Use the warehouse space for its intended purpose!

In the healthcare sector, in manufacturing, retail and logistics, the problem has arisen that a wide variety of products must be supplied with unique labels, in small and limited quantities per category. A good example of this issue is Speciál-Mix Hungary, which manufactures and distributes fishing feed, bait and accessories. Their selection of products includes a wide variety of products made in small batches, which had previously caused quite a headache as far as keeping labels handy on a day-to-day basis.

“On the weekly average, just to keep sufficient quantities and types of labels of each type in stock, and the associated inventory tasks took 4-5 working hours” – explained Tamás Hajdú, a manager of Speciál-Mix. Edina Mayer, the Managing Director of PME Vonalkód heard of similar difficulties from her clients: “when a law is amended, the labels must be changed, which means that the templates must be replaced at the printer, which is quite costly.” Manufacturing is also cumbersome and requires manual labor for those products, where the date of manufacture must be affixed upon the large numbers of pre-printed labels, using a stamp or other device.

Pre-printing the labels has numerous drawbacks: printers only agree to do them above a certain number; the manufactured quantities must be stored and when necessary, they must be corrected or discarded in the above-described ways when a change takes place, which makes the remaining inventory useless. An obvious solution could be a machine, which is capable of producing the label at the relevant time and in the required quantities. “ColorWorks products do not merely ensure required flexibility, but also improve inventory management and product identification, thus a qualitative jump can be achieved in customer service,” stated Medárd Flórián, Epson’s product manager. The product family also includes such peeler-equipped models that can be integrated into production lines: one such is the C6500Pe model, with automatic peeler and machine operated affixing mechanics. There are also varieties, which allows for the printing and peeling of individually customized labels.

Out of the numerous options, Speciál-Mix and PME Vonalkód have chosen the EPSON C6000A. According to Tamás Hajdú, this serves their needs the best: alongside simple use, they can work with it in an extremely cost effective and time efficient manner, eliminating the manual aspect that was so characteristic of the previous system. Edina Mayer received client opinions as well, affirming that it is cost effective to invest in ColorWorks units from a financial and time perspective alike. “The processes sped up, everything became simplified. Those who bought it, loved the equipment” she added. There are companies where an entire full-time position could be turned to more useful and important tasks ever since the printing of labels has shifted to this technique. Tamás Hajdú confirmed this conclusion; with this printer, they could reduce the extent of unnecessary human intervention to nearly zero.

According to the Managing Director of PME Vonalkód, users are even open to accessories like rewinders, unwinders or automatic labeling machines, since by virtue of more automated processes, they can improve their operational efficiency. At the same time, the ColorWorks C6000 series, the C6500 series, the C7500 series, the C3500 and the C831 are ideal choices for companies that use chemical labels that comply with the latest GHS (Globally Harmonised System) standard.

Custom color labels printed with inkjet printers also avoid the problems of traditional heat-based overprinting. Labels, tickets and tags can be produced in the required quantity and excellent quality, customized, without delay, interruption, waste or inconvenience. Compromising with the price is not necessarily going to happen, either. According to the manager of Speciál-Mix, a less costly label can be produced with this method than with what would be purchased at a printer.

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