All posts by Josh Ballan

Warehouse Management

Driving Warehouse Efficiency: A Guide to Successful Labelling in 2024

Building on the innovative solutions discussed in our previous article on High Tack and PiggyBack labels, this article we will touch on more game-changing practices in warehouse management.

These solutions make sure your products are safe and secure, even when it’s tough to clean them or there’s need to be kept in secure packaging.


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Waterproof Labels

Just like PiggyBack labels, waterproof labels are especially useful when a product needs cleaning. However, unlike PiggyBack labels, waterproof labels last through the cleaning, even when using a strong solution.

Great for outdoor storage and entry areas, these labels can withstand heavy rain. A great choice for racking labels, they last for years, making cleaning easier than traditional paper labels, and reducing waste by removing the need for costly and time-consuming reprints of worn-out warehouse labels.

By preventing damage to key labels, waterproof labels proactively ensure warehouse operations remain efficient and that bad weather’s impact remains outside the warehouse.

Tamper-Evident Labels and Tapes

Mixing different products in warehouses can be a big problem. It can impact product quality, certification and control, and potentially the safety of customers.

To help with this, special labels and tapes that show if a package has been opened are important. Place these on incoming packages and storage boxes, and it’s very difficult for batches of products to become mixed, or for products to be interfered with before reaching their intended user.

They might say ‘Void’ or ‘Opened’ to show if something’s wrong. This is a simple, but secure solution are easy for managers across multiple industries to implement, and important to think about.

Barcodes and QR Codes

Barcode Types

Barcodes and QR codes, integral to warehouse management since the 1980s, become even more important to supply chains for traceability and the versatility of their applications. Beyond categorizing products and logging them in computer systems, barcodes help:

  • Expiry date tracking
  • Returns processing
  • Maintenance date tracking for various systems
  • Links to Instructions
  • Identifying hazardous materials
  • Automatic label printing through pallet label scans

Barcode versatility:

With over 100 barcode types, each offers unique advantages. When considering a barcode solution, reach out for some friendly advice by sending us an email, giving us a call or clicking our Chat button.

Barcodes work well with the types labels we previously mentioned, making things run smoother. QR codes also work with these labels and are especially handy because you just need a phone to use them, and they’re more flexible and easier to set up than regular barcodes.


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Barcode Printing in Your Warehouse

You can use software, like Seagull Scientific’s BarTender, to easily print barcodes and QR codes at your own warehouse. The only requirement is a label printer connected to your computer, it’s a budget-friendly way to access these solutions. If you only need it for a small project, we also provide label printing services. Just reach out to us at sales@expertlabels.co.uk or call 01359 271 111. We’re here to help!

Helpful links

Consumers becoming more eco-conscious and willing to travel, attend mass events, PwC survey reveals

Half (50%) of global consumers say that they have become more eco-friendly in the past six months, with Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern consumers leading the way, a new study by PwC has revealed. Read the full article here: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2021/global-consumer-insights-pulse-survey-2021.html

Last Updated: 20 February 2024

Warehouse Effeciency

How Piggyback Labels Can Make Warehouse Management Easier

Ultra sticky, high tack adhesive labels are very important in warehouses where losing a label can make extra work for you.  Also – I want to show you something you might not have come across before and show how you can benefit from them: Piggyback labels.

Let’s take a look at high tack and piggyback labels for warehouses.

High Tack Labels

In the world of management it’s almost always true to say; “The Simplier, The Better”.  Less is more.

Take High Tack Labels, for instance – you might never have thought about them.  These labels barely warrant a second thought, but using high tack labels in place of standard labels could make your labelling better and your life easier. 

As the name suggests, high tack labels are a level above standard permanent labels, in terms of stickiness. 

The adhesive is extra sticky when you put it on the item and becomes even stronger once it’s set over the course of 24 hours. 

Some materials such as certain types of plastic or more commonly, wooden pallets and corrugated card, need a different type of label adhesive in order to stick securely.

We can help you with waterproof/scuff-proof plastic labels, matte paper, gloss paper and speciality labels all with High Tack adhesive.  In fact most label materials can be supplied with a high tack adhesive, with the exception of biodegradable or compostable labels.  We can also supply any colour, shape or size of label.

If your operation has problems with permanent labels falling off key items or you need labels that you can stick, with peace of mind, contact us for some high tack label samples for testing. 

Testing is important, as temperature can affect the performance of adhesive.  Try before you buy.

