They take a lot of heat, yet remain a cool solution for variable imaging and product identification.
Persnickety is a word that comes to mind when discussing laser labels—annoyingly exacting in production and handling requirements. Make no mistake, they're a great product and the demand is certainly there, but if an application can be met using a different type of label, at least consider the alternative.
One problem is excessive heat. Fusers on laser printers heat up to 250 degrees and 300 degrees Fahrenheit, making the proper combination of substrate, adhesive and liner essential for the labels to emerge unscathed. Even with the right mix of materials, labels moving too slowly through the printer are subject to heat damage.
Then there is the bent edge issue—the bane of laser label applications—resulting in damaged product and costly printer repairs.
And even before the product gets to the end-user, paper suppliers and manufacturers have issues to grapple with.
Laser labels are typically processed on rotary flexographic equipment, and according to Tony Heinl, vice president of sales and marketing for Repacorp Label Products, Tipp City, Ohio, "They're a difficult product to manufacture on press."
Paper suppliers need to understand moisture content requirements for laser applications to help minimize curling problems and press jams. And depending on whether the curl runs on the 8.5 inch or the 11 inch die cut, the manufacturer can have a tough row to hoe attempting to remove it.
Adhesive is another factor. "If it gets too oozy," continued Heinl, "it builds up on the drum, which is expensive to repair." And unless the proper blade is used when trimming, dust builds up on the drum causing the printer to jam.
In addition, special care must be taken in packaging the finished product to avoid bent edge/jammed printer syndrome.
According to Marketing Coordinator Melinda Fulton, Elgin, Illinois-based Continental Datalabel packages its laser labels with special stay-flat liners in resealable polybags to keep out moisture—along with heat, a major contributor to curling. And because adhesives typically dry out after one year, the product's shelf life is indicated on the packaging.
Fulton also said end-users can avoid a lot of aggravation by loading laser labels manually in the printer tray, circumventing curves and turns that can lead to trouble.
On the Plus Side...
Laser labels can be constructed from polypropylene, polyester, paper and vinyl, but because they require special heat-resistant materials and lay-flat liners, "options are somewhat limited," said Heinl. "Thermal-transfer solutions, on the other hand, offer more variety and fewer manufacturing headaches."
Both thermal-transfer and laser produce a nice clean, crisp image, but the benefit of laser is that there is no ribbon or ribbon wrinkling to contend with, just powdered toner that is melted onto the substrate.
While initially laser labels can be costly to produce, they are ultimately more cost efficient to generate than thermal-transfer labels, "And you can typically get more output before you have to stop and insert a new toner cartridge," Heinl said. (To help keep pricing down, he suggested using a manufacturer with 18-inch or 20-inch web presses which can run 2-wide.)
Brian Verkuilen, vice president of sales for Middleton, Wisconsin-based NAStar, stated that "Laser is still the most economical way to put a bar code on a label—all you're paying for is toner." Not surprisingly then, manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and direct mail represent strong laser label markets.
Market research at NAStar has identified the container market as a large, diverse and relatively untapped market representing scheduled repeat business, with the highest concentration in the chemical and petroleum industries.
There has been a significant shift from steel to plastic and multi-wall fiber drums, as well as dramatic changes from pre-printed to on-demand printed labels with barcoded product and hazardous warning information.
Verkuilen pointed out that dot matrix printers originally provided this type of on-demand printing, but due to more demanding codes and scanners, laser printing is replacing dot matrix. "Laser images are faster, cleaner and provide a more accurate read," he said.
In addition, a surge in the use of pressure-sensitive labels in the direct mail marketplace has resulted in an increased use of laser-printable return address and fund solicitation labels, as well as laser labels with repositionable adhesive to replace piggybacks.
By Maggie DeWitt
- Companies:
- Continental Datalabel
- NAStar
- Repacorp
- People:
- Melinda Fulton
- Tony Heinl
- Places:
- Tipp City, Ohio