Leading soft drinks manufacturer Britvic UK implements Videojet’s (videojet.com) new 1620 UHS, CLARiSOFT® and CLARiNET® software to increase production line speed by 30m/min. A long-time trusted partner of Videojet, Britvic UK looked to the next generation of machines at its Rugby manufacturing facility, in order to meet the increasing production demands of the beverage industry.

The advantage of the new Videojet 1620 UHS is that it is over 40% faster than its existing printers, allowing operators greater flexibility to run faster or print more content, increasing the line speed by 25% to 150 metre/minute and increasing the size of the print character from 7x4 to 7x5 – all without compromising print quality. Paul Ash, Maintenance Technician at Britvic UK, commented: “We now choose to clean the printhead once a week at a convenient time when there is no pressure from the line being down. Due to high print makeup and ink volumes, ink lasts three to four days, maybe more. There is no mess. No problems.”

Once installed, the 1620 UHS printer coded in excess of 23 million codes at the soft drinks site, all produced without the printhead requiring a clean. With a patented CleanFlow™ printhead design, the printer provides maximum uptime with minimal maintenance reducing the ink build-up that can cause traditional ink jet printers to shut down, the CleanFlow™ printhead requires less maintenance and delivers longer runs without intervention.

The integrated core consolidates the printer’s key ink system components into one part, enabling the 1620 UHS to perform up to 14,000 hours between planned maintenance or approximately 19 months for around the clock operations. Core replacement is simple, mess-free and is designed to be customer-replaceable without necessarily requiring a visit from a trained technician. A countdown meter also allows for easy monitoring of time remaining before the core must be changed.

Simply integrated into existing systems, the Videojet 1620 UHS contains advanced connectivity options, including its USB port, which allows for hot swapping print jobs and backing up messages. The machine also adds further convenience to the customer, through off-site control and diagnostics via Ethernet capability through CLARiSOFT® and CLARiNET® software which enables simple and seamless real-time message changes. Paul adds: “We were happy with our Videojet Excel printer but we are even happier with the new 1620 UHS model”.

 Jose Gomez CIJ Business Unit Manager at Videojet commented: “At Videojet we strive to help our customers to improve their operational reliability and productivity so that they can grow their brands and are able to stay ahead of industry trends and regulation. With the Videojet 1620 UHS, our customers can respond to the ever-increasing demands of their industries, by coding more quickly and without compromising on quality.”