PiggyBack Labels

Piggyback labels
Piggyback labels

Now, let’s delve into PiggyBack Labels.  Piggyback labels are also known as dual-layer or Tandem labels. Imagine them as a collective of smaller labels hitching a ride on a larger counter part — a practical approach not just for keeping similar labels organised together, but also for enhancing efficiency in warehouses and packaging processes.

These sub-labels, printed with barcodes or tracking codes, can transform into a kind of item journey log. It shows where the item has been and where it’s going to go.

Piggyback labels are usually made from paper and can be printed over – either on a printing press or using a thermal transfer (or direct thermal) printer (Learn what a thermal printer is here).  If you need colour print, piggy back labels can be overprinted with a colour label printer.

In a warehouse setting piggy back labels are the perfect solution for tracking items going to different storage areas. 

You can use piggy back labels for tracking and managing inventory with a primary label for product information and a secondary label for tracking different components.

For shipping labels – the address or tracking code section of a piggyback label can be taken off and attached to a manifest, for example.

Talk to us if you have a project that you think Piggyback labels might be the solution.

In conclusion, PiggyBack Labels not only keep things organised but also act as smart trackers, making it easy for people to follow the rules and making the management of a complex warehouse easier.

Simplify your operations with PiggyBack Labels.

How To Get Started With High Tack and Piggyback Labels for Warehouses

Explore the benefits of High Tack Labels and the simplicity of PiggyBack Labels today. Contact us to discover how these simple solutions can transform your warehouse management game.

Email sales@expertlabels.co.uk or call us on 01359 271 111.

Helpful links

Piggyback Labels

Read our Piggyback Label Product Page – a summary of what they are and what you can use them for.  Click here: https://expertlabels.co.uk/applications/piggy-back-labels/

Label Adhesive

If you’re keen to learn about label adhesive here’s the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure-sensitive_adhesive

Last Updated: 22 Feb 2024

Optimized warehouse management through strategic labeling for efficient operations

Use Your Warehouse Operation to Reach Your Efficiency and Environmental Goals

As we step into the new year, we’ve got fresh goals and plans on the horizon. Two possible opportunities you’re looking at are making your label printing faster, cheaper and easier.  The other big area in 2024 is meeting sustainability goals and reaching your net zero objectives. 

Your warehouse is a key part of your business and improving efficiency and sustainability can go a long way to reaching goals for the whole businesses.

This article will help you understand the benefits of stock labels and how you can go about meeting environmental goals.

Stock Labels

Label printing

A “stock label” is essentially a blank label that’s ready to go without any extra costs for design or cutting.  They are generally in stock, ready to be shipped in one or two days.

These labels are made in bulk, keeping the expenses low since there’s no need for special design work or cutting equipment.

Although they have some limitations in terms of size, colours, and materials, when paired with your own printing system, these labels become quite flexible.

The only real restriction is the quality of your printer and label-making software.

They can be made from long-life, waterproof plastic (for rack labels for example) or low cost paper and can be used with desktop or larger industrial printers.

The beauty of these labels is that they can be used for various purposes.

They’re handy for categorising shelves, printing shipping and return labels, ensuring quality with traceable labels, and prominently displaying expiration dates. This helps prevent material waste and keeps consumers safe.

By integrating stock labels into your printing setup, you gain a practical solution for warehouse management.

It cuts down on waiting times and gives you the ability to produce more of a particular label type, putting you in control.

In a nutshell, stock labels, when used with your printing system, are a convenient, cost-effective and efficient way to manage warehouse label printing.

Biodegradable Labels

Biodegradable Paper labels 10 months old
Biodegradable Label from 2020

More and more options for biodegradable labels are popping up each year. This is either because businesses aim for sustainability or due to increased demand from customers.

Ensuring that packaging complies with recycling and composting rules is crucial now.

Warehouses play a big role in moving towards a sustainable future and achieving net zero targets. This is because how an organisation packages, transports, and stores items is centered around the warehouse.

Various biodegradable labeling choices are now available, and often, they’re just as good as non-biodegradable ones. You can get waterproof labels made from recycled plastics or sustainable materials.

Different biodegradable options are becoming more common, and you can even print on them, using your existing printing setup for the majority of biodegradable labels.

In 2021, half of consumers saw themselves as environmentally conscious, a 20% increase from 2019. This number is likely to go up, with 81% of consumers expecting companies to be environmentally conscious by 2024.

