Labeling Innovations from Weber

What is thermal-transfer printing?

A thermal-transfer printer is a non-impact printer. With thermal-transfer printing, a thermal print head applies heat to a ribbon, which melts ink from the ribbon onto the label material to form the image. A typical thermal-transfer ribbon consists of three layers: the base material or ribbon backing, the hot melt ink, and the coating on the print side of the base material.

Thermal-transfer printers are everywhere – from desktop units & industrial tabletop units to  automated print and apply labeling systems. Since different ribbons are made of various ink formulations, a thermal-transfer heat setting can be adjusted on the printer for the given ribbon/label stock combination. Zebra printers require ribbons wound with the ink side out referred to as coated side out (CSO). Datamax printers require ribbons wound with the ink side in referred to as coated side in (CSI). Sato printers can use either configuration.

How do you decide which ribbon type will produce optimal results and is best suited for your application?   Label material and the application environment/requirements will play a major role in determining the proper ribbon. In thermal transfer printing, the printer, ribbon and substrate work together as a printing system.

Mission Impossible to Mission Accomplished!

We have all seen RFID labels and tags on products in stores. Usually they are on more expensive items that are small and are often targets of shoplifting. `

When you check out, the cashier rubs the RFID tag on a deactivation device that kills or zeroes the encoding. This allows the customer to walk out the door without alarms going off at the door.

How many times has a cashier missed a tag of yours and you set off the alarm on your way out of a store? Awkward to say the least!

But there are other ways that RFID labels are being used in manufacturing and distribution these days.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is an automatic identification method that stores and remotely retrieves data via an RFID inlay embedded in a label or tag. The components of an RFID label include:

• a  protective/printable face stock
• a layer of adhesive
• the RFID inlay
• another layer of adhesive
• a removable release liner

Here is an industrial application that came up recently. Weber had a customer that was having trouble with missing shipping containers and asked us to help with the project.

Texas-based Mission Foods, one of the world’s largest producers of corn flour & tortilla products, was losing thousands of returnable plastic trays annually. This resulted in millions of dollars lost in revenue each year.

You finally get that new label printer for your shipping department and you start reading the manual. You new printer is ideal for printing labels with bar codes and high-quality images. That's great. Hmmm... it prints in both thermal-transfer and direct thermal modes.

Digitally-printed labels save time & money on short label runs.

HP Indigo presses are used for printing labels, commercial literature, direct mail, photos, publications, flexible packaging, folding cartons and all kinds of specialty printing. The ability to print without films and plates enables digital production to create personalized short runs, changing text, images and jobs without having to stop the press. This print technology can produce products for a wide variety of applications with extreme precision and productivity. Weber Packaging Solutions has a couple of the HP Indigo label presses that have been consistently producing high-resolution labels for years.

In digital printing, an image is sent directly to the press using digital files such as PDFs and those from graphics software such as Illustrator and InDesign. These artwork files are created either by the customer, their agency, or an in-house Graphics Team like at Weber Packaging Solutions. 

This eliminates the need for a typical offset printing plate. The digital technology has a higher cost per page than the more traditional offset printing methods. However, digital pricing is counterbalanced by the cost-saving that occurs in avoiding all the technical steps and time needed to make film , printing plates, and press set-up time.  This print method allows for on-demand printing, short turn around times, and even  modifications on-the-fly of variable data on a label.

The Indigo technology is based on HP ElectroInk which uses small color particles suspended in imaging oil. The ink forms a very thin and smooth plastic layer on the media surface. The fact that these particles are so small ensures that the printed image does not mask the underlying surface roughness/gloss of the media, as can be possible with some toner-based processes, bringing Indigo printing closer in appearance to conventional offset lithography, whereby ink is actually absorbed into the paper.

Meet the Weber LA-6000 Variable-Height Labeling System

Everyone loves to shop online. Great deals. Usually free shipping. Sales tax - maybe. And the number of shoppers is growing at an ever-increasing rate.

But someone has to ship all those products. And if you are a company that sells a wide range of packages, you can run into a bottleneck when trying to apply shipping labels to cartons as they fly down the conveyor of your distribution center. You need label printer-applicators that ccan keep up with demand yet be flexible enough to handle variable-height labeling.

Answering the demand for newer, faster and more versatile labeling systems, Weber has created the LA-6000 Label Printer Applicator to meet the requirements of distribution centers to label variable-sized cartons at ever increasing line speeds with accurate shipping information. This reliable and cost-effective printer applicator uses the tamp-blow method to print and apply up to 40 labels per minute to products that vary in height up to 19.68” (500mm).

Why would I want to print my own color labels?

The world has changed quite a bit in the last few years. People demand more of their brands. They want small, customized products and they want them quickly. They want more variety which means more SKUs and more labels. Manufacturers have to be more flexible in their production and more cost-efficient.

One of the ways they can meet these requirements is by bringing their color label printing in-house. On-demand color label printers from manufacturers like Epson have built high-resolution color ink jet label printers that can help small to medium sized companies improve their labeling process.

So here are five top reasons why it would be smart to look into using a color ink jet label printer for your small run custom labeling instead of using preprinted custom labels.

1. Reduced Label Costs

Sometimes you only need a few hundred labels (or less) for a custom product or small product run. If you try to buy these from a label printer, you would probably have to buy their minimum (500-1000) amount at a premium price.

With an inexpensive on-demand color ink jet label printer like the Epson C3500, you can print as many or as few labels as you need. The labels look great and are available when you need them. The cost per label is a lot less than preprinted labels and the ROI on the printer happens after only a few product runs. This printer can print up to 4 inches per second so it is perfect for a company labeling a couple hundred products a day.

Consumables are readily available and the C3500 uses durable pigmented inks that are water resistant.

2. Fast Label Turnaround

It hurts when you have to shut down a production line because you run out of labels. There are times when you need labels, and you need them fast.

If you have  a high-speed color ink jet label printer like the Epson C7500, you can print high-resolution color labels at up to 11.7 inches per second. That's fast. And they look stunning.

Again you can print as many or few labels as you need. If you require a larger run of labels for a project, you can use the optional label rewinder (shown) and collect the printed labels for use on an automatic label applicator.

This printer is perfect for small bakeries, craft brewers or other companies that might need to change label content often. Just upload a new file and print more.

3. Last Minute Design Changes

One of your recipes for cupcakes just changed flavors on you at the last minute. If you are using preprinted labels, you have to toss all those obsolete labels in the trash.  Those labels cost a lot of money and now they are landfill. Ask anyone in the food industry and they will tell you this happens too often.

But by using a on-demand color ink jet printer, you can make changes to the label design file, save it as a pdf, and upload it to the printer. You are printing new labels in no time and production continues. No label waste.