PR: Sovena is rewriting the rules on product code quality with the Ax-Series printer

Sovena, a 100 per cent Portuguese company owned by the Mello family, is one of the world’s largest producers of vegetable and olive oils. With an estimated $1.4bn in earnings since 2015 – 80 per cent from exports – Sovena puts its trust in Domino to help fulfil its company mission ‘Inspire people to eat healthier and tastier by using olive oil’. The quality and traceability of its product contents are therefore vital to the success of its operations. To meet these requirements, Sovena has chosen Domino’s market-leading Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) solution, the Ax350i.

Sovena extracts, processes and bottles its products in eight manufacturing plants and four mills based in eight countries for global distribution. While speed and productivity are essential ingredients to Sovena’s recipe for success, traceability also has a key role to play. “Coding in the food industry is vital and must be guaranteed for every product – it is for exactly this reason that we put our faith in Domino’s Ax350i printers to perform this task,” explains Rui Ramos, Consumer Goods Refinery Production Manager.

“At Sovena, we don’t just seek traditional supplier-customer relationships, we look for partnerships,” continues Ramos. “Domino is our partner for coding and marking, an essential industry protocol.”

Ramos, based in Sovena’s Portuguese Barreiro plant, explains why Domino’s Ax-Series printers meet the requirements for the oil manufacturer’s global distribution processes: “Once we saw the robust, reliable, advanced technology of the Ax350i, the decision was easy.”

Designed for the most demanding of applications, Domino’s Ax350i CIJ printer features precision ink drop technology. It can produce high-quality messages at high speeds onto Sovena’s packaged oil products. The printer incorporates Domino’s i-Pulse inks, which can endure even the harshest post-print processes on the oil manufacturer’s busy production lines.

Lee Metters, Group Business Development Director at Domino explains: “With global free trade, food manufacturers need to give their end customers the confidence that the product they are buying is consistently high-quality. Traceability of ingredients through to end products is an essential part of this meaning that the reliability, accuracy, legibility and durability of coding is essential. We have put a tremendous effort into making the Ax-Series range a step up from previous designs so that our customers can rely on its performance and it’s great to see that we have demonstrated this performance at Sovena.”

While meeting all the quality guarantee requirements and technological logistics, ultimately, speed and productivity remain vital factors to Domino and Sovena’s success. The i-Techx software platform helps put Sovena’s operators in control. Its ease of configuration ensures simple integration of the printer into networked systems, automating coding operations through Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to prevent operator error.

Luísa Dordio, Consumer Goods Manufacturing Engineer at Sovena, has high praise for Domino’s Ax350i: “With this equipment, we are able to improve the quality of marking on our boxed products. Since we work with PET packaging (polyethylene terephthalate), we need to produce codes with the best definition – the Ax350i’s ink delivers this and helps us to reach our fundamental business goals.”

Luísa continues “For the print quality and reliability of equipment, without a doubt, Sovena would recommend Domino’s Ax-Series.”

David Croft, Global Product Marketing Manager at Domino Printing Sciences says: “We are delighted that a world-renowned producer of vegetable and olive oils such as Sovena has placed its trust in Domino’s Ax350i. The foundations of our partnership are based on the reliability and quality of the products and support Domino provides. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Sovena and helping Sovena to achieve its business goals.”

About Domino

Since 1978, Domino Printing Sciences has established a global reputation for the development and manufacture of coding, marking and printing technologies, as well as its worldwide aftermarket products and customer services. Today, Domino offers one of the most comprehensive portfolios of complete end to end coding solutions spanning primary, secondary and tertiary applications designed to satisfy the compliance and productivity requirements of manufacturers. These include innovative ink jet, laser, print & apply and thermal transfer overprinting technologies that are deployed for the application of variable and authentication data, bar codes and unique traceability codes onto product and packaging, across many industrial sectors, including food, beverage, pharmaceutical and industrial products. 

Domino employs 2,700 people worldwide and sells to more than 120 countries through a global network of 25 subsidiary offices and more than 200 distributors. Domino's manufacturing facilities are situated in China, Germany, India, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA.

Domino’s continued growth is underpinned by an unrivalled commitment to product development. The company is the proud recipient of six Queen’s Awards, the latest being received in April 2017, when Domino was awarded the Queen’s Award for Innovation. 

Domino became an autonomous division within Brother Industries Ltd. on 11th June, 2015.