During
2017, we published 31 original (32 if you count this one) posts on www.colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com which was more than our goal for the year. As most of you don’t read every post, I’d
though you might find a summary of these posts of interest.
Love's Oven Labels
As
for most read, two stick out. First, the
post that was read the most covered Love Oven’s use of the C7500G. These guys produce great looking, full-bleed
labels. http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/03/edible-love.html. Plus, I love how Katie from Love’s Oven built the printing
solution herself. Good work!
L301 from Afinia
Second,
the next most read post of 2017 was my review of the new L301 color label
printer. This printer produces great
looking labels; at the most affordable hardware price of any label printer we
sell. http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/02/l301.html.
Color Badge Tag Printers
But
the most read does not always represent my favorites.
My favorites are reserved for customers who have built and implemented
great label printing solutions. My two
favorites for 2017 have us and BarTender in common. First, CompuSystems built a great solution
using BarTender and the C3500 for printing badges in color and on-demand: http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/06/on-demand-color-badges.html. Plus, we worked hard to put together badge options;
including matte paper, gloss paper and matte poly tags. These different tags produce great looking
badges.
By
far the most controversial post was my analysis of the differences between the C7500
and the LX2000. As you may know, I add
posts to Linked In after publishing. On
Linked In, this post created a lot of comments about the comparison, including one from the VP of Sales from Primera. What
do you think of this analysis? http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/09/lx2000-vs-c7500.html
Guy Mikel at Label Expo Europe
And
by far the most difficult post was the report on my visit to Label Expo
Europe. Lots of pictures, video’s and
links which make posting a lot more difficult. But I found the Expo very
valuable. See my perspective of the show
here: http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2017/09/label-expo-europe-2017.html And in this post, you’ll see the new printer we’re launching
at WestPack 2018 in Anaheim February 6 to 8.
I enjoy posting my opinions and customer stories covering printing color labels on-demand; It takes
work. But your readership of these posts
is the real payoff for this effort. To date,
Google says we have 320,000 page-views from individuals all over the
world. I appreciate your readership; and
I hope you find the information in these articles valuable. May you have a great 2018.
If you are one of the two following types of companies:
A printer who wants to start printing professional looking labels
A manufacturer with lots of SKU’s who needs a large variety of sizes/types
of labels
And neither one of these types of companies want to spend a lot of
money.
We have a great solution for you; the C7500G combined with the Eclipse
Mini Finishing Station.
Eclipse Mini Finishing Station
For approximately $20,000, you can now print, laminate, die-cut and
weed labels up to 4.25” wide; that look similar to labels produced by very
expensive presses.
Recently,
I had the Eclipse Digital Label Finishing Machines, http://www.impressiontechnologyeurope.com/eclipse.html , which is a division of Impression Europe, print and finish labels for
us. Watch here the C7500G print labels:
By printing multi up, you can print any width labels up to 4.25” wide
and up to 22” long using the C7500G in continuous mode; and combined with
the Eclipse Mini Finishing Station.
Watch the Eclipse Mini finish these same labels here:
And you get great looking labels:
C7500G/Eclipse Mini Finished Labels
In addition to printing great looking, durable labels, you can produce
labels relatively easily. The most
difficult aspect of printing/finishing the labels with the C7500G and Eclipse
Mini is the process requires someone who understands Adobe Illustrator or Corel
Draw. You need this expertise to add the
die lines on the label artwork. Once the
correct die line template is establish, you use this same setup on each label
of the same size. If interested, we can
send you the instructions to create the cut-line graphic for the Eclipse Mini.
The C7500G is the most affordable and easy to use means to produce
professionally-looking and durable labels available. If you are a printer who wants to start
selling great looking labels, or a manufacturer with lots of SKU’s who wants to
produce professionally looking labels in house, consider the C7500G and Eclipse
Mini solution.
While traveling in Seattle, I had the opportunity to meet two of our
customers in the cannabis market: Green Rush Cannabis and Georgetown Cannabis.
Green
Rush Cannabis, http://catchtherush.com/, is a WA i502 producer-processor
located in the scenic Snohomish Valley. They produce a clean, sophisticated
crop that has become a preferred brand for a number of top shops in
Washington state known for their consistent terpene flavor, high quality, and
deep impact. GreenRush Cannabis is a
recommend brand by expert budtenders.
