Can Labels Be The Solution for Walmart Cases?

Much has been made recently about Walmart's case labeling requirements and how it will effect their supply chain. Walmart is the dominant retailer with long supply chain roots throughout the world.

It takes extreme organizational skills to move massive amounts of products from manufacturer to the store shelves. Any weak link in that system can lead to confusion and financial losses. So when Walmart wants to upgrade the efficiency and accuracy of the shipping cases they receive at their stores, thousands of companies must take notice.

Apparently most companies use ink jet coding to print variable information on their cartons. Walmart requires Interleaved 2 of 5 GTIN14 bar codes on every case shipped to their vast array of distribution centers and stores. But when these boxes are stacked in the store stockrooms, it can be hard for employees to find what they need in a timely manner due to the current labeling.

Walmart is trying to solve this issue by requiring suppliers to have the GTIN14 bar code on all four sides of the carton so that, no matter how the boxes are stacked, a readable bar code is presented.

But here is where we start scratching our heads. According to what we have read from a few sources, including Pat Reynolds' Packaging World article, some of Walmart’s new rules are going to cause a few headaches with dry grocery and food item manufacturers (excluding fresh meat, fish, poultry, and produce).

Walmart’s New Requirements

As we mentioned, each master case must have a GTIN14 bar code on each of the four main sides of the carton and on the top.

• Each case must also include the brand name and sub-brand name, best with the brand logo. This information also needs to be on all four sides plus the top of the case. Visuals like logos help store employees recognize the brand and find what they need faster.

• Initial case quantity must be on all four sides of the carton along with a blank square where employees can update the quantity of the case with a marker as it is emptied.

• A vendor stock number must appear on at least one side.

• Walmart wants indication of the type of case printed on the top: Single Stock, Shelf Ready/PDQ or Case Cut Capable.

• There must be a statement of temperature requirements on the top for refrigerated or frozen products.

• And the case must have a Lot Number and Best-By Date on all fours sides for refrigerated products, and on at least one side for other products. Date format is to be MM/DD/YYYY.

• For shrink-wrapped trays, Walmart wants the GTIN14 printed on each of the four sides of the tray and will allow the rest of the required information to be printed on the tray or on a pressure-sensitive label that is applied to the film wrapping.

These new Walmart requirements will provide important information that should be readily available to store associates whose job it is to organize, inventory and restock their stores.

A Case for Case Labeling 

We all agree that Walmart needs this information on each case to maintain or improve their store efficiencies. But we are not sure that preprinting cartons will make sense in the long run. Isn’t that what companies used to do 20 years ago and we moved away from it?

Flexographic printing of required information on cartons and cases would increase costs for manufacturers. Instead of being able to use the same carton for a wide range of products and imprinting the variable information, a company would have to have a pre-printed carton for each product. 

Let’s say you are a manufacturer of flavored drinks.You would like to use one generic carton for everything and just imprint the variable info via ink jet or labels. If you have 5 different flavors, you would now need cases for each flavor. That’s five times the cost of using generic cartons, five times the warehouse space for the empty cartons, and, when you no longer produce one of the flavors, those obsolete cartons end up in a landfill. This seems inefficient, wasteful and not very environmentally sound.

We believe there are more options for efficient case labeling. Contrary to what Walmart believes, high-resolution ink jet coding can produce bar codes that are ANSI/GS1 compliant. When used correctly, they can produce legible bar codes, logos and other variable data that would meet the requirements of the new Walmart mandate.

Perhaps the reason Walmart wants to move away from high resolution ink jet coding is that many times production lines will not get the maintenance or oversight needed to keep these ink jet systems working in top form. Often the marking can be less than perfect if the manufacturer does not maintain their production line. But simple bar code scanners could reject non-compliant coding before it gets shipped, allowing only compliant labeling to be delivered to Walmart.

Using pressure-sensitive labels is an even more reliable way to ensure that the correct information is added to every case. Variable information can be printed onto a variety of label sizes and applied to each of the sides of a carton. All of the Walmart required data can be printed on either blank white or custom printed label media that contains a company’s logo and other non-variable information.

Label printer-applicators are available that can either apply labels to two adjacent sides or apply one long label that wraps around the corner of two adjacent sides. Two of these systems would be required per line, but the ROI on this investment vs. flexographically printing cartons would be fast. Changes to product descriptions and bar codes could be made quickly.

Walmart already has a mandate in place for frozen baked goods that requires the variable information be printed on a white corner-wrap label that is applied to two opposite corners of a carton. This allows the information to be seen on all four sides clearly with excellent bar code scannability.

Weber Packaging Solutions has two reliable, field-proven systems that can help you get you cases labeled on all four sides: The Model 5300 Twin-Tamp and the Model 5300 Corner-Wrap. Both of these systems could make it easy for a company to comply with 4-sided carton labeling requirements.

