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You have questions about industrial product marking with laser technology? Here in our blog you'll find the answers.

22/02/2022 UDI laser marking: What to consider for class 1 medical devices until Sept 24, 2022 - FOBA answers

Laser marking on dental and other medical devices: FOBA answers some frequent questions in view of the upcoming last FDA implementation deadline.

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17/09/2021 Automation in laser marking is more than robotics

Customized automation solutions from visual process control to robotic parts handling: FOBA, in cooperation with automation experts, offers technical solutions that make the marking process more efficient for industrial customers. How this is implemented differs individually.

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21/07/2021 Webinar follow-up with Medagent: Questions and answers around the validation of a laser marking system

"What to consider when validating my UDI marking laser system to be compliant with the regulations?" was the topic of our UDI Expert Talk on March 18, 2021 with Wolfgang Hirschauer from the consulting firm Medagent and Christian Söhner from FOBA. Many of the questions that were asked at the end of the webinar could not be answered due to time constraints, so we summarize all the answers in this blog article.

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15/04/2021 Fast and Precise Logo Marking – Laser Color Removal from Beverage Cans

Laser systems in high-speed production lines mark serial contents such as shelf life or production data. Markings whose purpose goes beyond classic product identification are also in demand, such as logos. A high speed of the laser system is always a prerequisite for integrating laser marking into production.

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17/03/2021 Webinar follow-up with Merck: How to improve laser marking through functional pigments

Silvia Rosenberger, Technical Marketing Manager at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany, held a lecture as part of the FOBA “Virtual Manufacturing Day 2020” webinar series on January 14, 2021. As an expert for laser pigments, she explained together with her colleague Stefan Gutberlet, Global Marketing Manager Industrial Pigments, how plastics can be optimized for obtaining best laser marking results.

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26/01/2021 Laser Marking of Plastics in Medical Technology

A great number of medical applications, many of which require direct part marking for device identification purposes, are made of plastics. Since lasers can create durable and high-quality marks, laser technology is the proven method for plastic marking.

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08/10/2020 FOBA at the Virtual Manufacturing Day November 24th, 2020

The first Virtual Manufacturing Day 2020 on November 24 is a virtual trade show for manufacturing companies from the automotive, medical or electronics industries. The focus is on automation solutions specifically for product tracking. The exhibitors are showcasing innovations in optical quality control, robot-supported production, analysis and diagnostics, in the application of materials such as metal or plastic, and in laser marking.

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15/09/2020 Titus™ in Action – Data Matrix Code Marking on a Plastic Part

Fast and easy set-up, safe and speedy marking process: FOBA’s fiber laser marking system Y.0200-xs with the world’s smallest laser marking head Titus™ applies high contrasting marks on a polypropylene plastic part.

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17/08/2020 Titus™ in Action – Annealing Marking on Stainless Steel

The FOBA Y.0200-xs fiber laser marking system can be integrated into any production line thanks to the smallest marking head available on the market. In practical tests, Titus™ achieves the best marking results, as demonstrated by applications on stainless steel.

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14/08/2020 Behind the scenes: How did the idea for the smallest laser in the world come about?

Based on our decades of experience, our focus is to develop solutions for the industry which will master every challenge. Whether it is our special solution for the medical market to ensure safe and easy UDI-Marking with maximum efficiency, or development of the smallest laser head in the world.

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15/07/2020 Titus™ in Action – Color change laser marking on plastic

The FOBA Y.0200-xs fiber laser marking system can be integrated into any production line thanks to the smallest marking head available on the market. Field-tested, Titus™ achieves top marking results, as demonstrated by application testing on colored plastic profiles.

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15/06/2020 Crystal clear – CO2 and UV laser marking on glass

Glass is best marked with UV or CO2 laser systems. The energy input can be kept low to minimize the effect of microcracking.

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18/05/2020 Laser Marking on Titanium – Sometimes like a Rainbow

Annealing marking on titanium is usually black, but a fiber laser can also create color marks.

