It can be extremely difficult to print on porous materials such as Tyvek which medical companies use to hold medical devices since they can be sterilized in that packaging. Medical companies in the United States are now required to have every device have a Unique Device Identification (UDI) meaning that every piece of packaging needs to be serialized with its own barcode. Due to Tyvek being made from plastic fibers, it would melt if put through a laser printer. Also, due to the porous nature of Tyvek, inkjet cannot be used on it because it would bleed unless the Tyvek has a special coating. Unfortunately, the FDA prohibits medical companies from using this coating on their Tyvek. This is where Thermal Transfer printing comes in. Thermal Transfer printing utilizes a ribbon with a wax and/or resin coating on it. This ribbon goes under the print head, which then heats up and melts the wax/resin coating to the product being fed underneath it. This method allows for porous materials such as Tyvek to be printed on demand without issue. At Pliant Packaging, we utilize special near-edge print head technology. Unlike flat-head thermal transfer printers, our near-edge technology allows the head to lift between prints allowing individual pieces of packaging to be processed in the printer. This feature also allows for the ribbon to stop moving between prints so that as little ribbon is wasted as possible, minimizing the money spent on ribbon as well as the time the operator must spend on replacing it.
