In the spring of 2014, I wrote about Loftware’s annual survey of customers and their perception of changes in the future; especially involving print on-demand color labels. Loftware, Inc. (https://www.loftware.com/) is the global market leader in Enterprise Labeling Solutions with more than 5,000 customers in over 100 countries.
In their 2013 report, they predicted a significant growth in print on-demand color labeling. Read about it here: http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2014/04/enterprise-wide-color.html
In their latest 2016 survey, Loftware predicts a very large increase in color label printing. Here you can watch their webinar specifically on this technology: http://resources.loftware.com/Reduce-cost-overhead-color-label-printing-Thank-You.html
- 90% of their customers believe color label printing will become more important
- 60% of their customers plan to purchase color label printers.
- Complying With Government Mandates. If you following this blog, you’ve read about GHS (Global Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of chemicals) and the importance of color label printing. In fact, we have currently 60 posts on our blog featuring GHS. California Prop 65 warning is another example of a regulatory mandate that may require manufacturers to print color labels on demand:
- Improving Brand Management. Companies are placing more value on their brand; and want to convey their unique brands throughout the supply chain consistently. Also, color enables companies to distinguish between product lines/models/sizes quickly and easily across multiple languages.
- Eliminating Preprinted Labels. 70% of Loftware’s customer use preprinted labels. But preprinted labels come at a cost; Obsolescence, Storage, Lack of Design Flexibility, Process costs, etc. Print on-demand color enable companies to print at the last possible moment, to enable design flexibility and reduce/eliminate label waste and storage.
Also, during the webinar, Loftware referenced a blog post written by Richa Groupa of VDC. VDC (http://www.vdcresearch.com/) delivers in-depth market insights to technology vendors, end users and investors across the globe; featuring reports in the AIDC market including label printing.