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16/04/2020 UDI Laser Marking on Plastic Products – Safety First for the Medical Part

In order to increase patient safety, reusable medical parts must be provided with a UDI code (UDI - Unique Device Identification) which remains permanently legible even with heavy use and frequent cleaning. But also beyond legal requirements, manufacturers and users employ part markings for a reliable traceability. That’s why UDI codes or other labels can be found on almost all instruments, devices and accessories in medical technology.

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07/04/2020 Laser etching machine for industrial marking of metals and plastics

Laser etching machines are indispensable in most industries. They can be used in a variety of ways and mark or engrave almost all materials with high precision and efficiency. Different methods are used for industrial product labeling, depending on the desired effect, material or quality requirements.

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16/03/2020 Marked make-up – UV-laser marking on decorative cosmetics

Laser marking is not only used to label cosmetic glass containers, aluminum tubes or plastic bottles with serial numbers or expiry dates. Marks, which then have more decorative than informative purposes, can also be applied directly on colored make-up paint.

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27/02/2020 Brilliant and durable – Marking on anodized aluminium

Aluminum is often anodized, i.e. provided with a ceramic-like oxide layer to protect the material from abrasion or natural oxidation. The layer also has a decorative character, since it can be anodized in many colors.

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15/01/2020 Runs smoothly – Error-free laser marking on ball-bearings

Small defects in a ball bearing are often difficult to detect, e.g. if single rollers are missing , wrongly mounted, or if a component is of a different size. If the undesired part is then labelled with a laser marker, this causes unnecessary and relatively high costs.

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30/12/2019 Testing Laser Marking: How to Get Relevant Application Test Results… with the 1st Round

Is your project time schedule tight? Do you want to get things right the 1st time? Then look at the following guidance what information to provide your laser supplier with to increase your chances of getting relevant and meaningful laser test results with the 1st trial:

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17/12/2019 Shining bright – Laser marked aluminum stars

Anodized aluminum appeared to be the perfect material for the FOBA application lab-team to create this year’s Christmas tree decoration.

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10/12/2019 Differences between Marking Time and Cycle Time for Direct Part Marking with Laser

There is a difference between marking time and cycle time for industrial parts marking. “Okay”, you might say. “So what? Does that matter?” The answer is simple: Yes, it does.

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20/11/2019 My Marking System Runs on a Windows 7 PC: What do I Need to Know When Microsoft will End the Support?

On January 14, 2020, Microsoft will end the support for Windows 7. After that you won’t receive any technical support or software updates via Windows Update for the protection of your PC! After January 14, 2020, your system as well as the application and production files on your PC will be more vulnerable to security breaches and viruses.

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18/11/2019 “Under cover”: Laser Marking on Bottle Caps

Hidden on the inside of a bottle cap you will often find laser-marked characters and codes, e.g. production data.

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28/10/2019 Laser Marking for Traceability: How to Mark Parts Precisely even within Limited Space

Due to traceability reasons, many parts and products have to be marked with codes. Finding room on a product to place traceability content is often a challenge. Manufacturers and designers tend to use every available space on the part to squeeze all tracking information required.

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16/10/2019 Inside-the-house Laser Marks for Heating and Lighting

It might be worth to take a closer look and discover how many of the operating elements inside the house are labelled with a laser mark.

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18/09/2019 Marking on Laser-sensitive Coatings with a CO2 laser

For high-quality labeling of cardboard or packaging cartons, the marking field can be coated with a laser-sensitive lacquer.

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10/09/2019 What is a MOPA Laser and What is it Used For?

Fiber laser markers, be it pulsed or continuous wave, have prevailed in nearly all industries for marking products permanently and in high quality. The fiber lasers that are used for industrial part marking usually are either Q-switch or MOPA lasers.

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15/08/2019 In the Blink of an Eye – Laser Marking on Contact Lenses

The handling of plastic contact lenses can be simplified if they are laser marked. This helps to avoid confusion of left and right and you can tell before inserting whether the lens is wrongly inverted.

