Domino

Ink jet and laser manufacturer Domino Printing Sciences Plc has introduced a full color variable data print solution that will enable pharmaceutical manufacturers and packaging suppliers to extend their current print capabilities to offer customized printing onto product packaging, as well as embossed variable data such as Braille, to their existing packaging line. 

Domino’s new prototype full-colour-production high-resolution drop-on-demand digital print technology opens the boundaries of digital, variable data printing to pharmaceutical packagers. It allows product packaging to be customized near the packaging line, facilitating shorter product runs, which relieves inventory issues and allows for late stage customization, such as language differences or specific market information. 

The full color prototype solution follows Domino’s high speed, high quality, K-Series printer – itself introduced less than a year ago – as the next logical development of Domino’s drop on demand technology. This technology allows the over printing of pre-printed cartons, labels and blisters with high quality, variable print, allowing not only ‘white line’ applications but also unique product serialization using Data Matrix codes.

In addition, the same process can also be used to apply variable embossed data, such as Braille as well as local product names, license numbers or other symbology. This late stage customization results in savings through increased production efficiencies and reductions in inventory and enables customers to produce small batches of specific products.

Lee Metters, sector development director at Domino commented: ‘Domino’s K-Series and K-Series Colour solution offers pharmaceutical manufacturers and packagers exciting new flexibility in production operations, enabling on demand manufacture of small customized batches. The versatility offered by the K-Series range print-head is a key differentiator to previous ink jet systems which typically only printed the lot and expiry information on packages, whilst the rest of which was printed by traditional methods.

‘Ideal for lot and expiry information as well as other increasingly popular codes such as Data Matrix, the K-Series produces outstanding print quality at high production speeds which, combined with the color accuracy, addresses the new traceability and authentication requirements of pharmaceutical manufacturers, whilst maintaining the high quality feel of the product packaging. We expect our full color prototype solution to up the ante even further in such applications.

’The K-Series offers no compromise in the balance of speed and quality. The user-friendly system is based on Domino’s proven technology of over almost 30 years as an ink jet pioneer and has already been welcomed by a number of users who constantly strive for innovation in production and supply chain management.’