Case Coding with XYCode Thermal InkJet inPhun E900 Printers in Viet Nam.
Country Case Study - Viet Nam
Introduction
In this article, we discuss how over 100 of our customers found success with XYCode thermal inkjet printers in Viet Nam by using the inPhun E900 as case coding printers on their secondary packaging.
In recent years, Vietnam has become a top destination for investment in manufacturing due to its strategic location and advantages in shipping, competitive labor, and production costs.
Alternative Manufacturing Destination Outside of China
In the wake of the fallout of the US-China trade war, Viet Nam is emerging as a low-cost alternative to China for manufacturing.
Viet Nam is a low-cost manufacturer with competitive labor costs, a large, well-educated labor force, and a plethora of free trade agreements. This makes it an attractive alternative to China for companies looking to shift their production.
Viet Nam's large population makes it attractive for companies seeking to access skilled workers at a lower cost than in China or other developing countries. The country's state-run vocational training system and high school graduation rates also mean that its workforce has more technical skills than those of many other countries.
Viet Nam has also signed several free trade agreements with major trading partners like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India. This provides an opportunity for companies seeking new markets outside of China's closed borders.
With the increasing manufacturing growth in Viet Nam, the demand for packaged goods is also increasing. The Vietnamese paper packaging market was valued over USD 2 billion in 2022 with a CAGR of 6.96%. However, it still needs to develop to fully leverage its manufacturing capabilities.
Challenges Facing The Vietnamese Case Coding Market
Viet Nam is a rising market for packaged goods. This increase in demand has spurred the need for high quality variable data printing on product packaging. However, most manufacturers are not equipped with the right coding or marking machine to meet the quality requirement for variable data printing on product packaging.
Some manufacturers are still using the obsoleted methods of applying stickers and labels or hand stamping, which is extremely time consuming, labor intensive and inefficient.
While other manufacturers may use the antiquated valve jet printer which has very low dpi (dot per inch) resulting in low resolution and requires an air compressor to generate low pressure on the ink in the printer.
Unfortunately, there are other manufacturers that had upgraded to newer digital printing technology but are hampered with outdated operating systems and features on top of poor customer support.
XYCode offers a solution that can solve all these challenges facing our customers in Viet Nam. Our coding systems, the inPhun E900 case coder, are designed for printing high quality variable data on secondary packaging.
Technical Challenges of Printing Variable Data on Secondary Packaging
Cardboard is inexpensive, recyclable and has great structural strength to weight ratio, making it a popular material for secondary packaging.
Variable data printing on secondary packaging is a common practice to help identify products, track and trace, inventory counting, or shipping destination. High quality variable data such as bar code, date code, and lot codes on secondary packaging may be required to help identify the products, track and trace, inventory counting, or shipping destination. Low quality printing resulting in unscannable codes or missing codes can lead to mis-identification of the products, no traceability, wrong inventory count, and shipping mishaps.
There are a number of challenges that come with printing on cardboard packaging.
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The biggest challenge in printing variable data on cardboard secondary packaging is the wide range of porosity. Depending on the post-treatments, cardboard can be very porous and absorbent or semi-porous and less absorbent.
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Porous materials can cause problems when printing with black ink, since it will soak into the cardstock and make the print look dull and poorly defined. The low contrast, poorly defined print makes the barcode difficult to scan.
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Semi-porous materials can cause the ink to bead up and create print with wider gaps since the ink was not able to wet and fill in the space between ink droplets. The problem typically manifests as a print with low contrast and striation due to wider gaps.
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In addition, some cardboard is made from unbleached, recycled fibers that give it a brownish hue. This color makes it difficult to produce high contrast black codes on brown surfaces.
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Another challenge is managing costs by using less ink and materials while maintaining print quality.
Fortunately XYCode's ink, RIO Ink 402K, and case coding printer, inPhun E900, are designed to address these challenges and more.
The Best Box Coder for Printing on Secondary Packaging
XYCode offers the best solution for the growing cardboard packaging market of Viet Nam with the inPhun E900 box coding printer.
The inPhun E900 is a plug and play, easy to use, fully automated box coding printer that produces high quality codes on porous and semi-porous substrates like corrugated cardboard. With a low cost of operation and ownership, high quality codes on porous and semi-porous substrates and ease of use, this printer is the perfect fit for Viet Nam secondary packaging market.
The XYCode inPhun 900 printer offers:
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Plug and Play
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No special training needed
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Kit comes with all components to start production job
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Easy snap-in and snap-out cartridge replacement
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Zero maintenance
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Display: 7-Inch Touch Screen
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Large GUI for easy usability
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Sensitive touchscreen
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Printing Technology: High quality, high speed, and reliable thermal inkjet
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High resolution up to 300 X 600 DPI Portfolio of Aqueous and Solvent inks Horizontal or downward printing Remote communication for variable data printing (dynamic data) Print Resolution/Speed Up to 60 m/sec at 300 x 300 DPI
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Multiple Print Heads
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inPhunE900 printer comes standard with 1 printhead
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Ability to drive each head independently for multiple production lines
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Set up in tandem for backup in high production run
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Stitching of printheads for up to 2 inch in height (4 printheads)
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Load sharing of a long message to maximize cartridge life
Ink Designed for Secondary Packaging Printing
RIO Ink 402K is a high quality, original thermal inkjet cartridge for secondary packaging printing. The hybrid ink is designed for porous and semi-porous substrates to produce high quality codes that are dark, sharp, scannable, durable, water fast and fast drying. Its unique formulation has excellent open time and will not clog up the printhead nozzles.
The pigment in the hybrid ink of the RIO Ink 402 stays on top of the cardboard fibers while the dye wet the fibers to produce darker codes that have crisp edges, clear printed data that are machine readable. It also has improved color gamut and better scratch resistance than traditional inks.
The RIO Ink 402K inkjet cartridge is disposable giving the customers zero maintenance while having a new print engine with every printhead change at a fraction of the cost of other printing technologies.
The key features of the RIO Ink 402K are:
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High optical density ink formulation
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Print on porous and semi-porous substrates
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Good waterproof
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Excellent decap time
- High performance aqueous ink for industrial printing market
Closing
In a world of high-quality products and services, it is necessary for companies to provide a good packaging solution for their products. In the past, most companies relied on manual packing systems which were ineffective, inefficient and costly.
With the advent of technology, many companies are now turning to automated packaging systems that allow them to increase their productivity while reducing costs. However, these systems require secondary packaging to protect the product from damage during shipping or storage. This secondary packaging also provides companies with an opportunity to promote their brand through customized labels and graphics.
At XYCode, we understand the importance of secondary packaging as our staff have decades in combined experience in box coder solutions. By addressing the challenges of secondary packaging in Viet Nam, we have been able to provide box coder solutions to large personal care company like Colgate Viet Nam, to dairy packaging company like Vinamilk, to global snack company like Orion, to agri-business packaging company like Olam, and many more.
The combined solutions of inPhun E900 box coding printer and the RIO Ink 402K help these companies overcome the challenges of secondary packaging while increasing profit, efficiency, and quality.