Bar Code Label Creativity Pays Off For VAR
This VAR found a niche in designing bar code labeling solutions for harsh manufacturing environments.
We spend a lot of time and ink writing about bar code, many times in the context of regulatory compliance. We haven’t spent much time writing about what it takes to produce a bar code tag that will withstand wind speeds of 70 mph in a variety of environmental conditions such as 0 to 100-degree temperatures, snow, sleet, rain, and extreme humidity. But, it is that type of bar code labeling challenge that has produced consistent 20% annual sales growth for Antibus Scales & Systems in Fort Wayne, IN.
Antibus recently identified a bar code opportunity in the manufacturing sector with Portland Forge, a previous scale customer of Antibus. Portland produces forgings that are stored and transported in heavy-duty wire baskets. The inventory of baskets is located outdoors and is transported via open flatbed truck. In order to track inventory, Portland needed to attach a bar code label to each basket. Standard paper bar code label stock and ink would not hold up in the harsh outdoor conditions.
“We worked with Datamax Pioneer and Avery Dennison to design a rugged label that would be durable enough to withstand the harsh conditions,” explains Mike Smith, who is a sales engineer for Antibus. Datamax Pioneer is a label converter that specializes in color preprinting services for custom label products. Avery Dennison provided the polyester thermal transfer label stock to Datamax Pioneer. Together, the companies experimented with various types of polyester tag stock and wax ribbons until they came up with a tag and wax/resin ribbon combination that performed well in the harsh environment. Datamax Pioneer punched a hole in the 4-inch by 6-inch label so it could be attached to each basket of forgings and placed the labels on an 8-inch roll for printing. Portland uses a Zebra 105SL thermal bar code printer to produce the labels, which are attached to the baskets with a wire tie. “With the new design, labels stay attached to the baskets and are readable by the Intermec bar code scanners, even after exposure to extreme weather conditions,” adds Smith. “We wrote the custom bar code software application that tracks Portland’s finished goods inventory.”
Vendor Referral Leads To Multiple Bar Code Projects
After the success of the Portland project, Antibus got a referral from Intermec to produce a bar code labeling solution for another harsh environment application. This manufacturer produces large spools of wire. Some of the spools are stored outdoors at the company’s North Carolina location and transported via open flatbed truck. The customer needed a dual-purpose bar code tag that could also be applied as an adhesive label. Again, Antibus worked with Datamax Pioneer and Avery Dennison to design a durable tag with a strong adhesive backing. A hole is punched in the tag for attachment to the larger spools of wire. Tags are applied as labels directly to smaller wood, metal, or plastic spools of wire. The 4-inch by 6-inch and 2-inch by 4-inch labels are printed using a Datamax M4208 printer with a wax/resin ribbon. A Symbol Technologies LS2208 handheld bar code scanner reads the tags and sends the tag data to a bar code software application that was developed by the customer for finished goods tracking. The durability and readability of the tags have met the customer’s expectations.
Piggybacking on the success of that installation, Antibus will provide a similar bar code solution for the parent company located in Kokomo, IN. In this application, the customer requires a larger weather-resistant tag (4-inch by 13-inch) with no adhesive. Datamax M4208 printers with wax/resin ribbons will be used to produce the tags. This is a wireless system that requires 20 Intermec CK31 portable bar code scanners and Intermec WA21 wireless access points. Smith expects the project to be complete and operational as this issue goes to press.