Matching labels and other media to the demands of industry applications is something Neil Baker has been doing for over 20 years.
Printing & Labelling, Thermal Printing, Barcode Printing, Mobile Printing
A label printer is a computer printer that prints on self-adhesive label material and/or card-stock (tags). A label printer with built-in keyboard and display for stand-alone use (not connected to a separate computer) is often called a label maker. Label printers are different from ordinary printers because they need to have special feed mechanisms to handle rolled stock, or tear sheet (fanfold) stock. Label printers have a wide variety of applications, including supply chain management, retail price marking, packaging labels, blood and laboratory specimen marking, and fixed assets management. Label printers use a wide range of label materials, including paper and synthetic polymer ("plastic") materials. Several types of print mechanisms are also used, including laser and impact, but thermal printer mechanisms are probably the most common.
TSC Printronix Auto ID promotes media specialist to EMEA to boost awareness of its consumables capabilities
Mar 23, 2022
Xaar highlights ‘the inkjet opportunity’ at InPrint
Mar 02, 2022
At this year’s InPrint exhibition in Munich, Xaar will highlight the growing importance of inkjet in today’s manufacturing processes, either replacing traditional production methods or in delivering new applications.
Domino Printing Sciences supports manufacturers in the move towards 2D codes
Feb 23, 2022
Increasing demand for product data is driving the need for 2D codes, which are expected to join linear barcodes at the point of sale within the next five years. The growth in 2D codes can present huge opportunities for brands, who must now ensure that their coding and marking capabilities are designed to work in this data-rich world.
Konica Minolta announces exclusive new inline product with Plockmatic
Feb 21, 2022
Konica Minolta and the Plockmatic Group have extended their partnership to launch the powerful and versatile SD-435/450 booklet makers. This brings a cost-efficient solution for heavy production finishing to low and mid-sized Centralised Reprographic Departments (CRD) and commercial print environments.
Daemon 3D supply Rollem with MakerBot 3D Printers with a 96% yield rate in print tolerance
Feb 01, 2022
Rollem uses both METHOD and METHOD X to successfully create fully custom, one-off parts for the printing of playing, trading and gaming cards for the likes of Monopoly, Cluedo & Pokemon.
TSC Printronix Auto ID now offering On-Site servicing across all its industrial printers
Jan 19, 2022
TSC Auto ID Technology EMEA GmbH’s comprehensive On-Site Service Program, previously only available across Europe on its Printronix Auto ID industrial enterprise devices, is now available across its entire range of industrial and industrial enterprise printers, TSC and Printronix Auto ID.
Brother UK bolsters labelling range with Europe-wide Teklynx partnership
Jan 18, 2022
Business technology solutions provider Brother UK has strengthened its labelling range by striking a new partnership with leading barcode software vendor TEKLYNX to help resellers serve growing demand in the category.
Realising the potential of printed piezoelectric sensors
Jan 12, 2022
Printed pressure sensors are a well-established technology, having been used for applications such as car occupancy sensors, electric pianos, and some medical devices.
3 Ways to Simplify Your Product Packaging Process
Jan 11, 2022
By John Moran, freelance writer.
The product packaging process can be time-consuming and labour-intensive. When it comes to logistics, using all available venues to save time is essential for improving performance. However, you cannot skip steps because this can have harmful effects. A poorly sealed product is at risk of damage. A wrong label can cause the loss of an expensive product.
3D printing re-imagined: Lightweight structures iteratively created and optimised
Jan 04, 2022
In the latest version of CoreTechnologie's 4D_Additive software, the additive manufacturing tool now supports a new approach for the creation, optimisation and validation of lattice structures. With the advanced lattice module lightweight structures can be created quickly and easily and then transferred directly to the calculation software for validation the new Nastran interface.
Printing & Labelling
Global enterprises are looking for ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency and accuracy in their supply chains. To remain competitive, distribution centres, manufacturers, and logistics providers must change the way they label and track goods. Success depends on maximizing efficiency throughout all supply chain operations—front to back. Exploiting mobile labelling technology is fundamental to achieving optimal efficiency.
