The advantages of prefabricated bar code labels

In the United States, manufacturers with more than 25 employees have at least one label printer to generate shipping labels requested by customers. These standardized product labels and shipping labels facilitate the implementation of EDI between the parties to the transaction. Barcodes generated by on-site printing equipment can be used to track work in progress and control inventory. With the increase in the degree of automation, on-site laser printers. The use of thermal printers and dot matrix printers will be further expanded. However, the performance of printers in the field has many limitations. With the development of automation and information superhighway, barcode labels pre-made by experienced label suppliers are economical or even the only choice in many cases.

Seven examples illustrate the advantages of prefabricated bar code labels.

1. The size of a new generation of high-density circuit boards in printed circuit board manufacturers is very small, and the space for labelling is limited, requiring the size of barcode labels to be reduced to 2.5mm x 25mm. Field printing equipment cannot generate such labels to meet the requirements for print quality and size reduction. Prefabricated labels can meet these requirements.

2. The bar code labels used by public electric companies for fixed assets require at least 6 to 10 years of outdoor life. Plain paper labels have a limited life. Prefabricated bar code labels, such as prefabricated polyethylene labels coated with an acrylic film and aluminum labels made from photographic plates, passed accelerated weathering tests. Both types of prefabricated tags already have technical specifications that meet performance and life requirements.

3. A company at the electronic parts manufacturing plant chose the method of printing labels on site at the beginning. However, it was later found that there were many failures in the field equipment, the maintenance cost was high, and it was time-consuming. The replacement of personnel made the situation worse. Practice has proved that buying tags from qualified suppliers is much more cost-effective.

4. The bar code labels used by the space company in the company's large warehouse are very large: 216mm x 280mm. These labels are attached to the goods by pressure sensitive paper, and then manually sealed with polyethylene film on the surface. The cost of a label made with printed paper is 10 cents, and the cost of a prefabricated polyethylene label is $1. Therefore, the company decided to print its own label. But two months later there was a problem:
Due to the high humidity in the summer, moisture penetrates the artificially sealed polyethylene film onto the label surface, causing the paper label to wrinkle, delaminate, lose light-blocking properties, and no longer be recognizable. The labor and materials used to replace labels far exceed the cost of initial purchases of pre-fabricated label pairs.

5. The bar code label of the automobile parts manufacturer shall be attached to the curved surface, exposed to chemical smoke, and sometimes soaked in gasoline and engine oil. Tests have been conducted on a wide variety of labels and none of the labels printed in the field can withstand this test. A prefabricated tag passed the test, it has a special design, can be bonded on the surface and has chemical resistance.

6. Large retail stores As part of the grand warehouse automation program, bar code labels are printed on-site and attached to polypropylene containers. The bond between the label and the container is not good. In addition, the bar code image is not clear and cannot be read by a stationary scanner. Through consultation with a senior label printing expert, the bar code was adjusted so that it can meet the scanning system's requirements for distance and speed. The binder was also tested and the best combination was chosen. The label supplier's experience is valuable. It has accelerated the successful completion of the automation plan.

7. Disk drive manufacturer A new production line for small disk drives has problems with automatic identification. Only 5mmXl0mm is required to place 6-digit barcode labels. On-site printing equipment cannot print such small barcode labels. Direct lithography code is also not ideal. A very means to solve the problem. The label supplier and scanner manufacturer have teamed up to provide a new symbol and new decoding technology that enables ordinary scanners to read high-resolution 6-digit numbers in the 6mm range.

The above seven examples illustrate:

1, the bar code requirements may exceed the ability to print on-site.

2. The harsh external environment requires consideration of the durability of the label.

3, to consider the cost of on-site printing and equipment maintenance costs.

4, according to the worst case to test the bar code used.

Reprinted from: 21st Century Fine Chemicals Network