Walmart should allow for case labeling, a proven solution, to ease the burden and still solve the problem they’re encountering. If you would like to see examples of these systems in action, visit our 5300 Series Label Printer-Applicator pages. If you have questions about Walmart case labeling, talk to one of our labeling experts.

When you work on a new label project it's important to let your label printing vendor and designer know the environment the label will have to withstand. Will it need to perform well outdoors? Will the label be stored in a freezer or damp environment? This will help them determine the best material for your application. It's especially important if your label is regulated or if your label is part of the primary packaging. A label should look great for the entire life cycle of your product. 

Today we're going to talk about selecting the right labels for High Pressure Processing or HPP. 

What is High Pressure Processing?

HPP is a process of pasteurization typically used in the food, beverage and pet food markets to keep the food fresh longer. Because there is a breakdown in nutrients during heat pasteurization, it's believed that HPP maintains the integrity of the nutrients because there is no heat used in this process.

To illustrate this process, let's use our friends at  PureSpoon. PureSpoon creates organic pureed food that is sold at Whole Foods. On their label they say, "We use pressure instead of heat to pasteurize which doesn't destroy the flavor or nutrition naturally found in our nutrient-packed, steamed, organic ingredients." It's very important to this brand that they use HPP and have a quality label to help market their products.

Food and beverages that go through this process are packed and sealed before they go through the HPP system. This greatly reduces contamination. In the HPP system, the packaging and its contents are subjected to hydorstactic pressure up to 600 MPa / 87,000 pis. 

Because the food goes through this process when it's sealed, it's important to select a label material that can withstand this pressure and perform in a wet environment. This is even more important for primary package labels that need to act as branding material on the shelf. 

Correct barrier properties such as OTR, MVTR and UV of the package are critical. And the design of the package is also important to prevent damage and optimize throughput through the HPP process. Also, all HPP products are in the refrigerated world so the label must stick in a cold damp place.

The three key advantages that hold true for all HPP-treated products are: food safety to inactivate pathogens such as listeria, E. coli, and salmonella; added shelf life to increase distribution possibilities and decreases costs; and the ability to introduce new products, for example, clean-label foods.

What is the ideal label material for HPP?

Weber has a large catalog of vinyl/film label materials that will hold up during this process. We also recommend a laminate to ensure that your beautiful label design stays completely intact through this process and during the entire life of the product. 

These materials can be printed on one of our HP Indigo digital label presses with minimums as low as 1,000 and our high volume Mark Andy flexo presses for when you need 100,000+ labels. 

If this is a process your products go through now, or will in the future, request high pressure processing labels for testing.

For years craft brewers chose glass bottles to package their beer. The glass container was seen as the only viable option for small operations. Brewers were able to buy glass bottles in bulk and then label them on-site with minimal investment in packaging equipment. For many consumers, they believed the quality of the beer would be better if the beverage was stored in glass. There was also the belief that canned beer would leave a metallic taste from the aluminum.

But a lot has changed in packaging technology.

In the last few years, the aluminum industry has found ways to make the cans more light-weight and they're squashing the flavor myth. Additionally, cans are recycled more and, because of their opaque material, they preserve the flavor longer than glass. Due to its recylability and preservation, some consumers are reaching for cans more than bottles these days. But the one drawback that still makes it difficult for craft brewers to switch to cans is the high minimums of pre-printed cans and the cost of canning machinery.

A solution to this can vs. bottle debate is to use blank cans with pressure-sensitive labels. Brewers can buy the blank cans in bulk without storing thousands of pre-printed cans may become obsolete. To manage your inventory, you can order custom labels based on the quantity you want to apply without holding onto extra materials. If you're still growing, you might not have the storage space to store all those preprinted cans.

Some breweries are moving to shrink sleeve label material for their cans. This is a great solution but you'll still need to have the volume that allows for the investment of the application equipment. It's not something that can be applied by hand.

If you're just starting out, or want to label both cans and bottles, pressure-sensitive labels will keep your look  consistent and keep the packaging cost down. The same equipment used to label your 12oz or 22oz beer bottles will also work for your cans. Plus, if you decide to want to offer crowlers at your taproom, you can apply the pressure-sensitive labels straight to the can without large labeling equipment.

A market we're seeing growth in is the smoke-less e-cigarette and vapors industry. Tobacco users have been looking for alternatives to traditional cigarettes that offer a similar experience and the nicotine they crave. These products are also used as replacements for other nicotine-delivery products like gum and patches that help users quit smoking cigarettes. 

