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The term Industry 4.0 has been a hot topic of discussion in manufacturing over the last 2-3 years. However, do people really know what it means and more importantly are they implementing its practices? The term Industry 4.0 was coined to represent the 4th industrial revolution and a nod to high tech naming techniques (version name point zero). According to KPMG, Industry 4.0 is a collective term used around the world to describe the convergence of IoT (internet of things) driven technologies, augmented decision making and advanced automation. These next-generation technologies are fundamentally transforming the traditional value chain by opening new revenue streams and driving a step change in business performance.

The Thermal Tranfer Overprinter (TTO printer) is widely regarded as the work horse of coding and marking printers.  What was once the staple printer for bakeries, snack food and confectioners, now the TTO printer has been widely accepted in new high growth sectors such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical devices. It enables manufacturers to overprint already rolled or flat printed packaging with variable product information such as ingredients, allergens, flavours, QR and 2D datamatrix codes as well as the usual information like best before and batch / lot numbers. The TTO is an extremely cost effective printer with a small footprint.

We all know that the craft beer boom is well under way with almost 100 micro breweries on the Island. But what about the artisan coffee roasters? Our research leads us to estimate that there are now close to 50 Irish Coffee Roasters in Ireland, with the overwhelming majority in the Republic of Ireland . The artisan coffee scene boom has made its way in to the mainstream by being sold by artisan coffee houses and cafes, and on the shelves in your local supermarket too. Its a testament to Musgraves / Supervalue and to local retailers that stock these wonderful Irish roasted coffees.

Last week we exhibited at IFEX 2018, Northern Ireland’s largest gathering of food, beverage and hospitality trade. This was our second time exhibiting at the show which is held in the iconic Titanic Quarter of Belfast. For us, IFEX is an opportunity to meet with both current and new customers. It enables us to use our booth as a mini showroom for a couple of days. It was so encouraging to meet with production professionals and company owners and discuss what problems they had in the production

We have created a useful guide that will help you choose the correct technology for your production. Hopefully, there will be an opportunity that we can help you with. We can help you print product information such as best before, use by, batch numbers, logos and bar codes on to your packaging. We also provide automatic & semi automatic labelling solutions for packaging, bottles, jars and cases.

With so much happening every year in the Coding and Marking industry, it has become so difficult to write an end of year review. 2017 was of no exception. After some heavy debate and consultation we came up with our favourite 5 events / topics to discuss here with you today:

Working in collaboration, PCI and Domino identified the key inks required and developed testing criteria to demonstrate compliance with industry leachability requirements. The following White Paper details the research and results that has allowed Domino and PCI to confidently conclude that there is no ink migration of Domino inks through the walls of PCI’s HDPE bottles.

YellowBelly Beer opened its brewery doors in 2015 at their busy brewpub Simon Lambert & Sons in the heart of Wexford, Ireland. The brewery’s name pays homage to the nickname ‘YellowBelly’ bestowed upon the Wexford townsfolk while also being full of irony, in that YellowBelly Beer never fears to be progressive and innovative with their beer styles and ingredients. In 2017, YellowBelly have expanded into a new brewery, not far from their initial site, with lots more space to continue their quest to become one of the world’s leading breweries.