Green Rush Cannabis
Personally, I found Green Rush’s growing rooms, very clean and
professional.
Mark Flanders, owner of Green Rush Cannabis, and I first met at
Cannacon Seattle in February 2017. At
the time, Mark was looking for a means to print labels for their products with
their logo, text and variable data.
Initially, Mark was looking for 4x2” and 3x2” matte or gloss paper
labels produced on an affordable color label printer. Based on these requirements, I recommended
the C3500 printer.
Mark Flanders, Green Rush Cannabis
After initially testing the paper, we found the labels “flagged” and came
off the joint tubes. This flagging is not a result of the adhesive, rather the
memory in the paper. Based on these
results, we switched to matte poly labels that have less memory and work better
on the tubes.
Green Rush C3500 Label
In
our discussions, I learned that Green Rush uses Grow Flow, https://getgrowflow.com/, traceability and sales system.
According to Mark, “to produce our labels, we requested GrowFlow to
design our label templates. Inside
GrowFlow, the variable data is pulled and sent to a format that is produced as
a PDF. This system works great for us”.
The Green Rush label artwork is perfect for the C3500. It’s a basic white label with a logo, text,
barcode and variable data. For this
application, the C3500 works great.
And the integration with GrowFlow is a great addition, adding value to
their customers.
Based on their success, Green Rush is expanding. Mark says, “We’re setting up another
location, to cultivate as well extract.”
Based on my experience, I can see why Green Rush is a success.
Georgetown
Cannabis Company, http://georgetowncannabisco.com/, experienced team is passionate about the cultivation of their naturally
grown cannabis. They trim their buds to
ensure quality and bag appeal. Georgetown
cultivates cannabis as natural as possible, and staying away from pesticides
with the use of beneficial insects. Though innovative growing methods and their
no shortcut approach, Georgetown strives to bring their brand, “Legion of
Plume” of high quality, cannabis to their customers.
Georgetown Cannabis "Legion of Plume " Label
I met Mark Brown, CEO, of Georgetown Cannabis originally via one of our
partners. Initially, Mark was looking
not only for a label printer, but a label applicator as well. Mark and his team, especially, Kendall Brown,
were requiring a high resolution printer for labels for their “Legion of Plume”
branded products. Based on their label
printing requirements, Georgetown purchased a C7500G printer and matte poly
labels. I recommended matte poly given Georgetown’s
production of a lot of prerolls, labeling their joint tubes.
Georgetown Cannabis Prerolls
After getting some gloss poly labels to test, Kendall decided to switch
away from matte. “We really like the way
the colors look on the gloss poly”, says Kendall. Continuing, “We have found
the gloss poly labels don’t flag, adhering to the tubes well”.
C7500G Preroll Labels
With a background in design, I really like how Kendall has produced the
labels for Georgetown, maximizing the print output from the C7500G. She is using the Epson ColorTone Matching
assistant to help her chose the best color range for labels for Georgetown’s
new hybrids.
And I think these labels designed by Kendall and produced on the C7500G
look great!
C7500G Printed Cannabis Labels
And Georgetown’s business is growing. According to Mark, “we’re
growing, adding new dispensary customers all the time. The branding and labeling of our premium
products is helping our sale team grow our business”.
Green Rush Cannabis and Georgetown Cannabis are approaching their
labeling differently; but both are successful in the marketing, branding and
labeling of their products. If you need help to insure your labels represent and promote your brand successfully,
contact us. We’ll help you find the best
solution for your print on-demand color label requirements.
As I understand, this latest price increase results from the closure of
a Chinese chemical plant, Connect Chemical, that makes 30% to 35% of the world
market for leuco dyes, one of the major ingredients for the manufacturer of
direct thermal paper.
This closure is a result of the Chinese government attempting to clean
up the pollution affecting their country.
It seems China has closed 10’s of thousands of chemical plants in an
effort to improve their pollution.
Leuco dye is one of the 4 major chemicals used in the manufacture of
direct thermal paper.
What was news to me is that thermal paper uses Bisphenol A (BPA) and Bisphenol C (BPC) which
when combined with the leuco dye makes the color when heated. Recently, BPA has been identified as an
endocrine disruptor.
