At Custom Label, we cheer for small businesses and start-ups! Sure, we love our big customers too, but it’s great to see a new company knock it out of the park. We were all a “small fry” at one point, right? With Custom Label’s digital printing capabilities we ar often approached by pre-market start-ups wanting to produce their first labels. Each week we are approached with the question “How much for 100 labels?” Or 50, or 10, or…. This blog entry is devoted to answering the question: “When is an order too small?”
At the risk of answering with a question, “How much can you spend per label?”. We can print an order of just 1 label, but the cost for that 1 label will be very high. At Custom Label, we have state-of-the-art digital printing cabilities, very economical for printing small runs. That press, however, is not a simple machine. For all of our orders we must “prep” the art, obtain customer approval of the proofs, calibrate the press, print the labels in roll form, and die-cut and laminate them in a second machine. You can see how the labor hours add up even on a small order. For that reason it is common that the total order cost doesn’t vary much for orders under 1,000 labels. The chart below shows this concept. Buying 500 labels only costs an extra $15 versus an order of 100!
For this hypothetical label, the pricing for 100 Labels is $3,600/M (per 1,000 labels) or $360 for the order. Most of the cost is set-up of the machinery. For 500 Labels, the cost is $750 /M or $375 for the total order. Once the machine is setup and running, it doesn’t cost that much more for 5 times as many labels. As quantities grow, however, the setup costs are “amortized” and the material costs and run labor become more important. See how the 5,000 Label run drops to $ 130 / M, or only $650 for the total order?
What do I do if I really only need 100 Labels?
It all depends on the goal of your label. If your label is going to the boardroom to show your CEO a mock-up of your product, by all means a professional label is needed. Custom Label can produce a 1st Class prototype label for you. But what if you only need 100 labels to test our your new product at a local Swap Meet or Famer’s Market? Here are some less expensive solutions:
Desktop Printer Label Sheets: The major office supply stores all carry label sheets in many sizes for printing on your desktop inkjet or color laser printer in both paper and film versions. The printing will sub-professional and the materials will be inferior, but may be fine for your simple requirements.
Specialty Label Printers: Office supply stores also sell simple inkjet and thermal printers from manufacturers like Dymo and Brother, that plug into your computer. They are limited in the size of label media they can print and most only print with Black. Many simple printers like these are under $150 - but the consumable costs can be very expensive.
Industrial Thermal Transfer Label Printers: If your label requirements are significant and black printing is acceptable you can purchase an industrial thermal transfer machine. These high-end desktop printers plug into your computer, and are controlled by specialty software. Up to 1200 dpi printing can be obtained, but be ready to spend several thousand dollars on hardware and software.
Give us a call at Custom Label and we can help you decide the best path for your labels. Even if you use one of the alternatives above to get started, Custom Label will be ready to jump in when your quantities climb and you need a High Quality label solution!
In light of our recent certification, it’s probably helpful to summarize the benefits of ISO 9001. From our experience one of the key benefits is the integration of all quality initiatives into one system. Many company’s evolve with quality procedures, documents, and forms scattered throughout the business. With ISO 9001, the Quality Management System organizes and maintains these various processes. The heart of the QMS is the Quality Policy and Quality Goals and Objectives. All other procedures are developed to support the company’s quality vision. As each area builds systems and procedures that support the Quality Policy and Quality Goals the improvement is seen in all areas. Key benefits reported by ISO Registered company’s include:
The custom wine label was produced to commemorate an international training event hosted by the Alameda County Sheriff’s department. 60 Police Dogs and their handlers came from across the United States and 4 countries. An example of the international delegation, the Phillipines sent two canine officers to learn the latest canine training techniques. They say that since Sept. 11, 2001 police dogs have become a very important weapon against their war on terror. Custom Label was glad to donate this short run of custom digital labels to the cause - celebrating the Alameda County Sheriff’s Deparment’s role as a leader in canine law enforcement. 
The other label we provided was a simple gold label for the K-9 unit. This short run was used for promotional items at the conference, but we just received a call from the Sheriff’s Department asking for longer run quotes. It seems the labels were a big hit and many of the officer’s were asking for a few printed label rolls to carry with them. Great handouts for children who come in contact with the K-9 Officers!
Although the consumer never sees it, the liner is a critical component of any pressure sensitive label. A label liner, also known as “carrier” or “backing” or “release liner”, serves a very important purpose: carrying the die-cut labels to applicator and releasing the adhesive-backed label onto the product. The diagram below shows how diecut labels are released from the liner. 
Conventional wisdom indicates that during recessionary periods, new businesses appear at a higher rate. Terminated employees strike out on their own, determined to take control of their future. For many an entrepreneur, they are in un-chartered waters. Custom Label works daily with these heroes of industry. We are often contacted with the generic question “I’ve got a bottle and I need to put a label on it!”. Just this week I was contacted by a start-up, and the owner said “my bottler told me I need a pressure-sensitive label, whatever that is!” In this blog entry I will answer that question, and help you understand how we ended up with this product called “pressure-sensitive”.
With Earth Day nearly at an end, I started wondering. Who declared the first Earth Day, and why? Did they realize how important environmental awareness would become, and at the same time how polarizing an issue?
responsible for stabilizing its own population. It can be done.” Quite a different spin on environmentalism! Even more ironic, one popular environmental concern cited “imminent cooling” of the earth’s surface and “glaciation” as a significant threat to our environment! A downward temperature trend was observed during the 30 year period preceding 1970 which alarmed some scientists, and led to the popular fear of “Global Cooling”.
Whether our planet is cooling or heating, one thing is certain. We should all do our best to use earth’s resources wisely and reduce waste. Custom Label is ready to help you find packaging materials that are environmentally friendly. Our Digital Label press is a perfect example. Digital printing has significantly lower material waste than traditional flexography, letterpress, or rotogravure. By running an order digitally we avoid the need to “set-up” the press while running waste stock through the press. Selecting an eco-friendly label stock is also a way to green up your package. We offer a range of facestocks that have higher post-consumer-waste content. There are also bio-degradable and compostable materials that Custom Label can propose for your labels. We even have renewable materials, such as tree-free bamboo papers, where the source plant can be replenished faster than the consumption rate. Give your representative a call, Custom Label would welcome the opportunity to help you create a more eco-friendly package!