Bespoke Printed Labels

You have made a quality product and it does not make any sense to put a poor label on the product which will only suggest to the potential buyer that the product is of poor quality also. What is need is a high quality bespoke label that through high quality printing conveys to the customer that you care about product and how it is displayed.

We have well over 25 years of experience in producing high quality printed labels; in fact we take pride in the fact that we are the UK’s leading label manufacturer of custom printed labels. These high end products include a wide variety of labels including security labels, asset labels, product labels, barcode labels amongst many.

All our printing is undertaken in house and we have invested in the latest digital printing press to bring our customers the best printed labels in a very short time. This investment means that we are able to keep our costs as low as it is practically possible; one way is that we can now eliminate the need for expensive printing plates, a saving passed on to you.

We are aware that whilst we can understand the need for a special shape or size may be required to be in keeping with special house design, we can usually provide just what you are looking for with one of our stock cutters and we have over 5,000 different ones from which you can choose. If however a special one is needed, this can be provided at a very small charge.

If you are unsure about the right type of label for your requirements then please contact us and one of our in house staff will be only too pleased to discuss how we can meet your exact needs.

Barcodes and their uses

We are all today aware of barcodes and many of their uses, and although it first appeared in America 62 years ago, although it took a little while for it to become established there, but by 1979 a visitor to the United States from the UK would have wondered how the supermarkets and pharmacies managed to get all the items into the cash register in such a short space of time, the barcode was virtually unheard of here then.

Now of course they appear on just about everything and their use have meant that cost can be kept lower. Because it is faster to scan an item than it is to key in the price at a cash register, it means less check out staff, which eventually means lower prices.

We thought that we would just give a couple of instances where bar codes are in use, one is actually an amusing if somewhat difficult to believe. One person told of the use of barcodes in her line of work which was in the National Blood Service where she was employed in the laboratory. There barcodes are used to make sure all blood products are accounted for during processing, an invaluable use of the humble barcode.

The other you involved a person who had their national insurance number tattooed to their arm for some reason, they came across another who had a similar tattoo and when asked what it represented, the reply came back “sorry don’t know, think it might be a loaf of bread”! We think alcohol might have been in the equation somewhere!

A lot has happened in sixty two years

It has been a very busy 62 years and a lot of things have happened in that time. Men have gone to the moon and back, there have been numerous conflicts and many Prime Ministers have come and gone. Queen Elizabeth also came to the Throne in February of 1952, but our industry has seen some significant changes too.

In October of that year, a patent was filed in the United States that would eventually affect the way we shop and how business and industry operate, the barcode came into life. Today according to the regulator GS1 UK, there are more than five million individual barcodes in use worldwide.

But it was not until 1974 that the famous little black and white stripes appeared, the first item to be read was a humble packet of chewing gum, we did not have laser technology to read them until then!

Barcodes today perform a multitude of tasks and new ones are being discussed to see if they are both feasible and time saving. The QR code is the very latest new idea that is appearing on items and in advertisements, this is an image made up of dots, which can contain more data than a barcode. The main purpose is different from that of the barcode, the QR code’s main purpose is to direct a person to another web page or manufacturers catalogue for example. It can be a very useful addition on a label.

An invisible barcode is being developed

Well it’s not the sort of thing that we could provide for you business, it is however a very useful tool in the fight to detect to track explosives, medicines and bank notes.

Although it is not in any way a conventional barcode, but it is a very interesting development that has been found by a research team at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in America. They found that some nano-particles have unique characteristics that can be used to mark items, reduce crime and counterfeiting; they are so small that they can be put into any object.

As an illustration, the scientific team put tiny particles into an explosive called dinitrotoluene, and they found that the unique “tag” could be detected even after the explosive has detonated.

By adding these nano-particles to a currency note it is possible to detect if it is real or a counterfeit. Similarly it can be used to authenticate many item such as medicine, in fact just about any other objects.

We wonder if it would tell you the price as well, we doubt it!

Permanent and tamper proof labels

When fixing asset tags or labels to your valuable equipment it is vital that they are permanent and difficult, or impossible to remove. This kind of label should be made from vinyl as it is a far better option than using paper.

The adhesive that is necessary will form a super strong bond between the label itself and the surface of the equipment to which it is being attached. The glue hardens over a period and it is at its maximum strength is usually after a period of four hours, by which time it is virtually impossible to remove.

This kind of label and adhesive is normally seen on equipment found in offices, schools, as well as many IT companies and is used on workstations, keyboards, monitors, hard drives and mobile equipment. This kind of label and adhesive has been developed to overcome the previous problems that were found when trying to stick asset labels to the plastic used on computers.

Ensuring that an asset has not been tampered with and has been opened is now overcome by using a label which clearly displays void if an unauthorised person has attempted to open or tamper with the equipment.

