LABELEXPO EUROPE BREAKS RECORDS

LABELS&LABELING |47
The changing world
of label printing
FINAT has commissioned Mike Fairley to look at how label printing technology has evolved over the centuries
and to consider some of the investment decisions facing converters today
It’s now more than 400 years since the first recorded printed
labels were being produced. At that time they would have been
printed on hand-made paper using relief letterpress type or
images cut into wood or metal, with impression pressure applied
through a wooden hand press and simple screw mechanism.
THE ‘PRE’ HISTORY OF LABELS
It was a further 200 years before much began to change. Yes,
the hand presses were now being made of iron with a lever
system to apply pressure, but the paper was still made by hand.
However, by the early 19th century the industrial revolution was
bringing significant changes to the world of printing – the first
cylinder printing presses (powered by steam), the offset printing
process, continuous papermaking machines.
The 1800s also brought coated paper, the halftone process,
color printing – and a whole host of new label market application
requirements that were to see the early beginnings of what we
now call the label industry. These new 19th century applications
included automatic volume production of standard-sized glass
bottles and bottle filling lines, the first canning factories, the
rapid growth of pharmacy products, labels on boxes, labels on
luggage, labels on cigar boxes and bands, matchbox labels and
all at this time now being printed on sheetfed offset or letterpress
presses.
The first part of the 20th century saw the introduction of the
first narrow web presses for printing gummed and self-adhesive
tape. The key innovations for the narrow web printer were
developments by Stan Avery that enabled self-adhesive materials
to have a backing carrier and be cut to shape on the press.
It was die-cutting materials on a liner that now enables sticky
labels to be produced on a roll. It was not long before press
manufacturers such as Gallus, Nilpeter and Mark Andy were
producing the early dedicated roll-label letterpress and flexo
presses.
At this time barcoded labels for labeling fresh produce in store
and at pre-packers was being undertaken with heat-sensitive
labelstocks. It was not until the 1980s that thermal direct and
then thermal transfer printing of barcoded price-weigh labels
using self-adhesive materials began to take place and grow
rapidly by the later part of the decade.
At about the same time the use of new types of polypropylene
and polystyrene (later polyethylene) film materials for more
demanding label applications were being introduced. High
quality printing of filmic materials used for labeling shampoos,
toiletries, industrial products, etc, were now required by the
leading brand owners. This presented more demanding label
printing and converting challenges for press manufacturers and
converters.
THREE DECADES OF EVOLUTIONARY CHANGES
IN LABEL PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
To meet changing label printing requirements over the past
30 years the dominant label printing technology of the time
has undergone several changes: In the 1980s it was rotary
letterpress that dominated new press sales. Then came growth
in the flexo process during the 1990s. Much of the early
part of the 21st century has seen UV flexo as the dominant
LATE 20TH CENTURY: EMERGENCE
OF SELF-ADHESIVE IN EUROPE
Later came narrow web screen, hotfoil and combination process
presses, UV-curing inks and more advanced platemaking
technology. By the late 1970s self-adhesive labels had already
attained a seven percent share of the European label market
– with all printing processes being used. Today, self-adhesive
labels make up around 40 percent of label usage, fuelled by a
whole host of technology and press innovations over the last
30 years that have enabled labels to be printed faster, on wider
webs, using rotary and wrap-around tooling, servo-drive presses,
and press controls that include web inspection, register control,
color management, and much more.
Unbelievably, it was not until 1978 that the first retail barcodes
were being produced for the Fine Fare Supermarket’s own
label products, and the very first time that a velocity code was
incorporated on the film masters for the production of the dark
vertical bars on the codes. Today, barcodes are an essential
element of every label sold through retail outlets across Europe.
NOVEMBER 2013 | L&L