Coding and marking specialist Domino Printing Sciences has joined forces with vision and automation business Omron. As part of Domino’s i-Tech Partner Programme, the companies will assist manufacturers with the alignment of their printing and vision systems. Focussing initially on the pharmaceutical sector, where impending legislation will require a new level of rigour in coding, marking and verification operations, the partnership will also extend into other industries.
The partnership between Omron’s industrial automation business and Domino promises to respond to the requirement for easily integrated and reliable printing and vision products on the manufacturing floor. As part of Domino’s Partner Programme, through which Domino will work with partners to offer software solutions for mass serialisation, Omron will team with Domino to deliver proven technology to meet pharmaceutical quality standards for legislation such as the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), set to be in place by 2018. The partnership will also provide coding and marking benefits for packaging lines across beverage, personal care and tobacco production through a collaborative approach which will see Domino and Omron sharing expertise to deliver the best application-specific solutions.
For manufacturers who are buying in their own components for packaging lines to comply with the upcoming FMD legislation, Domino and Omron will provide printing and vision equipment.
A key advantage of the partnership is the experience both companies have accumulated to date in sectors such as tobacco, where solutions offer both significant print speed advantages and code reading stability. These advantages are an important factor for manufacturers as they tackle one of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest challenges yet – moving from batch code to individual pack code serialisation. Joint counsel from Domino and Omron will help manufacturers to overcome issues through a greater understanding of the requirements of each individual company, reducing the effort required for solution design and implementation and ultimately resulting in enhanced equipment efficiency.
“Our partnership with Domino means that we can provide tested and proven technology to our mutual customers”, said Gunnar Bischoff, business model and industry marketing for Omron.
“Our partnership goes beyond products – it provides reassurance to our customers that Domino’s printers and our automation and inspection systems can be integrated into the same applications. Our combined expertise will undoubtedly bring tangible benefits and capabilities across a wide range of sectors.”
Craig Stobie, head - global life sciences team at Domino said: “Our printing technology alongside Omron’s market leading vision and automation expertise will be of great benefit to pharmaceutical manufacturers. When many vision partners are focused on data management, it is great to have a partner experienced in the pharmaceutical sector who is focused purely on vision for quality purposes.
“When developing a custom-built solution as the FMD legislation date edges closer, manufacturers need to know that the components they are using work well together and will help to smooth out the process of upgrading. Our partnership with Omron aims to give this assurance.”