Ideally this kind of tamper proof label is used on IT equipment of all kinds as well as music systems, medical equipment, and many other kinds of communication devices.

Help with inventory control and sales using asset tags

Keeping a tight hold on inventory control is a vital function in any organisation which is involved in manufacturing or distribution of products. This is best achieved through labelling and ensuring that they are coded which will make the task of inventory control of each asset easier to manage.

Tagging of assets ensures that products do not go missing in transit or storage, and also help prevent theft. The kind of tag will depend upon the asset, for example, immovable equipment can be tagged permanently by aluminium, vinyl and laminated polyester labels, whilst equipment of a temporary or items in transit can be easily tracked with plastic or paper based labels. Modern offices contain many expensive equipment items. The tagging of the equipment makes it easier to maintain them.

In retail environment, bar coding has helped the efficiency of supermarkets and others stores by keeping track of items which are in the store and efficiently calculates the number required in the future. We are of course all very familiar with the barcodes which are now part of just about every item in shops; these are read at the checkout by an optical reading machine and have transformed retailing throughout the world.

The easy way to order labels

At Data Label we do everything that we can to make your job of buying labels for your products as easy as it can possibly be. If your product is a new one or you have not ordered a product label or barcode previously we can help you through the process.

Tell us what the label is to be used for ten we will be able to suggest the best type of adhesive to use, easy peelable, or a permanent adhesive, very low temperatures, under water, we have an adhesive that will withstand just about everything thrown at it. We will suggest protection for the label if it is likely to be subject to a lot of handling or subject to adverse storage, extreme heat, or cold.

Printing is important and depending upon the environment and length of time the label will be displayed can affect the type of print that we would suggest. For example, thermal direct printing does have a tendency to be sensitive to heat and light, but we can offer an alternative if this is the case.

Artwork is not a problem either, if you do not have your own artwork we can supply this for you, just send us a rough sketch and we will provide proofs for you to approve and make any amendments that you may require.

Naturally we will always give you a quotation and although we can do very short runs, if for example it is a trail product, but there will be a minimum charge of £45.00 for this. Naturally, the longer the label run the cheaper the unit price becomes.

Contact us by telephone at 01293 551 or complete the enquiry form at our web page and will be happy to get a quotation to you quickly.

Track & Trace

We have all probably used the service at some time and it is now widely used in the parcel delivery and mail services. There are various methods used for tracking an item, but increasingly the use of the barcode when the item finally reaches the destination is used by both couriers and the Royal Mail to indicate to the sender that the item has been safely delivered.

The same technology can be applied to stock and warehouse control and a useful tool for keeping assets safe, secure and traceable. This is achieved by having a database which records each and every item together with the location of the asset. Another positive advantage is where the item is an electrical or electronic device and by law needs to be checked for safety. This is achieved by having a filter which will clearly indicate which items are due for test or are out of date, ensuring that all equipment is safe.

Our modern asset tags can be supplied with a barcode and this will make tracking of valuable assets easier. Simply scan the code and you will quickly locate the item. Stock taking in most organisations is an annual event that over the last few years has become a lot easier, thanks to the use of asset tags. The barcode on the item can have location, value, and a description if needed. Tracking and tracing in today’s modern company is the way forward.

The smartphone is the new scanner

An increasing number of people, particularly in the United States are using their mobile phones for the task of scanning QR codes and in many cases UPC barcode labels. The use of mobiles for this is popular as it can give the user lots of information about a product, or indeed a company before a decision is made to buy an item and the trend is gathering momentum here too.

Naturally before you can use the smartphone to scan, you have to have the right sort of app installed onto your ‘phone and these are available from a number of companies. These are available for both iPhone and android devices and the numbers of people who are downloading the reading apps is growing daily.

This applies here in the UK and the tech minded public are making full use of that the smartphone gives to them. There is absolutely no reason why companies should not use both a barcode and a QR code on the product, this gives the best of both worlds for information about the item as well as directing the customer to a specific web site, sales pitch or telephone help can all be included.

Labels that stay on in the coldest of environments

We have all done it at some time or another, prepared a meal and had a couple of portions left over and frozen them for use another day, only to find that the neat little label that we put on has come off and we haven’t an idea what is in the plastic box.

So how do you think that the label that is stuck onto the human eggs, or sperm and then placed onto a liquid nitrogen container and frozen at minus 196 degrees centigrade, which is around minus 180 less than the average home freezer copes? Can you imagine what would happen if the labels lost adhesion or the print was unreadable. It just would not be accepted and further more the labels have to stay in the liquid nitrogen for a long time, often longer than the left over dinners!

We produce labels for use in commercial freezers for applications such as cold food storage, but these labels are unsuitable for cryogenic temperatures which require a special label which will withstand these low temperatures, good adhesion and shear resistance at low temperature when applied to both glass and treated vials. The labels can be either printed or plain and we can supply in any size and shape to individual requirements.