Manufacturing Label Compliance: What you need to know.

If you are in the manufacturing industry then you have some inkling of the importance of manufacturing label compliance. This is the second article in our series on labeling for the manufacturing industry. If you are curious, check out our previous article — Industry Insights: Manufacturing Labels.

High Level Considerations for Manufacturing Label Compliance

There are a lot of things to consider and in our 30 years of labeling experience we are sure we have dealt with all of them.

Manufacturing is a huge blanket that covers many, many types of products. There are rules and regulations for different types of products and we will address the following industries separately in future articles:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Laboratory
• Food and Beverage
• Clothing and Apparel
• Electronics

We will not be discussing the actual label content such as warnings, instructions, ingredients, etc. that your specific industry requires. Instead, we are focusing on the required functionality of your labels. You need them to be reliable, stand the test of time, and endure the elements.

We address the following list of high level things to consider:

1. Extreme Temperatures
2. Expanded Data
3. Variable Data
4. Clean Room Products

Extreme Temperatures in Manufacturing Labels

Very Very Cold

If you are having trouble with product labels in your freezer environment than PolorBond may be the perfect solution.

The PolarBond adhesive can withstand up -10 to -23 degrees.  The service range is -65 to 150F. This is lower than most other readily available adhesives on the market can handle.

What is the difference between application range and service range?

Don’t accidentally interchanged these terms.
They are not the same thing.
Application range =  the temperature at which the product is labeled.
Service range = the temperatures the product is stored at (or will encounter throughout the lifespan of the product).

We have a full suite of label samples that use PolarBond for you to test for yourself.  Send us an Email or give us a call at 888.972.5234.

Heat and Moisture

Manufacturing label compliance often encounters extreme heat and moisture environments too. A great solution for this is PermTherm Product Labels.

PermTherm was developed to fill the void in the direct thermal market where paper is not an option and the stability of the label print has to be permanent.

It is a great solution for common problems such as:

• short shelf life
• sensitivity to heat
• image fading

Great news! It will work in any thermal/thermal transfer bar code label printer.

Expanded Data

Putting more information on small labels can be a serious challenge.  Compliance is forcing us to change the way that we provide printed information to consumers.

By doubling, tripling and sometimes quadrupling the print area of your labels, manufacturers and brands can make it easy for consumers to find information ABOUT the product, ON the product.

See our helpful guide to expanded content labels.

The answer is expanded content print solutions such as:

• hinged booklet labels
• multi layer labels
• fold-out labels
• reseal labels
• 2-ply labels

At PaladinID, we make the labels in two parts that are hinged on one side.  You can peel back the top layer like a book, which gives you virtually an unlimited area of label footprint.  The labels can include both static information and variable print on the front side. 

Variable Data

Variable data is also called sequential printing or service bureau work. Regardless of what you call it, it means when your application needs a label that is unique with text and bar codes. The information on the label changes regularly so you can’t use a pre-printed standard label.

No matter what industry you are in, we have the label material and the know-how to get the job right the first time. Below are some areas with which we have helped companies solve their problems using variable imaging:

• Inventory
• Shelving
• Work in process (WIP)
• Shipping
• Warehousing
• Prescription processing
• Manufacturing and Retailing

This is such a big part of what we do because so many manufacturing companies require this level of label service.

Visit our Variable Data page for more information, including a video that shows solutions for variable data imaging. Once companies understand what is possible, the applications are endless!

Clean Room Product Labels

Does your company require cleanroom product labels?

We are seeing a growing interest in what we call “cleanroom type” labels. They are popular because they keep the dust particles down in environments that require a high level of cleanliness.

If you like technical stuff, these labels achieve this by using a film product (polypro) and a plastic label core.

PaladinID is one of the few suppliers of cleanroom product labels who understand what a total cleanroom solution is.

The Wrap Up

We have given you a lot to think about for upgrading your current manufacturing label compliance scenario with better products that could save you time and money.

We are always looking for ways to help our clients, so we’d love to hear about your solutions and the label products you are using in the comments.

For samples of the products mentioned in this article or to inquire about pricing please call us 888-972-5234 today!

Stay tuned for our next article: Common Labeling Problems in the Manufacturing Industry.