Labeling Innovations from Weber

When you sell a product that is a unique shape, there are many packaging challenges. One such company is Swanson Tool, a Chicagoland-based manufacturer of measuring tools, and the inventor of Speed Squares®. Ironically, framing squares are in the shape of a triangle.  

Swanson was approached by one of their customers about a new packaging configuration for two of their largest framing square sizes.  Typically, the labeling for these items include a large glossy tagstock material that is stapled or glued together, sometimes with an instructional “blue book” contained within.  Because of the odd shape, this is all prepared by hand. 

The new packaging would require more products per case, but the existing labeling solution adds a lot of bulk.  They needed to streamline their labeling, and noticed that some of their competition uses pressure sensitive labels. 

That’s when Swanson decided to call on Weber Packaging.  In their search, they also noted they could use Weber to capitalize on this opportunity to streamline the labeling process as well. 

The primary requirement for this label was that it needed to be removable without leaving any residue behind on the high-quality CNC-machined aluminum framing squares that would frustrate the end user. After all, the preferred location of this new label was directly on top of etched distance and angle markings, essential for the use of the product. 

A label isn’t just a label. It is your brand!

A label is, in fact, the most visible and constant impression your customers have of your products and your company.  The label serves as the primary communicator of your brand's story. You see labels on every consumer product and package. Labels attract attention.  Labels identify products.  And there are labels that inform and, yes, even sell products. 

Shelf impact is an important aspect of selling your products in stores. Labels play a big role for consumers unfamiliar with the product increasing their reliance on attractive packaging to make a purchasing decision. Consumers today have become a highly visual audience. Customers often end up judging a product by its label. They can be swayed to purchase a new product or switch from a brand they know well due to an impeccable label design.  The competition to get your brand noticed is fierce.

First appearances and immediate attraction really do matter. On the shelf, your packaging should not only reflect high quality label printing, but must speak directly to your customer. As appealing as the actual product may be, it will not sell itself unless it comes in an eye-catching packaging design that attracts potential buyers. Whether you own a brick and mortar location or a web-based business, what all products need most is shelf appeal.

Packaging can mean the difference between the success of a product or its failure. Great designs, colors, and quality labels all affect the success of your product’s shelf appeal. Products with shelf appeal use color and design to catch the consumer's attention and outshine the competition.

When done correctly, shelf appeal alone can encourage a consumer to place a product in their shopping cart. Research shows purchase decisions are made at the point of sale. If your product is new or isn’t very well-known, shelf appeal can greatly help to grow your brand and increase sales.

The real power is a premium label. What makes a brand stand out and why do we choose one product or brand over another? In more instances than we realize, it is the label or a unique-shaped container that is enhanced by the label. From upscale personal care products or craft spirits for example, it is a fact that brands create a “wow” factor through creative packaging.

How will you use your label design to make your brand stand apart?

• Are you looking to have a clean, sleek label or a bold design?
• Are you trying to reflect a refined style or attitude?
• Do you want a style that looks handcrafted?

All of these things can be achieved with the right label design. If you are planning to sell your product at a premium price, make sure it looks worth that premium price.  One of the first things people notice about packaging after the name is its coloring. The choice of color you put on your packaging will largely determine the audience it will attract. Color impact, which can grab consumer attention, creates category consistency and improves brand recognition.

Product names should be descriptive and memorable while appealing to the specific target demographic audience.  The label must be compelling to grab the attention of the consumer. A package must appeal to emotion through relatable and personal labeling. Packaging choices influence your consumer’s impression of the quality of the product which correlates to sales.

Making your labels provide a more tactile experience can set your product apart. For example, a karess soft touch overlaminate appeals to a higher- end market. Customers who touch products believe the products are worth more. Color and texture are key ingredients for successful labels and packaging.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has been around for many years.  It first caught on in retail and logistics as a natural fit.  Items with RFID labels, also referred to as Smart Labels or Intelligent Labels, can be tracked and identified efficiently through every stage of the supply chain, from purchasing to shipping to delivery.

Why is RFID a good solution for medical devices?