Heating of the direct thermal POS paper and labels appears to expose
the BPA more to people handing these materials. From Wikipedia:
People who often get in contact
with BPA coated receipts do have a higher level of BPA in their bodies than
people with average contact.
In addition to the production issue with the leuco dyes, the largest
domestic manufacturer of thermal paper filed bankruptcy: Appvion.
The combination of these two events has caused the price of direct
thermal paper and labels to increase substantially. Over one million tons of direct thermal paper
are used each year.
With the price increases, now may be a good time to switch away from
direct thermal labels to a better, safer alternative that enables color. And
the costs may not be that different.
Some time ago, this post explored the cost differences among label
printer media:
At Color Label Solutions, we sell two, inexpensive options for
producing colorful inkjet labels to replace direct thermal printers. First, we sell the ClariSafe printer, which
prints labels up to 2.5” wide.
Even three years ago, the price difference between direct thermal and
inkjet coated or even uncoated labels were not much. Pleasant Mattress replaced direct thermal printers with C3500 printers to produce color-coded
labels.
With the big increase in prices of direct thermal label media, maybe
you should consider switching to a better, safer and more colorful label
option. We can help you with two
affordable printer options; and the labels to go through these printers. Contact us if you would consider moving away
from Direct Thermal printers.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
This week, I attended Label Expo Europe in Brussels for the first
time. Although I had attended Label Expo
in the US several times before, I found this session much more valuable. Let me share with some of the new, exciting
technologies I saw in the print on-demand color world.
Guy Mikel at Label Expo Europe 2017
The most exciting new technology I saw at Label Expo did not involve
labels; rather corrugated. Beautiful,
On-Demand, Color Corrugated.
Inkjet Coated Corrugated Printed with the NS Multi
New
Solution (www.newsolution.eu) was showing inkjet coated corrugated printed with the NS Multi
Corrugated printer.
At approximately $100,000, this printer is not inexpensive. The NS Multi uses 5 Memjet print heads to
print up to 42” wide corrugated; very quickly.
Watch this corrugated printer in action:
Here is a picture for the loading table:
NS Multi
Using the inkjet coated corrugated created by New Solution, you can now
produce cartons for all of your products on demand. To make this system work, you flood-coat print
the boxes with the inkjet coating, then form the box, and then print. Box manufacturers should be able to produce
the inkjet coated material as it’s no different than flood coat printing. Once the box is coated, the NS Multi produces
great looking boxes. I was very
impressed.
NS Multi Printed Box
For those regular readers to this blog, you may remember our work in
print on-demand corrugated:
This new technology opens packaging to the same drivers as on-demand
color label printing. With all the
SKU’s, now you can produce the boxes you need, when you need them. On-demand cartons offers significant cost
savings in both reducing obsolete inventory and improving processes.
In addition to the new corrugated
technology, Okidata launched the new Pro1050 color LED label printer.
Okidata Pro1050
The Pro511 uses new technology to print compared to most LED and laser
printers. This technology offers better
color registration and narrower/shorter labels as well as no waste of label
traveling through the printer at the end of a print job.
.83” to 4.95” Print Width
.5” to 52” Print Length
6” per second
1200 x 1200 DPI
60 KG (no on-demand demonstrations at this
weight)
Plus this technology produces great looking blacks and even white
colors on a wide variety of substrates. Notice how black is the print.
Pro1050 Black On Clear Film
Pro1050 White on Clear Film
Pro1050 on Silver Metallic
Pro1050 on Antique Beer Label
Now, very clear film, metallic, bright gloss synthetic, inexpensive
films and other materials will be available for on-demand color printing. And the printer toner costs will be priced competitively
to inkjet ink according to Okidata.
However, Okidata will not make this printer available in North America
initially. I will keep you informed as I
learn more of their plans.
Although we’ll not be able to sell the new Pro1050, we’ll start selling
the new L501 as soon as it’s available approximately February 2018.
L501 Color Label Printer
With an estimated list price of approximately $3300 (official price has
not been set as yet), this 8.5” wide color label printer produces great looking
labels; in both dye and pigment-based inks.
The L501 offers great flexibility in printing by changing the consumable
printhead. Need bright colors; use
dye-based inks. Need durable prints; use
pigment-based inks.
