Sticker printing

[Jordan210]

Hi guys. After a little bit of help.

Boss has asked me to look in to printing some GS1 standard data matrix barcodes as a small round sticker with a colour accent. We will need quite a few 0000's.

Is this something that is doable in house or will the cost of the printing equipment be far too high to justify this.


What sort of printer would we need, I assume a printer with a cutter built in. Or can I save costs with pre cut stickers.


Thanks

[ReverendCounter]

If you're doing this on an ongoing basis over a period of years it will be more cost effective to do it in house, but it would take a lot of stress out of the job to have a printer/print finisher take care of the process.

In house you'd probably be looking at a printer-plotter which might be inkjet. If you're not using the machine regularly there can be issues with inks drying so therefore maintenance. There may also be issues with the plotter not cutting in the right position accurately ('registration') leading to further waste.

Outsourcing this, you might get an all-in quote. This would mean the cost of supplying the material, processing any artwork, doing any additional design/changes, having a cutting forme made up (the die which cuts out the sticker outline), printing, cutting, packaging, delivery.

A usual it depends on quantities, frequency of the requirement and of course budget.

[matjk]

Are all the datamatrix codes the same ? Or are they variable . I have some experience in this field

[Jordan210]

matjk said:

Are all the datamatrix codes the same ? Or are they variable . I have some experience in this field

Variable.

[Jordan210]

ReverendCounter said:

If you're doing this on an ongoing basis over a period of years it will be more cost effective to do it in house, but it would take a lot of stress out of the job to have a printer/print finisher take care of the process.

In house you'd probably be looking at a printer-plotter which might be inkjet. If you're not using the machine regularly there can be issues with inks drying so therefore maintenance. There may also be issues with the plotter not cutting in the right position accurately ('registration') leading to further waste.

Outsourcing this, you might get an all-in quote. This would mean the cost of supplying the material, processing any artwork, doing any additional design/changes, having a cutting forme made up (the die which cuts out the sticker outline), printing, cutting, packaging, delivery.

A usual it depends on quantities, frequency of the requirement and of course budget.

Thanks for the reply. Interesting reading and food for thought. Looks like outsourcing would be slightly easier to start off with.

[matjk]

Sent you a PM