PR: Domino’s new U510 UV Laser Coder offers high-speed serialisation of plastic pharmaceutical bottles

Domino Printing Sciences (Domino) is pleased to announce the launch of the new U510 – a state-of-the-art UV laser coder for permanent codes on white and coloured plastics, including high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) pharmaceutical bottles. The U510 has built-in data serialisation and traceability management and works alongside Domino's range of vision inspection systems to provide a fully integrated solution for serialised coding on pharmaceutical products.

"Lasers are a popular coding solution for the pharmaceutical sector, owing to their high-speed operation and ability to create high-quality codes that meet pharmaceutical serialisation and traceability requirements and last the lifetime of the product," says Felix Rief, Head of Laser and Extraction, Domino. "However, certain types of pharmaceutical packaging, including white and coloured HDPE and LDPE bottles, are not ideally suited to printing with fibre or CO2 lasers. Domino has developed the U510 to fill this gap to ensure that all pharmaceutical manufacturers have an option for laser coding their products."

The U510 laser creates pin-sharp human- and machine-readable codes directly onto white and coloured plastic substrates without the need for additives or laser-activated fields. Coding is achieved by a photochemical reaction in the very top layer of the plastic substrate, resulting in a smooth, indelible code without the risk of compromising the product packaging. Codes appear bright white on dark plastics and deep black on white plastics.

Like Domino's existing laser ranges, the U510 has been developed to support manufacturers with high-speed serialisation requirements. The U510 can process large amounts of data while printing at very high speeds, generating unique codes for every single product on a manufacturing line without slowing down production. The solution offers verified serialisation via audit trail to support manufacturers with achieving 21 CFR Part 11 compliance. At the same time, integration with Domino's R-Series vision systems enables all codes to be checked and verified at the point of printing.

"We have tested the U510 UV laser coder at several customer sites across North America and have been delighted by the positive feedback that the product has received. Everyone has been very impressed by the code quality – which has been outstanding even at very high production speeds – and with the flexibility and ease-of-use of the solution," says Jon Hall, Senior Product Marketing Manager Laser, Domino NA.

The U510 has been designed for ease of integration, uptime, and reliability. The all-in-one printhead and controller unit are lightweight and compact for seamless integration into existing production lines. The scan head can be mounted in a horizontal or vertical orientation to give extra flexibility. In addition, all U510 lasers come with Domino's SafeGuard service and support plan giving extended five-year warranty, as well as remote diagnostic and monitoring from Domino Cloud for optimised uptime and performance.

"We are delighted to bring a UV laser for coding onto plastic substrates to the market," says Dr Stefan Stadler, Team Lead, Domino Laser Academy. "The U510 is a great solution for permanent, high-quality coding, and will be of enormous benefit to pharmaceutical manufacturers requiring serialised codes on medical bottles."

"At Domino, we take pride in helping customers to find their ideal coding solution," continues Stadler. "We welcome visits to our labs at the Domino Laser Academy and can provide bespoke substrate testing and analysis to determine which of Domino's coding solutions is best for your individual requirements."