If you’re keen on embracing eco-friendly labelling and packaging, we can help. It’s not straightforward to find the right materials and navigate the differences between various label materials.

Fortunately, we’ve been working with sustainable and recycled/recyclable labels for many years. We’re well-positioned to help you test and estimate the costs for such labelling.

Ready to Make Your Warehouse Smarter and More Efficient?

Contact us here for help working through the eco-label landscape. Let us sort out an environmentally friendly label solution for you today – be ahead of the competition and meet your environmental goals now! Email sales@expertlabels.co.uk or call us on 01359 271 111, we’d love to hear from you.

Helpful links

Consumers becoming more eco-conscious and willing to travel, attend mass events, PwC survey reveals

Half (50%) of global consumers say that they have become more eco-friendly in the past six months, with Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern consumers leading the way, a new study by PwC has revealed. Read the full article here: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2021/global-consumer-insights-pulse-survey-2021.html

Last Updated: 26 January 2024

Security Ink labels

Tips and Tricks for Security Labels

Counterfeiting is where your products are copied and sold as genuine. Counterfeiting has two effects – a short-term loss in sales and long term damage to your brand’s good name. Counterfeiting is a slow poisoning of your brand, when consumers are fooled by the fakes and think your products are shoddy, low quality and – in the case of pharmaceuticals – potentially lethal.  Frustrating though it is, there are ways to protect your brand. In this article, you’ll see how security labels can use  electronic tags, security inks, micro-printing and watermarking to make copying your products less attractive to the thief.

Electronic Tags (RFID and NFC Tags)​

Electronic Tags (RFID and NFC Tags)

Electronic tags come in two types. 

  • NFC (Near Field Communication) tags and
  • RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tags.

They use the same technology you find in your contactless payment cards. 

RFID labels have three advantages over Barcodes. 

  1. First, they can contain much more data than a barcode or QR code. 
  2. Secondly, they can be written to (barcodes can only be read from). 
  3. Thirdly, technology exists where they can be protected from cloning.  Most barcodes can be copied quite easily.

How do Electronic Tags prevent counterfeiting?

They let people check if a product is real by checking in a database. The advantage electronic tags have over barcodes (which also point customers to a database on the internet) is that data about the item can be stored on the electronic tag.  No need to connect to the internet.

They make it easier to track items through the supply chain.

They make it more difficult to copy the item identity.

Security Inks and Printing Tricks

UV Inkls like this bank note
UV Inks hide information on your labels

Now, let’s talk about security inks. They’re special because they have hidden features that counterfeiters often fail to notice. Some of these inks glow under certain lights and others appear when they’re heated.  These are quick ways to check authenticity.

Brand owners can use these inks to make sure their products are real, at different stages of the supply chain. It also gives a chance for brands to make their products unique, so customers can tell they’re getting the real deal.

UV Light showing security seal
UV Light showing security seal on Aircraft lifevest.

The advantages security inks have over other means of protecting your products are cost and convenience.  Compared to electronic tags, it costs much less.  A UV light is easy and low cost.  Most consumers have a hair-dryer they can use to check their purchase with heat reactive ink.

In the image above, the security seal is printed with UV ink.  When the airline engineer shines a UV lamp under the seat they can see the seal securely in place.

Security inks are easy.  Shine the right kind of light and you can see your message.  This can be deployed in the supply chain quickly and easily.

Serious counterfeiters will check for special inks – but it still adds an extra level of security that not all will look for.

Watermarking and Micro Printing

Watermark

Watermarking is like a hidden mark on a label that you can only see from certain angles. It’s not impossible for the counterfeiters to copy, but makes copying your product more difficult (and expensive).

The disadvantage with Watermarking is that Watermarks are usually seen when they’re held up to light – and with labels being applied to solid objects – this technique might not be the most practical.

Micro-Printed Text

Close up of banknote with microtext

Micro-printing is the near microscopic text you might see on bank notes. Typically, it’s text that’s one third of a millimetre tall.  In the example above the words “10POUNDS” are barely visible to the naked eye, but someone carefully examining your products could see the absence of microtext. 

The printing technology needed to make such small text isn’t easy to find, so it makes life harder for counterfeiters.  Luckily we have printing presses that are able to print micro text.

What Are The Consequences of Counterfeit Products to You?

Protecting your products against counterfeiting is expensive.  You will need a range of expensive countermeasures. 

If you have done a careful risk assessment and decided that the potential downside of fake products is worth protecting against – we can help. We’re able to help you with all the safeguards you need to protect your brand and products.

