In all kinds of businesses, barcode labels and laser print labels (LPLs) are used to store a lot of information for both the shop and the customer alike. Food processing and hardware shops all need the help of these little attachments to keep track of where the stock is and how much it has been priced at. Indeed, any shop or wholesaler which sells goods will need them and they come in several forms to suit the purpose that it is being used for.
LPLs are made on a machine which acts just like a photo copier. Since they can print out good images quickly they are used very often. By sending out streams of ions onto the print drum itself, the image becomes charged and it is this image which attracts the toner that we are all used to handling in the photocopy machines. You will find barcodes in just about every retail outlet which is much easier to use.
There are also the dot matrix varieties which make up images of tiny dots so that the eye does not see the gaps in between them. However, since the ribbons that are used in this process are extremely difficult to maintain, and because they cannot produce very small tags, these are not as popular for sure. If they are used to print bar codes too, the bleeding effect will certainly confuse any equipment set up to read the image.
The ink jet varieties were popular at one time and anyone who owns a computer has probably owned one of these too. However, they do tend to print at too slow a rate for commercial use and it is liable to get damaged easily by dust dirt and other factors depending on where it is kept.
All of these varieties will not print individual tags and it is this factor which makes it unsuitable for small jobs or discount tag necessities. Indeed, it is the thermal variety which is used when it comes to processing single and multiple sets of tags for any purpose.
Of course, whatever method is used to get these tags out, they must be compatible with point of sale machinery. Bar codes are specifically used so that the shop or outlet can keep track of the inventory whether it is in the warehouse, on the shop floor or through the till end of the shop. Since this also cuts down on manpower too, they have been utilized through many different industries to cut back on running costs.
The thermal variety also does not get phased by having to process all different kinds of data and will not slow the machine down. The resolution is great and it produces very high quality text and images too.
Although the thermal variety is more expensive than the other varieties, the cost of the supplies is relatively lower. There are no ribbons, ink or toners to use so the only add-on expense is the special paper which is used to produce the tags. These are great machines which bring a level of reliability to the process in general.
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