To improve traceability, manufacturers increasingly require identification markings on their products. Ink printing is the traditional method of marking, however, it is becoming obsolete, especially in the medical industry because ink can often be easily removed, changed, or contaminated. It is for this reason that many manufacturers now use ultraviolet lasers to mark their products.
Parts can be easily identified through laser marking without a physical tool etching the surface of the part or transmitting any substances. Rather than damaging the material, laser light is focused onto it, leaving marks that are easy to read. Apple Rubber adds model numbers, bar codes, logos, and other information to customer o-rings and seals through Laserbeschriftung marking.
UV laser marking has four main benefits for your manufacturing facility:
Firstly, the beginning. Flexibility in processing
Many products can be marked with lasers across many industries, including aerospace, automotive, defense, medical, and electronic components. Where product identification is needed on an o-ring or seal, Apple Rubber uses laser marking.
It is a legal requirement in many industries that products be authentic and traceable. The automotive industry, for example, uses part traceability to determine when and where components were made, which is useful for recalling products. Using a flexible and reliable marking technique is critical for product identification.
The second. Speed in general
The printing equipment for traditional ink marking is often mechanically complex, requiring frequent maintenance and longer downtimes. UV laser
marking eliminates the need to fix or clean a printer, and the overall engraving process is extremely quick and convenient.
Most materials are better absorbed by UV lasers than other wavelengths, so UV lasers produce clearer marks with less power. With UV laser marking, you get a high-contrast, high-quality mark in one application.
Three. Ensures maximum authenticity
It is far easier to read UV laser marks than printed marks or labels. Apple Rubber uses a high-quality laser that targets smaller spots and produces a high peak power, ensuring clear, crisp marks on o-rings and seals. As a result, parts are easily identifiable, and their markings can’t be altered or tampered with.
False prescriptions have become a major social and economic issue in the pharmaceutical industry. In the pharmaceutical industry, manufacturers have limited options for marking their products, so they need to choose markings that are tamper-proof, easy to read, compatible with their particular environment, and cannot alter the product. In this industry as well as many others that require complete authenticity in their products, laser marking is the best choice.
Four. Decreases contamination
Printing equipment often uses lubricants and solvents, which can contaminate printed products even though ink is non-toxic in traditional marking methods. A cleanroom is often required in medical manufacturing to manufacture completely sterile products. This cannot be accomplished through traditional marking methods.
Laser marking allows for clean operation with minimal contamination since the marking device does not contact the product directly. For industries that need sterile products, this option creates a way to identify their products and ensures that outside materials will not contaminate the product in the future.
