The moment anything on the label changes per unit, a preprinted roll stops working and you need a machine that prints the label and applies it in the same cycle. That machine is a print and apply labeling system, and it is one of the most often specified and least understood products in this category.
A date. A lot code. A batch. A net weight. A GTIN plus lot combination. An SSCC that must be unique to one pallet. Any one of those and the label cannot be printed in advance, which means the printer has to live inside the applicator. That is what a print and apply labeling system is for.
Marapack Services specifies, supplies, installs, commissions and services print and apply systems for produce, food, beverage and general manufacturing lines, from a base in the Pacific Northwest. We are the Pacific Northwest distributor for Altech labeling systems, we build around the Altech ALcode range with integrated thermal transfer print engines, and we service print and apply systems from other manufacturers as well.
A print and apply quote is only as good as the line walk behind it. Book an equipment audit and we measure the case, the rate and the data source before anything is specified.
What is a print and apply labeling system?
A print and apply labeling system is a labeling head with a thermal transfer print engine inside it. It prints each label with that unit's variable data, such as a lot code, date, weight or SSCC, and then applies it to the case, carton or pallet in the same cycle, so the data and the product always match.
The trade uses several names for the same class of machine: print and apply labeler, label printer applicator, print and apply label applicator. They all describe one head that does two jobs, and the two jobs have to be timed together, because the label has to be printed before it can be applied.
That is what separates it from the two machines it gets confused with. A standalone label printer produces labels that someone then applies by hand. A labeling head applies labels that were printed before the roll arrived. A print and apply head does both, per unit, at line speed.
When do you need print and apply, and when do you not?
You need print and apply when the label carries data that changes during a run: a date, lot, weight, variable barcode or SSCC. You do not need it when the label is fixed per SKU, or when the only variable is a date that can be coded straight onto the pack. It costs meaningfully more than a labeling head.
This is worth settling before anything else, because the consumable and maintenance profile of a print and apply system is one that a preprinted head does not carry.
You need print and apply when:
- The label carries a date, lot, batch or shift code that changes during a run
- The label carries a variable barcode: a GTIN plus lot, an SSCC, a serialized code
- The label carries a weight, a count or a grade determined at pack time
- You run many SKUs in short runs and holding preprinted stock for each is impractical
- A customer or a standard requires data on the case that only exists at the moment of packing
You do not need print and apply when:
- The label content is fixed per SKU and your converter can preprint it
- The only variable element is a date, and there is somewhere on the pack to code it directly. Direct coding onto the pack or onto a preprinted label is usually cheaper, and our date and lot coding equipment hub covers the options
- The volume is low enough that a printer and a hand applied label is honestly fine
We will tell you which of those you are in. A print and apply system sold to a line that needed a preprinted head and a date coder is a machine that will be resented for its whole service life.
What is in a print and apply labeling system?
A working print and apply labeling system has seven parts: the head, the print engine, the integration assembly that mounts the engine in the head, the applicator, the data interface, the product handling, and the camera option. Quotes that go wrong usually go wrong by omitting one of the last three.
1. The head
The chassis that holds everything, drives the web, controls the print engine and fires the applicator.
- ALcode, the industrial print and apply head (see the ALcode industrial head for the full specification)
- ALcode LT, the economical version of the same architecture (details on the economical ALcode LT page)
- ALcode P, Altech's dedicated pallet labeling system, for applying to a built load (the Altech ALcode P page)
2. The print engine
The print engine is a thermal transfer printer module that lives inside the head. Three resolutions matter, and higher is not automatically better:
| Resolution | What it is for | The trade off |
|---|---|---|
| 200 dpi | Standard case and pallet labels, GS1-128 barcodes at normal sizes, human readable text | Fastest per label. The default we specify for case labeling |
| 300 dpi | Small text, dense barcodes, tighter label real estate, small format packs | Slower per label than 200 dpi. Usually the right answer when the label is small rather than when the barcode is important |
| 600 dpi | Very fine text, small 2D symbols, pharmaceutical and cosmetic labels | Slowest per label, and rarely needed on a case |
The engine families we integrate are the two industrial thermal transfer print engine ranges and a compact engine module, in 200, 300 and 600 dpi depending on the family. A 200 dpi engine is the specified default on most of the systems we build.
A 300 dpi barcode is not a better barcode. Print quality grade is set by ribbon and substrate matching, printhead condition, print speed and darkness far more than by resolution. If someone has told you to buy 300 dpi to fix a scanning problem, get the symbol measured before you spend the money. What that grade is and where the requirement comes from is covered in our SSCC pallet label guide.
