There are ramifications for damaged and incorrect labels. There is also an easy way to avoid them.

What drives the requirement for accurate, high-quality labels? With so much hanging in the balance for manufacturers and retailers competing on a global scale, there’s no good reason to ignore the need for label quality. Mislabeled packaging could have consequences that range from wasted product to (potentially severe) consumer health issues. For example:

• Undeclared ingredients can lead to allergic reactions and recalls. (Did you know inaccurate labels are one of the top reasons for food recalls?)
• Missing marks can lead to fines.
• Unscannable labels can lead to costly returns and chargebacks.
• Illegible labels can lead to reprints, reporting errors and even lost inventory – all of which waste labor and financial resources.

And these are just a few of the many reasons why it’s critical to ensure the accuracy and legibility of product and packaging labels. Today, I want to point out the four things that most often prompt organizations to reevaluate their labeling strategies and ultimately invest in label verification technology solutions:  

1. General product traceability

Product traceability, in a general sense, is essential for consumer safety, regulatory compliance and overall quality perception. If there’s a problem with a product, traceability allows the consumer, retailer or another entity to quickly locate and segregate defective products. This is especially beneficial in the event of a recall and to ensure compliance with regulatory mandates, such as those that improve visibility into the location and use of medical equipment, raw materials and more.

In fact, companies paid up to $24 billion USD in recalls in 2018 for reasons including misprinted labels, and just last year a major auto manufacturer was fined $20 million for failing to adhere to recall procedures mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a government body. The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) has even defined common transport label standards to facilitate the easy and compliant movement of goods and the exchange of data among all members of the supply chain.

2. Life sciences industry regulations

In most life science-related industries, and particularly in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, there are regulatory requirements requiring that labels are legible, show the correct content, and contain barcodes of a minimum quality.  

Noncompliance with respect to labeling can lead to warning letters from regulatory bodies and recalls. In fact, label issues have historically been one of the top three causes of recalls in the pharmaceutical industry. According to the Sedgwick Brand Protection Recall Index, there was a 22% increase in medical device recalls from 2019 to 2020.

Large retailers are also working to ensure quality compliance for pharmaceutical products. Amazon, for example, has begun imposing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements on firms selling supplements on its U.S. site. If a seller can’t demonstrate this compliance, the product will be removed. And the European Union (EU) has enacted strict traceability standards for pharmaceutical drug manufacturers to help mitigate the risk of counterfeit items entering the supply chain.

3. Customer-driven labeling specifications

Many manufacturers of higher value or higher risk items rely on proprietary, serialized label content to help mitigate the risk of counterfeit products entering the supply chain. Label authenticity can be controlled and verified by means of label inspection and serialization.

As an example, the recent report of counterfeit N95 masks entering the supply chain highlights the need for anti-counterfeiting strategies. Plus, compliance with GS1 labeling standards has been a key investment driver for verification infrastructure in regards to the serialization of retail merchandise and healthcare products.

4. Safety and brand protection

Most retailers require their suppliers to conform to certain specifications that define label content and printing quality. If retailers cannot receive product due to a poor-quality barcode or incorrect information within the barcode, they often return the product and issue a financial penalty to the supplier.  

For example, one manufacturer of brooms and mops incurred costs in excess of $100,000 due to the use of an incorrect barcode type on the product packaging. This issue led to the manufacturer adopting a printer-integrated label inspection system to avoid such errors in the future.

THE POWER OF PRINTER-INTEGRATED LABEL INSPECTION

Printer-integrated label inspection systems are a highly effective way to prevent labeling errors and ensure that only high-quality barcodes make it onto final packaging. These systems are capable of analyzing 100% of all labels produced in a way that doesn’t slow down production. If an error is discovered, the system can be programmed to stop all printing immediately. 

In the long run, automated label inspection can dramatically increase a company’s competitive advantage by minimizing the likelihood of hefty fines or dissatisfaction among retailers and consumers.

Not every barcode label is created equal. There are thousands of different label and tag materials available – each with their own set of features that affect durability and printer performance. To ensure your labels match your needs, our material sciences experts have pre-tested, selected and certified the highest-performing label and tag materials to assure durable print and minimal printer wear and tear, while also considering your budget and application.

Extensive Pre-Testing

When we say we test our labels, we mean it. Our supplies go through rigorous testing across a wide range of printers, print speeds and darkness settings to ensure print quality and durability. We also test them in harsh conditions using specialized equipment to rate durability to outdoor elements, abrasion, harsh chemicals and extreme temperatures to provide only the toughest labels guaranteed to fit your purpose—and go the distance.

Every Type of Label

With more than 400 stocked ZipShip paper and synthetic labels and tags – all ready to ship within 24 hours – Zebra has the right label and tag on hand for your application. From synthetic materials to basic paper solutions, custom to compliance requirements, hard-to-label surfaces to easy-to-remove labels, or tamper-evident to tear-proof, we have more than 90 material options to meet your unique needs.

Unmatched Quality

Other manufacturers swap out materials to increase their profits – leaving you high and dry when your labels don’t perform like they used to. Instead of substituting materials, Zebra utilizes an ISO 9001 certified, 23-point quality inspection to ensure consistent quality. And, we only use thermal-compatible inks and varnishes to safeguard printer performance.

1. Label adherence. Adhesive performance can vary based on the surface type and shape. A Supplies expert can tell you quickly which labels are designed, pre-tested and certified to adhere directly to various materials. In turn, you can be confident that the labels you affix to your products, packages or pallets will remain secured for years.
2. Print and label durability. Each thermal material and ribbon on the market today has a different temperature, environmental and chemical resistance, and it can be hard to know a label’s resistance and tolerance to various elements without an expert’s assistance. Fortunately, they’ll be able to help you confirm whether or not the label can endure exposures or contacts with certain chemicals, fluids, radiation, weather elements and more.
3. Label compliance with industry and customer compliance requirements. It’s not always easy to confirm which labels are suitable for use on electronics, food and beverage items, medical devices, automobile components and other products where ID labels are required to have special markings. Our Supplies team experts can help you quickly identify which labels are compliant with UL/cUL, FDA 175.105, UID, Globally Harmonized System (GHS), Unique Device Identification (UDI) and GM 14573 mandates, for example.
4. Label security. Tamper-evident labels are often demanded by retail customers and others who are prone to losses from counterfeit goods, product contamination or even “clearance fraud”.
5. Printer ribbon compatibility with the various product ID labels. Not all thermal ribbons are compatible with all thermal materials.  When the ribbon is not compatible with the material, the print easily rubs off or disappears when subjected to abrasion, making the product unidentifiable. 
6. Label quality and authenticity. This isn’t broadly advertised, but many supplies manufacturers will substitute materials used to produce labels, ribbons and other components, and that can severely impact the quality and performance of your labels. (For the record, Zebra never substitutes materials or ribbon formulations for any reason once we spec them in. You will always get the exact same supplies at the exact same quality. All of our supplies are also ISO 9001:2015 certified via strict quality control processes to ensure reliable, consistent performance.)
7. Customization flexibility. It’s important to work with a Supplies manufacturer that can create labels in any size and configuration and, if needed, pre-print static information and branding. Zebra is authorized to pre-print the UL mark.  This will help you reduce waste, (again) ensure compliance and reduce labeling-related delays when you’re trying to go to market with new products.