Smoke-less e-cigarettes products go by lots of names: vaping, vapor, e-juice, e-cigarette liquid and vape juice. You will find a wide variety of labels on the various sizes of vapor juice bottles. And, as with any other industry or product, the labels usually supply more information than just the product name.

What You Should Include On Your Vape Labels

For this products, manufacturers apply the labels to small bottles not much bigger than an eye dropper container. The label itself tends to be around 3" wide and 1.5" tall, depending on the size of the bottle. 

Unlike cigarettes and alcohol, the packaging is not FDA regulated because the technology is new. As research of this product grows, we expect to see new requirements for labeling. Keep in mind that you cannot sell this product to minors so avoid branding that appeals to children. Other things to include on vapor juice labels are warnings, relevant storage information and content information. 

Currently the FDA is reviewing the comments made by vapor manufacturers on their 2014 regulation proposal.

To be ahead of the game, consider including these elements on your e-juice labels:

• Ingredients and product content list
• Name and location of the manufacturer
• Nicotine content information
• Quantity information (5mL, 10mL, ect.)
• Nicotine warnings

After you add these elements to your label you should still have space for a branding.  Learn more about the FDA proposal at regulations.gov.

Print Techniques for Vapor Labels

There are several ways you can print labels but there are two main printing methods that stand out for e-juice labeling. Take a look.

Epson C3500 Inkjet Label Printer

If you are looking for low volume printing and want to print the labels yourself, the Epson C3500 inkjet printer is a great option. It's affordable and will produce beautiful color labels for your bottles. It can print the most popular vape label size, 3" x 1.5", and can print only as many labels as you need.

Unlike many other ink jet printer options, the Epson C3500 uses pigmented inks which means more print durability for your labels. The inks won't run when subjected to water and most solvents (you would have to test your product on the label to be sure). Keep your product looking great during the life-span of the bottle. Learn more about the Epson C3500 on Go-Label.com.  

Custom Printed Labels

Having a printing company produce your labels will allow you to focus on managing other areas of your production and business. It also opens you up to a variety of design options that you cannot create on a stand-alone ink jet printer like laminates, varnishes and foils. As this market becomes more popular, the packaging design will become even more important for a brand. Like we've seen with other emerging markets, if you sell your product at a premium price, the label lets the consumer know it's worth the price. 

We see this category experiencing fast growth like craft beer. Vapor labels will also need to use their pressure-sensitive labels to grab the attention of consumers, identify their brand easily, and convey the message of that brand while competing in an ever-growing market of start ups.

If you have questions about the two printing options or need some samples labels, contact one of our label experts to walk you through the vape labeling process.  

By now you've probably started transitioning your old HazCom labels to a GHS form label. With the June 1, 2015 deadline here, we're looking at some of the challenges chemical manufacturers have faced. If you're encountering any of the issues below, you're probably not GHS compliant. 

When we need information about a product we want to purchase, most of us instinctively reach for Google and do a quick search on our computer, or more often, our smart phone or tablet. Google serves up more results than any other search engine and companies need to be found in searches to be successful.

Recently Google put a lot of websites in a bit of a panic when they announced that they were changing their search algorithms, that mathematical formula they use to decide which sites are more relevant to your search and are then served up in your results. Google uses these to decide whether your company shows up on page 1 or page 100.

The new algorithms measure a web site's mobile responsiveness or how it is viewed on a mobile device.  If it meets the new guidelines, it will be ranked higher and be found sooner. If not, you probably move down.  Basically, if your site didn't adjust for mobile it could be harder for customers to find your business online.

The trend towards mobile browsing and shopping has been on the rise for years now and recently has reached a point where you can't ignore it. Today more people use search engines on their mobile devies than they do on PCs. We wanted to share this information with you because a lot of our label customers are small businesses with eCommerce websites and it's something we're experiencing first hand. 

Almost exactly five years ago we started our eCommerce site, Go-Label.com, to sell our stock blank labels, printers and other labeling accessories. This gave our customers a way to order labels right when they needed them, and with a credit card which sped up the transaction. At the time Weber was just excited to give people the option to purchase labels online, but now we're finding more and more of our visitors are using mobile devices to browse the Go-Label site. People are making better use of their time by doing their product research while on public transportation or getting quick answers while in a meeting by jumping online.

And now we're responding to the way they want to shop and the way they now browse by launching a more responsive, mobile-friendly Go-Label.com. 

Be sure to take a look at our newly redesigned site! It changes it's design depending on the device or type of computer you are using.

And to celebrate our fifth birthday and the launch of this new site, we're have a special offer. Use the code newsite10 to get 10% off your next labeling supplies order. Go-Label has great products, it's easy to use, and it has the best prices for hundreds of items. Use the promo code to buy labels, printers or accessories now through May 31st 2015.