Color Labels On Demand: October 2017

Friday, October 20, 2017

#1 Trend In Labeling

In the spring of 2014, I wrote about Loftware’s annual survey of customers and their perception of changes in the future; especially involving print on-demand color labels. Loftware, Inc. (https://www.loftware.com/) is the global market leader in Enterprise Labeling Solutions with more than 5,000 customers in over 100 countries.

In their 2013 report, they predicted a significant growth in print on-demand color labeling. Read about it here: http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2014/04/enterprise-wide-color.html

In their latest 2016 survey, Loftware predicts a very large increase in color label printing. Here you can watch their webinar specifically on this technology: http://resources.loftware.com/Reduce-cost-overhead-color-label-printing-Thank-You.html

Or download the survey here:

http://resources.loftware.com/Top-5-Trends-Enterprise-Labeling-2016.html

Watching this webinar, you will find all the reasons to begin using the solutions we sell; and validates the Color Label Solutions business model. The number 1 trend was the move to printing color labels on-demand.

Two key findings from this survey are as follows:

90% of their customers believe color label printing will become more important
60% of their customers plan to purchase color label printers.

WOW! That’s a new buyers for the solutions we sell!

According to Loftware and their survey, the reasons driving this tremendous increase in color label printing are as follows:

Complying With Government Mandates. If you following this blog, you’ve read about GHS (Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of chemicals) and the importance of color label printing. In fact, we have currently 60 posts on our blog featuring GHS. California Prop 65 warning is another example of a regulatory mandate that may require manufacturers to print color labels on demand:

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/09/new-ca-prop-65-requirements.html

Improving Brand Management. Companies are placing more value on their brand; and want to convey their unique brands throughout the supply chain consistently. Also, color enables companies to distinguish between product lines/models/sizes quickly and easily across multiple languages.
Eliminating Preprinted Labels. 70% of Loftware’s customer use preprinted labels. But preprinted labels come at a cost; Obsolescence, Storage, Lack of Design Flexibility, Process costs, etc. Print on-demand color enable companies to print at the last possible moment, to enable design flexibility and reduce/eliminate label waste and storage.

Listening to Loftware’s webinar it’s clear; companies are learning the branding importance, cost savings and process improvements in moving to on-demand color. That’s why Loftware created the native drivers for color label printers now available in their software. Loftware offers drivers for Epson, QLS, CAB and even PCL based laser printers. According to Loftware, native drivers simplifies deployments, enables large scale deployments, reduces network traffic (large data print streams) and optimizes printer performance. Loftware seems to be on-board the color train!

Also, during the webinar, Loftware referenced a blog post written by Richa Groupa of VDC. VDC (http://www.vdcresearch.com/) delivers in-depth market insights to technology vendors, end users and investors across the globe; featuring reports in the AIDC market including label printing.

In her post,

https://blog.loftware.com/migrating-the-aidc-market-from-monochrome-to-multi-color

Richa states their research showed 40% of their end user respondents use print on-demand color labels in their operation. Although the perception that color costs more, preprinted labels create a lot of waste accounting for 9.3% of all label purchased. This waste along with all of the Branding, ID and Compliance benefits mentioned earlier will drive more companies to print on-demand color labeling.

http://www.vdcresearch.com/_Documents/briefs/autoid/16-Color-Label-Printers.pdf

My thanks to Maureen Perronil and Jessica Hutter of Loftware for their outstanding webinar.

If you are considering deploying Loftware and/or color label printers, contact us to help you decide how to proceed. By focusing exclusively on this market, Color Label Solutions is your premier provider of systems to help you print color labels on-demand.

Guy Mikel

855-962-7670

info@colorlabelsolutions.com

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Edibles Packaging & Labels

DISTRICT EDIBLES (http://www.districtediblescolorado.com/) is a quality, artisan crafted edible line now available in Colorado and other states. All edibles are created in small batches, with Ultra-premium CO2 extracted cannabis oil. Consumers will feel the difference in the quality and consistency of our products so you can really redefine your high!

District Edibles Packaging & Labels

Recently, I asked District Edibles to talk to the PR agency for Epson and the Printing News about labeling in the cannabis market. Based on this request, the Packaging News published this article that featured our customer and myself.

http://www.printingnews.com/article/12365495/labeling-the-high-life

In the article, Lauren Gilligan from District Edibles said the following:

District Edibles is another brand that is seeking to set itself apart, using packaging to help it stand out from the crowd. “When it comes to label design and packaging, we look for something unique and appealing,” said Lauren Gilligan, vice president of sales & marketing. “In order to stand out in a cut-throat market like Colorado, we look for the initial look of the product. Is it eye-catching? With so many brands on the market, it is really important to have curb appeal in order to captivate the consumer. The next feature we look for is texture. Is there a particular feel to the label? It stimulates another sense for the consumer, and makes your product a lot more memorable. Since we work in cannabis, safety also plays a big role in our package design. Packaging needs to be functional to make sure it doesn't get into the wrong hands of children or pets.”

And I got my comments in the article as well:

“Three key requirements are driving cannabis manufacturers and processors to the use of on-demand color labels,” agreed Guy Mikel, president of Color Label Solutions, reseller/partner of the ColorWorks on-demand inkjet label printers. “First, companies in the cannabis business must comply with the state requirements, which keep changing. As most states require a variety of variable data such as serialized package tracking, lot or batch identification, and/or THC or other component testing results, companies need to include this information on their packaging. Printing this information on the label is the most efficient means to meet this requirement. Second, companies are developing new products. As new SKU’s are tested and developed, label content evolves. An on-demand color label makes changes easy to do. Third, branding is a key component of the marketing of cannabis products, especially as the market moves into the recreational segment. Manufacturers want and need to convey their product attributes and product positioning in a retail setting. Great looking color labels on-demand help marketers project a premium product image; which is what District Edibles has achieved with their products.”

Overall, I like to thank District Edibles for participating in this article featuring the customers of the Epson label printers. Also, I’d like to comment on three aspects of the packaging District Edibles is using.

First, District Edibles prints their labels full-bleed. It’s not easy to print 100% of your labels full-bleed. The media guides in the C7500 make it relatively easy to print the edges of your die-cut labels with ink. This post documents my feelings on the media guides in the C7500:

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/09/lx2000-vs-c7500.html

District Edibles Packaging & Labels

Second, District Edibles prints their labels in black. Black is the most difficult color as you can see any “imperfections” in the print. This previous post explains the difficulty in printing all black:

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2016/11/ink-pigments.html

Third, District Edibles is using a package we sell; the MPack. This child-proof, tamper-evident, and water/air tight container is great to meet the regulatory and product requirements for edible cannabis products. Plus we’re producing the MPack in black for District Edibles, giving them a unique look. In this previous post from our participation in the Seed to Sale tradeshow, I discuss the MPack:

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/02/cannabis-label-solutions.html

It’s great to have customers like District Edibles; as they grow in this brand-new market. If we can help with the labeling of your edible or other products, be sure to contact us. We’d love to have more great customers like District Edibles.