Challenges Of Reusable Packaging Labeling
Industrial shipping containers and reusable packaging are the backbone of global supply chains, and the choice material in pallet manufacturing is plastic, due to its durability, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. Plastic pallets require various forms of customization, including branding content (logos, phone numbers, etc.), tracking information (serialization, barcoding, etc.), and colored stripes.
Pallet manufacturers utilize various labeling methods to achieve these features but face serious limitations due to the characteristics of plastic, including a highly non-stick surface, high expansion/contraction rates, and incompatibility with foreign materials like inks and adhesives.
Avoid These Problems When Labeling Reusable Packaging & Shipping Containers
Despite the many benefits of plastic utilization in the manufacturing of industrial pallets, the natural characteristics of plastic create problems when it comes to labeling.
Plastic is naturally non-stick, expands and contracts at high rates, and goes through a microscopic process called ‘outgassing’, all of which cause labels to bubble, fade, and peel off entirely.
When it comes to pallets, this presents big issues as a pallet lacking proper labeling is at a higher risk of being mishandled, misplaced, and potentially even stolen.
The Reusable Packaging Black Market
Every year, just under 1 billion dollars of packaging, largely consisting of plastic pallets and shipping containers, are replaced due to misplacement or theft. Plastic pallets are typically sold by thieves to recyclers, who grind up the pallets and sell the “regrind” material back to plastic manufacturers.
Due to the lack of a truly permanent labeling solution, these multi-hundred-million-dollar crime operations are extremely hard to trace and prevent.
Polymer Fusion Labeling technology not only offers a lasting solution for branding but can also incorporate elements like serialization, RFID technology, D-TECT™ authentication, and customizable striped designs with text. This innovation has the potential to significantly reduce the risks of misplacement and theft of plastic pallets.
The Best Way To Label Reusable Packaging, Dunnage or Plastic Pallets
Label failure creates serious liability issues for the pallet industry, and the global supply chain. The solution that answers the problem of labeling plastic pallets from a completely new angle is Polymer Fusion Labeling.
Rather than using adhesives and inks in an attempt to stick to the surface of plastic, Polymer Fusion Labels are actually made of plastic, and can be melted into a plastic pallet using heat, ensuring the two are combined for life.
These labels can provide branding, serialization, RFID technology, one-of-a-kind D-TECT™ authentication for theft-prevention, and pallet stripes with custom text.
Since Polymer Fusion Labeling is comprised of the same material as reusable packaging and the pallets themselves, these labels can withstand all the same harsh environments with no effect on permanency. Use of Polymer Fusion also means the labels are 100% recyclable along with the pallet at the end of its lifecycle.
Reusable Packaging & Pallet Theft Prevention and Tracking With D-TECT™ Authentication
Not only does Polymer Fusion Labeling provide the only truly permanent labels for plastic pallets, but these labels can be integrated with a technology known as D-TECT™, which fuses highly tunable microscopic crystals into the surface of your pallet.
These crystals serve as a sort of traceable “DNA” in your part and can be detected even after the part is reground, giving authorities verifiable evidence that theft has occurred. By combining Polymer Fusion Labeling and D-TECT™ technology with a plastic pallet, misplacement and theft can be significantly reduced, if not eliminated entirely.
A Note On Operational Efficiency Of Polymer Fusion Labeling
An additional benefit of using Polymer Fusion Labeling for plastic pallets may lie in the form of operational efficiency.
Traditional labeling methods such as hot stamping have slow changeover times, require fine tuning, and struggle with uneven wall thicknesses and sink marks on plastic parts.
Many plastic manufacturers have found that the Polymer Fusion Labeling process increases efficiency due to quicker changeover, repeatability, and reduced scrap rates.
The Cost Of Inaction From Not Choosing a Polymer Fusion Label
For manufacturers of plastic pallets, permanent labeling for branding and tracking applications could make millions of dollars’ worth of difference. To settle for labels that peel and fade is to settle for misplacement and theft, and to settle for inefficient processes is to settle for higher scrap and lower profit.
There is a better way to label plastic, and it is Polymer Fusion Labeling technology from Mold In Graphic Systems.
Contact us today to learn more about how Polymer Fusion Labeling can improve your process and your plastic pallets. Discover how Mold In Graphics or Mold On Graphics from Mold In Graphic Systems can be the the best way to label reusable packaging, shipping containers and plastic pallets today!
