With multiple applications in numerous industries, laser labels add profits and versatility to distributors' portfolios.
Laser labels are everywhere. In fact, right now most people are probably surrounded by them. Whether working in an office, a retail store or a manufacturing plant, laser labels are used, and often in multiple applications. But for distributors who have overlooked adding these potentially high-profit items to their product mix, it is not too late.
Opportunities for laser labels can be broken down into two distinct areas: mailing and office-use labels and bar-coded labels. However, for distributors trying to determine which area to break into first, Steve Brocker, national sales manager, Western States Envelope, Butler, Wis., suggested targeting existing customers.
"If I was trying to find applications for laser labels, I would ask my current customers how they are printing their labels and then look for a way to process them more efficiently," said Brocker. "To win sales, distributors need to help customers take advantage of their printing capabilities and add value to their labels."
Sean O'Brien, national sales manager, Avery Dennison, Buffalo, N.Y., agreed. He said that "it is very hard to go into a business that is not using laser labels and win them over by waving a couple of laser sheets around."
The solution to this problem, he said, is to offer clients an improvement over their current printing system. First, O'Brien recommended that distributors find out what clients' printing requirements are, where they see their businesses heading and if there are any problems they would like to see eliminated. Next, he suggested targeting clients who manufacture and ship large quantities of products requiring bar coding. By replacing vast amounts of information normally processed by hand, bar codes can save clients time and money.
A good way to determine whether customers can benefit from bar coding, O'Brien said, is to simply ask how many product units they are shipping. If they are not shipping a significant amount, chances are they have already thought about using bar codes and decided against them.
However, if clients are already using bar codes, a few of the questions distributors can ask to help determine their needs are: Do you print bar codes on-demand or in batches? Do you have one warehouse or many where products will be labeled? How many labels are you printing every year, and do you expect an increase in volume any time soon?
Addressing the first question, if clients are printing laser labels on-demand, then thermal transfer printing is the most appropriate choice. If they are printing in batches, then laser labels are optimal.
For clients printing less than one million labels per year out of one location or printing more than one million from multiple locations, cut-sheet laser labels are the best solution. Clients printing more than one million labels per year from one location, or those who believe they will be printing more than one million labels each year soon, should be advised to consider using continuous, pin-fed laser labels or sheeted laser labels.
However, bar codes are not the only way to break into laser label sales. The mailing and office-use arenas can also be profitable. Brocker said printing laser labels with two- and four-color logos is a good way to add value to clients' products, and can often be a solution in itself. For instance, Brocker recalled a case in which a distributor's client wanted to print the company's logo on its envelopes in color. Rather than wasting money printing color logos directly on the envelope, the distributor suggested printing the logos on laser labels and then affixing them by hand, thus saving the customer money.
"In order to be successful, distributors are going to have to design labels that meet all of the end-users' needs efficiently," said O'Brien. "Whether clients are using bar codes or not, the first step is to understand all of their requirements."
Another product within the office-use laser label arena are CD-Rs and CD-RWs. Used to copy and transfer information, CD-Rs and CD-RWs are often used in place of floppy disks. They are also frequently used as multi-media advertising displays. In order to cash in on this market, distributors should look for clients utilizing these kinds of products and offer them two- and four-color laser-printed labels to use for filing and presentation.
Clients using dot-matrix printers, especially those printing bar codes, present yet another laser label sales opportunity, noted Dale Jacoby, sales and marketing associate, Badger Tag and Label, Random Lake, Wis.
Though dot-matrix printers were once the cutting edge of technology, today they are nearly obsolete. Laser printers, on the other hand, offer a much sharper image and, therefore, a more scannable image, which results in fewer bar-code scanning errors and more professional-looking labels. Laser labels can also be customized in a variety of die-cut shapes, which adds to their mark-up as well as end-users' flexibility.
Another subset within the dot-matrix market is clients who need multi-sized labels. Clients printing with a dot-matrix printer usually have to run each size of label through the printer individually. With a laser printer, end-users can order multi-sized labels on one sheet and then run the labels through their printers at the same time. This eliminates the time-consuming effort expended on collating labels as well as the possibility for human error.
"A lot of people are still using dot-matrix printers, but laser labels are preferable because they are quick, slick and clean," noted Jacoby. "They are also great for multi-part or multi-label applications because they can be configured with various die cuts as needed."
After distributors have decided who they will target and for what kinds of applications, Jacoby said it is imperative that they make sure their label suppliers are using the proper laser label adhesives.
Fusers on laser printers heat up to between 250° and 300° F, making the proper combination of substrate, adhesive and liner essential for the labels to emerge unscathed. Fortunately, Jacoby said there is a host of combinations that will perform well under these harsh conditions, and because of the prevalence of laser printers, most suppliers manufacture their labels with no-ooze adhesives
Nevertheless, the key to success with laser labels is finding a way to add value to clients' labels. And because customized labels are often an integral part of clients' day-to-day operations, distributors should know they are often reluctant to switch to a new vendor on price alone.
"Laser labels can be a high profit margin item," said Brocker. "I've seen it both ways, but I know that a lot of money has been made selling laser labels, and when distributors find a way to add value, that is when they make the most profit."
By Allan Martin Kemler