Labels have become an indispensable part of everyday life. They are a constant feature of consumers’ daily lives. Examples are labels on beverage bottles with water, wine or juice, on clothing or cosmetics. Retailers and manufacturers ensure that labels retain their secure place in everyday life. If you also want to use labels in your company, the following tips will help you.

Self-employed people who want to use labels in their company must first deal with the following topics:

• Label templates
• Design your own labels
• Printing Labels
• label printer

The functions of the labels

Labels fulfil various functions. They attract the attention of consumers at first glance and some only at second glance. Others only serve the purpose of organisation and order in the company. They are aimed at both private individuals and companies. Labels belong to the B2C business as well as to the B2B industry.

Labels can be used for advertising or price marking. Other labels are used in logistics, for example when garbage cans with barcode labels are to be marked for emptying. In other words, they affect the private sector in various ways.

On the other hand, labels can also ensure order, not only in the company and workshop, but also in the kitchen of private consumers. Some intelligent labels can help businesses manage production. Others are able to monitor warehousing and optimise transport logistics.

Again, special labels help companies to save on packaging material and promote environmental protection; because consumers place high demands on sustainability and publicly pillory environmentally harmful packaging and thus corporate environmental sinners.

Types of labels

The types of labels are differentiated according to their intended use or their printing substrate. Substrates are paper, cardboard, foil or special thermal papers. Each application requires its own substrate and special printing process. Tear-resistant labels must be printed differently from colour-accentuated labels. Some examples of the types of labels are:

Decorative labels: Decorative labels should be eye-catching, shiny in colour and attract attention. If large runs are required, specialized printers are suitable for printing such labels. They use the necessary printing processes such as screen printing for colour retention, offset printing for colour quality or digital printing for the cost-effective variant.

Transparent labels: Transparent labels are printed on foils. They appear as if the food itself had been printed, for example on food.

Duplex labels: Duplex labels, also known as sandwich labels, consist of two layers of material, the upper layer of which can be removed and reused.

They are suitable for competitions, in particular scratch tickets, or for logistics if receipts have to be obtained when the packaged goods are handed in.

In mould labels: In mould labels are applied according to the In Mould Labeling process. Preprinted labels are inserted into injection moulds so that the labelling process takes place at the same time as the production of the packaging.

Security labels: Security labels must meet special requirements. They consist of a special film and are printed as hologram labels. If the focus is on legibility, as with barcodes, the labels are produced in silver.

Thermal labels: Thermal labels are the most frequently used labels in professional label printing. They are produced in two different printing processes. Labels printed by direct thermal printing are transient; receipts, admission tickets or parking tickets are common examples.

Labels produced by thermal transfer printing have a long service life. They are used for marking products or foodstuffs as well as in the automotive industry. Thermal labels are printed by label printers, which are offered for sale to self-employed persons, founders and entrepreneurs for their companies at favourable prices.

The use of labels

Self-employed people, whether founders or entrepreneurs, have a wide range of options at their disposal if they intend to use labels for their business. All they have to do is determine the functions of the labels they want to use for their company and select the appropriate type of labels. They also need to consider whether they want to design and print the labels that are right for them, or whether they want the help of a specialist printer.

Before labels are used, there are several aspects to consider:

Making a fundamental decision

The use of labels is a fundamental decision to be made personally by the self-employed, founder or entrepreneur, because it concerns the company as a whole. Since labels can be used in many areas such as marketing, sales, organisation, production, logistics or security, a uniform concept must be formulated which names the areas concerned and describes the tasks to be solved by the labels.

Concretise the area concept

Each area must specify the use of the labels and embed them in its planning. Marketing has to decide whether the labels should be used as decorative labels to support product advertising, as duplex labels to encourage consumers directly to enter interactive competitions or as thermal labels for price labelling.

The logistics department determines whether the labels are to optimize warehousing or control shipping. Production determines the appropriate use for checking the manufacturing process, or security specifies the information to be stored on the intelligent labels.

Create label templates and design labels yourself

Before labels can be printed, label templates must be created. This is necessary regardless of whether the labels are printed themselves or whether a print job is to be outsourced. First and foremost, you need your own ideas for designing your own labels. If there are no suitable ideas, label templates can be procured on the market. Companies that print labels for customers offer access to their stocks and even design advice, so that the self-employed can design their labels themselves.

Label printing

As soon as the originals are ready, the labels can be printed. Label printers can be specialty printers or those who have helped out with label templates. The scope of services and prices must be negotiated with them. But the self-employed can also print their labels themselves.

Once they have loaded an appropriate program and purchased the required special paper, they can print on their own PC printer. Otherwise, a thermal printer can be purchased as a label printer that meets special individual requirements.

Buying a label printer

If thermal labels are used, self-employed people, founders and entrepreneurs should consider investing in a label printer. This is a normal investment decision, as it is procured from the thermal label printer market. It must first be clarified whether a direct thermal label printer or a thermal label transfer printer is required. The place of installation is also decisive, as is whether one or more mobile devices are to be purchased.

Conclusion

Consumers constantly encounter labels in their daily lives. That’s why it’s important for self-employed people, founders and entrepreneurs to consider using labels to advertise their products, manage production or save on packaging and shipping.

Since labels can be used in a wide range of applications, every entrepreneur must clarify for himself before using labels whether he wants to design labels himself, which label printer he wants to use, where he gets his label templates from and who he wants to have his labels printed by.