Consider the FDA requirements that mandate unique device identification (UDI) for medical devices. With a UDI system already in place, barcodes can become smart codes by having RFID sensors embedded in the barcode labels. RFID sensors can be engineered to withstand the high temperatures of sterilization, and by using thermal data logging technologies, hospitals can track assets through use, sterilization, and reuse.

Comprising of a small chip, which is capable of carrying up to 2000 bytes and an antenna, the RFID devices do a job similar to that of a bar code or a magnetic strip on the back of a credit card or ATM card – provide a unique identifier for an object. Like a bar code or magnetic strip, an RFID device must also be scanned to gather the identifying information. 

Today, pharmaceutical companies are also recognizing the benefits of RFID labels, and for very good reasons. In pharma, RFID labels help to manage inventory, increase operational efficiencies, remain in compliance with governmental regulation, and ensure the wellbeing of patients and consumers. RFID labels also enable itemizing and sorting of stock to ensure quality and prevent waste.  

RFID within the healthcare segment helps make medicine and assets smarter by providing improved visibility of inventory and assets. It's true that lost or stolen materials cost the healthcare industry millions every year. With RFID labels, you can see medicines and devices travel through the supply chain as intended, providing an accurate chain of custody.  Improved visibility reduces the risk of counterfeit drugs entering legitimate distribution channels and unintended product diversion. Accurate, timely and complete data helps avoid product expiration and stock outages and effective recall management. 

Nothing is more important than patient safety, but counterfeit drugs are real and one of the largest fraudulent markets in the world. Radio-frequency identification can help provide a quick way to retrieve information, track pharmaceuticals or items in the supply chain, and help avoid the costs associated with counterfeit or adulterated medications. The tag is placed on an individual object, which allows for unique identification.

Efforts of the FDA, in collaboration with pharmaceutical suppliers, to maintain a secure drug supply in the wake of rising counterfeit drugs prevalence, has encouraged the pharmaceutical industry to use RFID in combination with the electronic product code (EPC) for real-time tracking, tracing, and authentication of drugs.

It is critical to provide the right drug and of course, one that's free of tampering.  RFID not only ensures integrity, it delivers strong counterfeiting deterrence as the label itself could be used to authenticate the pharmaceutical product and tamper evidence. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has played a vital role in escalating the widespread adoption of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in the pharmaceutical sector to strengthen anti-counterfeiting and track-and-trace efforts. Besides these benefits, RFID technology is acknowledged for its ability to increase supply chain efficiency, reduce errors by proper storage of information, boost patient safety and monitoring, enhance staff, patient, and asset workflow, easy adoption and flexible usage, and cut down labor requirements. 

In North America, 250 million blood bag labels are used on average every year, and demand is expected to continue to grow significantly.  Giving blood is a simple, straightforward process and donating a pint of blood typically takes less than 12 minutes. 

Now transporting blood and components to the end user is a much more complex process.  Blood processing and transportation require the use of specialized labels that can withstand both the rigorous lifecycle of a blood bag and communicate critical information about its origin and contents. 

Robust product performance and extensive adhesive safety testing are key for specialty healthcare applications like blood bag and IV-bag labeling. Primary and secondary labels must withstand extreme temperatures common to blood processing protocols.  Labels must be reliable to meet the stringent tracking and identification requirements for each bag stored in blood banks, healthcare facilities, hospitals and laboratories. Blood banks and collection centers require robust labels to reliably track blood from the donor to the final recipient; these labels need to survive multiple processing, testing, and storage steps through challenging environmental conditions.

The majority of blood bags contain one to two labels, and some may have three and four labels. These labels ensure that these blood products are correctly identified and reach their destination safely and securely. There are two types of labels that must be applied to the blood bag at different stages of the supply chain.  

These labels are: 

1. Primary Labels: The primary label, or also referred to as the base label, is applied to the blood bag by the manufacturer during production. Primary labels provide identifying information such as the manufacturer’s name and address, reference and batch numbers, and codes for traceability. After label application, the bags are filled with anticoagulant and sterilized with steam heat at high temperatures before they are shipped to hospitals and blood centers.

