Manufacturers implement bar codes to reduce inaccuracies which cost sales, and track items reducing loss and increasing availability. All companies that need to code their products must join a national GS1 member organisation. The GS1 System, allocates a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) that is encoded into a bar code and can be read by a scanner which is more accurately read than the human eye.

Packaging for a new brand has to work harder and be smarter than its established competitors. A successful brand has to have the visual strength to attract the consumer during the purchase descision process, and the ability to quickly convey its inherent attributes.

In the past, information on packaging has used inert inks to communicate product, producer and other information. Now, food packaging uses intelligent, smart and diagnostic inks that indicate package temperature by changing colour, or even start to smell if the product inside has gone off.

Legislative, promotional and consumer pressures place greater demands on the quality and flexibility of package printing. Tonejet printing is described.