Wider range of products, more customizable options, faster delivery times: With the consistent advancement of industrial automation, customer expectations are also growing. No matter if you are a small business or a big corporation in the manufacturing industry: In order to stay competitive in global markets, your production needs to be as lean as possible.
When you are looking for ways to improve, don’t forget to pay closer attention to your product labels. They are not only indispensable for marketing and traceability, but also have a great impact on your cost-efficiency. If you are wondering if it’s better to print on-demand labels in-house, this article is for you. Here are five good reasons why investing in a professional label printer or a print-and-apply system can pay off for you!
1. Reduced cost per label
In many industries, the manufacturing trend is towards smaller batches, especially when products can be personalized, change seasonally or are limited. However, ordering a few hundred labels is usually disproportionately more expensive than ordering larger quantities. Furthermore, most label manufacturers have a minimum purchase quantity. In the end, you either pay more for less, have additional storage costs or produce more than you need. None of that is very efficient, let alone sustainable.
With your own label printer, you can produce as many or as few labels as you need. Even with a single printer, hundreds of high-quality color labels per day can be easily printed. The return on investment is quickly reached after a few batches.
2. Better availability of labels
Imagine being mid-production and running out of labels. It happens more often than you think, especially to startups and small companies. A production shutdown can really hurt your business. No labels, no selling! It can take several days for printing shops to deliver more supplies. There are additional fees for express deliveries. Not to mention the additional work and expense for customer relationship management…
This is where a label printer scores again: Print as many labels as you need and whenever you need them. With an optional label rewinder you can even collect your printed labels on a roll for later use on an automatic label dispenser.
3. You stay flexible for changes
You were just delivered thousands of pre-printed labels and then it happens: A last-minute recipe change? A suddenly necessary rebranding? A typing error noticed too late? You wouldn’t believe how many unused labels end up in the trash. As if that wasn’t frustrating enough, you are then faced with even more time pressure and additional costs for new labels.
With a color label printer such as the Epson C7500, you can react immediately to changing requirements. Just adapt the label design file, save as PDF and upload it to the printer. New labels will be printed in no time. Your production can continue!
4. You can test your label designs
Finding the perfect label design involves a lot of testing and redesigning. Unfortunately, it can get quite expensive and time-consuming to keep requesting and discarding proofs of new labels from the printing supplier.
With your own labeling systems, you are free to print out and test as many designs, layouts and sizes of labels as you want. Why not do an A/B-test on the market to find out which design works best?
5. Meet new labeling requirements
There are always new requirements for the labeling of products in the EU. For example, labels on chemicals will soon have to include a unique formular identifier. In addition, labels for particular applications or products must meet certain standards, as is the case with GHS labeling or plant labeling.
With an in-house label printer, you can usually react more flexibly and cost-effectively to new requirements. There are many printing solutions available that are tailored to specific industry requirements and software interfaces. This way you can be sure to label in compliance with specific regulations while having all the benefits from on-demand printing.
Want more information? Contact us!
The labeling experts at Weber Marking Systems understand that every business has unique requirements for labels. As an official trade and service partner for renowned manufacturers of label printers such as Zebra, Sato, Epson and Datamax, we will be happy to consult with you personally at no cost!
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