insignia national sales and product manager, Boyd Rose, speaks to Food & Beverage Industry News about the company’s plans for AUSPACK 2022 and two featured product ranges from Domino that attendees can discover at the event. Read more
AUSPACK finally returns in 2022
Day one of the 2022 AUSPACK expo at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre kicked off with high energy as exhibitors, buyers, and visitors were finally able to step onto the show room floor after years of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
Complete paddock-to-consumer traceability for DA Hall & Co
Founded in 1958, DA Hall & Co is a privately owned agribusiness that operates one of the largest poultry and egg farms in Australia. From humble beginnings it has grown to become a large and successful integrated rural enterprise. DA Hall & Co has more than 200 employees, fulfilling a seven day-a-week operation.
How insignia improved coding and traceability for Chocolatier Australia
One of Australia’s finest chocolate makers, Chocolatier Australia, automated their manual best before date and batch code process with insignia’s innovative coding solution to drive greater efficiencies on the production line and improve product traceability. Read more
Looks matter when it comes to taste
Driven by impulse, consumers often make decisions based on a product’s aesthetic appearance, making label design a key competitive advantage in food manufacturing. Find out more.
Your average Australian supermarket carries approximately 40,000 different products. When every product is vying for consumers attention, how do you ensure your product cuts though the noise and stands out from the rest?
Driven by impulse, research shows that consumers take only two and a half seconds to make a purchasing decision and read on average only seven words during an entire shopping trip. Instead, buying products instinctively based on brand recognition, colour and shape of packaging. Therefore, how a product is labelled is a key driver behind a consumer’s purchase decision.
Effective product labels should emphasize your brand’s DNA and evoke a memorable, emotional response…all within 2.5 seconds. Product labels that encapsulate these characteristics will have the most successful shelf impact.
Emphasise your Brand’s DNA
A brand’s DNA is made up of the core values and beliefs that captures who you are as a brand, what your product is, and what your brand stands for. Your label should be a cohesive part of this identity, and accurately represent your brand’s story. Bringing your brand’s DNA to life can be achieved through colour, label face stock (top layer of the label) and embellishments.
When selecting your label face stock and embellishments, reflect on your brand’s primary characteristics and personality. Does your product offer environmental awareness? This can be represented through a biodegradable face stock. Perhaps luxury is a key brand characteristic – this can be expressed through foiling embellishment, or simplicity can be achieved by using a clear face stock.
insignia offers a range of premium-labelling face stocks and embellishments from cold foiling (designed to deliver high quality and cost-effective metallic printing effects), two side printing, to UV Flexo and UV lamination. Labels that stand out on a crowded shelf by instantaneously communicating to consumers your brand’s DNA will have the most successful shelf presence.
Colours Evoke Emotions
Consumers subconsciously make judgement within 90 seconds of viewing a product. Further to that, research shows that 62-90% base that judgement solely on the product’s colour. As 85% of consumers attribute colour as the determining factor when purchasing a product, it is evident that colours used on your product label play a role in affecting consumer emotions. Consumers act when a brand makes them feel something. Therefore, the colours that you choose for your label should project a deliberate subconscious message to attract your target audience and prompt them to choose your product.
Impactful Differentiation
Ensuring consistency of tone, colours and graphics not just on your labels but across your branding is critical in building brand credibility among consumers. Consistently maintaining these elements of your brand’s identity can eventually be the iconic differentiation that set your brand apart from the rest. For example, you see a red and white swirl and instantly think Coca Cola, or automatically associate the colour purple with Cadbury.
At insignia, our team of experienced graphic designers work directly and collaboratively with you to assist with label colour and die recommendations, as well as label design and layout. Working closely with our certified printers throughout the label making process to ensure your labels create a lasting impression on the shelf and in the minds of your customer.
If you would like to find out more about how insignia’s team can help you with your labels contact us on 1300 467 446 or sales@insignia.com.au.
Countdown to 100 per cent sustainability in packaging for Australian manufacturers
As consumers become more aware of their actions sustainable packaging is no longer an option but an expectation, and the law. Find out how you could be impacted.
Sustainability has been a hot topic over recent years as consumers are becoming increasingly aware of how their actions are affecting the environment. Packaging is one of the largest wastes we as Australians produce, and it’s something most don’t think twice about. The ABC’s series War on Waste revealed every year the waste Australians generate is growing at twice the rate of our population.[1]
However, the tides are changing, and sustainable packaging is making its mark as the way of the future. It’s no longer simply trendy to have sustainable packaging but is an expectation from the consumer. Consumers have long had a degree of influence over decisions made by brands, however the sustainability movement extends far beyond this transactional relationship.
