Platinum Partners Signing

PaladinID is excited to announce that on August 16th, we became a Platinum Partner with Source Technologies.  Pictured here is Justin Visconti, Reseller Sales Manager, yours truly, and Mimi Bartholomew, Director, Alliance Partnerships.  Upon seeing their product line, taking a plant tour, meeting the engineering team and learning that these printers do in fact fill a void in the bar code label industry, we decided to partner up with Source Technologies and carry their line of printers.  I am thrilled to be working with such a customer focus company who have done their homework, found a niche and filled it.  This partnership will open many doors for us.  More information to follow…….

To find our more information on the new Source Technologies STP1120N desktop printer.

This video was shot using a camera phone and shows the capabilities of the new STP1120N bar code printer when using very small labels.  The reason this is important is because no other bar code printer can print on this size label or even hold registration this tight.  This printer has two label sensors built in along with an additional pinch roller for accurate registration, especially on very small labels.

With other brands, there is a built in slop, float or drift as they call it.  The print will walk on the labels.  The smaller the labels, the more it is noticed.  Another area where this happens is when you have pre-print on the labels and you need to hit a specific location, like a box.  With current thermal transfer printers, the ability to hold tight registration is difficult.  With the STP1120N, that problem goes away.  If you have tight registration requirements or very small labels to print, this is the printer for you.

Printing On Smaller Than .25″ Tall Labels!

What is especially amazing about this video is that this label is 3″ wide x .200″ high and is printing at 4 ips (inches per second).  The print registration is spot on and the quality of the label is near perfect.  During this demonstration, the labels registered perfectly and not one label was skipped.

Click here for a STP1120N data sheet.

Direct Thermal Superstar

Another area were this printer outperforms anything else on the market is in direct thermal.  When using direct thermal labels, the text and bar codes are as clean and crisp as if you were using a ribbon.  The last thing I would like to mention is the quality of rotated or ladder style bar codes, they were near perfect.  I have never seen a ladder style bar code look so good.  I was amazed at the print quality of this printer.  I believe there is a market for this printer in the areas I mentioned above.

For more information on the STP1120N Printer …

I am very impressed with the STP1120N near edge thermal transfer bar code printer.  Having been in the Auto ID business for over 24 years, this printer out of the box was something completely different.  I spent a day training and learning more about what this printer can do.  I will touch on a few of the things that I liked.  This is considered a heavy duty “mission critical” printer.

The printers language is PCL5E (an industry standard).  Each printer manufacturer in the bar code industry has their own proprietary language.  “This new printer will make integration difficulties caused by proprietary languages become a thing of the past” says Source Technologies, President and CEO Bill Bouverie.  The STP1120N has an intuitive color graphic touchscreen, an industry first.  It reminded me of an high end smart phone.  This printer utilizes near edge technology that greatly improves the labels image.  The printer comes standard with 300 dpi that makes text and graphics pop unlike the typical flathead printers.  The ladder style bar codes were just as clean and crisp as the picket fence style bar codes.  Not all 300 dpi printers are created equal.

Near Edge Print Technology

This technology is not new, but it is not mainstream either.  I believe this printer will be a game changing product.  One problem I have run into is ribbon wrinkle.  Is occurs on every printer.  This printer addresses this in two ways, the ribbon supply and unwind is gear driven and under tension.  Also, the labels are centered under the printhead and not left justified.  This allows the printhead to have even pressure across the printing surface allowing the printer to print exceptional quality in any orientation.

Click here for a STP1120N data sheet.

The Source Technologies near edge STP1120N thermal transfer bar code printer was just released! It was a great honor to have been invited to the product launch in Charlotte, NC on July 11th. I am very excited about this new printer. This printer is brand new from the ground up.  Thermal transfer printers have not changed much over the past 25 years. The STP1120N has many features that I think will greatly improve the ease of use.  I was very impressed by the print quality, especially rotated (ladder) style bar codes, they were near perfect.  I will doing a multi-part series on this printer in the coming days.

Click here for a STP1120N data sheet.

There were many features that were lacking in the current market place that Source Technologies wanted to address.  Below are a few of them that I will address is more detail in the coming days.

1. PCL5e for plug and play integration
2. Intuitive color graphic touchscreen
3. 300 dpi for rich graphics, bar codes and text
4. Constant ribbon tension to prevent ribbon wrinkle
5. Automatic loading of labels
6. Wide array of connectivity choices
7. Field upgradable options

Below is a video from Source Technologies that will give you the background of the why and hows that went into developing this printer.  I look forward to putting this printer through its paces.

CTM has a product called a table top wrap applicator.  This machine is specifically designed to label small to medium sized vials or bottles.  Speeds vary by product type and label size.  This machine can be configured to label a wide range of different sized products.  The only requirement is that the product has to be round and roll.  This video demonstrates labeling a small vial at about 45 per minute.  Some of the benefits of using this machine is  speed and accuracy of placing labels on your products.  If you are currently hand-labeling your products, you should take a look at this machine.

Do you use Cleanroom labels?  If so, you need to view this funny video.  This was made by one of my suppliers featuring the EZ-Peel Cleanroom Label.  Don’t trust your specialty label application to just anyone.  We supply this and many other types of labels for the lab.  Enjoy!