Floss Container Decoration on the XD-070 — Corona Pretreatment Plus Zero-Changeover Single-Pass Inkjet
Multi-SKU consumer packaging where changeover eats the shift.
Application profile: a leading global oral care brand running a multi-SKU floss container decoration program. Output is the entire branded floss family — multiple product lines, multiple flavor and feature variants, retail-grade graphics in full color, and ongoing rotation of new SKUs as the brand refreshes the line. The economics are driven by SKU mix, not by single-line throughput on one graphic.
Floss containers are a small, smooth, thermoformed polypropylene substrate. Ink does not adhere without pretreatment, and the retail graphic on each container is full-color, brand-critical, and revised regularly across the product family. Conventional decoration approaches force a tradeoff between throughput on a single SKU and changeover cost between SKUs — a mismatch for a product family that ships dozens of variants and refreshes graphics every brand cycle.
Corona pretreatment + single-pass inkjet + LED-UV cure — in one continuous footprint.
EPS deployed an XD-070 single-pass inkjet line for the floss program with two production functions integrated into one continuous footprint: corona pretreatment and single-pass inkjet print with integrated LED-UV cure. Pre and post automated handling sit upstream and downstream of the cell shown here.
Two design choices do the heavy lifting:
Corona pretreatment on every container. An in-line corona station activates the polypropylene surface immediately before print so the ink wets and adheres without a chemical primer or solvent prep step. Corona treatment is an open-air, atmospheric-pressure electrical discharge — fast, cold-surface, and consistent. It scales to line speed without becoming the bottleneck and doesn’t introduce the heat or solvent emissions a flame burner or chemical primer would.
Zero SKU changeover. Single-pass inkjet with software-driven graphics means a new SKU is a job-load operation, not a mechanical reset. No plate or blanket swap. No per-color station re-registration. No cliché change. In-line printhead maintenance keeps the heads ready continuously, so the line runs across the brand family without an operator changeover step. The decoration cost per SKU collapses as the SKU count grows.
In-Line Corona Pretreatment
Each floss container passes through an in-line corona station. The corona discharge activates the container's outer surface for ink adhesion; flexible exhaust ducting carries away the ozone byproduct. Every part is treated; no skips, no manual touch. Corona scales to line speed without becoming the bottleneck and doesn't introduce the heat or solvent emissions that a flame burner or chemical primer would.
Single-Pass Print + LED-UV Cure
Each container passes under the XD-070 fixed-position printhead array, which lays down full-color graphics in one continuous index. Integrated LED-UV cure pins each printed area immediately after the print head — containers leave the print zone print-dry. Continuous-flow part transfer; no station-to-station registration drift.
Production Printhead Array
The array is a fixed bank of production-grade printheads fed from the centralized ink supply. Single-pass production inkjet — stationary heads, moving conveyor. In-line printhead maintenance keeps the array production-ready across SKUs without an operator changeover step. A new SKU is a software job-load, not a mechanical reset.
Decorated Containers Across the Line
Decorated floss containers exit the cell ready for downstream packaging. Full-color brand graphics, multiple SKU variants — printed on the same line with no plate change between them. The decoration cost per SKU collapses as the brand family grows.
What the XD-070 floss line delivers across the brand family.
Zero SKU changeover
A new container graphic is a software job-load — no plate, no cliché, no blanket swap, no per-color setup. The decoration cost per SKU collapses as the SKU count grows.
Corona pretreatment integrated into the line
Every container is surface-activated before print. Pretreatment is not the bottleneck and there is no separate offline prep step or chemical primer to manage.
Full color in one pass
Brand graphics, multiple color builds, and variable data print in a single continuous index — no second-color station, no per-color registration recovery.
Continuous production across SKUs
In-line printhead maintenance keeps the print bridge ready continuously. The line runs the brand family without an operator changeover stop.
No solvent, no flame, no batch prep
Corona discharge is cold-surface and atmospheric — scales to line speed without the heat or solvent emissions that flame burners or chemical primers introduce.
Decorating a multi-SKU consumer packaging program?
Multi-SKU consumer packaging programs lose money on changeover, not on per-piece print cost. Single-pass inkjet with software-defined graphics doesn't make a single SKU cheaper than direct offset would — it makes every additional SKU free. On a brand family with dozens of variants and a refresh cycle, that's the whole game.