How Tetra Pak Uses UV and Fiber Lasers for Packaging Codes and Internal ID
Cold UV marking for QR codes and date marks on packaging, plus fiber lasers for permanent internal equipment identification. Production reference from Tetra Pak’s Danish operation.
A packaging plant is the perfect example of why wavelength matters: polymer-coated carton and sensitive surfaces want cold 355 nm UV marking, while steel equipment and metal parts want fiber. One technology cannot do both jobs well — so Tetra Pak runs both.
About Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak is the world’s best-known carton packaging company, founded in 1951 in Lund, Sweden. The group supplies carton packages, filling machines and food processing equipment used for dairy, beverages and prepared food across the globe — at a scale of billions of packages every year. The machines in this story serve Tetra Pak’s Danish operation.
The problem Tetra Pak needed to solve
Two different marking jobs, two different physics problems. First: QR codes and date marks on the packaging material itself. Carton laminates and polymer surfaces are heat-sensitive — a fiber laser’s thermal mark would scorch, melt or discolor the substrate. The job calls for 355 nm UV cold marking, where the photochemical reaction marks the surface with essentially zero heat-affected zone, keeping codes crisp and the material intact.
Second: internal identification marking — permanent IDs on equipment and metal parts used inside the operation. That is classic fiber laser territory: fast, permanent, machine-readable marks on metal that survive cleaning, handling and years of service.
The machines
Tetra Pak’s Danish operation runs both JPT UV machines and JPT fiber machines — the UV markers for code and date marking on packaging material, the fiber machines for internal ID work on metal. It is the same split we recommend to any buyer marking both heat-sensitive materials and metals: match the wavelength to the material instead of forcing one machine to do a job it is the wrong physics for.
What Tetra Pak produces with the machines
- UV-marked QR codes on packaging — high-contrast, machine-readable, no heat damage to the laminate.
- Date and batch marks on packaging material — permanent and ink-free, with no consumables or drying time.
- Fiber-marked internal IDs — permanent identification on equipment and metal parts for internal traceability.
Why this matters when you evaluate a laser machine
The most expensive mistake in laser buying is choosing one wavelength and asking it to do everything. A company at Tetra Pak’s level running UV for packaging and fiber for metal is the cleanest real-world validation of the rule we publish in our fiber vs UV vs CO2 guide: the material decides the machine. If your work mixes heat-sensitive surfaces with metal, plan for the right tool on each — or ask us to map your materials to machines before you spend anything.