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22/07/2019 Recharge Batteries in the Sun – Recreation or Work?

In summer, many people are looking for relaxation and holidays – while solar panels are now particularly productive. FOBA’s motto “Bring products to life by harnessing laser technology” also applies to this future-oriented technology of energy generation.

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07/07/2019 Checklist: How to Prepare the Acquisition of a Laser Marking Machine

The acquisition of a laser marker is a large investment for any organization. The correct choice of the laser depends on many variables and it is challenging to keep the overview of the huge number of providers and suppliers.

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18/06/2019 “Black and White” – High-Contrast Marks on Aluminum

We used a 20 Watt fiber laser (FOBA Y.0201) for marking anodized aluminum rings with scaling lines. Depending on the color of each part, different laser effects can be applied.

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16/05/2019 Brake Disc – Inaccurately Placed but Precisely Laser Marked

FOBA’s MarkUS 2.12 laser marking software eliminates the need for product fixtures in the marking field. This not only means great savings in terms of material, but also increased flexibility and safety in the application.

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08/05/2019 How to Optimize DMCs – Facts About Data Matrix Codes (Part #2)

There are several factors that influence the readability of laser marked DMCs, especially the contrast between the “black” and “white” cells of the DMC. This contrast can appear particularly low, where the surface of the marking area of the DMC is rough.

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15/04/2019 Melted Plastics: Easy and Effective Marking with CO2 Laser

Melt engraving with a CO2-laser is a possible alternative to the color change process by fiber or UV laser when labeling plastic.

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04/04/2019 Facts About Data Matrix Codes for Product Identification (Part #1)

A data matrix code, or in short simply “DMC”, is a 2D code. In many industries DMCs have become the preferred way of encoding data, e.g. in automotive and medical industries.

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18/03/2019 Starting the Formula 1-season – Fast, Safe and Traceable

At the start of this year’s racing season, it’s also worth taking a look at the automotive components that are under the hood.

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15/02/2019 Ice-breaking – Laser Marking with FOBA Mosaic

Winter is not over yet, snow and ice must still be expected… But ice won’t have a chance with the people who visited the FOBA booth at the Intec-show this month in Leipzig.

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30/01/2019 Code Verification and Code Validation of Traceability Codes: Does it make a Difference?

Product traceability is standard among nearly all industries. Especially in automotive and medical industries, traceability codes have become indispensable.

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15/01/2019 Laser Marking on Sports Shoes

New Year, good resolutions … The motivation to do more sport can be increased even further with a fashionable and individual design of the sports shoes! In the production of sports shoes, on both the shoe sole and the upper materials marks can be applied with laser marking.

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18/12/2018 Christmas Presents – Personalized with Laser Marking

Still searching for the perfect Christmas gift? An individual marking makes items like key rings, wooden plates or drinking glasses a very personal little something.

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06/12/2018 FAQ on UDI, Part 2: How to Mark UDI Compliant Codes Reliably

A data matrix code, or in short simply “DMC”, is a 2D code. In many industries DMCs have become the preferred way of encoding data, e.g. in automotive and medical industries.

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28/11/2018 FAQ on UDI, Part 1: Facts About the Unique Device Identification Directive

A data matrix code, or in short simply “DMC”, is a 2D code. In many industries DMCs have become the preferred way of encoding data, e.g. in automotive and medical industries.

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28/11/2018 Laser Marking on Plastic Cables and Tubes

Depending on the material and application of the product, plastic cables or tubes can be marked with a UV or a fiber laser.

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08/11/2018 Is Laser Marking the Best Technology for Parts Marking?

Well, you might expect from a person with my background that there is only one possible answer. However, I believe that the appropriate answer is: It really depends.

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15/10/2018 Day-Night-Design on a Center Console – Precise Paint Removal with a Customized Laser

Laser paint removal is the most advanced way of creating highly precise sharply contoured symbols on coated, translucent or transparent plastics.

