Domino’s i-Tech range of continuous ink jet (CIJ) systems represents the next step in the evolution of the A-Series and has managed to set new standards in practicality, performance and flexibility for coding and marking. The recently completed range comprises the A320i, A420i and A520i printers, all of which employ Domino's unique intelligent Technology system and QuickStep user interface.
Over the past few years the i-Tech range has helped meet the production line requirements of numerous businesses around the world. Belgian soft drinks producer EVIDEL integrated the A320i into its glass bottling line for coding onto the caps of 1litre and 20cl bottles. The A320i is the highly capable entry level version of the A-Series i-Tech range, which has helped increase production speeds on EVIDEL’s bottling line.
“Since introducing the A320i, we have been delighted with its performance and our return on investment,” comments Niko Claeys, Assistant Managing Director at EVIDEL. “We have achieved a 5% increase in efficiency on our bottling line which has resulted in a much greater production of bottles per hour and during this time, we have also benefitted from 100% uptime.”
Other customers have also noticed the printer’s reliability, as well as its capacity to greatly reduce errors. Pascal Lebrun, Production Manager at the Coopérative Régionale des Vins de Champagne (CRVC) in France, says: “We chose Domino because of the reliable system perfectly suited to the needs of the operators who work on our branding lines every day. Our priority was to reduce errors by making it easier for operators to enter information.” The cooperative has since employed the A320i for printing alpha-numeric batch codes on a range of champagnes.
Jamones Arroyo, one of the leading companies in the Spanish ham sector, relies on a total of eighteen A320i printers. Some of these are used for coding ham cube packages and others for marking the blisters of other cured meats, on which the batch and expiry date are marked on two lines. Commercial Director Javier Arroyo remarks: “Domino has contributed to enhancing Jamones Arroyo’s productivity with a hugely significant reduction in the number of stoppages due to breakdowns, which is now practically zero.”
A similarly large installation took place at Portuguese glass bottle supplier BA Vidro, where fourteen A420i printers replaced a direct competitor’s system. One of the most efficient and reliable CIJ printers available, the A420i offers the lowest total cost of ownership of any ink jet printer. The i-Tech service-free ink system delivers ultra-low makeup usage, reducing costs and operator intervention.
These features proved crucial in BA Vidro’s decision to go with Domino’s solution. “We came to the conclusion that the A420i was the system best suited to our needs, as it was low on solvent consumption and the only ink jet printer on the market that required little to no maintenance,” says Joaquim Campos, Maintenance Manager at BA Vidro.
More recently, Express Packaging, a US contract packaging service provider, was the first company to install an A520i, the latest iteration in Domino’s successful A-Series i-Tech range. A highly resilient printer with IP66 sealed electronics enclosure, the system is a perfect fit for Express Packaging’s challenging production environment, in which numerous foods and snacks are handled on a daily basis.
Dan Crone, Project Manager and Maintenance Manager at Express Packaging comments: “Much like our customers, we demand not just quality packaging, but also a degree of innovation and adaptability. That’s exactly what we get with Domino’s A520i.”
Greg Treanor, CIJ Product Marketing Manager at Domino Printing Sciences, concludes: “We have built on the reputation of the A-Series i-Tech range by not only removing the need to service the printer, but also further improving the reliability with a number of innovative design improvements. These mean we can both deliver and support this step change in even the most demanding of applications. With the widest number of print head options, remote user interface and unique ink combinations, the A-Series i-Tech range offers manufacturers the flexibility they need to answer their coding and marking needs.”