Label Applicators: Ways in Which Automatic Label Applicators Optimize Factory Line Production

Businesses all around the world want to reduce production costs and increase front-line efficiency. The Standard Operation Procedure or SOP remains the same across all industries with the common overarching goal being strong production efficiency. 

That is because production efficiency ensures steady supply chains and safe employees. However, most businesses don’t achieve this goal. According to a report, the majority of companies waste 50 percent of their resources.

While several factors affect production efficiency, one of the most important parts is proper labeling on the production line. Investing in an automatic and efficient labeling system results in improved efficiency, throughput, and consistency. Because of this, it’s important to ensure that you research labeling machine manufacturers and do your due diligence to purchase the best possible labeling machine.

There are various kinds of automatic label applicators like corner wrap label applicators, dual-panel label applicators, swing tamp applicators, wipe, and air-assisted roll-on. Every type has a particular usage like corner wrap applicator is useful when a single label has to be applied on adjacent panels. By choosing the right type of automatic label applicator, you get the best return on investment, and here’s how.

Boost Production and Cost Efficiency

As you can already tell, most businesses invest in an automatic label applicator to boost efficiency. This is the most obvious benefit of automating the mundane task of labeling. The other benefit of the automatic label applicator is cost savings. To illustrate, if an automatic label applicator can apply labels on 6,000 products in an hour, compare it with the manual process to do it by hand in terms of man-hours and the metric of the hourly wage for each employee doing the job.

The best way to optimize efficiency is to get an automatic label applicator that’s designed according to the packaging of your product whether it’s a box, bottle, or round product. Rather than going for a generic labeling system opt for a custom one that will serve any unique purpose.

Improve Packaging Throughput

As your efficiency goes up, so does your productivity. Simply put, by boosting labeling capacity, you’ll significantly boost your production and as a result sales as well. There have been records of production rates doubling or even tripling when suitable labeling equipment is employed. 

Businesses with agile labeling applicators are capable of quoting larger orders and accept more projects with ease. After all, it boils down to being able to have more products packed, labeled, and ready to be shipped. While labeling can be a real bottleneck, with automatic label applicators the going gets smooth and you’ll be able to fulfill more orders than before.

Maintain Quality Control and Consistency

Automatic label applicators also ensure strict quality control and consistency in label application. They save, minimize, and often eliminate the cost of rework caused due to manual application mistakes. While your employees might be very efficient, they’re only human, and to err is human. It’s common to have irregular label placement and missed application, which often gets fined by big box stores and even cost you the business if you’re in fields like food or pharmaceuticals.

Moreover, if you are ramping up the production, the risk of such labeling errors also goes up. Therefore, quality control is imperative when ramping up the throughput. If quality control is not ingrained in the product design, it may lead to some serious damage. In just a hot minute you might end up with hundreds of packaging that need to be relabelled. And if the adhesive is too strong, you might simply have to trash them.

Automatic labeling systems often come with scanners that mitigate the errors mentioned above. These scanners can identify wrongly labeled products in the system and remove them from the lineup. Additionally, these machines are capable of halting the entire process until the fault is corrected.

Optimize Usage

A well-designed and easy-to-use labeling applicator will help in increasing saving and production capacity across industries. Thanks to the increased efficiency that they bring along, automatic label applicators also save time and overall cost of production for the business.

Businesses that opt for an easy-to-use design for label applicators have fewer downtimes due to labeling mistakes and fewer training issues. Additionally, employees get an in-depth understanding of how to best use the automatic applicator to increase production.

However, what’s most important is that your employees will be more willing to use it if the label applicator is easy-to-use. Since it makes their job easier, they will want it to run at its best.

Lastly, know that not all label applicators are ready-to-go solutions to your problems. You’ll need to tweak the machine to work the best for your business. A labeling investment will increase your ROI and show results that you can take to the bank.