Warburtons is using a Markem SmartLase 100i laser coder to apply variable date codes to its boxes of All in One Riddlers pre-filled bread rolls. The company chose the coder to print ‘best before’ and ‘display until’ dates, as well as traceability codes on to the cardboard packaging, when it saw the print quality and efficient performance on high-speed applications, it says.

The SmartLase 100i enables Warburtons to laser more characters onto each box at far higher speeds and print quality than possible with any other laser coder on the market, claims Markem.

Engineering manager at Warburtons’ Blackpool bakery, Chris Beer comments: “In the past we would probably have used a continuous inkjet printer (CIJ) for such an application, but installing a laser coder has proved more reliable as well as more cost-efficient in terms of lifetime costs.”

The SmartLase 100i does not require any consumables, inks or solvents, thus providing a cleaner coder and requiring no maintenance. This results in less downtime for manufactu-rers. Day-to-day operation and programming is said to be simple.  A compact screen mounted next to the coder on the packaging line allows Warburtons’ operators to view exactly how the final coding will appear on the packaging.