When working with hazardous materials or chemicals, there are multiple risks that businesses face if a product is mislabeled or non-compliant, such as hefty fines, interruptions in the supply chain, and most crucial, safety risks. To help ensure regulatory compliance, improve efficiencies in operation and mitigate safety hazards, businesses can benefit from bringing their industrial label printing – from manufacturing to distribution – in-house.

Epson, Teklynx and Avery Dennison came together to host a webinar to expand on the logistics and benefits of in-house industrial labeling on Thursday, June 3. Representatives discussed the technologies for in-house color labeling and how the combined solution enables industrial organizations to easily create and print high-volume GHS-compliant labels for various label sizes and product SKUs.

The webinar explored how Epson ColorWorks on-demand label printers and Teklynx's Codesoft barcode label software provide businesses with automation and control over the entire labeling process – from design, artwork, review, and approval of the label – to ensure quality, accuracy and alignment to tackle GHS compliance with fewer headaches.

“The ability to produce durable on-demand color labels with ultra‑sharp text and accurate barcodes is incredibly important in industrial manufacturing,” says Andrew Moore, product manager, commercial label printers, Epson America. “Epson ColorWorks printers deliver water-resistant labels that are smudge, smear and fade resistant, and they're BS‑5609 certified and chemical resistant, providing businesses with peace of mind.”

The webinar expanded on the advantages of in-house labeling, including:

• Regulatory compliance: The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) require color printing and labeling, such as the inclusion of symbols, statements, identification, and more, to accurately display health and safety information for the handling of chemical products. Most manufacturing and distribution facilities operate in harsh environments, so the technology, as well as the labels, need to hold up under extreme conditions. In addition, labels need to be water resistant, and not smudge, smear or fade. A comprehensive color label solution, like Epson’s ColorWorks label printers with Teklynx Codesoft barcode label software and Avery Dennison materials, can help ensure compliance with existing and future chemical labeling requirements by granting businesses the ability to create and print color labels in facility and on-demand.
• Improving efficiencies in operation: Because a product cannot be sent out of a facility for shipment without first being labeled, the label printing process is paramount. The use of pre-printed labels – using pre-printed color labels and adding variable data in-house with a thermal printer – and the associated manual label changes can result in errors. With an in-house color label printing solution, businesses can eliminate the need to manage inventory of pre-printed label stock and benefit from no downtime associated with waiting for pre-printed label inventory, streamlined inventory tracking and consistency, and reduce the risk of delayed shipments.
• Mitigate safety hazards: GHS requires label formats to be standardized and produced with colorful elements/symbols to ensure workers can clearly identify the chemical product being handled. Color can better communicate technical information to production staff, management and employees by focusing attention, grouping elements and effectively distinguishing important information from its surrounding context. Color labels can increase comprehension of information by as much as 73%, ultimately resulting in reduction of errors in processes that could potentially result in harm.

“Compliance with GHS is critical for many companies, so lean and easy-to-use labeling is paramount,” comments Scott Fabian, enterprise sales engineer, Teklynx International. “Teklynx software combined with Epson’s ColorWorks on-demand label printers bring more control and stability to the warehouse floor.”