It has a 30,000 times per second high-frequency injection capability and a ±0.05 mm positioning precision and therefore can code at production line speeds of up to 500 m/min, for example, when the Domino Ax350i model codes shelf life onto the surface of a can. At a speed of 120 tanks per second, it can print uninterruptedly for 12 hours, and it is 300% more efficient than a traditional pneumatic valve inkjet printer. Its essence is that the hot foaming technology can heat the microresistor to 350 ° C within 1 microsecond, generate 3 MPa bubble pressure, accurately spray 0.8-3 cuticle ink droplets, and dry in <0.2 seconds on metals, plastics and other materials (fast drying ink viscosity 4.2 mPa·s) with an error rate of <0.001%. 2023 beverage industry statistics show that the line using TIJ technology can run 2 million bottles a day, the code leak rate is reduced from 0.5% to 0.003%, and annual loss through recall is reduced by more than $80 million.
High stability and low maintenance are key benefits. Brother’s industrial-grade TIJ print head uses a self-cleaning module that triggers a 0.3-second wipe cycle (0.0005 mL/cycle of ink usage) every 500,000 jetts, reduces nozzle blockage likelihood from 8% of laser units to 0.2%, and MTBF (mean time to breakdown) is more than 20,000 hours. Measurement in Coca-Cola factory shows that once its TIJ printer has run continuously for 3 months (300,000 daily printing), the character edge sharpness is still within the ISO 1073-II specification, the maintenance interval has improved from 1 time per day to 1 time per month, and operation and maintenance costs have been reduced by 65%. In addition, the 100 mL TIJ ink cartridge capacity (a cartridge can support 6 million characters), compared to continuous inkjet system (CIJ), 95% solvent usage reduction, VOC emissions <10 ppm, meet EU REACH regulations.
Multi-material compatibility and environmental flexibility fuel popularity. Videojet 2350 TIJ printer consistent printing on frozen food pack line through closed-loop temperature control system (-20 ° C to 60 ° C operating temperature range), -30 ° C ink adhesion remains ASTM D3359 standard 4B (shed area <5%). In pharmaceutical, Pfizer uses TIJ technology to print batch number on aluminum foil tablets, uses FDA-approved alcohol-based ink (isopropyl alcohol 68%±2%), drying time of penetrant 0.15 seconds, and withstands 72 hours high temp and humidity (85℃/85% RH) test, character integrity 99.99%. Data shows that the TIJ drop point precision error can be controlled at ±25 microns when TIJ is printed on irregularly shaped surfaces, 40% more accurate than piezoelectric technology.
Intelligent integration and cost savings support industry incursion. In the Industry 4.0 solution jointly developed by Siemens and Omron in 2024, TIJ printer synchronizes MES data in real time using the OPC UA protocol, dynamically adjusts the inkjet content at 600 dpi resolution (response time <20 milliseconds), and supports updating variable information 50 times a second. When Unilever installed the system on its ice cream production line, it reduced product change-over time from 10 minutes to 15 seconds and increased production capacity by 35%. Market statistics indicate that 63% of the globe’s high-speed coding machinery based on TIJ technology, with the food and beverage sector contributing 72%, 2023 related equipment shipments grew by 28%, the return on investment cycle reduced to 6 months, 4 times shorter than laser machinery. Because the use of TIJ printers in Amazon’s warehouses, shipping label printing speed grew to 300 sheets/minute and sorting error rate fell from 1.2% to 0.03%, reducing more than $200 million in annual cost.