If you’re preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, you’ll want to be sure your pack labelling is up to speed.
(skip to 8:53 to see the labelling part)
At my peak order volume, a couple of dozen boxes in a day is easy to handle, but even that’s slow and painful if you’re copying and pasting into A4 sheet labels.
You may not be ready to compete with Amazon’s SLAM system, but there are plenty of desktop options before that. I’ve created a round up of some of the options. The models featured aren’t designed to be an endorsement, I chose them to make you aware of the range of options you can scale up through.
The DYMO thermal printer.
My first labelling purchase and still going strong after 20 years.
Copy and paste your address into the Dymo software. They can also be connected to spreadsheets, make barcodes and QR codes.
Very easy to use, quicker than A4 sheet labels.
My first “automated” labeller. Combined with Royal Mail Click & Drop, my 6×4″ labels are all printed on this. No more copying and pasting. There are loads of Chinese brand versions. They’re all thermal printers for about £100. Search for “6×4 printer.” The labels come on a roll or zig zag folded so you don’t have to feed individual labels. Very quick and easy to use.
The industry standard version of thermal printers would be the likes of a Zebra. These do the same job but are much more robust and serviceable.
The next step up is speed. The likes of this SATO thermal printer will output 14″/355mm per second.
AIS in Ireland is a stockist:
What comes next is what I would call proper automation, where more work is done for you. This entry level “print and apply” machine prints and sticks your label. The printer is the SATO model above, combined with a Weber Legi Air 2050 applicator.
Hopefully this provides an insight into the small ecommerce label packing world of automation. When you’re past the print and apply size, you’re moving quickly into the production line, or inline systems as they’re known, for use with conveyor belts.