| The food distribution industry has gone through some | | | | Even industrial printers are unable to cope in these |
| dramatic changes in recent years. Many of the leading | | | | conditions which means any printing of bar codes and |
| retailers and supermarkets now rely on regional | | | | labels has to be done outside the chill and freezer |
| distribution hubs that deliver to multiple areas rather | | | | rooms and considering the size of these distribution |
| than the satellite warehouses of former years. | | | | buildings that can take a lot of time and cause logistic |
| Included in this are frozen and chilled food that are | | | | headaches as pallets of frozen items build up waiting |
| stored in huge freezer and chill rooms and delivered in | | | | to be labelled. |
| refrigerated vans and trucks. | | | | Fortunately, a method for printing in such cold |
| Whilst these large CDC and FDC (Chilled and Frozen | | | | conditions has been developed by using a specially |
| Distribution Centres) offer a more efficient and cost | | | | designed heated printer enclosure. These unique |
| effective method of delivering these cold food items, | | | | industrial printer enclosures are specially designed to |
| food traceability laws can cause complications with | | | | ensure both the printer and print head work in optimum |
| every single item delivered to the supermarket shelves | | | | operating conditions and allow the safe use of printers |
| needing a fully traceable history. | | | | in temperatures as low as – 20 degrees centigrade. |
| For dry food items this doesn’t provide too much | | | | These industrial heated printer enclosures are even |
| of a problem bar code labels and other labelling | | | | designed to allow the print labels or bar codes to be |
| systems mean that all items can be tracked from the | | | | removed without allowing the cold to damage the print |
| moment they arrive at he distribution centre to the | | | | head. |
| moment they are placed on the supermarket shelves. | | | | Heated printer enclosures have increased efficiency in |
| However, bar code printers and other labelling devices | | | | many CDC and FDC distribution centres and are now |
| can only operate at room temperatures as print heads | | | | standard for many large food retailers, supermarkets |
| and printer ink with freeze as soon as the temperature | | | | and distribution centres. |
| falls below -5 degrees centigrade. | | | | |