Several of our customers asked why Packaging World didn’t talk to more people in the industry and provide better coverage. Why Did Packaging World Only Mention One Technology? The print resulting from the Foxjet printer is less prone to being damaged by products rubbing together than hot-melt inkjet prints that sits on the surface of the material. FoxJet Printer for high-Quality Barcodesįor customers with approval to print high-quality barcodes onto uncoated corrugated cases and trays using inkjet, we’ve found the Trident printhead (as used in our FoxJet printers) gives fantastic results. This same customer told us that the Packaging World article seems more like a paid advertisement than an editorial piece. One large customer has approval from Walmart to use two labels (one each side) on shrink-wrapped trays and two corner-wrap labels (so that a GTIN barcode is visible on each side of the case) for corrugated cases. For corrugated cases and trays, labeling provides the opportunity to get the best possible barcode quality. Several large Walmart suppliers have worked out an arrangement to use labels (either pre-printed GTIN labels, or printed on-line on the labeling system) for the GTIN barcode and either include the other variable information as part of the label or print with inkjet elsewhere on the case. Many of our customers who supply goods to Walmart have found that inkjet of any type is not being approved for case coding – one of the main reasons being that it doesn’t produce the best quality barcodes. Applying Pre-printed GS1 Barcodes at High speed While there are certainly some instances of this technique that have been approved by some Walmart buyers, it is false to suggest that hot-melt inkjet has approval by Walmart for case coding in general. It is then suggested that according to Walmart, it is “okay” to use hot melt inkjet for printing the barcode on cases. It is also (correctly) pointed out that some food companies have been able to negotiate with Walmart in order to use the print technology of their choice. This is fine and corresponds with what we and our customers have found as well. The Packaging world article started off by reporting that Walmart had no feedback on their mandate. Then, a couple of weeks ago, an article on this topic appeared in Packaging World Magazine which has caused some confusion for many of our customers. We know of some companies that have complied, some have done nothing and others that have worked with Walmart’s team to get their case barcoding method approved. Everyone in the industry shares Walmart’s aim of getting best possible barcodes on every type of package, which means optimizing the technology used for each application. Business has been going along uninterrupted and here at ID Technology, we’ve been shipping a lot of labeling and printing systems to Walmart suppliers. The response to the Walmart mandate has been very mixed. Obviously, suppliers to Walmart were not thrilled with the new barcode mandate and didn’t rush to make changes or get into compliance. Instead of buying pre-printed cases for every item sold through retailers, suppliers often use generic packaging and customize with the correct text and barcodes on the packaging line – improving efficiency and reducing cost. This new mandate conflicted with the trend of in-line printing that had become common on packaging lines as well as contradicting Walmart’s own specification for frozen bakery products.
In essence, Walmart’s new mandate stated that the GS1 GTIN barcodes on shipping cases were only acceptable if printed using flexographic print technology, using artwork approved by Walmart. We posted information on this at the time – you can read it here. Walmart advised only barcodes that were pre-printed using the flexographic process would be acceptable. Walmart wants to improve efficiency in the supply chain and in their stores and it was determined that improving the quality and accuracy of the barcodes on the packaging would help with this project.
It has been ten months since Walmart advised a lot of their suppliers of changes to barcode requirements for shipping cases and trays.
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