3. The integration assembly
This is the line item that gets missed. A print engine does not drop into a print and apply head on its own. Each engine family needs its own mechanical integration assembly to mount, align and drive the web correctly, and there is a different one for the compact engine module than for the full size engines.
A quote that lists a head, a print engine and an applicator but no integration assembly was written by somebody who has not built one. Ask about it.
4. The applicator
The same range of application methods as any other applicator, and the same rules apply. On case and carton work the common choices are:
- Tamp, for a flat, presented, consistent case face
- Tamp blow, where the case position varies slightly or you cannot risk contact
- Air blow with a fixed tamp, for non contact application onto an unstable or delicate surface
- Large format tamp applicators at 500, 750 and 1000 mm, for bins, totes and pallet loads
- Three axis, where two or three faces have to be labeled from one head
- Rotary arm, where the label has to travel to a face the head cannot reach
The full range of methods and the rules for choosing one are on our label applicator machines hub.
5. The interface to your data
The label is only correct if the data is. Interface modules cover Ethernet, RS232C, Centronics, USB, RS422 and RS485, and wireless LAN, which is how the head talks to your label design software, your ERP or your line controller.
We specify and configure the label design and the data connection as part of the system rather than handing it over as your problem after delivery. Where the data lives in an ERP, a scale, a grader or a spreadsheet, that connection is part of the commissioning.
6. Product handling
A case that is not where the applicator expected it is a label on the floor, and print and apply is less forgiving than a wipe on head because the label is placed at one set point in the cycle.
Spacers, pneumatic gates, timing screws, twin roller gapping, side belt systems to hold a case square, stabilizing belts over light or tall cases, and infeed and outfeed rotary accumulation tables. Plus conveyors sized for the case: single belt, two section, heavy duty and flighted.
7. The camera option
Print and apply introduces a failure mode that preprinted labeling does not have: the machine can apply a label that is perfectly placed and completely wrong, or unreadable. A printhead element fails, a ribbon wrinkles, the darkness drifts, and nothing on the line notices until a customer rejects a load.
Altech's over print camera is the line item that addresses it. It reads the code after printing, on the case, in line, and can trigger a reject. On a busy case line this is the difference between catching a printhead failure in the first minute and catching it at your customer's dock. It is quoted with the head, alongside label presence checking, laser scanners, mark readers and full camera vision.
Where do print and apply systems go on a line?
Print and apply systems go wherever variable data meets the product: over the case conveyor for GS1-128 case labels, at the end of the line for SSCC pallet labels, on produce lines for PTI case labels, and on returnable crates and retail ready cases. Case and carton labeling is the most common of these.
Case and carton labeling
A print and apply head over a case conveyor, applying a GS1-128 case label with the variable data printed at the moment of application. Tamp or tamp blow onto the top or the side, depending on the case and the gap.
Pallet labeling
Once cases are stacked, the load needs its own identity and its own SSCC. Either a dedicated pallet labeling head at a fixed station, or a four axis articulated arm where the load is stationary and several faces need labels. The fixed and robotic routes are compared on our pallet label applicators page.
Produce case labeling under PTI
The Produce Traceability Initiative case label carries a GS1-128 barcode encoding the GTIN and the batch or lot number. That is variable by definition, which is why PTI case labeling projects end up as print and apply projects. The equipment side is covered on our produce traceability labeling page.
Retail ready and RPC labeling
Reusable plastic crates, returnable totes and retail ready cases, where the label has to be readable, removable and applied to a ribbed or non flat surface. This is usually an applicator method question rather than a print engine question.
Can you code variable data without a label?
Yes, where the pack itself is printable. A thermal transfer overprinter marks the date, lot and batch directly onto flexible film inside the packaging machine, with no label, no liner and no waste web. It suits flow wrapped and thermoformed packs; a corrugated case still needs a label or an inkjet code.
The Altech price list carries thermal transfer intermittent coders based on the Markem SmartDate X30 and X45, and we can supply them through the same distributor channel. Same variable data, no label at all, and a very different consumable cost.
Whether that is right depends on your packaging format. A flow wrapped or thermoformed pack is a good candidate. A corrugated case is not, and there the choice is usually between a print and apply label and an inkjet code printed straight onto the board. Our TIJ versus CIJ comparison explains how the two inkjet technologies differ when direct marking is the answer.
How much does a print and apply labeling system cost?
