Celebrating 40 years of CIJ print innovation at Markem-Imaje

2022 marks the 40th anniversary of MI’s development of continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers. A four-decade journey from a small start-up at the forefront of a brand-new print technology, to a business with 50,000 customers around the world. Throughout, CIJ has remained central to our business and how we support our customers. It’s rare for a technology of this maturity to remain so relevant and here’s why….

Exceptional usability

CIJ’s long track record isn’t surprising when you consider its sheer usability and versatility. It has the ability to mark almost all types of material at every orientation and every speed with great precision. And it’s easy to operate in the most complex environments. Even adapting it for customer settings is straightforward—meaning it does not require a highly skilled technical specialist. Plus, CIJ printers are also able to run constantly for years without extensive maintenance. This combination of versatility and reliability means that CIJ is as suitable for multinationals as it is for small companies taking their first steps in the supply chain.

The capacity to adapt

The last few years have reminded us that operating environments can change rapidly and unexpectedly. Whether through the pandemic and the changes this brought to product traceability, updates in regulation or supply chain issues, CIJ’s lower investment costs have allowed businesses to simply and seamlessly adapt to the challenges presented by turbulent times.

CIJ will remain on hand to support manufacturers as operating environments continue to adapt with a sharper focus on traceability for brand protection and anti-counterfeiting which require increased quality and durability of the printed code.

Supporting sustainability initiatives

CIJ print may have a long history but it already plays a big part in changing the future of coding and packaging by contributing to less environmentally impactful production. Over the years we’ve maximized CIJ’s versatility by making critical changes along the way, such as the development of MEK-free inks which use bio-sourced raw materials.

While the first generation of our CIJ printers were powered by pressured air, now they are fully electrical and designed to reduce energy consumption. So much so that—at just a few watts—their level of power consumption has been fully optimized to reduce expenses and limit environmental impact.

Another way in which CIJ print continues to prove its value is its ability to adapt to constant changes of substrates used for packaging. Companies moving to the use of more environmentally friendly materials need to adapt their marking technology accordingly. With CIJ, several new ink options are available, including an array of solutions that are suitable for these new types of packaging and can contribute to customer’s sustainability objectives, alongside enhancing operator comfort and safety.

We’re proud of our long history of supporting industry with CIJ print. But we’re also excited about being part of its future. Here’s to the next 40 years!