Nuts & Bolts

If it weren’t for labels, you couldn’t tell a jar of mild salsa from a blow-your-head off-hot variety until it was too late. And, if there was no hang tag to alert a maintenance worker that a malfunctioning valve is on lock out, there could be serious consequences. From eye-catching prime labels to super-durable industrial applications, labels and tags readily adapt to evolving technology and emerging applications, and will remain viable, profitable products well into the future.

Some of the most successful label and tag suppliers are those with unique manufacturing capabilities resulting in innovative, value-added products that set them apart from the competition. Deanna Day, senior product manager of the custom resale group that includes Discount Labels, New Albany, Ind., and Lancer Label and DealerLabel, both located in Omaha, Neb., agreed this is advantageous. “A perfect example is our 11-color flexo press. With 11 print stations, we can print a combination of process color, UV varnish, up to two cold foils in one pass and embossing with a minimum of 500 pieces,” she said. “We also offer digitally produced labels, consecutive numbering and variable data. Customer feedback encouraged us to further expand our inline digital capabilities during 2007. This has allowed us to enhance our consecutive numbering and variable data offerings tremendously.”

Day reported the companies produce a wide variety of security labels, as well as destructible products, and said the scratch-off and scratch-and-sniff style labels are generating a great deal of interest. “We have offered these products for several years, and scratch-off has been very popular as a clear label that is flooded with the scratch-off material, and then machine applied to a separate print piece,” she added. “Our durable product line continues to show rapid growth, as well as process color, cold foil and embossing. In contrast, one-color work has been compromised by end-users who can produce these products on their desktop printers.”