Print
Solutions May 2005
Case Study
Attention to
Detail Leads To Better Label
Paragon
Printing & Mailing, a distributorship
in Mankato, Minn., sells labels
to clients ranging from mom-and-pop
shops to the Mayo Clinic. Much
of the reason for the company’s
success can be attributed to vendors
that provide top-notch products
and service. An example of the
important relationship between
Paragon and one of its manufacturers,
Label Works, occurred in February.
Connie
Hanek, a sales consultant with
Paragon, sold 1,500 weather-resistant
labels to Schwickert’s,
a commercial roofing, heating
and air conditioning company.
The company needed the 101Ú2 x
4-inch labels to mark heating
units on top of building roofs.
The labels, printed in black,
identified the heating unit number
and maintenance contact information.
They also prominently displayed
Schwickert’s name.
Hanek
attached a copy of the label to
the order she sent to Label Works,
North Mankato, Minn., a custom
printer and converter of pressure
sensitive labels in up to eight
colors. The manufacturer’s
capabilities include weather-resistant,
laser, tamper-evident and static-cling
labels, as well as bumper stickers,
security hologram foils, foil
stamping and blind embossing.
Label
Works saw Paragon’s label
and had a concern: It was die
cut into several labels: a 71Ú2
x 4-inch one and 15 small labels
with letters and numbers. The
smaller ones would be placed on
heating units next to the main
label to identify the units. On
the sample sent to Label Works,
the smaller labels varied in size,
and some of the letters and numbers
weren’t centered. The manufacturer
asked to fix this.
“At
first I said, ‘Just go ahead
with the order,’”
Hanek says. “The labels
go on a roof, and the client approved
the order. But Label Works was
concerned they weren’t centered.”
The manufacturer re-did the labels,
creating custom dies to ensure
all the smaller labels measured
1 x 1 inch. Label Works charged
for the dies, but not the redesign
work. Such attention to detail
and quality impresses Hanek—and
her customers.
The
project exemplifies how distributors
and manufacturers must work together
to select the right face stock,
liner, adhesive and overall construction.
They must consider the surface
where the label will be applied
(wood, glass, metal), the texture
of the surface (cylindrical, rough,
flat), the expected usage period
(days, months, years), the temperature
at application and the method
of imprinting (ink jet, ion deposition,
laser printer, handwritten).
—Susan
Keen Flynn
TIPS
1. Test labels to make sure they
adhere properly
, and make sure
the customer understands potential
problems based on the surface
and storage conditions. Once you
have ordered a label that meets
your customer’s needs, follow
up with a visit to the client’s
facility. Stay abreast of changes
in your customer’s labeling
routines. For example, if a client
switches to a different type of
box, the label adhesive may have
to change.
2. Invite manufacturers on joint
sales calls.
Rely on the expertise
of your label vendors for insight
about face stocks, adhesives,
liners, printing equipment, usage
environments and more. Let them
partner with you to offer creative
suggestions to end users.
3. Ask clients about their budgets
and label volumes, how far in advance they usually place
orders, and how soon they need the labels.
Use their answers to discuss long-term
label plans for them. For example,
clients might want to eventually
purchase label printers. By providing
advice, distributors can cement
clients’ trust—and
their accounts.
4. Integrated labels remain
popular among many end users.
All components
are on one product, and personalization
is handled simultaneously. Integrated
labels save clients processing
time and eliminate transposition
errors.
RFID is Hot
Technology
The
most popular new label technologies
include radio frequency identification
(RFID) labels. Also known as smart
labels, they contain text and
radio frequency chips in which
information can be stored, read
and written repeatedly.
RFID,
which enables intelligent communication
between tags and labels via radio
waves, is impacting the packaging,
labeling, logistics, consumer
products and retail industries.
The most common RFID systems use
an inlay consisting of a silicon
chip bonded to a thin, flexible
antenna that’s integrated
with a label, tag, card or ticket.
This chip is a microprocessor
capable of storing data and communicating
to a reader, and doesn’t
require a direct line of sight
between the chip and reader. Information
may be rewritten to the chip,
which can process algorithms to
verify authenticity of the inquiry.
Today, many manufacturing firms
use RFID systems, but the technology
is trickling to personal-use applications
such as ExxonMobil’s SpeedPass
and toll-road collection tags.
RFID also is used widely for access-control
applications such as amusement
park wristbands.
Manufacturers
appreciate RFID labels’
flexibility—they can be
produced on demand or on more
traditional presses. End users
appreciate that radio frequency
scanners don’t need direct
lines of sight to read the labels—they
can place one or two scanners
on conveyor lines instead of investing
in multiple scanners. “It’s
going to be a big cost savings,”
says George Wright IV, vice president
of New York distributorship Product
Identification and Processing
Systems.
Annual
shipment volume of RFID tags,
or transponders, is expected to
grow from 323 million in 2002
to 1.62 billion in 2007, according
to Allied Business Intelligence,
an Oyster Bay, N.Y.-based firm
offering IT research.
RFID
systems have five major advantages
over bar codes:
•
No line of sight is required between
the carrier and the reader.
•
Users have the ability to rewrite
information to the tag without
physically seeing it, even when
the product is mixed among others.
•
RFID offers virtually 100-percent
readability.
•
The technology doesn’t have
print readability concerns.
•
Users can add real-time observations
to the inlay. For example, shipments
of blood can be tagged with an
RFID label mated to a temperature
monitor. When blood arrives at
its destination at the ideal temperature,
a scan of the label might indicate
a high temperature was reached
at some point during transit,
rendering it useless.
Great Label
Applications
•
Produce Labels
•
Interactive Direct Mail Labels
•
Box/Shipping Labels
•
Return Address Labels
•
Laboratory Identification Labels
•
Bumper Stickers
•
Warning Labels
•
Stationery Seals
•
Oil Change Labels
•
Time Card Labels
•
Employee Badges
•
Diskette Jacket Labels
•
Pricing Coupon Labels
•
File Folder Labels
•
Radiology Film Labels
•
Promotional Labels
•
Inspection Labels
•
Menu Labels
Learn More About
RFID
DMIA’s
white paper, “Emerging Trends
& Opportunities in Print,”
includes a section about the basics
of RFID technology and examples
of ideal applications. To order
the white paper, call (800) 336-4641.
Also, view “Print
Solutions Online Exclusives”
for more information about RFID
applications.
