Labels also help end users reduce their
inventories. Companies want to have products when they need them, but don't want
to store huge quantities, Bernstein says. Manufacturing firms must ensure the
accuracy of orders, including products shipped, quantities, costs, destinations
and more. "A lot of people refer to labels as license plates," Bernstein says.
"Every widget that's made has to have a license plate, and more and more
products need to carry a great deal of information with them." The demand for
information and the demand for inventory control require that products be
labeled with a lot of information, he says, and bar coding has enabled people to
place that information in very small spaces.
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Labels are including an
increasing amount of variable information--everything from entire packing
lists to logos and bar codes.
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Treading a Path to Success
"Selling labels is usually not a bid situation, it's a problem-solving situation," Bernstein says. "If you solve the problem, all of a sudden you become a resource to your customer. It's a way to get in to penetrate the rest of the business."
When a tire manufacturer began experiencing label problems, it turned to IntelliPrint Solutions for assistance. The client affixed bar coded labels to the walls of tires, identifying types of tires and lot numbers. Due to the nature of the manufacturing environment, the tires were coated with layers of dirt and dust. Also, the manufacturing facility was often very hot. The labels, affixed with thick, gummy tire adhesive, had to remain on the tires until they reached retail outlets.
The tire manufacturer used impact printers to print bar codes on the labels. Impact printers such as dot-matrix printers work by banging heads or needles against ink ribbons to make marks on paper. As the labels ran through the printers, adhesive oozed from the sides. Over time, the adhesive built up in the printers, coating printer heads and ribbons and preventing the machines from operating correctly and printing readable bar codes. The labels also fell off the tires on the tire manufacturer's plant floor. What's more, the tire manufacturer planned to replace its impact printers with thermal transfer printers.
After extensive testing of approximately four different adhesives in high temperatures and dirty conditions, IntelliPrint Solutions provided the tire manufacturer with 25,000 17Ž16 x 4-inch thermal transfer labels on 31# coated stock. The labels, which included 50# liners, had film barriers between the liners and tire adhesive. The tire manufacturer thermal transfer printed bar codes on the labels. Thermal transfer printers have heated printheads that contact ribbons coated with thermal ink. This causes ink from the ribbons to transfer onto the labels and create images. IntelliPrint Solutions now provides the tire manufacturer with 4 million labels annually.
Floating a Good Idea
Al Cowles, owner of Cowles, a 24-year-old distributorship in Saco, Maine, also promotes his firm as a solutions provider. "Anybody can go out and just sell based on price," he says. "We sell based on ideas." Labels account for 60 percent of the distributorship's sales. Cowles targets pharmaceutical firms, food and beverage companies, manufacturing firms, and other high-volume label users.
Several years ago, a shipbuilder approached Cowles when it began experiencing label problems. The shipbuilder used polyester labels to identify fixtures, fittings and other pieces of metal it stored outside. The client printed part identification numbers and bar codes on each label in order to track parts through the steel fabrication process. As parts were moved, the shipbuilder removed the labels. Unfortunately, the labels' aggressive glue made them difficult to remove. Once the shipbuilder managed to remove the labels, they left sticky residues and polyester remnants on the metal parts. Because of the windy environment, the labels also crumpled and stuck together.
Cowles provided the shipbuilder with 100,000 4 x 2 1/2-inch labels constructed of three layers of polyester, which stiffened the labels and prevented crumpling. The labels included 1/8-inch unglued tabs and acrylic adhesive that allowed workers to easily remove the labels without leaving behind residue or remnants. One of the polyester layers was a computer-imprintable cap, which allowed the shipbuilder to thermal transfer print the labels with variable information. The client printed the labels using a resin ribbon, allowing the imprints to withstand the harsh outside environment. The shipbuilder orders approximately 350,000 labels annually.
Putting Labels to the Test
Some distributors may not want to take the time for the extensive testing process often required for label sales, Bernstein says, but that's what cements accounts. "Once you do a good job for a customer with a label, price really isn't much of an issue anymore," he says. "With business forms, a customer can call on 10 people, get quotes, take the lowest price and usually be happy. Labels are different. [Customers] are more concerned about the proper material, the proper testing and making sure they have the right product at the right time."
Bilyeu of Tabco Business Forms agrees. "Once you build a solution and people know that you're a credible source and will work with them to find solutions, it's hard for them to move the business to someone else," he says. "Label clients are very loyal customers."
More than 20 years ago, Tabco Business Forms designed a special die cut label for an automotive parts manufacturer. Today, the distributorship still provides the client with 500,000 of the labels annually. "Labels aren't one-time purchases," Bilyeu says. "Often, customers need more than just a basic 4 x 6-inch thermal transfer label. That's where you start to be the consultant we all want to be and to provide solutions as opposed to just taking orders."
When a chemical company began having problems with labels it applied to chemical containers, Tabco Business Forms provided a solution. After printing the labels with variable information describing container contents, the chemical company applied the labels to containers ranging in size from buckets to barrels that it stored outside. When chemicals leaked from the containers, the variable information eroded. Harsh weather conditions also faded the variable information.
After extensively testing a variety of label stocks and adhesives, Tabco Business Forms provided the customer with 20,000 thermal transfer labels on coated stock. The labels, which were provided in three sizes, also included an aggressive adhesive. "The project was frustrating at times, but very rewarding," Bilyeu says. "It was very satisfying to find a solution to a problem that they had been fighting for quite some time."
Kara S. Carpenter is assistant managing editor of Print Solutions. Email her your comments at kcarpenter@PSDA.org.
6 Ways to Provide Innovative Solutions
1. Learn about labels. Selling labels requires knowledge of face stocks, adhesives, liners, printers, usage environments and more. Kris Bilyeu, CDC, vice president of Tabco Business Forms, a 24-year-old distributorship in Terre Haute, Ind., attended DMIA's School for New Sales Reps, toured manufacturing facilities and attended label seminars. He also earned CFC, and later CDC, accreditation. For current information on label materials, adhesives and equipment, Al Cowles, owner of 24-year-old distributorship Cowles in Saco, Maine, reads trade magazines and updates from companies. He's on the mailing lists of 3M, Avery Dennison Fasson Roll North America and other firms that manufacture label materials.
2. Talk to the right people. "You don't call on the same people you'd call on for business forms," says Howie Bernstein, vice president of IntelliPrint Solutions Inc., a Camp Hill, Pa., distributorship founded in 2001. "You need to call on warehousing people, plant mangers and traffic people....You're not up in the office with payroll. You're down on the floor watching them make [products]. It's a more fascinating aspect of the business."
3. Provide good customer service. "The bottom line of selling labels is good old-fashioned customer service," Bilyeu says. "That's all we have anymore. You need to truly care about what's best for the customer. Even though you've been selling them a high-color label for the last 10 years, a 4 x 6-inch blank thermal transfer label may do a better job for them. You're not going to make as much, but if that's what's best for the customer, that's what you need to sell them."
4. Add value. "I tell customers, 'If you go out for five quotes on a label, you're going to find two higher than me and two lower than me.'" Cowles says. "The service and the ideas I can provide are what make the difference."
5. Team up with reliable manufacturers. "Here in Terre Haute [Ind.], we're surrounded by seven very good label manufacturers," Bilyeu says. "They partner with us, help us provide samples and solutions, and provide us with label knowledge that we can walk in the customer's door with. They help us become the label source for our customers."
