Thermal ink jet printing for tea packaging

Infusion GB, a tea packaging manufacturer, is printing directly onto enveloped tea bags for the first time, following its investment in three Domino G220i thermal ink jet printers.

Packaging teas and herbal drinks for brands such as Pukka Herbs, Twinings, Tetley and Lipton, Infusion GB found that there was demand from customers for best before dates and batch information to be printed on the enveloped tea bags, so that they could be sold individually or repackaged for the gift market. The application is also proving popular in the hospitality industry.

Peter Barry, Infusion GB’s senior manager, says, “While the coffee sachets used by hotels are often individually printed, best before dates on enveloped tea bags was an application that we wished to offer to our customers. We believe that being able to print best before dates onto these envelopes is a real point of difference for Infusion GB.”

Infusion GB, which produces string, tagged and enveloped tea bags, required a coding and marking solution that could match the speeds of its IMA C27 tea packing machines, which produce 250 bags per minute. It also needed a fast drying ink because of the way that the enveloped tea bags are packed in cartons shortly after being printed, meaning any information printed with conventional inks is at risk of smudging.

The company asked the manufacturer of its IMA machines for advice and was pointed in the direction of Domino UK. Infusion GB also approached several other solutions providers while searching for the coding and marking solution it required. However, Domino was the only manufacturer that was able to provide a suitable solution: its G220i printers, which had to be integrated into the IMA packaging machine, and its unique, ethanol and fast dry ink.

Barry continues, “The other manufacturers struggled to get the print heads integrated into the IMA machine, and there were other problems in matching the line speeds and getting the ink to dry quickly enough. When we change anything on the production line and restart the IMA machine, it takes some time to reach full speed again, so the coding and marking solution that we chose had to synchronise with these warm-up speeds.”

Domino UK’s team of specialist engineers visited Infusion GB to examine the IMA machines and develop a solution for the integration of the G-Series printers. Due to the complex nature of the IMA machine, space was at a premium; therefore, it was decided that the best option was to use Domino’s unique, low-profile compact print head. This ensured that the G-Series printers did not disrupt or change the web path and that they printed as close to the bottom of the envelope as possible.

“Domino definitely had the edge in terms of the capability of its engineers, who were able to adapt one of their printers and create a new market for GB Infusion,” Barry notes. “We weren’t very clear on what we needed at the beginning of the process, but Domino’s team was willing to take the time to listen to our needs and tailor a solution.”

Infusion GB believes that demand for individually printed enveloped tea bags is set to increase. To meet the anticipated demand, the company is planning to roll out the printing of the envelopes and is aiming to have best before dates printed on all of the envelopes it produces by summer 2014.

In order to expand its envelope printing offering, the company is planning to invest in another G-Series printer in the near future.