Managing product recalls: industrial marking and traceability are crucial
Despite high quality standards in production lines, errors can occur along the value and supply chain. Whether it's contaminated food, unsafe components, or incorrectly declared ingredients, if defective products reach the market, manufacturers and distributors must take immediate action to protect consumers. Otherwise, they risk severe damage to their image, high losses in sales, and substantial claims for damages. Learn about industrial marking solutions that help to keep expenses for product recalls as low as possible.
Legal basis for recalls
Traceability is being implemented in many industries from automotive to electronics. It is also legally required by national laws and EU regulations for specific product groups such as:
- Food (regulation EG no. 178/2002)
- Explosives (2012/4/EU)
- Medicinal products (2011/62/EU)
Whenever product defects pose a serious risk of damage to property or personal injury, a product recall must be considered. In most cases, the affected goods are exchanged or repaired.
Recalls are not only based on risk assessments by manufacturers, but can also be ordered by regulatory authorities.
Traceability through industrial marking
In order to narrow down the scope of unsafe products, their full traceability must be guaranteed. This enables reliable tracing of goods from the consumer back to the producer.
In some cases, there are precise regulations governing how products must be labeled: which production data must be noted where, how it should be coded, and which additional safety features are required. Production units can be traced back to the time and place of manufacture using lot numbers, batch numbers, or best-before dates.
In many areas, 2D codes such as the data matrix code are already in use because they can encode large amounts of data in a small space and have a higher error tolerance when read.
Increased product protection with serialization and more
Markings not only reduce the time and financial costs of recalls and root cause analysis, they can also protect against unjustified product liability claims resulting from counterfeit goods.
In some industries, including the pharmaceutical industry, serialization is used to uniquely identify specific products. A unique serial number is applied to each product, which is stored in a central database and can be checked for validity at the time of sale.
Other effective methods for product protection include:
- Seal labels with tamper-evident features
- Safety labels with features that are difficult to imitate (e.g., holograms)
- RFID labels with tiny transponders
- Special security inks (e.g., invisible UV inks)
Finding the right marking system
There are various ways to label products clearly and accurately. Which method is best suited to a particular application depends on various criteria, such as the packaging surface or production speed. The experts at Weber Marking Systems will be happy to advise you personally on the right solution for your company. The following technologies are common.
Labeling
Labeling systems can label packaging and pallets fully automatically. They are robust, modularly adaptable, and efficient, and can even label products of different heights directly in the flow. In addition, labels printed using thermal transfer printing have a particularly durable and high-contrast print image. This is particularly beneficial in terms of the high requirements for machine readability when working with logistics and retail partners.
Coding
Industrial inkjet printers offer a cost-effective way to quickly and contactlessly label products with constantly changing print content. This method is also ideal for uneven and sensitive surfaces. In addition, the systems are very compact and flexible, making them particularly easy to integrate into existing production lines. Label material is saved because the ink is applied directly to the surface. A wide range of different inks is available for a variety of requirements.
