Where handheld batch coding is used
The same four lines of text end up on very different surfaces. What changes between industries is not the printer — it is the ink, and how much of the code has to be unique.
Food & FMCG
Best-before dates and batch codes on cartons, pouches and PET bottles, printed as packs come off the line rather than pre-printed and wasted when the recipe changes.
Pharma & nutraceutical
Batch, manufacturing and expiry on mono cartons and shippers, plus a unique code per pack where traceability is required.
Cosmetics & personal care
MRP and batch on tubes, jars and laminate — surfaces where a water-based ink would wipe straight off.
Chemicals, agro & lubricants
HDPE cans, drums and sacks. High-contrast marking that survives a storage yard and rough handling.
Contract packers & co-manufacturers
One unit that moves between lines and brands, reconfigured in seconds, instead of a coder dedicated to each.
Export & warehouse
Shipper marks, carton IDs and scannable codes applied at dispatch, on corrugated board that soaks ink up instantly.
Surfaces and ink
There are only two questions to answer about your pack: does it absorb ink, or does it not.
Porous — water-based ink
Ink soaks into the fibre and is fixed almost immediately. This is the cheapest cartridge and the most forgiving to print with.
- Kraft and corrugated carton
- Uncoated board
- Paper sacks
- Mono cartons
Non-porous — solvent-based (fast-dry) ink
Nothing absorbs the ink, so it has to dry on the surface. A solvent-based, fast-dry cartridge is not optional here.
- PET and HDPE bottles
- Laminate pouch
- Aluminium foil
- Glass
- Painted and bare metal
- PVC, coated board and wood
Water-based ink on plastic looks perfect for about ten seconds and then smudges under a fingertip. It is the most common and the most expensive mistake made with a handheld coder. Tell us what your pack is made of and we will send the right cartridge with the machine.
One message, or one per pack
Both are normal. Which one you need decides how much work happens before the printing starts.
A fixed message
The same MRP, batch and expiry on every pack in a run. Type it once at the start of the shift and the machine repeats it until you change it. This covers the great majority of what gets coded.
A different code on every pack
A counter that increments pack to pack gives each unit its own number. If those numbers have to be unique and verifiable rather than merely sequential, that is serialisation — and it is what our sister platform TrueGTIN generates for the coder to print.
Where it is the wrong tool
Above a few thousand packs a day on a line that runs continuously, you likely need a fixed in-line coder rather than a handheld one. Tell us your volume and we will point you at the right machine — or tell you plainly if it is not something we sell.
Talk to us about your line →Not sure which ink your surface needs?
Tell us what the pack is made of and roughly how many you do in a day. That is enough for us to send the right cartridge with the machine.