Sourcing Suitable Media and Labelling Solutions

There are several factors to consider to ensure that the black bars on the labels are readable, durable and reliable and one important area to consider is the material or media for producing the barcode on. Initially, however, the purpose for which the barcode will be used and the variety of information to be displayed, other than the barcode, will need to be taken account of.

When producing products for use in retailing the barcode will often be included in the printing for the packaging as the information required on the barcode is constant for any given product and size. In other applications the information held in the barcode may vary for each item i.e. serial or batch numbers, quantity, weights, production and expiry dates. For such variable data the manufacturer or distributor will have to print individual labels and apply them to each product, package, box or pallet. This is clearly more expensive than printing multiple copies of the same label, but the additional information held in the barcode should quickly produce a return on investment. It may also be possible to pre-print some items on the label that never change, such as the return address or logo, and only print the actual barcode at the production line or warehouse. This helps cut costs, but more importantly, it also reduces the time it takes to print each label.

The label material may differ, other than simple adhesive paper, for different barcodes again because of the different applications for which they can be used. If the label will be subjected to extreme temperatures, for instance if the barcode will be put inside a kiln or freezer then both the label and the barcode will need to endure the process. Aside from the actual material that the barcode is printed onto, the glue on the back of the label is also an issue. The choice of glue will not only depend on the environment that the barcode will be used in but what it will be affixed to, for instance different glues are needed for sticking onto concrete, metal and cellophane. Aside from these basic factors, more specialised properties can be given to barcode labels for specific applications. These can range from ensuring that the label crumbles if someone tries to remove it to making the barcode impossible to remove, such as those used to trace laptop computers.

Specialists, such as ourselves, are able to offer practical assistance in sourcing a suitable and cost effective labelling solution.