What Costs are Associated with CIJ Technology and Not TIJ?
Downtime
Since continuous inkjet technology has a significant amount of moving parts, there’s always the possibility that something could go wrong and cause the machine to need repairs. Repairs are just the surface-level cost; you also have to factor in how much money you and the company lose every minute your line is not in production.
Service Contracts
Manufacturers and distributors of continuous inkjet technology typically recommend service contracts to cover the equipment over a general period of time. Continuous inkjet printers have a considerable amount of moving parts, so having a service contract in place is necessary for owning one. Service contract prices can range anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand per month, so imagine the cost in a year; all of this is subjective to how many active printers you have.
Replacement Parts
The most important part of any printer is the printhead, and seeing as though CIJ technology deals with a lot of wear and tear, replacing one can be quite costly. Depending on the specific date coding technology, a printhead can cost you anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000; if you’re looking to exchange a part, then you’d still be looking between $1,000 to $2,000. Most OEMs, manufacturers, and distributors recommend keeping a spare printhead if possible, but that could cost up to $5,000.
Annual Preventative Maintenance
In order to ensure that the equipment continues working properly and to eliminate as many breaks as possible, it’s important to schedule annual preventative maintenance. With continuous inkjet technology, not only is flushing and cleaning required, but filters and other parts need to be replaced as well.
Why Should You Make the Switch to Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) Technology?
Print Speed
While continuous inkjet technology has a leg up in the competition when it comes to speed, some thermal inkjet printers are now able to print at speeds of up to 100 meters per minute. One of the best aspects of TIJ technology is that prints can be produced instantly and dry within a matter of seconds, so there’s no need to worry about smudged, blurry, or impartial prints.
Easy to Use
CIJ printers can be complicated to use, which means that employees have to go through training to ensure that they can operate the equipment properly; however, when you select a thermal inkjet printer, there’s no need for lengthy training or tutorials. Within minutes or a couple of hours, your entire printing line can be self-installed, configured, and operational.
Ink Color Changes
If you were looking to swap colors with CIJ technology, not only would you have to shut down a production line and hire a technician to flush out your system, but you could also be dealing with messy ink spills. Thermal inkjet technology, on the other hand, can swap ink cartridges in a matter of seconds, at most minutes. In other words, there’s no need for costly system flushes or lengthy downtimes.
Initial Investment & Ownership Costs
Thermal inkjet technology won’t cost you an arm and a leg, but continuous inkjet technology will; CIJ printers will typically cost $7,000 or more, but you can add a TIJ printer to your coding and marking process for as little as $599. TIJ printers require little to no maintenance, which means that you can cut out costly service contracts, but CIJ printers will require servicing and constant maintenance throughout the course of its life
SNEED-JET® Thermal Inkjet Printer Series
Each SNEED-JET® Thermal Inkjet printer series is more than capable of keeping coding simple, it’s just a matter of narrowing down which one is the best fit for you. Also, while each printer can be self-installed and self-maintained, we still offer an endless amount of instructional videos and support documentation on our Help Desk. There’s nothing worse than getting stuck with a piece of equipment that doesn’t work for your process, which is why each of our printer is backed by our 30-Day Performance Guarantee.
Does your coding and marking process require a printer with an extended ink throw ability? If so, the SNEED-JET® Infinity series, paired with the SI-X30 ink cartridge, can give you an ink throw distance of 10mm. In addition, the Infinity comes with high-end networking capabilities that allow you to wirelessly monitor and control multiple Infinity printers from a single CPU or laptop.
Whether you’re looking for a conveyor mount or portable handheld date code solution, the Freedom series has you covered. Uploading information has never been simpler, especially since Freedom printers are equipped with 7-inch touchscreens. The Freedom 21 gives you (2) one-inch printheads stitched together allowing you to print up to 2-inch tall objects. The Freedom 22 gives you two separate one-inch print heads allowing you to inkjet code on two sides of a product.
If you’ve been looking for a versatile portable handheld or inline thermal-inkjet printer, then our Titan series is ideal for you. There are 7 ink colors to choose from including black, white, yellow, red, blue, green, and invisible; best of all, you can switch colors in 30 seconds or less. In addition, the SNEED-JET® Titan coders are available with 1, 2, or 4 printheads.