One of the biggest challenges for cold temperature labeling and packaging is ensuring a product’s label will withstand the extreme cold, wet, freezing or changing application conditions of the cold chain.  We can help with our Arctic products!

Common Problems

In frozen food labeling, labels can become stiff and fall off in the
freezer.

In refrigerated labeling, if outdoor temperatures are hot and humid, labels may flag or fall off when transported from store to home.

In beverage labeling, bottles often move from place to place, like a
cold refrigerator to a warm car, creating condensation and affecting label performance.

The Solution

To help with all these issues, Weber has expanded their Arctic 300 portfolio to include NEW direct and thermal transfer labels. These labels feature a unique hot melt adhesive with excellent tack and ultimate adhesion to a variety of surfaces.

The labels with this versatile adhesive can be applied at temperatures as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit and has a service range of -65 to +150 degrees Fahrenheit.  It can also be counted on to work great at room temperature creating a true all temperature economic identification solution for any food or packaging labels.

We have two exciting label materials called Transthin 375 and Transthin 400 for making your thermal transfer labels more efficient and economical.

Our Transthin materials are blank thermal-transfer label components that features both a thinner facesheet and a thinner release liner so there are more labels per same diameter roll.

Given the popularity of our high-yield thermal label material offering we are adding a new, and very competitively priced, Transthin 375 product to our portfolio to enhance our existing Transthin 400 material product line.

The Transthin 375 offers optimized economics through the development of a densified facestock, but with a versatile all-purpose rubber-based adhesive, and a highly densified glassine liner for improved web strength and stability.

The facesheet is just 2.5 mils thick but still retains the excellent dispensing characteristics required for successful print-apply applications. The release liner is just 1.7 mils thick but also retains the strength needed for the tension of the rewind reel on a typical label printer applicator.

We offer stock labels for 8” OD rolls for printers and 12” OD rolls for printer-applicators on our Go-Label.com site. Check out the details and prices:

• Product Code L-6541 for 8” OD Rolls

 http://www.go-label.com/4_x_6_Transthin_375_Labels_8_inch_roll_p/l-6541.htm

• Product Code L-6540 for 12” OD Rolls

 http://www.go-label.com/4_x_6_Transthin_375_Labels_p/l-6540.htm

Our complimentary product called Transthin 400 uses a versatile all-temperature adhesive developed to provide good room temperature performance and excellent cold temperature performance.  Because of its cold-temperature properties and good adhesion to corrugated cardboard and plastic packaging, the adhesive is an ideal adhesive for warehouse applications.

The facesheet is just 2.1 mils thick but still retains the excellent dispensing characteristics required for successful print-apply application. The release liner is just 1.5 mils thick but also retains the strength needed for the tension of the rewind reel on a typical label printer applicator.

We offer stock labels for 8” OD rolls for printers and 12” OD rolls for printer-applicators on our Go-Label.com site. Check out the details and prices:

• Product Code L-6528 for 8” OD Rolls

http://www.go-label.com/4_x_2_Transthin_400_Labels_p/l-6528.htm

• Product Code L-6529 for 8” OD Rolls

http://www.go-label.com/4_x_6_Transthin_400_Labels_8_Roll_p/l-6529.htm

• Product Code for 12” OD Rolls

http://www.go-label.com/4_x_6_Transthin_400_Labels_p/l-6527.htm

Compare an 8” OD roll for standard thermal transfer labels versus an 8" roll of Transthin:

• Standard 8” OD 4 x 6: 1,000 labels per roll with 4,000 labels per case.
• Transthin 8” OD 4 x 6: 1,500 labels per roll with 6,000 labels per case.

50% MORE:  500 labels per roll w/ 2,000 labels per case.

• 50% MORE Labels Per Roll
• 50% MORE Labels Per Box
• Lower Freight Costs
• Reduced Inventory Space
• Yield improvement applicable to most environmental scorecards.
• Available in 12” OD for automated applicators.

Transthin materials are designed to work with both stand-alone printers and printer-applicators.  
Zebra, Sato and Datamax desktop printers handle the 8” OD finished rolls whereas our print-apply applicators handle the 12” OD finished rolls.