To combat Australia’s waste epidemic, Australia’s Environment Ministers in partnership with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) have announced the plan to make 100% of packaging in Australia reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.[2]
In September 2018, the federal government also launched the Australasian Recycling Label in a bid to help consumers recycle properly. This label breaks down the components of a product’s packaging (e.g. the box, any internal trays, and plastic wrapping), indicating how recyclable the components are and eliminating any confusion the consumer may have around correctly recycling the packaging.
With the push from both consumer and government bodies, manufacturers are gradually complying with this reform, not only to stay competitive but from a legal perspective as well. However, seeing that the packaging still needs to be fit for purpose and with limited options currently available, companies are having to get creative about how they’re packaging their products through sustainable means.
That said, it’s not enough to just consider the waste created by the end user. Manufacturers need to be thinking about the waste created throughout production as well. This could include anything from the polypropylene strapping used to bundle the boxes to the label liner removed from both the product and shipping labels.
Our partner Avery Dennison in affiliation with Wasteflex are leading an initiative in label liner recycling with the Australian Glassine Liner Recycling Program. This program has been developed to provide a solution for the recycling of pressure-sensitive glassine liner waste that would otherwise go into landfill. Still in its infancy, this program is a preview as to what’s possible for the future of sustainability and a program insignia is actively supporting.
Many other initiatives are being developed in the prospect of a more sustainable future, and with the deadline approaching, companies that haven’t already implemented sustainable packaging need to planning for the future now.
[1] https://www.abc.net.au/ourfocus/waronwaste/
[2] https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/plastics-and-packaging/packaging-covenant
Enhancing your brand with interactive labels
Approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide bought products online in 2018 and it’s predicted this will increase by another 350 million by 2021. However, this does not mean brick-and-mortar store are dying. What’s becoming clear is that with rapidly advancing technology, consumers are demanding an increasingly interactive shopping experience. As a result, businesses are having to think more innovatively in the branding of their products to create a market leader that stands out amongst rival brands.
Augmented reality (AR) is an integration between the physical and digital world to create an interactive experience like no other. Pokémon Go is a perfect example of an AR experience that saw thousands of people globally take part in the adventure to ‘catch ‘em all’. The technology has developed so much over the past decade that it’s no longer just an option for businesses in the tech industry. A multitude of industries from manufacturing to healthcare are using augmented reality for a variety of applications. One of the more common applications is in the area of product labelling.
The times have passed where a product label was just seen as a 2D print that depicted a brand and conveyed information to the consumer. Businesses are giving their labels life and their products a story through turning them into an interactive experience. This trend has been driven by the demand from consumers for a more immersive shopping experience.
Since the boom of ecommerce, brick-and-mortar stores have been using such technology to draw consumers back in – recreating digital elements in a physical world. Aside from this primary goal, there are many other benefits interactive labels can offer to a business, including:
- Driving unique visitors to your website or social platforms
- Promoting campaigns or cross-selling opportunities
- Providing big data on consumer behavior
Ultimately, they can create a unique experience for the customer that can increase brand awareness and sales.
AR is only one of the many methods businesses have used to create an immersive experience and is becoming increasingly present within sectors such as the wine industry. This form of interactive label is achieved through a convert, or invisible image created by hidden data points within the print plate and can only be detected via a smartphone application. This allows the consumer to view your label, but with a digital element overlaid – giving your label life.
For many such complex technology can seem like a stretch of the imagination and far beyond their budget. However, creating these experiences doesn’t have to break the bank; QR codes are one effective but affordable option to achieving an interactive experience.
The two-dimensional code is an overt, or visible image on the label that can link to anything with a web address and are a great way to drive visitors to your website. Through scanning
IoT-enabled inkjet printer can save on downtime
Traceability codes and best before dates are a vital part of the production process in the food and beverage industry.
Industrial ink jet coders print the vital information such as best before dates and traceability codes on to products, and their performance can be a major contributor to manufacturing Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) statistics.
With that being said, it is critical they are being monitored effectively so they can be working at optimum efficiency. Through the emergence of IIoT and cloud technology, this has become more achievable for manufacturers.
Industry 4.0, smart factories and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) are all terms that illustrate the future for manufacturing. They describe a world where each component of a factory is connected through a cyber system that monitors factory processes to achieve optimum OEE.
READ: Insignia discusses challenges impacting the beverage industry
With this in mind, insignia, the sole Australian distributor of Domino marking and coding hardware, have embraced IIoT technology to provide a cloud offering that delivers better visibility and improved performance of their coding solutions. But how exactly does it work?
“A Domino Cloud interface plugs into the inkjet coder and uses a 3G network to send data to the cloud,” said Blair Kietzmann, insignia’s head of sales for Domino.