Watch the L501 print wide labels here:
Normal mode on the left; and draft mode on the right
The L501 is very comparable to the LX2000; but from my perspective
better design in both the hardware and software. The L501 uses a newer generation of HP print
engine compared to the LX2000. I’m very
hopeful for the L501 for those companies who must print wider than 4.25”
labels. Compared to the LX2000 from
Primera, the L501 should offer a better design, faster printing and maybe lower
ink costs according to Afinia.
As the L501 gets closer to market, we’ll keep you informed on the
availability of this new 8.5” wide label printer.
For professional printers and in-plant print
shops, we saw the perfect companion device to the C7500GE at Label Expo; the
Eclipse Mini Finishing Station from Impression Technology Europe:
At approximately $10,000, the Mini Finishing Station can laminate and
die cut label up to approximately 4” wide at a price point much less expensive
than other finishing stations available on the market. Most of the other finishing stations start at
approximately $25,000. With the Mini,
you can now print continuous labels, laminate and then die cut to the specific
size you need. No more ordering a wide
variety of die-cut label sizes and then printing. You can keep only one size in inventory.
The Mini uses knifes (plotter type) to cut labels and not dies. But given the mini is only 4” wide, the speed
is not too bad. Not fast; but not
excessively slow.
With the Mini, you can now purchase inexpensive media; and then
laminate to add durability or glossy finish.
And the Mini should enable you to lower your label costs. Combined with the C7500GE which offers the
Wasatch RIP for better color control, the Mini makes entry into the digital
printing market easy for most any professional printer. At a fraction of the cost of a digital press.
Another new hardware technology available at Label Expo came from
Memjet; and both New Solutions and Trojan Label showed new versions of the
above the web (media path) printhead technology. The Atom from New Solutions:
Adam Color Label Printer From New Solutions
And the T2C from Trojan Label (now a part of QLS).
T2C from Trojan Label
Both of these units are high speed label presses; but in a smaller
footprint. And as I understand, both use
the same above the web (media path) Sirus printheads making maintenance much
easier than earlier designs. I have a
lot to learn about how these printers work before I comment more about the
technology.
These new industrial designed color label printers will seem to produce
thousands of beautiful labels. More interesting to me, is that I learned Memjet
has launched a new print technology offering longer printhead life and pigment
ink. Read the press release here:
By next spring, we should see pigment-based printers from Memjet OEM
partners; in a variety models. With this
type of great, new technology coming to market, the print on-demand color label
business will continue to grow.
At the Neuralabel booth, I learned they were making a big change with
their 300x color label printer.
Neuralabel 300x
According to Ken Lund, President, Neuralabel will begin selling a
version of the 300x with a straight paper path.
In the past, the 300x has had troubles with label media jamming as it
goes around the 3 turns in the printer.
By adapting the printer to use a straight paper path, the 300x should
become a much better option for 8” wide label printing. Perminate printheads, fast speeds and high
resolution are key capabilities of this printer if the new design can prevent
jamming in the printer. Read this earlier post on the 300x here:
In addition to new hardware, I found many new types of media for print
on-demand color labels.
Wine labels that print great even with the low resolution C831 printer:
C831 Wine Labels
Imagine how nice these labels will print with higher resolution
printers.
Or inkjet coated fabric labels for mattresses and carpets:
Inkjet Coated Fabric Labels for Carpets
Inkjet Coated Mattress Labels
And some great new material from my friend Franz Walter Pohlhaus. Die
cut, matte paper visitor badges with adhesive backing that fold at the perf to
form a thicker, stiffer badge:
Adhesive Backed Badges
Inkjet coated parking stickers with on-board lamination to protect from
UV rays:
Inkjet Coated/Laminated Parking Stickers
Or inkjet coated, heat-sealed paper labels that form a package after
printing:
Heat Sealed, On Demand, Inkjet Coated Package
Print On-Demand Direct Thermal POS Paper
Inkjet Coated POS Paper
Watch the C7500 print the back of direct thermal POS paper here:
Overall, the trip to Label Expo was very informative; and well worth my
time and money. All this new technology
makes me excited by the prospects for print on-demand color labels. Contact us if we can help you with any of
this new technology.
