Barcode Printers
We supply a full range of barcode printers. These range from small desktop units right the way through to industrial printers. We always talk to our clients before recommending a printer as it is very easy to get things wrong. Here are a few of the normal considerations:
Volume Of Labels
Very much a primary decision making criteria. The quality of components used in
a printer goes up as it is designed to print a higher volume of labels,
unfortunately so does the price. If you try to use a low cost device for high
volume application, you are asking for trouble.
If you are printing a small number of labels per day, you can usually use a
“Desktop” printer. These are low in cost, blend in to an office and don’t take
up too much space. However if you are print hundreds of labels a day, you will
need an industrial printer. These are designed for higher volumes, so they will
hold large numbers of labels and will feature parts that are designed to a
higher volume environment.
Environment
For dusty or moist environments you will need a printer that is designed to
cope with this.
Mission Critical?
In some applications (e.g. Production Line), the cost of a printer failing can be
very high. Whilst most people think about repair costs, have they thought about
the consequences of not being able to print barcode labels for several hours or
days?
Barcode Life
There are two main printing technologies that are used - Direct Thermal and
Thermal Transfer. Direct Thermal uses labels that are made from heat sensitive
paper. The print head heats the paper to generate the black bars on the barcode.
The drawback with this technology is that if the barcode is used for over 6
months the label itself discolours due to light and may become unreadable.
Thermal Transfer uses an additional item - a ribbon. The print head heats the
ribbon, which in turn makes the back bar on non heat sensitive paper. These
barcodes last for years.
Barcode Size
Barcode printers can print a label of virtually any length, however they are
restricted in terms of the width. Generally printers come with 2 or 3 print head
sizes which dictate a maximum width of 2, 4 or 6 inches.
Zebra
We primarily supply printers by Zebra Technologies.
Contact Details
Tel: 01202 888079
Email:
enquiries@chansol.co.uk
Channel and Mobile Solutions Ltd, 30 Egdon Drive, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 1TY