Why is Pallet Labelling Important?

Pallet labelling provides traceability. It gives every part of the supply chain the ability to track a product back to the batch it was made from. 

Different industries also have to comply with various regulations, whether adhering to the GS1 standard for retail production or making sure that pallets are Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) compliant.

But it’s not just about traceability. Products and inventory need to be effectively managed. Logistics operators need to be able to quickly identify what is being shipped and to whom. Shops need to know how much stock they hold to understand what’s available to sell and when to re-order. All of this needs to happen quickly, easily, and in a standardised way which more often than not, means barcode labels.

Beyond understanding why barcode labels are essential for pallets, there are some specifics not to be overlooked:

  1. Readability – labels must be easy to scan, readable by all sorts of scanning devices throughout the supply chain, and appropriately positioned with no creases.
  2. Data accuracy – labels must contain the correct information about the product. 
  3. Number of labels – two is the standard minimum to allow a pallet to be easily identified on a warehouse rack regardless of orientation, but three are often required.

Getting any part of this wrong opens up the possibility of a product being rejected, which is costly, wastes significant time and does nothing for your reputation as a trusted supplier. The message here is that barcode labelling is critical but getting it right is even more so.

What is Print and Apply Pallet Labelling?

There are several ways to apply barcode labels to pallets. It can be done manually, where a human prints each label individually and applies it by hand. But this is a very labour-intensive method, and the opportunity for mistakes is high.

Or there is a fully automated approach, also known as print and apply pallet labelling. In its simplest form, a print and apply pallet labeller prints a label with all the data relevant to the product and applies it onto the outside packaging in one step and as an integrated stage of the production line. 

Automating your labelling process means minimum human intervention, which offers consistency and accuracy and saves employee time for redeployment elsewhere on your production line. Automated labelling is also much quicker, so it’s possible to produce, pack and ship more products.

Different types of automatic pallet labellers 

Once you’ve decided to move to an automated pallet labelling system, the next step is to specify how you want it to work for your business.

Our pallet labelling machines can print and apply on two or three faces of a pallet. In addition, our two-sided label printer applicator machine is highly innovative in that two adjacent sides can be printed without stopping the pallet on the line, further increasing productivity and throughput. 

Our three-sided pallet printer applicator was developed to allow for adjacent and opposite side labelling without the need to rotate the pallet on your production line. Instead, the machine moves around the pallet.

Both machine types can also include verification and validation equipment which analyses barcode quality and checks each barcode is correct

Different machines apply labels for different purposes, but all of our print and apply labellers are built to adhere to the relevant rules and regulations for specific industries and to minimise the risk of production rejections. 

Find Out More About Our Labelling Systems

If you’d like to know more about pallet labelling or how automatic labelling machines can be integrated into your business, get in touch with our team for a short discovery call today.