Helping a Client Move from China to the US

I received a call last week from a company that has decided to bring its manufacturing and packaging back to the United States from China.  They are in the automotive industry and were unsure of what their options were or how to choose the best way to address their product labeling process.  They asked if I could walk them through the process, which I gladly accepted.

The Backstory

Option One – Not what they needed

Just to give you some background, their current labels are multi-colored for the retail market with variable data and many SKUs.  They first wanted to see if an inkjet solution was right for them.  We talked about the various options with inkjet, but in the end, because of their artwork, I did not think they would be happy with the print quality of an inkjet printer.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our Epson line of inkjet printers, but because their labels required a full bleed and the resolution was so high on their current labels, I did not feel they would be happy with the result.

The Solution

Option Two- Just Ok

We moved on to discussing the option of having PaladinID print the entire label with variable print and sending them the finished product.  This was a great solution, but the problem is if the product information changes between the time you received your labels and the time you consume the labels, you have obsolete labels, meaning more waste and expense.  Under certain circumstances, this is a great option which we can do.

Option Three – The Right Choice!

The third option we discussed (and the one they chose) is using our digital HP Indigo press.  They fill in the variable data with a Zebra barcode label printer.  For applications where you need variable data, I love the on-demand ability of a thermal transfer printer, like a Zebra, as my number one solution.

There are so many benefits when printing on demand like:

• No lead times once you have your labels
• Reduced waste because you only print what you need
• The most flexibility to change on the fly
• Very durable label

We even spoke briefly about automating the labeling process with our label applicators.  They seemed very interested in that once we nailed down the label printing process.

How Can We Help You?

If you would like to know whether an on-demand solution is correct for your business, please do not hesitate to contact me at 888.972.4234 ex 101 or send me an Email.  We cover the gamut of label printing from inkjet, thermal transfer, direct thermal, or laser.  We can tailor a solution that is perfect for you.