NH Bill HB1650 has been introduced in the House of Representatives to protect local farms and food production.  The bill would exempt food grown or manufactured, and then sold within New Hampshire, from the federal food safety regulations. The “Made in New Hampshire” brand would be regulated by the state, and could be leveraged by small, local businesses to increase sales and promote locally grown products.

• Promoting the purchase and consumption of fresh and local agricultural products
• Enhancing the agricultural economy
• Encouraging agri-tourism opportunities in New Hampshire
• Giving New Hampshire citizens unimpeded access to healthy food from known sources
• Encouraging good manufacturing practices, including sanitation and hygiene, in the production, handling, storage and transportation of foodstuffs

Farms or food manufacturers would label the packaging or display of their food products with a “Made in New Hampshire” label, letting buyers know that the product falls only under New Hampshire regulations.

Local regulators would not be allowed to enact stricter regulations than the state, ensuring that in-state food businesses are lean, productive and safe. The bill also provides penalties for both federal officials or their agents attempting to enforce federal regulations and for producers and processors who label their food as “Made in New Hampshire” when it does not meet “Made in New Hampshire” requirements.

What do you think? Would a “Made in New Hampshire” label assure you that the food is safe? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.

If you use flexible materials to package your products, then you know there are some special challenges to your labeling. The right package creates the appealing image the consumer will notice. But if your labeling is not right, you could lose more than a sale.

For example, over the holidays I received a fine gourmet coffee gift. The packaging was attractive, the product was very good, and I’m sure it was a bit costly. Notice, however, that the product information on the package is unclear. The name of the coffee beans has partially rubbed off, the bar code is unreadable, and some of the serial numbers are gone.

Incorrect Ribbon

If I wanted to purchase this item, I wouldn’t know the name of the product I was looking for. If I were the vendor, I couldn’t be sure that my packages were accurately tracked when they left my shipping dock. Imagine if there was a product recall and the serial or lot numbers were not readable.

The problem with this labeling is that the ribbon used to print the product information does not suit the package. The ribbon was probably a wax ribbon that simply cannot print clear, permanent information on the material used to make the bag.  

Sometimes it’s not a problem with the ribbon matching the package, but with the type of adhesive used on your label.

A local regional distributor of a gourmet brownie mix packaged their product in a coarse-threaded muslin pull-cord bag. They wanted to convey an image of an eco-friendly purveyor of products made with natural ingredients. The challenge was to find a bar coded label with adhesive strong enough to stick to the flexible fibers of the bag for product identification, customer pricing and retail scanning without smudging, falling off, or erosion of print quality. Their first attempt was a label that often fell off and left messy adhesive on the bag. The print would come off on the bag leaving dark smudge marks. The result was a bag of brownie mix without a label to indicate price, country of origin, or bar code information.

Improper Adhesive

We helped this customer create a label with an adhesive that was strong enough to remain on the bag no matter how the contents shifted during handling or transport. If the label needed to be removed, such as when the product was given as a gift, it had to come off completely and leave no sticky residue on the bag.

The right labels and ribbons enhance your products, provide you with valuable information, and keep your customers coming back. There’s a lot to consider when creating the label, so that’s why you should work with us. Our knowledgeable staff will make sure the adhesive is right, that the top coat works with the printer and ribbons, and that the color you need is exactly the color you get. We can help you come up with the most cost-effective, reliable labeling that complies with industry mandates and creates the impression you want.

The Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA) has just updated their guide for formatting, encoding, and placing bar codes on pharmaceuticals. The HDMA is the USA’s association representing primary healthcare distributors, and their aim is the safe and efficient distribution of healthcare products and services. 

As part of their mission, the HDMA creates and exchanges industry knowledge and best practices to enhance the value of the healthcare supply chain. Their new guide, “HDMA Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain 2011” has recently been published to give manufacturers and repackagers the latest information on applying GS1 and HIBCC standard bar codes to packages, cases, and pallets.

The new guide explains how to apply the standards to identify drugs at all levels of packaging as they move through the supply chain. It also has expanded guidance on the use of 2D bar codes and RFID on packages and shipping containers. Previous editions of the guidelines had recommendations on linear bar code technology only, but the recent changes to imaging equipment – better performance and lower cost – have prompted their recommendations for 2D bar coding as well.

Some significant changes you will find include:

• The addition of a unique serial number in the GS1-128 product identification bar code to product case labels
• A recommendation to add an optional 2D GS1 DataMatrix bar code symbol to drug packages and product cases
• A reduction in the bar code dimensions, thus freeing up space on labels for serial numbers
• New information on standardized numerical identifiers (SNIs)

Although the HDMA does not enforce compliance with their guidelines for product case labels, compliance would greatly improve efficiency and accuracy in the pharmaceutical supply chain. If you need more information on the HDMA, or would like a complete list of their guidelines, visit their website.

It is a fact that for many applications, a tablet device with a nice big screen is better than the tiny cramped display of a traditional mobile computer. A lot of businesses have been introducing consumer tablet devices into their operations – particularly the old faithful iPad from Apple.

While this can be great from a function and usability point of view, iPads and other consumer devices are not really tough enough for the industrial world, nor do they have the sophisticated security and device management that IT managers insist on.

Enter the ET1 Enterprise Table from Motorola Solutions. Introduced at the end of last year, the ET1 is clearly intended to combine everything we love about consumer tablet devices with the robustness of more industrial devices.

The ET1 certainly looks to be a lot beefier than an iPad, although at 1.4 lbs, it actually doesn’t weigh a huge amount more.

