Desktop and mobile labeling solutions for Manufacturing.

Many manufacturing operations, such as those producing industrial and commercial machinery, transportation equipment and electronic components, often manufacture smaller quantities of products. These companies face labeling logistics and procurement challenges outside of an ERP or MRP management system, such as manufacturing high-value but low-volume products, a short production run for specific OEM customers, or even custom-tooled machine parts. Their production runs may only be as small as one or two pieces or range up to a few hundred pieces, but the need for component, serial number labels, part number labels, UL/CSA recognized labels, asset labels and / or barcoded labels for tracking through a manufacturing process is virtually the same as for higher-volume manufacturers. They can face a substantial risk purchasing large minimum quantities of pre-printed labels, and replacing pre-printed labels can be expensive and difficult to manage. Procuring pre-printed labels is also fading with the implementation of lean or just-in-time manufacturing practices.

The working environments of these manufacturers can include exposure to harsh conditions with extreme temperatures, abrasion, pressure washing, chemicals, solvents, grease and other machine lubricants used in the manufacturing, testing and calibration processes. While there are many commercial sources for custom / pre-printed labels that can tolerate these conditions, the need for high-durability labels that are printed on-demand is becoming just as strong for many manufacturers.

Brother™ offers a wide range of manufacturing label solutions that can be integrated into existing manufacturing processes or developed into application-specific standalone solutions, including: