Whilst labels might not be the most thrilling part of the Operations Manager’s role, labels can be a show-stopper, bringing your whole operation to a halt. A well executed labelling system can be complicated but comes with some very large opportunities – in cost efficiencies, resilience and performance.
This is what you need to know to get those benefits.
In order to print labels, you need printers. These can be thermal printers, for example Zebra or Honeywell or they might be colour ink jet from Epson or Primera.
This is what you need to know:
Printer Location. Obviously: if you can’t find a printer, you can’t print with it. A printer that’s been put into a cupboard and forgotten about can’t be used as a backup printer.
Make and Model. Knowing the make and model of printer means you can establish what consumables it uses. You know it’s capabilities i.e. performance or maximum label dimensions. You’ll know which printers can be substituted if one breaks down.
Age of printer. Generally speaking printer technologies don’t advance a great deal over two or three years – what does change rapidly are security flaws. Hackers can gain access to networks through printers, if firmware is out of date. Whilst this might not be of direct concern for operations managers, it needs to be addressed.
Usage. Thermal printers keep track of how many labels and tags they print. By looking at these logs you can see which of your printers are over-worked and which are coasting. Depending on printer capabilities it makes sense to redeploy them to balance out wear and tear.
Direct thermal labels wear out printheads more rapidly than thermal transfer labels. Knowing if your printer is printing onto direct thermal labels is important.
Printer Maintenance & Service
Printhead and Platen Roller - typical spare parts
You need to know what to do when your printer breaks down and you need to know your printers’ maintenance history.
What is your breakdown plan? Many smaller businesses don’t have a plan for when their label printer stops working. Larger organisations need to have a plan in place – with more label printers in operation – it’s not a case of if, it’s when your printers break down.
What do you do? Fix it yourself, call a helpline, send your printer off for repair, call out a service engineer, substitute with a redundant printer from the store room? You need to have a plan.
How are printer faults reported to you? How do you, as Ops Manager, get to hear about printer problems? Do you get told directly? Is there a phone number on your printers for help? Does the IT department look after problems?
Reporting lines need to include the operations manager, because label printing problems have a direct effect on operations.
Do you have all the printer support information? When you have a broken printer you might need phone numbers for the repair service or a website address to log the problem. You need contract details and printer serial numbers etc. Having all this information in place can save time and prevent a lengthy stoppage.
What preventative maintenance are you doing? Preventative maintence is more common with larger, industrial sized label printers, rather than desktop models.
Printers use bearings, belts and other components that are subject to wear and tear. If you have an on-site printer maintenance plan, this will often include an annual preventative maintenance visit by an engineer.
If you don’t have a maintenance contract, you can pay for an engineer to come to your site and service your printer fleet.
An alternative which is less convenient is to send back individual printers to our workshop for servicing. Servicing also includes updating the printers firmware – making the printer more secure from hacker threats and reducing the risk of software bugs.
Service History. Knowing your printer fleets’ service history means you know which machines need work and which printers don’t. It helps you redeploy printers within your organisation. It increases resale value if you come to replace them.
Spare Parts. Printheads and platen rolls are consumable items. They are designed to be replaced. They can be fitted by a technically minded person in a few minutes. If you are dependant on your labels, it makes sense to keep stocks of printheads and platen rollers.
You need to know what you have, what printers they are for and where they are kept.
Being prepared gives you peace of mind you have things under control.
Label and Ribbon Inventory Control
Keeping track of labels and ink is clearly critical. Production days (or weeks) can be lost if you run out of labels.
You need to know if you have a system for tracking label stock levels?
Do you keep emergency stocks that are kept separately – just in case someone fails to reorder labels? If so, where? Have you arranged label and ink stocks sitting on the shelf with your suppliers – ready to be shipped next day? Ask us to keep stocks for next day delivery for you.
Do you check stock when it arrives?Faulty Labels In case it’s damaged or faulty? The last thing you want is to open the last box of labels to find they were damaged during shipping.
Do you have a reliable way of reordering labels and ribbons? We use a special barcode for some of our clients – when they reach the last roll or box of labels they scan a special code and a replacement box is ordered automatically. Ask us about our automated label reorder system.
Do you have a secondary supply of labels and ribbons? Critical in an emergency.
How long do you wait for labels/ribbons. A shorter leadtime is preferable. Sometimes a long leadtime is inevitable and you need to plan accordingly.
How often are your label deliveries delayed – unexpectedly? Perhaps you need a more reliable supplier.
Best way to assess barcode quality is an inline verifier
So far we have looked at printing labels – this is what you need to know about the quality of your printed labels. Recalling a batch of product or getting a fine from your customer because of substandard labels can be avoided if you know this:
Can you trace incoming batches of labels? If there’s a problem with label adhesive or print finish on some labels – can you identify them on the shelf?
Can you track who you’ve sent labels to – in case of a problem (i.e. unreadable barcodes).
Do you assess label quality before they’re applied to your products or outer cases – do you scan barcodes?
Problems with barcodes can be difficult to see with the human eye. The first you will know is when you get a call from your customer to say they can’t read your barcodes. Read the Barcodes panel for more information.
Barcodes
Tesco charge £620 (2018 prices) an incident for barcode non-compliance. They raise the problem with their outsourced barcode support desk who determine if the codes are substandard.
Barcode printers can have wrinkled ribbons, worn out printheads and a host of other problems that stop barcodes from reading.
The only way to test if your barcodes are up to standard is to scan them.
Scanning with a smartphone is not recommended, as they can cope with substandard codes better than the laser scanners found in warehouses.
What quality credentials do your suppliers have? This does a long way to giving you confidence you won’t experience problems.
Staff Training
Any system is only as good as the people running it. How well it’s run depends on how well they’re trained.
Training includes everything we’ve covered here: loading and setting up your printers, cleaning printers, checking incoming materials, checking printed labels, using label design software, reordering labels and ribbons…
Are your labelling systems documented (so you can train people and improve systems)?
Is there a training system in place? Is it documented? When was it last reviewed? Does it contain out-of-date equipment, processes or software?
How are staff trained – a quick chat from their supervisor? A printed (and frankly boring) manual? A video? Specialist external or in-house instructors? Is the training interactive and assessed? Are there practical exercises?
Expert Labels have been training people on labelling for more than 25 years. Talk to us about putting together an on-line interactive training and assessment course for you. For advice and help, contact us here.
As Operations Manager you want a label management system that fits your needs. Labelling Management Software is more than just designing labels – it’s the whole process of choosing what label to print and putting the correct data onto the labels.
This is what you need to know about label management systems to ensure it does what you want.
Is your labelling management software documented – we’ve already talked about the importance of documentation for training – but it helps you streamline and improve your processes, identify faults and on a practical level – helps you get quality certification.
Where are your label templates backed up to? As Operations Manager – you’re likely not responsible for backing up your label files – but you do want to know how you get it back if you need to.
You need to know what your labelling software is capable of. If you know what it can do, you can make improvements. Call us and we can advise you. We work with Seagull Scientific’s BarTender and Nicelabel software.
Are you taking advantage of the automation available from your software. Labelling software can be automatically triggered from your order or production systems and automatically print labels. You could set up a label printing system that works for months without attention. Ask us for help automating your labelling (we work internationally).
Do you know if your label designs are protected from accidental changes?
Are your label designs effectively organised and shared with users? This eliminates duplicate label designs and manages different design versions. BarTender and NiceLabel have the ability to set up a shared library with controlled access to different users.
Labels and Ribbons
This is where answers to a few questions can save thousands of £s.
Ideally, you should put together a spreadsheet detailing what label sizes you buy, where you buy them from, the quantity ordered each time, annual usage and a few details about the labels – i.e. colours and adhesive type.
How much you spend on labels? As a starting point – an answer to this helps you understand the size of your money saving opportunity. Saving money isn’t just about getting a better price – it’s about buying more intelligently.
Where do you get your labels from? Your label supplier may not be top of your ‘must see’ list, but they generally have a great deal of knowledge and should be able to make recommendations about how you’re using your labels.
What volumes of labels you buy. The more labels you get in one order, the cheaper per label the cost will be. It might be that you’re buying lots of small orders and you could be buying a few larger, yet ultimately cheaper, label orders.
How often am I buying labels? This is tied in with the volume of labels bought. You have to balance the cost of keeping stocks of labels against the reduction in price larger orders give you.
What are my labels like? You could be buying labels that might be better suited made in a different way? Perhaps you need peelable labels but didn’t realise you could get them? Understanding if your labels are a good match for the task they’re being used for will help you decide if you can make any improvements.
Can you print labels two or more across? Two labels across means you’ve halved the amount of time your staff are printing. Not always possible – but worth investigating.
If you’re overprinting labels then you may be using thermal transfer ribbons. Here’s what it’s good to know about ribbons?
Are your ribbons matched to your labels? It might be that a ribbon made from a different material might suit your labels better – that might mean they print faster, better or cost less. We are happy to test label/ribbon compatibility for you – with just a small roll of labels we can test different ribbons. Find our address here: contact us.
What size ribbons do you have? A ribbon that closely matches the width of labels printed means you’re not wasting thermal ribbons. If your ribbons are much wider, we can help you get custom made ribbons that means you can save significant amounts of money on your ribbons.
When was the last time you reviewed your labelling system? If not annually – then perhaps just key parts of the audit need to be done – security issues.
Could labels be printed in a different way? For example, new technology you could be using (like QR codes or RFID tags).
Do you have a set of benchmarks and standards your processes should be compared against? Perhaps just historical benchmarks.
Do you have a report from your financial system that provides answers to supplier, frequency and cost questions? Can you get it built in order to do a quick annual review?
Are you receiving updates on software improvements and newer versions?
There is a lot to keep up to date with – do you have a trusted expert advisor to guide you through the complex world of labelling?
Summary
Let us help you maximise your labelling potential. Contact us for an audit of your labelling system. We conduct audits internationally.
We’ve spent weeks creating this article – which I sincerely hope it’s useful. I would love to hear your feedback – what’s useful and what isn’t.
In this article we’ll take you on a journey into the future
Natasha’s law – how it affects labelling for food businesses
QR Codes – Covid Track and Trace introduced them to millions of people
The continued push to sustainability for environmentally aware producers
The continued expansion of digital printing
The importance of supply chain resilience – including your labels
The rise of NFC labels – contact-less technology in labels for hospitality
Labels as a subscription for organisations in lean supply chains
Cloud labelling software
Let’s explore…
Natasha's Law
Allergen Labelling from NiceLabel
In October 2021 Natasha’s Law comes into force. The tragic death of 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse on a flight from Heathrow in 2016 highlighted the potentially fatal consequences of inadequate food labelling.
Whilst allergy labels were mandatory on packaged foods since 2014, they didn’t apply to foods packaged on-site, such as sandwiches and sushi. That’s changing in October 2021.
We’ve written a more detailed article here – which explains what Natasha’s law applies to for food manufacturers and how you can label your products if you need to.
Everyone's Using QR Codes - Now Take Advantage of Them
Everyone's Using QR Codes
Corona virus has opened the general public’s eyes to QR codes. For the majority of people, if you want to go somewhere public, you need to scan a QR code using the NHS app. For many people this was the first time they even realised they had a QR code reader on their phones.
QR codes perfect for driving customer engagement in labelling for a whole range of products – but they work for so many industries. We’ve even used them in heavy engineering to display technical drawings.
How can you take advantage of QR codes?
There’s a ton of benefit to be had from QR codes from opening webpages (think food menus in hospitality), opening online order forms (order from the table in hospitality), opening map apps – take a look at this article for many more ideas.
The problem you used to have was encouraging people to scan the codes.
Now they know how, you can start enjoying the benefits of QR codes on your labels and packaging.
The Continued Rise of Sustainable labels
Biodegradable label being tested
At the end of February 2020 I sneaked in a trade show. Remember them?
One thing that was inescapable was that every other stand seemed to be promoting sustainable packaging and labelling.
We are noticing this as well. A large proportion of our enquiries relate to biodegradable and environmentally friendly labels – because there’s a growing number of companies who consider the environment a key company value.
Previously the problem with sustainable labels had been volume. Biodegradable and sustainable label materials are now more readily available than ever – and that will gradually lead to a drop in price. If the environment is rising in your list of priorities – read this article.
Expect to see more sustainable labels in 2021.
Digital Label Printing
Entry level digital label printer
Digital label printing first appeared ten years ago. Since then label printers have realised the advantages. Minimised set up costs means that it’s viable to print much smaller batches of labels than used to be the case. Digitally printed labels can each be unique – because plates aren’t needed.
Again, there’s a gradual move downwards in price with digital printing presses. High volume professional presses still cost hundreds of thousands of pounds but desktop printers cost around £1,000 and produce very good results.
Expect to see more digital printing in 2021.
Supply Chain Resilience
Critical supply chain holdups (Credit: Barry Davis)
In March, Covid caused a shock to supply chains not only in the UK but around the world. Then at the end of the year there was another shock from the threat of Brexit and the closure to inbound traffic to France – both of these lead to shortages and delays.
Throughout 2020 supply chains became a talking point in the news.
One key part of the modern supply chain – something small but critical – is labelling. Without labels – nothing can move.
In order for your supply chain to be resilient – you must make sure you have labels to print onto – and systems that ensure the correct information is printed onto those labels.
Perhaps we’ll see more consideration to supply chain resilience in 2021.
NFC Labels
Near Field Communication (NFC) labels are a type of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) label. We’ve talked about RFID labels for decades – so what make me think 2021 will be the year it’s all going to take off?
Covid makes me think these types of label will gain ‘traction’. I don’t think we’ll see an explosion of use, but I think the pandemic will have accelerated their use.
A lot of people don’t like touching things. Some people appreciate the sheer convenience of a label that you simply wave your phone near and it does something. Combine the two and you have more people using NFC technology.
NFC Label
The ability to read NFC exists on pretty much all Android and Apple phones. It doesn’t require you to download an app. That makes it’s adoption much easier.
The other factor in the adoption of NFC is cost. As with most things, technology products drop in price as volumes rise.
Like QR Codes, NFC gives you the ability to open websites, display order forms, identify people, products and places, provide Wifi or other logins – all from an easily programmed ‘electronic label’. In fact – it’s so easy to program, you just need a smart phone and a free app – and you can be programming your NFC tags.
Contact me to find out how you can jump ahead of your competition and make your users lives’ a little easier in 2021.
Labels as a Subscription
If you’re male you might be familiar with dollar shave club. Described as “Everything you need in the bathroom – from razor blades to grooming products – automatically delivered to your door. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.“
This is interesting. Most people visit the supermarket weekly. It’s easy enough to grab razers, shaving cream and so on when you’re there – but the Dollar Shave Club grew from nothing to a $1Billion company in less than FIVE years – the convenience of subscription is pretty compelling.
Labels lend them extremely well to subscription. Every month or two a selected box of labels arrives at your door – automatically. Twice a year you review how many labels you’re using and adjust how much you’re receiving. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
Ask us to provide you with labels on subscription. Order once and forget about reordering. We’ll take care of everything.
If you use thermal ribbons with your labels – let us ship the exact number of rolls you need to match your labels – so you never over stock and never run out.
For years now, software and resources have been moving to the cloud. So why is that you still have to download label design and print software?
Whilst other software publishers have been slowly preparing their software for the cloud, Nicelabel, a leading company in the label design space have had software running in the cloud for years.
Nicelabel’s Label Cloud:
Web Print Labels
Design labels using their design software,
Save it centrally on the web – accessible to anyone who needs it,
Share one set of data – eliminate duplicate and out of date records
Simple software subscription
Easily Scaleable
I think the move to cloud computing will extend to label design software – and Nicelabel seems to be ahead of the game.
You won’t be surprised to know, we can help you with your cloud labelling. Get in touch!
Brother’s standalone label printer for ingredient labels
Useful links
What is Natasha's Law?
In October 2021 a set of food labelling laws called Natasha’s Law comes into force.
The tragic death of 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse on a flight from Heathrow in 2016 highlighted the potentially fatal consequences of inadequate food labelling.
Natasha, who was allergic to sesame, stop breathing on the flight to Nice. Despite using her medication, she died from a severe allergic reaction.
Natasha had eaten a sandwich which failed to list sesame as an ingredient. The sandwich had sesame seeds baked into the dough.
The sandwich, made by Pret a Manger, had no specific allergy warnings and Natasha ate the sandwich, believing she was safe.
Whilst Natasha’s case was well publicised she is not alone. A handful of people die each year from food allergies and many more are made ill. Food allergies are estimated to affect one in eight children in the UK to some degree. Around 2% of adults have food allergies.
Natasha’s law passed through to law and new regulations were prepared in 2020.
Who Does Natasha's Law Effect?
The new regulations only apply to food known as ‘pre-packed for direct sale’ (PPDS), which is food packaged onsite by a food business or company or school canteen before a customer selects or orders it from the same premises.
Food prepared and manufactured off site already needs to include ingredients and allergy warnings but until October 2021, food made onsite and packaged didn’t.
If you make food on site and package it before selling it – Natasha’s law applies to your business.
Allergen Labelling from NiceLabel
How do the Food Labelling Changes Affect You?
If you make food that is pre-packed for direct sale, you need to list all the ingredients – paying particular attention to 14 specified allergens.
From 1st Oct 2021 PPDS food needs to be labelled. Foods that are made to order and non-packaged foods are not affected by the new regulations (most can’t be labelled anyway).
Allergens in the food as either an ingredient or a processing aid needs to be listed on the label.
From the food information regulations: “the mandatory information must be easily accessible, in a conspicuous place, easily visible and clearly legible. Information must be indelible (where appropriate for example on food labels where it needs to withstand handling). The information must not be hidden, obscured, detracted from or interrupted by other written or pictorial matter or any other intervening material.”
How to be Natasha's Law Labelling 'Compliant'
Food Label Printing
Printing ingredient labels at the time of manufacture presents a problem to many small food retailers such as sandwich shops and cafes.
Your labels need to be printed on-site at the time of packaging.
Fortunately, there is a solution. Using an inexpensive £250 label printer and pre-printed labels – you can quickly and easily label your food products with beautiful, eye-catching and professional branded labels.
Using labelling software like Seagull Scientific’s BarTender, or NiceLabel – you can build a library of label designs that can be printed on demand.
Your labels can include the best before date and all the required ingredient information.
Brother's Standalone Label Printer
One particularly practical solutions is Brother’s TD2020 printer.
It doesn’t need to be plugged into a computer to print labels.
You design the label designs on a PC, download the label designs to the printer and use the printer keypad to select what you want to print. It can even run off batteries.
Watch the video below and contact us to find out how you can try it.
Expert Labels has been providing beautiful cosmetic labels since 1995.
We offer a full range of highly functional labels that will make your product standout.
With our many years of experience in this specialist field we can print an established design or provide you with our in-house design services to create your own label, tailored just for you.
We have experience of working with major brands, start-ups and fast-growing companies such as Glitterbels (Nails by Annabel) who provide a vast range of nail polishes and associated products.
According to data analytics company Nielson, 70% of consumers’ purchase decisions are made at the shelf in-store.
Standing out is essential
What you can expect from working with us. We understand that:-
Your label must comply to regulations
Product packaging is often small or are tricky shapes to label
The label must accurately convey the product contents, which often means good product colour matching
Products need to stand out to compete; firstly, for shelf space and then for customer attention
Performance of the label for the product’s lifecycle is important, from delivery, in store and in your customers’ home
If you’re selling on-line your product needs to photograph well too
Many of our customers have worked with us for over 20 years. They say it’s because everyone at Expert Labels cares deeply about understanding them, their needs and delivering exceptional customer services, something we’re all very proud of.
To discuss your needs, please get in touch or phone 01359 271 111 our expert advisers would be delighted to help you.
Whilst we can print less than 1,000 labels for you it does not make for an economical price, we therefore request orders over this quantity.
If you’re new to cosmetic labelling here’s our guide for what to look out for.
Consider the label material before you think design
Jumping straight into the design of your label can be very exciting. However, your label has a number of important jobs to do. For performance durability, labels for cosmetics need to resist moisture and oils. They also need to be able to stand up to a lot of handling so making sure the label stays in place, doesn’t easily tear, scratch or wrinkle is vital to your customer’s brand experience. Choosing the appropriate material for your label is an important consideration.
Convey product contents
Skin tones and accurate colour for make-up or nail polishes is important in guiding your customers to make the best selection; and crucially for them to repurchase. This means your label partner must have a deep understanding of inks and coatings to ensure your label is perfect to represent and showcase your product to its very best.
Regulations
There are numerous ways to include the significant information, such as ingredients and consumers warnings that you are required to include on your label. Not to detract from the beautiful design of your label you can meet the regulatory requirements by using peel and reveal labels that peel away from the bottom of the label to reveal an additional layer that details the extra information. To include all of the information required it is likely the text will be fine and very small, therefore the inks used need to be high definition for legibility.
Product Quality Assumptions are Made Based on the Quality of Marketing and Labelling
We all make assumptions about the quality of a product or service based on the quality of the marketing, labelling or packaging. We are seeing that more and more cosmetic companies are choosing a premium, luxury look and feel.
There are many materials that can achieve this from clear labels with a crisp design to eye catching bright colours, striking monotones, foil finishes, shiny and tactile or sustainable and recyclable materials. Add to this innovative print finishes that can be achieved using sophisticated digital print processes, or decorating and embellishing using debossing, embossing or foils and raised varnishes.
Branding
Your labels need to reflect your brand values. For example, if your products are acrylic and high gloss that needs to be reflected in your packaging and labelling. If your product is 100% natural or kind to the environment, when your label and packaging is reflective of the products’ attributes your brand become stronger, believable and trusted.
Sustainability
McKinley research shows that over 65% of consumers will pay more for sustainable products. Cosmetic consumers want brands they can trust to protect the planet as well as their own health. The consumer market is engaging more with brands that are cutting down on packaging and using packaging that is easily recycled – this includes labels too.
To discuss your needs, please get in touch or phone 01359 271 111 our expert advisers would be delighted to help you.
When you need relatively small quantities of colour labels on a regular basis – investing in a label printer will save you money and increase convenience.
Print labels on demand – no more waiting for labels to be manufactured and printed for you.
Print unique labels – a label customised to each product. Different size, style, shape or colour permutations – can be printed for each product
Personalised labels to meet your customers demands, made specially for them.
Prototype packaging and labelling with photo-quality colour labels – testing different messages and colours.
Simplify label stock control – by printing what you need when you need it – no stock control headaches or running out of labels.
Meet GHS requirements by printing required pictograms and graphics using a colour label printer.
Roll labels V Sheet labels
Roll label printers have important advantages over inexpensive sheet label printers. Here’s why you should choose a colour roll label printer:
Labels on rolls are less expensive compared to sheet labels. Whilst the printers cost more, roll label printers will save money in the long run.
Wide range of materials to print onto – paper, gloss paper, plastics, permanent and peelable adhesives.
The labels and the printed image are more durable (water resistant and suffer less sun damage) and
You can print just one label or hundreds of labels – no need to print whole sheets of labels.
Roll label printers are more durable and reliable than sheet printers
Do I Print My Colour Labels In-House?
The decision to print coloured labels in house or through label printers comes down to:
How many labels do I need?
If you need lots of labels then it’s more convenient to have labels preprinted. Our rule of thumb is that it isn’t cost effective to pre-print fewer than 1,000 labels.
Vibrant Colour Labels printed with an Epson C3500 colour label printer
Do I need special materials or label finishes?
Not all label materials can be printed onto using a colour printer. On a recent project we couldn’t find removable plastic labels for a client – that were inkjet printable. If you need gold foiling or a special varnish you’ll need pre-printed labels.
However, pre-printed labels aren’t all perfect…
Adding unique information such as batch codes and serial numbers at print time isn’t possible without over-printing.
Keeping track of hundreds of different product labels is a headache.
How Raza Nostra Solved Their Label Problems
Raza Nostra is a Madrid-based artisan meat specialist.
Black and White Labels Aren’t Good Enough
Raza Nostra provide their customers with high quality meat and black and white labels don’t reflect the quality of the brand.
Not only did black and white labels fail the company’s artisan brand, the labels didn’t include coloured images and country of origin flags.
Perhaps the largest – practical reason why pre-printed labels were a problem was wastage. Raza Nostra requires 30 different types of labels and the minimum order volumes of its label supplier forced the company to buy far more labels than it needed, resulting in storage expenses and high levels of wastage.
Raza Nostra needed a solution.
Colour on demand
Raza Nostra decided to test Epson’s TM-C3400 on-demand colour label printer. The C3400 prints custom colour labels onto matte and gloss label media between 30 and 112mm wide – perfect for Raza Nostra’s product labelling requirements.
Another important consideration are prints that are highly durable, water-resistant and smudge-proof. Raza Nostra found that the Epson labels easily withstood storage conditions in its large fridges.
Raza Nostra needed to print up to 1,500 new labels per day and the entry-level Epson printer had no problem keeping pace, producing 100 labels in just three minutes.
Flexibility, quality and economy
Raza Nostra’s testing proved the concept of in-house label printing and they bought two Epson printers. Using the printers, the company can now produce exactly what it needs, when it wants, which has dramatically reduced costs and wastage.
Another benefit is that it’s easier for the company to keep up with constantly-changing expiration dates, prices and barcodes.
Furthermore, Raza Nostra now has the flexibility to change its label designs as often as it wants and can print flags and images in full colour.
In this article you’ll learn about Labelling for pharmaceutical companies
What’s special about pharmaceutical labels?
Labelling to meet the EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD)
How to assure quality and traceability for pharmaceutical labels
How to print on-demand pharmaceutical labels
Label software for printing pharmaceutical labels
Automatically test and verify the labels you print
Barcode scanning
Validating pharmaceutical labelling systems
Learn from some pharmaceutical labelling case studies
Labels for Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical labels are diverse.
Braille, special cuts and extra thick booklet labels are some of the many labels we are asked to print for pharmaceutical customers.
Other requirements are for special materials that need to withstand chemical or alcohol cleaning.
Labels with Tactile Marks and Braille
Tactile Mark printed on a label
Tactile mark is the name given to a raised part of the label that can be felt with the finger tips.
In the image to the left the label has a warning triangle tactile mark.
Usually they are used to indicate to blind people that the product is potentially dangerous.
Tactile Marks are printed after the main label is printed and need a special ‘screen’ which adds to the cost of the label.
Braille is another feature that often appears on pharmaceutical labels. Braille is printed using a special varnish over the top of the label.
Booklet and Peel & Reveal Labels
Booklet labels feature regularly with Pharmaceutical labels, to include multiple languages for international products.
While lower cost peel and reveal labels are able to print up to 5 pages, booklet labels (or Fold Out Labels) can cope with many more leaves.
Not all thermal label printers can cope with thick booklet labels.
Experience has shown us the printer needs to be tested and compatible.
See the video below showing the booklet labels on the printed through a Sato CLnX thermal printer.
Cryogenic Sample Storage
Adhesives sometimes need to be able to withstand cryogenic temperatures for sample storage.
Ask us for a sample of cryogenic labels with ultra low adhesive for cryogenic storage down to temperatures of minus 196 C.
Falsified Medicines Directive and Tamper Evident Labels
To comply with the Falsified Medicines Directive, labels need to tamper evident.
That is, clearly show the consumer that the box hasn’t been opened.
This can be done by using a special label material that breaks when the box is opened.
Alternatively a label cut with a special die that tears when it’s opened is a simple cost effective solution.
If you need to apply your labels with an applicator – you need to test these tamper evident labels before committing to large quantities.
Ultra destruct label
Quality and Traceability for Pharmaceutical Labels
Quality and traceability are critical to Pharmaceutical labels – so all the labels we produce come with a certificate of conformity if you ask for one.
They are made in factories that have the highest quality standards – the BRC AA Rating – ensuring 100% traceability of materials and audited standards of hygiene not only for pharmaceuticals but food also.
Quality of print is monitored by camera systems designed to spot any non-conformance and stop production to prevent sub standard products from leaving the factory.
Material wastage is another factor in quality management processes and these are carefully monitored.
Efficient Thermal Label Printers for Pharmaceutical Printing
The most efficient and effective technology for printing labels is thermal transfer.
Thermal Transfer printers are fast, capable of printing onto single labels and reliable enough to print onto labels 24 hours a day.
Unlike laser printers, thermal label printers work with a wide range of label materials – including paper and plastics.
Thermal printers were designed in the 1970s to print barcodes and optimised for printing 1D and 2D codes (like Datamatrix and QR codes).
Thermal Transfer Label printing
Our pharmaceutical customers sometimes need to print onto booklet labels. We’ve successfully tested booklet printing with Printronix and Sato printers.
Another alternative to printing onto booklet labels is to print onto clear labels and apply these to the top of the booklet label.
Labelling Software for Pharmaceutical Companies
Label design and printing software for pharmaceutical companies
Only a few label design software packages meet EU and FDA regulations (21 CFR Part 11) for traceability. We work with Seagull Scientific’s BarTender label design and printing system. It’s powerful enough to link to ERP programs like Oracle and SAP to make label printing automated, accurate and efficient.
Ask us about BarTender label design and printing software. With experience installing into Pharmaceutical companies – we can install, validate and train users – giving a complete turn key solution.
Automatically Test and Verify the Labels You Print
Labels can be automatically verified for quality. Using a camera and software from Omron, our customers are able to automatically monitor each label printed and verify it matches the control label.
When the camera sees a non-compliant label, the printer stops and warns the operator.
Omron Microscan's Print Quality Inspection System
Text, images and print quality – along with barcodes – can be checked automatically and results retained for audit.
There are a few printers available with in-line barcode verifiers – but ask us about our print quality inspection systems – that scan not only the barcode by monitors for marks, scratches as well as incorrectly printed data.
Advice on Barcode Scanning
25 years of barcode scanning experience
Printing labels is usually a customer requirement, but scanning barcoded labels can make your own internal operations more efficient and accurate.
With 25 years of experience with printing and scanning barcodes – let us help you choose 1D and 2D barcode scanners and handheld terminals to suit your situation.
Setting up or altering labelling systems in pharmaceutical companies can be time consuming and tedious. A comprehensive and detailed list of tests need to be compiled and tested. Steps in putting together a system validation include.
Define a User Requirements Specification.
Find appropriate software to complete the task
Install and test the software
Systematically work through a validation checklist to ensure the system works as expected.
Expert Labels are able to provide software and hardware for testing. We can help with putting together a URS and have experience compiling a validation checklist.
If you’re having labels printed, here the artwork advice you need for getting your printing labels – everything you need to know about file formats, print resolution, graphics formats and how to specify colours.
Artwork Checklist
The two most important pieces of artwork advice for printing labels:
Artwork Files: In Adobe Illustrator format or Print Ready PDF at 300 dpi or better.
Colours: Pantone references provided or CMYK reference numbers.
Here’s what you need to know to have great label artwork.
Our artwork specification
What print-ready PDFs are
What Adobe Illustrator (AI) files are
Advice for colours in your artwork
How your logos and graphics need to be formatted
How your images need to be sent to us
Special considerations for Peel & Reveal labels
What to do if you need help with your artwork
Proofs – what they are and what happens
First - a Few Words About Label Artwork
If you want labels with a design on them, then you need artwork.
Artwork is the technical term we use in printing to refer to the image files you send across to us to turn into beautiful colour labels.
We don’t want to print substandard labels for you, so the wrong artwork can delay your labels whilst we get it right.
We can’t start the process of printing your labels until we have artwork to the required standard to work with.
You need to send us your artwork before we can confirm a delivery date for your labels.
The count-down to your finished labels doesn’t start until you have ‘approved’ your final label designs, so bear that in mind.
Label Artwork specifications
Artwork should be supplied as either high resolution (300 dpi plus) print ready PDF or as Adobe Illustrator (AI) files. Fonts should be embedded and colours should be CMYK.
Here’s what all that means…
Print Ready PDFs
The odds are that you know what a PDF is. They are everywhere. Print-ready PDFs are a version of PDF with various options turned on.
Make the PDF resolution at least 300 dpi – dpi explained.
With small text (less than 5 point) you’ll struggle to read text, even at 300 dpi, so higher dpi files will make your labels look better (and that’s what we’re in the business of doing).
Black text is set to 100% black – not CMYK.
Any trim marks are set outside the live print area.
You’ve included 2mm of bleed space.
Bleed space is where the colours of the label extend beyond the edges of the label. This means there won’t be an unwanted white border around the edge of your label.
Fonts are embedded or converted to outlines so we don’t have to try and find equivalent fonts – which may not look exactly as you want them.
Adobe Illustrator (AI) files
The AI file format is a creation of Adobe Systems from their Adobe Illustrator drawing software.
AI files include Vector Images in them.
Instead of using bitmap images – a series of coloured dots – or pixels – that come together to create an image (which is what photo editing software produces), AI images are made up of lines connected by points with colour filled in.
We love the AI format because vector based graphics never lose their quality if enlarged.
Colours
We work with CMYK colours on our digital label presses and use Pantone referenced colours on some of our traditional label presses.
If you are working with Pantone colours, let us know the references so we can match them.
Ideally, send us a sample so we can do a colour match.
RGB is usually used for on screen graphics, but printing uses the CMYK colour system – whilst we can convert RBG to CMYK, the colours will look slightly different.
Images
The larger the image the better for us. The minimum we need 300 dpi – but as our printing presses can print at 1200 dpi – there’s great scope for improvement.
Please embed your images in your files.
Logos and Graphics
Logos and graphics are best when they are provided as vectorised file.
As I explained above, vectorised files are the image files produced by programs like Adobe Illustrator.
This means we can shrink or enlarge your logo to fit the label size, without a loss of image sharpness.
Whilst we can work with bitmap images – it isn’t ideal – and we want your labels to be ideal!
Artwork for Peel & Reveal labels
Peel & reveal labels are unique. They are multi-layer and are made with a hinge. It’s not always obvious to the label user where they peel the top layer (that depends on the hinge) so the top layer needs peel instructions.
Because there is a hinge on peel & reveal labels, that needs to be included in the artwork. Make sure there is an area that is at least 3.5mm wide on the label where the hinge is glued.
Take a look at this example of peel & reveal artwork to see these two features.
Example of peel and reveal label artwork
What to do if you're struggling with Artwork
If it’s a simple problem (like resizing an already high resolution file) then our studio can fix problems and get your label printing ready free of charge.
If your artwork needs more work (i.e. split into colour layers or converted from low resolution to high resolution) then we can use our helpful graphic designer to work on your files.
This will cost around £50 per hour – with an estimate provided before we start.
The Last Stage - Proofs
When your designs have been adjusted and made ready to print – we send you over a proof.
A proof can be a PDF showing you the colour, layout and size your label will take – in a quick and easy digital file that we email to you.
Wet-proof or ‘machine pull’
We can sometimes produce a ‘wet proof’ or ‘Machine Pull’ from our digital press – that will show you the exact layout and colours to expect.
It may not be the exact same material you’re planning to use (especially if it’s a biodegradable or other specialist material) but it will be similar.
Wet-proof labels don’t always get cut out – so it may just be on a roll of continuous material – for you to get an idea of colour and layout.
There is a small charge for wet-proofs and it can only be done on a digital press.
This is your chance to make last minutes changes if you need to before you ‘approve’ the design and printing begins.
Artwork Advice for Printing Labels - a Summary
Produce your own designs and send them over to us as a:
Print ready PDF or AI file, CMYK colours, 300 dpi or better, with 3mm bleed, with embedded or vectored fonts and Pantone references if required.
Allow enough time (and budget) to have your designs changed – possibly by our designer.
Check over the proof – this is your last chance to get it right.
We supply labels that are tried and tested in high temperature manufacturing processes.
If you work in an industry that needs high-temperature labels, you understand the importance of having a dependable product.
Using a label material that is not designed for the demands of your environment may cause the label to turn brown, fade or become unreadable if they are exposed to excessive heat.
With our help, we can help you choose high-temperature labels and tags are ideal for high temperature applications, as they won’t melt or become distorted at high temperatures.
Our labels can withstand temperatures between 250 °C and 1250 °C, making them perfect for the food, steel, and manufacturing industries where it is critical to effectively monitor samples or batches exposed to harsh conditions.
We can supply high-temperature labels and tags in different colours and finishes. For example, they can be branded with your company logo. More specific text can be overprinted with variable information, such as serial numbers, batch codes, or barcodes.
Some common uses include tracking metal products, labelling food items in ovens, products undergoing autoclave processes, ceramics, and sanitary ware. To sum it up, choosing the right high-temperature label ensures safety and compliance in your workplace, without sacrificing the legibility of crucial information.
