The need to increase compliance with regulatory and retail requirements is a major concern for product manufacturers today. They need to protect their operations from costly coding errors or illegible barcodes. To comply with applicable coding standards and guidelines, manufacturers must choose the right marking solution to meet their coding needs. The correct choice of marking fluids, such as Videojet replacement inks, plays a crucial role when it comes to barcode products. In addition to choosing ink, barcode users must take some important steps to print data on their merchandise. Here are three of the most important:
1. Obtaining a GS1 company prefix
Before starting to use barcodes, it is mandatory to assign the numbers that go in the barcode. These numbers are known as GS1 identification keys. The most important step in assigning these numbers is obtaining a GS1 company prefix. You must obtain it from a GS1 member organization. Regarding the GS1 company prefix, they help companies or manufacturers to create identification numbers for products, locations, logistics units, coupons and assets. Companies around the world use GS1 prefixes, unique numbers to identify items throughout the supply chain.
2. Choose the right barcode printing process
To get started, you need to determine which products you are encoding and whether the barcode will have static or dynamic information. If you want to display static data, you can print the barcode using the conventional printing process. If the barcode displays dynamic information, you will need a combination of traditional and digital printing or just digital printing. For example, if your product requires a barcode with dynamic information and multi-color graphics, you can print the graphics with traditional printing presses. Leave an empty section for the product label for in-line digital printing throughout the packaging and production process. You can even print a barcode with static information on a product package, using digital printing. This is applicable if you are using similar packaging for a variety of products.
3. Select a barcode color
In general, the ideal color combination for barcode printing consists of black bars with a white background. However, you can always use other colors. Here are some ideas to help you:
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If you are using GS1 barcodes, opt for dark shades for the bars, including dark blue, black, dark green, or dark brown.
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If you want to use multiple layers of the marking liquid to improve the opacity of the background, use quality Videojet inks and make sure each layer is marked as a solid color.
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The bars must always be understood as a single line color. Never print them using multiple imaging tools, such as screens, plates, or cylinders.
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When it comes to GS1 barcodes, they need clearer backgrounds for ‘Quiet Zones’. A quiet zone means the printing area around the blanks and the barcode.
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Sometimes the background of the symbol is not printed. In such cases, the color of the packaging material or substrate serves as the background for the barcode. If you print the symbol background below the bars, the background should show solid line colors.
Use replacement inks from Videojet to seamlessly print barcodes and product information, cases or cartons. Remember to follow the correct steps to barcode your merchandise.
