Post Date: December 1, 2021

Flexibility to Code Flat or Constructed Cases

Manufacturers have figured out there’s a lot of possible savings related to brown boxes.  Corrugated boxes are used to ship products to wholesalers and retailers, so figuring out how to effectively manage inventory levels can benefit the manufacturer over the long run.

Deploying a versatile coding solution for shipping cases is one way to impact multiple areas of cost savings.  When companies buy their boxes they typically pre-print certain information before taking delivery from the box converter.  In the past, manufacturers would have different box types (SKUs) for each product and shipping size.  Example:  Consider a manufacturer with 6 different types of rice, each with 4 shipping sizes and 3 dietary varieties.  This equates to 72 different box SKUs.  How much could be saved if fewer box sizes and types were inventoried?

Markoprint by AT Information Products is a coding platform that helps manufacturers reduce their costs related to pre-printed boxes and inventory management.  The systems are based on high-resolution HP or Seiko print engines which can be integrated on a variety of packaging machinery to code variable data including product indentifiers, lot/batch numbers, and barcodes.  If the rice manufacturer procures one box SKU per size, then they can leverage Markoprint to customize all the product specific information that must be printed on the shipping case.

With Markoprint, manufacturers can print on flat or erected cases.  The boxes can be customized using a 4.25-inch tall printhead to enable a nutrition panel to be coded on the box for various food packaging applications.  Furthermore, Markoprint offers the ability to print graphics in one color using greyscale capability, or two-color messages for logos, warning symbols and dates that must stand-out from the rest of the printed areas.

When it comes to just-in-time printing of corrugated cases, Markoprint is able to produce high-quality text, graphics, and barcodes in one quick pass.  The crisp and clean print resolution allows for the coding of barcodes that meet retailer requirements for scannabililty.  Not only does this diminish the necessity for pre-printing on cases, but it eliminates the need for labels altogether.

The newest offering from AT Information Products is RF CASE coding, marking & labeling system, which is an ideal solution for the feeding of outer box shipping cases.  The hopper can be stacked high with flat corrugate boxes, which are fed one-at-a-time across the conveyor transport to allow the Markoprint coder to apply the variable customization.  In addition to shipping boxes, RF CASE can be used for food packaging materials that are folded around the product after coding.

To learn more about Markoprint coding solutions for corrugate packaging, contact AT Information Products at (201) 529-0202 x125.  We can also be reached by sending a message to [email protected]