Wireless bar code and radio frequency identification (RFID) label printing is widely recognised by major retailers globally as an essential technology for enhancing store operations. The ability to print real-time information in the aisle, on demand, saves time, effort, and money—creating competitive advantages.
Mobile printing gives users the flexibility to print materials on demand wherever they may be. Seamless mobility can drive new business processes that improve worker productivity, labelling accuracy, and responsiveness to customer needs.
RFID smart label
RFID Smart label printer/encoders use media that has an RFID inlay (chip and antenna combination) embedded within the label material. An RFID encoder inside the printer writes data to the tag by radio frequency transmission. The transmission is focused for the specific location of the tag within the label. Bar codes, text, and graphics are printed as usual. Printable RFID tags contain a low-power integrated circuit (IC) attached to an antenna and are enclosed with protective material (label media) as determined by the application. On-board memory within the IC stores data. The IC then transmits/receives information through the antenna to an external reader, called an interrogator. High frequency (HF) tags use antennas made of a small coil of wires, while ultrahigh frequency (UHF) tags contain dipole antennas with a matching wire loop.
Bar code symbols may be produced in a variety of ways: by direct marking, as with laser etching or with ink jet printing; or, more commonly by imaging or printing the bar code symbol onto a separate label. Precision of bar code printing is critical to the overall success of a bar-coding solution.
On-site Printing
On-site printing generally takes place at or near the point of use. The data encoded is usually variable, entered by an operator through a keyboard or downloaded from the host computer. On-site printing most often involves purchasing label-design software as well as printer hardware. Bar code printers come with their own proprietary programming languages that support all the standard symbologies, and they are capable of printing simple data-static or serialized bar code labels on their own.
However, labels that require additional formatted text, graphics, or multiple fields will require a separate label-design software package. Currently, more than 100 packages exist that are designed for a wide range of platforms and have a wider range of features. Once the purview of programmers, label design can now be accomplished by non-programmers via easy-to-use WYSIWYG graphical interfaces.
The most common bar code print technologies for on-site use are:
Direct Thermal — Heating elements in the printhead are selectively heated to form an image made from overlapping dots on a heat-sensitive substrate.
Thermal Transfer — Thermal transfer printing is a digital printing process in which material is applied to paper (or some other material) by melting a coating of ribbon so that it stays glued to the material on which the print is applied. Thermal transfer technology uses much the same type of printhead as direct thermal, except that an intervening ribbon with resin-based or wax-based ink is heated and transfers the image from the ribbon to the substrate. It contrasts with direct thermal printing where no ribbon is present in the process.
Barcode printers with thermal-transfer and direct thermal technology produce accurate, high-quality images with excellent edge definition.
Dot Matrix Impact — A moving printhead, with one or more vertical rows of hammers, produces images by multiple passes over a ribbon. These passes create rows of overlapping dots on the substrate to form an image. Serial dot matrix printers produce images character by character; high-volume dot matrix line printers print an entire line in one pass.
Ink Jet — This technology uses a fixed printhead with a number of tiny orifices that project tiny droplets of ink onto a substrate to form an image made up of overlapping dots. Ink jet printers are used for in-line direct marking on products or containers.
Laser (Xerographic) — The image is formed on an electrostatically charged, photo-conductive drum using a controlled laser beam. The charged areas attract toner particles that are transferred and fused onto the substrate.
Off-site Printing
Generally speaking, commercial label printers may use flexographic, letterpress, offset lithographic, rotogravure, photocomposition, hot stamping, laser etching, or digital processes to produce a consistently higher-grade label than those labels produced by on-site printers.
If the content of the bar code symbol is known ahead of use, a commercial label supplier is generally the best choice. However, there are tradeoffs. Commercially supplied labels have to be ordered, stocked, and placed in inventory. A business with frequent product line changes and/or label changes will have to weigh its options carefully.