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19/06/2018 UV-Laser Marking for Fans: Football Symbols on Glass and Wood

Anticipating the upcoming football world championship, we are well prepared: Drinking glasses and snack dishes have been marked appropriately! Our application engineers chose UV-laser marking systems for glass and wood application.

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17/04/2018 Medical Forceps: FOBA’s Medtech Europe Trade Show Sample

At the Medtech Europe, starting tomorrow in Stuttgart, FOBA will demonstrate laser marking on medical forceps.

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13/04/2018 QR-Code Marking on Beverage Can Lids

Individualized codes with flexible contents like QR-codes on beverage cans can be applied on the outside of the can as well as inside the opener.

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28/02/2018 Ultra High Contrast Marking on Metal

Complex structures of a substrate – such as on castings in the automotive sector – may complicate the readability of the applied codes due to shadows in varying lighting conditions and therefore poor contrasts.

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28/01/2018 Ceramics – Delicate to Mark

Ceramic is a material that needs to be highly resistant against wear or temperature changes, especially in industrial applications.

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28/12/2017 Laser Marking on Food – Product Information and Decoration With Taste

For marking food with logos, quality labels, identification numbers or best-before dates, CO2-laser marking is the most appropriate method.

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20/11/2017 Laser Marking on Bearings – Engraving versus Annealing Marking

For sample marking on ball bearings, we applied marks with two different procedures for demonstration purposes: laser engraving on the outside, laser annealing on the inside circle.

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20/10/2017 Laser Marking on Musical Instruments – Sounds Good!

Musical instruments often get marked with company logos, serial numbers or other information. Different marking systems are utilized, depending on the material.

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20/09/2017 Laser Marking on Titanium – High-quality Marks on Valuable Material

Expensive materials like titanium, and especially the products made from it, require markings of an appropriate high quality. In order to demonstrate the marking capabilities of a pulsed fiber laser on titanium, we have marked the material with 80 fields of different colors on plates of 5 x 5 cm (1.97 in²) for our sample case.

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28/08/2017 Laser-Sensitive Additives for Optimized Marking Results on Plastics

While selecting basic plastic material for a special industrial application, manufacturers need to consider whether the material is appropriate for marking – in order not to obtain unpleasant results at the end of the production process.

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14/06/2017 FOBA’s French Fry Picker Completes your Barbecue

The “high class” version of the conventional French fry fork and reusable as well: our stainless steel laser cut and laser marked application sample has been introduced right for the start of the 2017 barbecue season, and has been highly appreciated by our trade show visitors so far.

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14/05/2017 UV-laser Marking – High Contrasts on Sensitive Surfaces

UV-laser marking systems with a wavelength of 355 nm use relatively little energy (ca. 2 watt). As a result, only a low heat level is created and the surrounding material is barely affected – which thus contributes to high marking contrasts.

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08/04/2017 Animal Ear Tags – Laser Marking for Barn and Meadow

nformation management and “UAI” (“Unique Animal Identification”) do not even stop at farming. In order to be able to track an animal’s pedigree, for in-house registration reasons or milk output documentation, farm animals get tagged.

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21/03/2017 Electronic Parts – Traceability in Detail

Electronic parts and products get identification marks to allow for correct allocation during complex production processes, for safety reasons in case of breakdown, for tracking and registration of inventory, as a prevention against forgery as well as to ensure traceability throughout the complete value chain.

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16/02/2017 Dental Implants Marking – UDI Codes Put Under the Microscope

Laser light is highly focused and fast so that the surrounding material is only slightly affected during the marking process. Laser is thus able to create even the smallest marks with high contrast and sharp boundaries.

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16/01/2017 Visible in the Dark – Day-Night-Design

This time of the year, driving with searchlights on lightens up the outside darkness. Inside the vehicle, we hit the right switches when they are lit up from inside out. Their transparency and the backlit signs on them are created by highly precise layer removal.

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