A print and apply labeling system costs what its head class, print engine and integration assembly, applicator, conveyor and handling, data integration, cameras and number of label positions add up to. There is no single price; we quote itemized after a line walk, because a figure given without those eight is guesswork.
- Head class. Industrial, economical or pallet configuration.
- Print engine. Family and resolution, plus its integration assembly.
- Applicator. A tamp is not a three axis servo applicator.
- Applicator size. A large format tamp for bins and pallet loads is a different machine from a case tamp.
- Conveyor and product handling. Frequently half the cost of a working installation.
- Interface and integration. Which data source, and whose job it is to connect it.
- Cameras and sensors. Adding a camera is an attachment, not a rebuild, but it is a real line item.
- Number of label positions. One face, two faces, three faces.
We quote itemized against the line walk so you can see which of those eight is driving the number, and you decide which you want.
How do you keep a print and apply labeler running?
Keep a print and apply labeler running by matching ribbon to label stock, looking after the printhead, balancing print speed against darkness, running rolls the machine is specified for, and feeding the applicator clean, dry, regulated air. Many of the emergency calls we take on these machines trace back to one of those five.
Ribbon and label stock matching. A common cause of poor print quality and premature printhead failure. Ribbon chemistry has to suit the label face stock, and the two are usually bought from different people who never speak.
Printhead care. A printhead is a consumable with a duty life. It is also the part most often destroyed early by a dirty label path, an unmatched ribbon or excessive darkness compensating for the first two.
Print speed versus darkness. Turning darkness up to fix a faint barcode at high speed is a workaround that shortens printhead life and often lowers the barcode grade rather than raising it.
Web path and tension. Roll diameter, core size and web tension are machine specifications, and a roll your converter can make is not automatically a roll your machine can run. Unwind and rewind capacity is part of the same question; see our label rewinder options for the units.
Applicator air. Clean, dry, regulated air at the specified pressure. Wet shop air in a cold packing plant is a recurring cause of intermittent applicator faults that read like electrical faults.
We cover all of this in commissioning and operator training, and we build it into the maintenance schedule. Wear parts are quoted against your machine serial number, so the Altech replacement parts that arrive fit the machine you own. When an engine itself is worn out, print engine repair and refurbishment is often the cheaper answer than a new engine.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between print and apply and a label printer applicator? Nothing. They are two names for the same class of machine: a print engine and an applicator in one head, printing the label at the moment it is applied.
Can we add print and apply to an existing labeling head? Not by bolting a printer to it. A print and apply head is a different chassis. What you can sometimes do is keep the conveyor, the stand and the product handling and change the head, which is a much smaller job than replacing the installation.
What print resolution do we need? 200 dpi for most case and pallet labels. 300 dpi when the label is small or the text is fine. 600 dpi for pharmaceutical and cosmetic work. Resolution is about label real estate, not about barcode quality.
How fast can a print and apply system run? It depends on label length and print resolution together, not on a single headline number, because the label has to be printed before it can be applied. A short label at 200 dpi is a very different cycle from a long label at 300 dpi. Give us your case rate and your label size and we will give you a real answer.
Can it print a GS1-128 barcode that will meet the required grade? Yes, and whether it does in service depends on ribbon and stock matching, printhead condition, speed and darkness rather than on the machine alone. The minimum acceptable overall grade for a GS1-128 under the GS1 General Specifications is 1.5 to ISO/IEC 15416, and a symbol printed at exactly 1.5 on day one will fail later in service. Aim higher.
Who connects it to our ERP? We do, as part of commissioning. The interface options cover Ethernet, serial, USB and wireless LAN, and the practical work is in the label design and the data mapping rather than the cable.
What does a print and apply system need from the plant? Power, clean dry compressed air for the applicator, a stable case path with enough gap, mounting space with operator access to change ribbon and labels, and a data source for the variable fields. Most delays on an install trace to one of those rather than to the machine.
Do we need a camera on a print and apply line? If a wrong or unreadable label reaching a customer is expensive, yes. The camera reads the printed code on the case and triggers a reject, which catches a failing printhead or a wrinkled ribbon before a whole shift of cases ships.
Can you service a print and apply system you did not sell us? Yes. We also arrange refurbishment of print engines at a fixed price, which is regularly the cheaper answer to what has been quoted to you as a machine replacement.
Get the line assessed before you specify
A print and apply quote is only as good as the line walk behind it. We measure case rate, case dimensions, case surface, available gap, mounting space, power and air, and where the data has to come from. Then we quote the whole system, including the parts that get left off. Call 253-709-5566 or book the line walk online.