Helpful links

Counterfeit Goods: Impacts on Consumers and the Economy

We all like to feel like we are getting value-for-money on anything we purchase, but sometimes a bargain can leave us feeling cheaper than expected when it turns out to be a counterfeit, sub-standard imitation of the real thing. Read the full article here: https://consumeradvice.scot/counterfeit-goods-impacts-on-consumers-and-economy/

Trade in Counterfeit Products and the UK Economy – 2019 Update

Learn more of the statistics here: https://www.oecd.org/governance/risk/trade-in-counterfeit-products-and-the-uk-economy-2019.htm

What Are NFC Tags? A Beginner’s Guide

The popularity of smart devices has skyrocketed in recent years. And the more powerful smart devices become, the more we can use them to interact with our environment. A seamless user experience for connected living needs efficient solutions to transmit data and trigger events — near-field communication (NFC) is one of the elements that enables devices to connect with each other to exchange data. Learn more here: https://www.nomtek.com/blog/what-are-nfc-tags

Last Updated: 29 November 2023

Holographic Labels

Protect Brand Authenticity Against Counterfeiting with Security Labels

Counterfeiting your brand is like someone stealing your hard-earned reputation. It’s not just wrong; it can cost you a lot of money. To protect your brand from such dishonest actions, security labels are your secret weapon. They help protect your products and your customers from the moment they leave the factory until they reach the hands of consumers.

Security labels come in different forms, and each type serves a specific purpose in protecting your brand. In this article, we’ll talk about three kinds of security labels: holographic labels, QR codes and barcodes, and serialised labels.

Holographic Labels:

Hologram security label
Holographic Security Labels

Holographic labels not only make your brand more recognisable, but they also add an extra layer of protection. They are easy to spot and have become a symbol of trust for famous products like those linked to the NBA and MLB.

These labels are difficult for counterfeiters to copy because they are complicated and expensive.

You can customise holographic labels to show pictures or serial numbers, which means you can protect your products while keeping your branding style. 

But beware: real holographic security labels can be expensive because they need special equipment to make. The set up costs are high, so to make hologram labels more cost-effective buy lots of labels when you order.

QR Codes and Barcodes:

QR codes and barcodes have been around for a while and are great tools to fight counterfeits. They help companies keep track of their products in the supply chain and allow customers to check if a product is genuine. Each label has a unique code and, thanks to modern printing methods, can be printed quickly and easily. As products move through the supply chain, these labels are scanned, creating a digital record of the product’s journey. However, one problem is that counterfeiters can make fake QR codes that lead customers to fake websites. Customers need to be careful and make sure they are using the right web addresses. Contact us for help with your security label QR codes and barcodes.

Serialised Labels: 

Serialised labels are the foundation for QR codes, barcodes, and electronic tags. They give each item its unique identity.

With so many things being traded worldwide, it’s essential to make sure each item is different. Standard 1D barcodes become too big when they need to store lots of information, but QR codes and electronic tags can easily handle the large numbers of characters needed for long serial numbers.

GS1, a global barcode standards organization, has introduced their next-generation barcodes that allow retailers to scan product serial numbers.

In a closed system, where a brand uses its product serial numbers within its network, the serial numbers can be shorter. This is still useful to make sure the product is real.

These serialized labels are like the base for other security measures, and they can work well with holographic labels and QR codes to give your brand full protection.

Protecting your brand from counterfeiters is not just about following the law; it’s also about keeping the trust and reputation you’ve worked so hard to build.

Security labels, like holographic labels, QR codes and barcodes, and serialized labels, play a big role in keeping your products safe and your brand’s reputation intact.

Useful Links:

Security Labels

Security Labels are generally used for anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, tamper-evident seals and anti-pilferage seals. These combine a number of overt and covert features to make imitation difficult. Learn more here: https://expertlabels.co.uk/products/security-labels/

RFID and Security Labels

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s crucial for businesses to have reliable and effective tracking and security solutions; that’s where we come in. Learn more here: https://expertlabels.co.uk/products/rfid-security-labels/

Counterfeit goods costing UK economy £9.2bn

The UK economy is missing out on billions a year as a result of the global trade in fake goods, which was behind more than 86,000 lost jobs in 2016, according to the OECD. Learn the study here: https://www.accountancydaily.co/counterfeit-goods-costing-uk-economy-ps92bn

Last Updated: 20 October 2023