I think that there is a great opportunity for Motorola or its competitors to fill this void in the market, between the industrial mobile computers and the consumer tablets. A lot of customers I’ve spoken to of late have been wishing more screen real estate and and a more convenient form factor. For people using cloud-based apps, this kind of device will be perfect.

The ET1 looks to be a great start, but there is a ways to go. Being stuck with older version of Android (designed for phones rather than tablets) doesn’t help and having to use the built in camera to scan barcodes sounds painful – although I’m sure Motos Bluetooth barcode scanners will work with the ET1.

There really hasn’t been much exciting in the rugged mobile world for a while (just how many look-alike Windows Mobile devices do we need?) so it is cool to see something new.

What do you think? Is Moto onto something here? Are you wishing Apple would make a rugged iPad?

If you ship to the DoD, you are most likely aware you will need to comply with MIL-STD-129 container and shipment labeling. If your shipment is going to a Defense Logistics Agency depot listed in the DoD contract clause DFARS 252.211-7006, you must comply with the RFID label requirement as well.

The US Government is taking steps to increase pressure to comply with the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) component of MIL-STD-129. >>See Update Here.

Simplify Compliance with MIL-STD-129

There are two things you need to do to comply with MIL-STD-129 – Produce 100% compliant labels and manage the workflow or communicate the related shipment data back to the DoD via ASN. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not exactly but a good place to start is by downloading our e-book, “MIL-STD-129 Container & Shipment Labeling.”

This guide provides a basic understanding of the steps you will need to take to produce your labels and how to manage the related data via the WAWF. Our 1-2-3 steps to compliance covers ways to be sure your labels are in compliance, provide proof to your DCMA, and how you can not only simplify the data transmission process but also save on costs.

For additional information, please contact us or call 603-598-1553.

Joining the RL4 in the Datamax line up of mobile printers is a new family member, the RL3.

The RL3 is a 3 inch wide mobile printer, designed mainly for label printing in retail environments.

Although not specifically intended for those tough industrial applications (that would be the RL4,) RL3 is still pretty robust. It will service up to 26 consecutive 6 foot drops onto concrete so it should be hard to break.

As we’d expect from a modern wireless printer, 802.11 a/b/g protocols are supported and the RL3 has all the security we are likely to need. Plenty of built in printer emulation as well, so RL3 can function happily in ZPL, CPCL, IPL, XML and ExPrint applications.

I’ll add more details as they become available. Right now, DMX says it will accept orders, but deliveries are not expected to start until the 3rd quarter of this year.

Here at Winco ID, we feel we have the best on-site label printer service team in the business. Our customers agree and many have used our service for many years to keep their barcode and label printers working at their best.

We appreciate that many other organizations prefer to take care of their own equipment and have their own technicians carry out any repairs and PMs that might be needed.

If this is you, Winco can still help you.

If you repair your own label printers, you will need parts. We have an extensive stock of parts for most of the popular label printer models. If we don’t have something, we can get it fast – at good pricing as well.

Better yet, we can often provide parts for older models that are no longer supported by the manufacturers – we are really creative at finding ways to keep those old printers up and running.

So if you need a printhead for a Zebra, a network card for a Datamax, a platen roller for an Intermec – contact Winco today!

Oh, you really should check out our barcode printer service plans as well.

A lot of our customers are replacing their Windows XP computers with new Windows 7 ones, having skipped Vista in the process.

As a result, we often get questions about which versions of BarTender and LabelView will run on the new operating system.

According to Seagull and Teklynx, these are the versions of their products we should be using with Windows 7.

Teklynx LabelView: Version 8.5

Seagull BarTender: Version 9.2

If you have these versions (or newer) you should be good to go with Win7. In the event your label software is older than these, you’ll want to think about upgrading.

Of course, we can help with this!

Product ID labels not only help you identify and track your products, but also helps you build your brand identity. Effective product ID labels used for branding help your customers identify and purchase your products. Product ID labels that carry important information, either for the consumer or for inventory tracking,  must last the life of the product. So it makes sense to create product ID labels that are as attractive and eye-catching as they are reliable.

Whatever your environment or need, we have the capability to create the right label for the job. For example, the label in Figure 1 was made for a customer who required waterproof and chemical-resistant labels. The floodcoated polyester label, with reverse printing and a clear glossy over laminate, reflects the customer’s brand and will reliably identify their product.

Figure 1. Floodcoated ID Label

Sometimes product ID labels need to idenify your product, contain product data, and also comply with industry or other standards. The label shown in Figure 2 is a name plate label made from a metallized silver polyester material and is CE approved; the inks, adhesives, and materials all comply with the CE standard. Notice that the label has empty data fields. When the finished product is ready to be labeled, the customer can print their variable data on the preprinted label.

Figure 2. Metallized polyester name plate label

For more than 25 years we have been creating reliable and innovative product ID and other labels for a variety of industries.  Our printing facility can create your labels in any shape, size or color with adhesives, substrates, inks, and over laminates that can withstand extreme temperatures, UV light, or moisture. If you need help with your labeling, give us a call at 1-800-325-5260. Our customer service department can work with you to get the label details right, and our printing department can print the label that will reliably identify and track your products, no matter what.

How do you print a bar code on a label that is less than 1/8th of an inch high? Here’s a simple tip for solving that problem.

The label shown in the figure is a silver polyester label with 3 face slits. The slits divide the one larger label on the liner into 4 very thin labels that you peel and place onto the item you want to mark.  Run the roll of labels through your printer to print the bar code onto the slitted label and you wind up with four very skinny bar coded labels.

Now you have a way to bar code very small components or parts. Using a slitted labeling technique is a convenient way to print multiple labels for various applications. Do you have any interesting tips on better ways to label? Let us know!