3 Interesting Label Applications
Labels are used for much more than data processing and inventory control. Here are three interesting applications:
1. Custom loan documentation tabs. A home-loan origination firm needed tabs to organize sections of its files. A special polypropylene label stock adhesive was coated with a repositionable adhesive in a striped pattern. When the manufacturer die cut the labels, each tab included areas with no adhesive coating. The cost-effective solution improved the originator's quality assurance and organization.
2. High-performance aerospace label. The end user previously riveted nameplates onto parts and needed an easier, lower-cost process. The manufacturer located a 3M polyester material with a thick, extremely aggressive adhesive. With polyester lamination, the label performed well during its life cycle.
3. Blind-embossed gift seal. A retail firm enhanced its image with this label, which was produced on the manufacturer's traditional letterpress equipment. The image was of high quality because the printing, die cutting and embossing were completed in one impression.
Source: Coast Label Company, Fountain Valley, Calif.
SWM has succeeded in the label market by recognizing the importance of function and aesthetics and applying both to specific applications. The bakery/café, part of a national chain, was using three sizes of 4-color labels for hand application on clear, plastic lids of its cream cheese containers. The labels weren't falling off the lids--the application had a short shelf life and well-performing, rubber-based adhesive. And the labels weren't poorly designed--they included eye-catching graphics and the chain's logo. The problem was less obvious: The labels, which were produced on rolls, occupied valuable workspace at the stores and became damaged occasionally.
SWM suggested conversion from three label sizes to two (the cream cheese is available in two sizes) and production on sheets instead of rolls. The bakery/café chain agreed. Its employees now keep two sizes of labels in file folders away from their workspace. Sanders says the suggestions saved the chain money and resulted in a sizeable order for SWM. "Sizes, shapes and adhesives are essential elements of any label application, but successful analysis of workflow can be the real difference between a label supplier and a value-added problem solver," he says.
In addition to the label reconfiguration, Sanders suggested the bakery/ café chain use an automatic dispenser for a general label its employees apply to several other products. "Instead of hanging a device haphazardly on a wall and peeling labels off, workers can use a machine that pumps them out one by one--boom, boom, boom--so it's more efficient," he says. "It's like slicing bagels by hand versus putting them in an automatic slicer: Both ways get the job done, but one is a hell of a lot faster."
Targeting a Broad and Growing Market
Distributors say the most valuable label solutions develop when they analyze ways to improve clients' processes instead of just taking orders and searching for low prices. Opportunities to suggest new ideas are plentiful because labels perform a broad range of functions, including product identification, inventory control, merchandising and marketing, and document security.
Unlike the market for multipart continuous forms and some other conventional products, label demand is rising. According to Formtrac 2002, DMIA's comprehensive study of the document management industry, the total retail value of labels, tags and tickets grew approximately 20.2 percent from 1998 to 2001.
Selling labels can be challenging, however, because many factors affect the success of applications. Distributors and manufacturers must work together to select ideal face stocks, liners, adhesives and constructions. Also, they must take into account surfaces to which labels adhere (wood, glass, metal), textures and other properties of those surfaces (cylindrical, rough, powder-coated), environmental exposures (chemical washes, sand, extreme heat), expected shelf lives and usage periods (days, months, years), methods of imprinting (ink jet, ion deposition, laser printer), and more.
Providing labels that best meet end users' needs requires a keen understanding of their workflows. Distributors with classical forms training likely have that ability, which is one reason labels are natural complements to other industry offerings.
New Adhesive Leads to More Business
"There's plenty of room for creativity when selling labels," says Pat Stenger, account consultant at the Topeka, Kan., office of distributorship Midwest Single Source Inc. He began his document industry career in June 2000 and began selling labels just three months later. Today, he targets tire manufacturers, large retail firms, doctors' offices and surgical units, among others. Labels account for approximately 10 percent of Stenger's sales, and he looks for new applications "every chance I get," he says.
An increasing number of applications involve thermal transfer labels, which are imaged at end users' locations. A heated printhead contacts a ribbon, causing ink from the ribbon to transfer onto the label. (Direct thermal printing is similar, except there's no ribbon involved. It uses coated paper that darkens with heat, and the heated printhead contacts the paper or label and produces the image.)
When a tire distributor's thermal transfer labels were falling to the floor instead of remaining on rubber tires, Stenger helped. "When tires were ready for shipment or moved throughout the warehouse, the company absolutely needed labels that worked," he says. Stenger provided 4 x 12-inch labels with a more aggressive adhesive and a barrier coat that solved the problem. The tire distributor orders 100,000 labels every six weeks from Midwest Single Source, which also provides the client with ribbons and two other product identification labels.
Darin Painter is managing editor of Print Solutions. Email him your comments at dpainter@PSDA.org.
Thanks to Coast Label Company, Fountain Valley, Calif.; Lancer Label, a PrintXcelSM brand, Omaha, Neb.; and Chicago Tag & Label, Libertyville, Ill., for assistance.
