If you’ve read ‘Trade Partners: how to deliver the best label for the job (Part I) you’ll already know a bit about the general questions to ask a prospective client when trying to win labelling business.
In this article we’ll go into a bit more depth about the information you’ll need to collect from your client to help put together a top-notch label specification. Gaining this information will assure your client or prospect that you understand their needs, plus give your label manufacturer the tools to give an accurate and competitive quotation.
What is your label going to be stuck to?
This is a crucial question to ask because the answer will lead our technical team to recommend the best label substrate and adhesive for the job.
More specifically, you need to know the surface texture and structure of the material the label will be stuck to. For example, a smooth glass bottle will require a different adhesive type to a cardboard box.
Beyond the surface texture, the shape of the surface is an important consideration too. A curved, spherical or flat surface will necessitate different label shapes. A bottle label that sits on the neck of a bottle for example, will need to be a crescent shape.
What environment will the label be applied & used in?
As well as understanding the process that the label needs to endure, the application environment is important too.
For instance, if the label needs to be heat resistant, or withstand cold or frozen conditions then special adhesives and label materials will need to be specified. It’s also important to find out the maximum cooking, or minimum freezing, temperatures because this will have a bearing on the exact label spec.
For freeze resistant labels in particular, it’s important to understand the application temperature. That’s to say, adhering a label after freezing demands a different adhesive from that if the label is attached prior to freezing.
How long does the label need to be attached for?
This is an important question as it allows our technical team to specify the most appropriate face and adhesive for the job. If an operational label, for example, needs to be in place for only a short amount of time, a less expensive label material may do the job.
On the other hand, if a label needs to remain in a harsh environment for some time, such as a horticultural label, it will need to be robust. In this case the face and adhesive will be carefully selected in order to withstand cold and wet conditions over time.
How will the label be removed?
Many labels like pack-front or security labels may not be intended to be removed at all, and so a permanent adhesive or tamper proof design may be needed. In other cases, such a product pricing labels, a removable adhesive that doesn’t damage the product may be specified.
Other more specialist labels like water soluble or water washable labels may be needed for highly automated mass removal in production or distribution environments. Such labels can be removed at speed to help keep production lines moving quickly.
Labelling can be a surprisingly complex business, so we have developed a cheat-sheet for you to download to help keep the right questions in mind when you are talking to clients.
We don’t expect our trade partners to know everything about labelling of course; we are always here to help you through the specification process. You can also trust us to work directly with your client, if that makes your life easier. We will work in a way that suits you.
If you are interested in working with us, or would like to arrange label training for your team, please contact Andy Clarke for an initial chat.