“From there, the data is used to analyse performance and areas that require particular attention, so we are able to provide proactive maintenance.
“The customer’s uptime is paramount,” said Kietzmann.
“With the cloud we can remotely monitor our customer’s fleet of inkjet printers around the country from our technical help desk, and if necessary assist in live issue resolution – before it impacts the production line.
“The other benefit of this kind of predictive maintenance is that if the machine does fail, both the customer and our HelpDesk team are instantly notified of the issue and its cause. The biggest cost in any production line is downtime. If we can help reduce that downtime in our small way, then we are doing our job.”
The main benefit highlighted by Kietzmann is that Domino Cloud has allowed insignia to move their support services from a reactive to proactive approach. With cloud technology the company is able to provide more value to their customers through remote diagnostics and predictive maintenance. Having full visibility allows insignia’s experienced technicians to call the customer, find the right person and navigate them to remedy the issue over the phone. That can turn a potentially lengthy period of downtime into a 10-minute resolution over the phone, or aid in a first-time, field-support fix.
In addition to the support from insignia, Domino Cloud also allows users to monitor their plant remotely via a smartphone or tablet, as well as a desktop or laptop computer, giving real -time visibility of the production line.
“Cloud solutions can be challenging and at times expensive to implement,” he said.
“Having an IoT device ready to go on your printer gives you a window into your production line through the eyes of the printer. It gives a taste of what Industry 4.0 can deliver without the big costs and complicated set up.
“You can log into that printer through a smart device anywhere in the world, any time you like, and you can see in real time what your production line is doing. You can see that it is running and the production output. It gives you immediate feedback on your production line.
“Being an Australian family-owned business ourselves, we understand the impact unplanned downtime can have.
“In a country as large as Australia, being able to support both our metro and regional customers remotely in a more predictive and proactive way, means we can ensure our equipment is running more reliably, maximising their production uptime and driving down their costs,” said Kietzmann.
Insignia discusses challenges impacting the beverage industry
Few environments present challenges to coding and traceability like the beverage canning sector. Insignia discusses current impacts on the beverage industry.
With high production speeds, uneven surfaces to code and a hot, wet environment to contend with, achieving a reliable high-quality code is an ever-present challenge.
Every industry presents its own set of obstacles when it comes to coding and marking, and beverage canning is no different.
When investing into a coding solution for challenging canning environments, there are certain requirements that must be considered to ensure your technology can provide optimal uptime and reliability.
Production speeds
To satisfy consumer demand, companies have high production output deliverables, which means that speeds on canning lines are high and can be prone to changes (high output during summer months, lower productivity off season). Continuous advances in technology means production line speeds are rapidly increasing, resulting in a higher number of cans being processed. For example, a typical soft drink canning line can run up to 6,000 cans per minute, all of which require date and batch codes. The coding system must be able to keep pace with these high production rates without compromising on code quality.
Harsh Production Environments
The production environment of a canning facility can be wet and sugar-laden, with temperatures reaching 45⁰C on the production line, and washdown a regular part of the process. What this means for manufacturers is that they need to be investing in robust technology that’s IP rated to withstand washdown processes, and operational in higher temperature and humidity ranges.
Coding Surface
The majority of codes are printed on the bottom of cans, where the surface is concave and therefore uneven. This challenge is aggravated by the speed of the production line. A code that appears stretched or smudged is often linked to the speed of the production line however, it can also be the result of the coding system’s unsuitability to the surface or substrate being coded.
Smooth Integration
For a coding system to be effective, it needs to easily integrate with the canning line. This requires optimal print head design and a small machine footprint enabling installation in a location that will not cause bottlenecks or downtime along the production line.
Environmental Awareness
A growing number of companies are committed to their social responsibility and prefer to invest in technologies that advance their environmental credentials. Coding and marking technologies can be energy-intensive, as well as consuming volatile organic chemicals. A coding system that minimises energy consumption and waste will therefore be the preferred choice.
Late Stage Customisation
Developments in the supply and distribution of beverage cans are stimulating a growing need to quickly modify codes on the production line. Late stage customisation enhances marketing capabilities and also allows manufacturers to be more flexible with decision-making on site. With this in mind, manufacturers could potentially change the ‘best before’ dates and production data or add in promotional codes that encourage interaction with your brand.
A suitable coding technology for this harsh beverage environment must be robust and capable of marking high quality codes at high speeds.
It should also be capable of meeting both current and future requirements for high-legibility coding applications.
The F720i is Domino’s latest addition to its range of high performance, high speed fibre lasers.
Designed to deliver clear, durable codes onto aluminium cans, the new F720i fibre laser is suited to withstand the harsh production environment and high-speed coding demands of the beverage canning sector.