Why digitally printed labels are perfect for clinical environments
There are many different reasons as to why digitally printed labels are perfect for clinical environments. In this blog, we will be going into detail about four of these benefits how CS Labels can help.
Variable Data / Barcodes / QR Codes
Ever tried to scan a barcode and it doesn’t work? It’s frustrating, isn’t it! It’s usually down to print quality, which the scanner can’t read. With digital print, it’s not something you need to worry about.
Our digital presses run at 1200dpi and with dry toner, there’s no bleed and lovely straight lines or shading which is perfect for barcodes, QR codes etc. Another huge benefit to digital print is the ability to print projects, both in high and low volume with variable data. Need every label to be unique? No problem.
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Very Fine Text Can Be Printed for File
Clinical labels are used on a range of different products and items, for example, test tubes. Test tubes as we know are small so making sure that the information on the label is readable is extremely important. But why?
Test tubes are widely used by chemists to handle chemicals, especially for qualitative experiments and assays. So, making sure that you have a label containing all the necessary information on a test tube is vital; not only do you want to make sure that the labels on your product follow the PS 9000 accredited guidelines, but you want to ensure that the customer can easily read all the information on the label.
The information that you will usually find on the clinical label for test tubes is the patient's name, the patient's medical record number with check digit and the patient’s location (home address/postcode).
The big issue with this, however, is fitting all the information needed onto the small label. This is where CS Labels come in!
All our clinical labels are manufactured to strict quality standards to ensure readability for even the smallest text, and with our data variables abilities, we are able to apply data, series or any other required information while making sure that we are following the PS 9000 accredited guidelines.
Do you need a lot of information on a small label? If so, why not consider using peel and reveal labels? They’re perfect for all settings and are really popular in clinical environments too. If you’d like to find more about peel and reveal labels feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of our team today.
Dry Toner Label Printing
Before we get into the benefits of using dry toner label printing. We need to make sure we understand what it is. So, what is it?
Dry toner label printing has been the industry’s standard in terms of quality and reliability for years and has proven its effectiveness. Involved in the process is an organic photo-conductor drum (better known as an OPC drum) which is first charged to a uniform negative potential. The next step in the process is the image, the image to be printed is formed by the print that transmits light onto the surface of the drum through an LED array in the areas where the image will be.
In the areas of the OPC drum that are exposed to light, the photoconductor layer begins to become conductive. The result of this is that a latent electrostatic image is formed, which can then be developed by depositing toner particles of the chosen colour onto the drum. Once this has been completed, the developed image that has been formed by the toner particles on the OPC drum can be transferred to the substrate and the remaining toner particles can be removed so that the next image to be printed can’t be contaminated. So, what are the benefits?
Unlike your solvent or water-based printing systems, dry toner is transported to the substrate through the air, meaning that there is no additional drying time to let the water or solvent evaporate. When it comes to your clinical labels, you want to ensure consumers that you have the ability to keep up with the demands for your labels. Also, by reducing the time it takes to manufacture your labels, you not only will be saving yourself time but also money which will lead to greater profits.
Another benefit of using dry toner is quality. Dry toner has the edge over solvent and water-based printing systems due to the fact that dry toner isn’t absorbed by the substrate meaning, that it always achieves an optimal optical density. When it comes to your clinical labels, you want to be able to provide consumers with high quality, reliable print. By using the dry toner method, you can do just that.
Over printable and Over writable
You may require your clinical labels to have the ability to be written on. This is where over printable and overwritable come in. But what are they?
Often, especially in clinical environments, clinical labels need to be written on. For example, when taking someone’s blood, you need to have a label that allows you to write down not only the patients name but also their blood type and sometimes their signature on the tubes or even ticks or something that needs to be recorded that you can’t have printed on the label beforehand.
Using the example of taking blood, the reason this is an important feature for clinical labels, you need to be able to not only track where the blood that you have sent off for testing is, but you need to ensure that you don’t muddle up a patients test results by not labelling the tube that the blood is in.
Following on, you may have a product that requires a best before or sell-by date meaning that you need to have a label that allows you to add this onto your product. This is where over printable labels come in.
Over printable labels are pretty self-explanatory, these labels allow suppliers to add additional information onto the label; this information may be sold by dates and best before dates as previously mentioned or even unique reference numbers. The reason this is important for clinical labels is that like food, medicines have an expiry date, so making sure that you have the ability to add the correct best by date is vital in order to prevent a customer taking home and using out of date medicine.
To Conclude
There are a lot of benefits as to why you should use clinical labels, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for part two of this blog.
If you have any questions that you would like to ask or if you want to find out more about clinical labels, feel free to get in touch and speak to a member of the CS Labels team to-day on 01902 365840 or send us an email on sales@cslabels.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.