We understand that the required temperature resistance depends on the industry, with some clients’ labels needing to withstand temperatures up to 1250 °C, while others only need to be resistant to 250 °C. Whatever you need, it’s crucial to choose the right label for the job.
Given the range of different needs, it is important to understand that each label type has its own unique set of characteristics. Some labels are designed to withstand high temperatures for extended periods of time, whereas others are only suitable for brief intervals.
Some are designed to be applied at room temperature, whilst others can be applied at 500C.
Specifying the right label means your labels will maintain key information without it melting, discolouring or smudging. With our labels you can sure the label will remain clear and legible throughout the product’s life.
Additionally, it is crucial to keep in mind that some labels can be applied in high-temperature environments, while others can only be applied at ambient temperature. Furthermore, certain labels need specialised label applicators to stick the labels to hot surfaces.
How much would I pay for High-Temperature Labels?
The cost of high temperature labels varies according to the label size, heat resistance and number of labels you buy.
There are usually high minimum order quantities as the materials are expensive and need to be bought in large 250m rolls before being cut into labels.
Whilst the cost of PET labels might be less than a penny/cent depending on size and quantity, the cost of a small ultra-high temperature label is likely to be 20 pence/cents each.
If you need to print these labels using your own thermal transfer printer, you need to consider the cost of thermal ribbon too.
Can I Print From Any Label Printer?
If you need labels for a specific thermal transfer printer – we can help.
It needs to be a Thermal Transfer printer – that uses a thermal ribbon to print with.
We will find labels that will work in desktop and industrial models from Zebra, Honeywell, Brother, TSC and Sato.
High-Temperature Label Products
Material Type
Temperature Range
Details
Treated Polyester Labels
Up to 250 °C
Use standard thermal transfer printer with matched resin ribbon.
Applied by hand.
Multiple colours and wide range of sizes.
Suitable for different temperature ranges.
Polyimide Adhesive Labels
Up to 350 °C
Use standard thermal transfer printer with matched resin grade ribbon.
Applied by hand and suitable for exposure up to 350 °C for short periods.
Aluminium Foil Base Adhesive with Inorganic Topcoat
Up to 600 °C
Aluminium base material with a smudge-proof coating and with a silicone adhesive.
Thermal transfer topcoat can be printed onto using a specialist thermal transfer ribbon.
Apply by hand or using specialist tool at temperatures between room temperature and 450 °C.
Can withstand short-term exposure up to 600 °C.
Ceramic-coated Polymer Film Adhesive Labels
Up to 1250 °C
Designed to be stuck to high-temp metal, ceramic and glass.
Thermal transfer printed with specialist high grade resin-based ribbon.
Resistant to chemicals, heat, shock and scratching.
Apply by hand at low temperatures or using a special tool at temperatures up to 1250 °C.
Specially made to order. There is a lead time of up to six weeks for these labels - and they come in limited sizes.
Keen to Test on your Application?
To help to ensure you make the right choice, we provide samples for testing to organisations based in the UK and Europe.
This is important, so you to see how they perform when tested on your specific application, under your specific conditions.
Finally, if you’d like to speak with us for expert advice on the best labels, tags, and ribbons, please contact us by clicking the button below or downloading our briefing sheet.
We are happy to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement for your confidential projects.
As always, we are here to help. If you have a question, or specific requirement you would like to discuss with us, heat-resistant or not, please get in touch with our. Email sales@expertlabels.co.uk or call us on 01359 271 111, we’d love to hear from you.
In this post you’ll be able to quickly compare the top industrial thermal label printers for around £1000.
This post includes:
Comparative printer prices.
An expert run down of the best features the printers have to offer
Printer shortcomings
Our opinion on what we think are the best printer purchases.
Weigh up the best label printer for your operation.
Read on.
Expert Labels work with all the major brands and many of the specialist brands so we’re able to find the best thermal label printers to suit your needs and your budget.
See our recommendations at the bottom of the page.
Updated Dec 2020.
What is an Industrial Thermal Label Printer?
An Industrial Thermal Label Printer is one that takes larger rolls of labels – typically 203mm in roll diameter – unlike the desktop models that only take 125mm rolls. These printers also use ink ribbon rolls longer than 300m and usually print at speeds faster than 150mm (6″) per second.
In short they are:
More robust, heavy duty label printers,
Need fewer label and ink ribbon changes and
Will give years of service with larger volumes of daily printing.
A note on prices – please contact us for up to date prices – as prices change weekly. Prices have been included for comparison purposes. Prices exclude VAT.
Download and Print The List as PDF
Download a printable pdf summarising our recommendations and analysis here.
Printer
Pros
Cons
Price
Sato CL4NX Label Printer
Sato are a huge brand in Asia, but haven't been as successful in Europe (yet). Sato are well established, with a competent and helpful support centre in the UK.
* Lots of connections - Bluetooth, USB, Ethernet, Parallel and serial.
* Large, colour LCD display that plays videos to help you with common tasks.
*10" label roll capacity compared with 8" with almost everyone else.
* 104mm print width.
* Powerful programming language - so it can print without a computer, communicates with the cloud and integrates with scales and other devices.
* Tough cast Aluminium frame and metal case.
* Space saving bi-fold door.
* Fast printing - up to 254mm/sec.
*Comes with a free version of NiceLabel Label design software
Top quality high performance printer at a competitive price.
* Uses a 'flat' printhead like 95% of other thermal printers - so ribbons are cheaper and more widely available.
* Thermal Transfer or Direct thermal only models.
* 600m thermal ribbons mean fewer ribbon changes.
* 200mm outside diameter label roll means fewer label changes
* Network (Ethernet) is standard, as well as USB
* Fewer distributors so availability might be a problem.
* LCD display looks a little dated as it's not colour or touch sensitive.
£1247
Printronix T6000 Thermal Label Printer
* Nice large colour LCD display that provide instructions on how to use set up the printer.
* Really fast - up to 14" per second - and maintains print quality.
* Comes with ethernet (network) as standard.
* Has remote diagnostic software to warn if there are problems, enable configuration and remote management
*Widely available printer ribbons
* Option of a Barcode check camera that stops the printer if there's an error in the label
* Not widely available - limited distribution (and therefore stock)
£2539.70
Zebra ZT411 4 inch Industrial Label Printer
Latest, improved, industrial printer from Zebra, the dominant manufacturer of thermal label printers in the world.
* Super fast - 14" (350mm) per second print speed.
* 203 to 600 dots per inch print resolution options.
* Uses 450m ink ribbons – means fewer ribbon changes.
* Comes with Ethernet and bluetooth connectivity as standard – in addition to USB and Serial.
* Large colour touch screen
* Easy to change printhead and platen roller
* Metal case and space saving bi fold door
* Built-in printer management and security software
* Excellent support options - telephone support, return to workshop and on site options
* Readily available stock (usually)
It's very difficult to find fault with this printer.
* Other brands can be found at lower prices
* Doesn't have ribbon save like some TEC printers
* If you're over-printing multipage booklet labels the thickness of these printers is limited compared to Sato printers.
£1447.53
TSC MH240 Series Mid-range Industrial Printer
* TSC make printers for other better known brands – so you’re getting the same quality for a better price.
* The MH-240 is fast – printing at 14 inches (350mm) per second.
* Comes with 200, 300 and 600 dots per inch print resolution options.
* Comes with Ethernet network connection as standard.
* 600m thermal ink ribbon.
* Comes with "ribbon & label running low' warning device - so you can prepare to change the ribbons and labels before it runs out
* Comes with an SD card slot
* Optional large colour touch screen display
* Metal case and frame with a bi-fold door for use in small spaces
* Comes with a Two year warranty
* Limited distribution network.
* Doesn't seem to have the remote management and security software that other brands have.
* Doesn't come with label design software but can be used with BarTender's free edition.
* 600m thermal ribbon lengths are rare and might need to be made up specially, though you can use more commonly available 450m rolls
£1695
Toshiba TEC BA400
TEC have been making printers for decades and the BA400 is the next generation of a proven design, but launched late 2019 with updates.
* Metal case
* Unique design with a top that hinges up so labels can drop straight in. Useful if you don't have space at the sides of your printer.
* Bluetooth and Ethernet as standard
* 200mm per second print speed - a little faster than the other entry level industrial printers.
* Near Field Communication - for ease of printing from mobile devices.
*Optional 5G wifi
* Comes with BarTender Ultralite label design software - BarTender limited to TEC printers.
* Stock availability not as good as other brands.
* No colour touch screen as with some of the industrial printers.
£1289
Best Industrial Thermal Label Printers – Our Recommendations
For value for money and price performance the Sato CL4NX is hard to beat. Take a look in detail at our write up on the printer here. The version we reviewed a few years ago has only got better. It’s clean design, attention to detail and powerful software means it’s a tough printer to beat.
The Printronix T6000 is an excellent label printer. It’s super fast, produces excellent print quality and comes with powerful remote management and configuration software. That software can email you if your printer needs attention. The Printtronix is one of a few printers available that can be fitted (at extra cost) with a camera that monitors the quality of each label printed. If barcode readability is critical to your business then this is a must – the moment a label stops scanning – the printer will pause to allow you to fix the problem.
No list would be complete without the market leader. Zebra printers are widely available, well supported and cover almost every possible application. Which model you choose depends on how many labels you print and what interfaces you need.
I’ve not been keen on the idea of thermal transfer cartridge printers. Cartridge printers use a roll of thermal ink ribbon in the form of a plastic cartridge. If you want to change a thermal ribbon, simply pull out the used ribbon cartridge and put in a new one. No threading thermal transfer ribbons. No need to clip cores into the printer.
I’ve not been keen because I’ve always felt uncomfortable being tied in to a specific supplier or manufacturer. I’ve been concerned we couldn’t get hold of a full range of ribbon materials – including different colours. I’ve felt the benefits didn’t really amount to much – but I’ve changed my mind.
What’s so good about a thermal transfer cartridge printer?
Simply: it’s so quick and easy to use. Anyone can change a ribbon in a fraction of the time it usually takes. Take a look at this video an you’ll see just how easy it is to use.
Zebra’s ZD420 Thermal transfer cartridge printer
The only cartridge printer available today is Zebra’s ZD420.
The Zebra ZD420
The cartridge model is one of Zebra’s ZD420 family of printers – the others being a healthcare model, a standard roll fed model and a direct thermal model.
It quickly established itself as a popular and easy to use desktop label printer since it’s launch in 2016.
Where you’d use a cartridge printer
We’ve been working with a company that has untrained volunteers printing labels on demand for customers.
Imagine you have a competition. You’re labelling clients’ bags before transporting them to the end point. You have a couple of volunteer staff looking after clients, entering data, putting bags in a van and looking after the printers.
There’s a small queue of customers and suddenly the ribbon runs out. Your volunteer has never changed a roll of ribbon and has barely seen a thermal printer before. He tries to figure it out for himself. He looks at the diagram on the printer, he asks his colleague and he even asks the people waiting. Then he gives it a go.
Five minutes later the ribbon is changed – but it’s been a struggle, it takes time and it prevents staff from looking after their customers.
With a cartridge printer he’d have opened the printer, unwrapped the cartridge, pulled out the old one and slotted in the new one. All done in a matter of seconds – without the need for training. No need to look at instructions.
Ribbon Cartridge Size Options
Zebra Thermal Printer Cartridge
This is where the ribbon cartridge struggles, compared with standard ribbons. There are only three different cartridges available – Wax, Wax resin and Resin. All ribbons are 110mm wide and 74m long.
All thermal cartridge ribbons are black.
In the past twenty years I imagine we have only sold a few dozen boxes of coloured ribbons, so the limited colour range is unlikely to affect many of you.
Another big downside – the cost of a ribbon cartridge is around twice as much as a standard Zebra ribbon, at around £5 per cartridge. If you are printing a 100mm x 100mm paper label, that still only works out at 0.7p per label for ink.
Summing up – Thermal Transfer Cartridge Printers
Extremely convenient and fast – minimises downtime and customer inconvenience
No training needed – anyone can quickly use the printer
Limited range of ribbons – not a problem if that suits the label or tag you’re printing
Expensive in comparison to standard ribbons.
Further Help
Want to know more about cartridge printers? Want to buy a cartridge printer or cartridges? Contact us here or complete our form below.
