The Strength of Thermal Transfer Barcode Labels Makes Them Highly Durable

Printing barcodes is best done with thermal transfer ribbons which offer medium-term print durability. Such ribbons for thermal transfer barcode labels have mixed wax-resin coating and are printed via heat transfer through the print head of thermal printers. The melting temperature of the wax and resin-blended thermal transfer ribbons is somewhere between that of the full wax and full resin ribbons. They have been put to trial extensively with different thermal transfer products including different kinds of substrates and have been found to create images of high clarity and sharpness.

Different kinds of usage

When printing barcodes, three specific situations are crucial – the barcode application your labels will be used for; the intended lifespan of your barcode labels; and the type of environment your barcode labels will be exposed to. Although you can create your barcode labels using conventional printers such as inkjet, dot matrix or laser printers, they all have limitations that will impact the utility of the barcode labels you print on them. On the other hand, use of thermal technology has proven advantages in thermal transfer barcode labels printing.

Non-thermal transfer printing is not suitable 

Although you can use the convenient and economical direct thermal printers for printing your labels, there are limitations in this process. In direct thermal printing it is the substrate which is coated with chemical solvents that produce the print output when exposed to heat via the print heads. The print output does have good clarity and sharpness but it will only be useful for environments where it will not be exposed to sunlight for long periods, and neither to heat or abrasion. Hence, it will be useful for a short shelf life application, such as shipping and retail shop labeling.

Thermal transfer printing is the best option

The most durable barcode labels available are thermal transfer barcode labels, as they are made to withstand heat humidity and abrasion, which makes them long lasting and durable. As already mentioned earlier, there are also different levels of durability in thermal transfer printing. The wax coated ribbons meant for small duration applications, ribbons coated with wax-resin blend for medium duration and full resin coated ribbons for long duration applications.

There are Good Reasons For POS Outlets Want Thermal Paper for Billing

When you go to any retail outlet today, you are likely to see only thermal paper printers in use at the cash counters. That’s because it is a lot faster and more efficient to generate transaction receipts on a thermal printer than it is to write down all the item details on a pre-printed billing paper. It’s not just the speed and efficiency that makes it more acceptable to retailers but also the quality of print output that displays clarity, legibility, and durability. All that a thermal printer requires is billing machine paper rolls from a manufacturer who can maintain quality and delivery consistency so that the cash counter always has enough billing paper in stock.

Enhances efficiency at the POS (Point of Sale) 

Competition is tough in almost all markets today, more so on the retail front. Brands are going out of the way to provide benefits to the customer before any competitor brand is able to come up with something more interesting. The other side of the competitive story of brands is that a lot depends on how well it performs at the retail outlets. Here a lot depends on how the well the retailers are equipped to handle the flow of customers, especially how fast they handle the process of billing. The only way to do it efficiently is to use thermal printers that use billing machine paper rolls from a manufacturer who supplies quality products at good prices.

Customer safety is a key requirement

Another aspect that needs to be considered by the retailers using thermal printers to generate billing paper is the safety of customers. Thermal paper has a kind of special chemical coating to enable printing on a thermal printer which uses heat instead of ink, dye or ribbons to print. It means a thermal printer just requires billing machine paper rolls from a manufacturer who can ensure that the paper they supply has no Bisphenol-A (BPA) on the thermal coating. BPA is a hazardous chemical for humans who are exposed to it for a period of time. Some thermal paper manufacturers are producing BPA-free paper that produces equal if not better print output.

Thermal Paper is Easy and Convenient for POS Billing but Also Requires Safe Handling

In most retail outlets across India and elsewhere, the POS (Point of Sale) billing process has undergone a massive change. The cash counter billing personnel no longer writes down the details of the items purchased on a pre-printed receipt as it was done earlier. Today, the POS clerk simply uses a barcode scanner to scan and copy the product details on the barcode including the price of the product. This is possible through billing machines supplied by thermal paper printer supplier who also supply other consumables like thermal paper and ribbons.

POS billing is easier with thermal paper printer

Most retail outlets that use billing machines prefer thermal paper printers as these are the easiest to operate and maintain. Thermal paper printers don’t require any ink, ribbons or special dye to print because the printing takes place through transfer of heat. Thermal paper has a special kind of chemical coating on the side which is to be printed. This surface reacts to heat exposure through the print head and produces the print output. Therefore, the only consumable that is required is thermal paper printing rolls that fit into the printers.

It is safe to use BPA-free thermal paper

The process of manufacturing thermal paper rolls involves application of a special chemical on the surface of the paper which reacts with heat to produce the print output. Many thermal paper rolls manufacturers still use BPA (Bisphenol-A) while coating the thermal paper they produce. It has been found by researchers that continuous exposure to BPA over a period of time can have serious health implications for the end users like POS billing staff and the customer who receives the bill receipt. There are a few manufacturers who manufacture BPA-free thermal paper and it is these companies that users must procure their stock from.

Safe handling practices

There is a need to share information with the stakeholders like owners and managers of businesses that use BPA coated thermal paper about the need to follow safety practices after handling such paper. The business owners on their part should educate their staff and their customers about these safe practices.

Retail Stores Need to Focus on Improving Customer Experience

Ensuring the least possible waiting time for each and every customer in a retail store is now a priority for improving customer experiences at the POS (Point of Sale). That is why competition has become so intense across most retail stores today. In traditional retail stores, POS personnel used enter the item details on pre-printed forms by manually writing them down to manually generate the receipts. This billing process tested the customers’ patience as it was way too slow and took a long time to complete. The solution is to automate the billing process with POS printers the stationary for which is procured from POS paper roll suppliers.

Thermal paper printers are ideal for POS

Thermal paper printers offer excellent single color print output on the substrate, which is thermal paper. This is a special kind of paper on which the print output is obtained without any ink and ribbons. Thermal paper is coated with a special chemical that reacts to heat exposure transferred through the print head. The use of thermal paper for POS billing can be managed easily, efficiently and economically by engaging POS paper roll suppliers for ensuring routine stock of thermal paper in their cash counters.

Retail stores must avoid using thermal paper with BPA coating

Thermal paper that is coated with BPA (Bisphenol A), which is harmful for humans and can lead to serious health issues including cancer, lung infection and kidney malfunction among other problems. Retail stores must be careful to avoid using this kind of paper as it will not just endanger the health of their POS personnel but also their customers. In today’s competitive business environment, companies are doing everything in their power to attract and hold customers. In this situation, it would be bizarre to harm the very customers who will sustain your business.

The risk of irate customers

A retail store that makes customers wait longer than normal at the cash counter need to watch out since customers today have many options if they choose to step out of the queue and walk out. Customers can get annoyed because of uncalled for delays caused by slow manual billing processes. A retail store cannot afford to have irate customers for something as basic as a more efficient billing process. All they need is an automated billing process and POS paper roll suppliers for the consumables.

Inventory and Barcode Management is Vital for Tax Compliance

Businesses that are into manufacturing and trading have large inventories to manage which requires different levels of automation and computation depending on the volumes they generate. Since growth is the only relevant factor in business, its inventory also grows proportionately or at a faster rate. In any case, the growth of inventory is a steady factor in a growing business and that is where inventory management software becomes important.

The value of inventory management software

The movement of goods from manufacturers’ plants to the warehouses and further on to the retail stores or point of sale is generally referred to as the supply chain although it has a larger scope and dimension. The supervision of the flow of goods in the supply chain is known as supply chain management of which, inventory management is the most important part. Maintaining a detailed record of every new or returned product that comes into or leaves a warehouse or a retail store is the main function of inventory management, which is achieved with barcode management software.

Why barcode management software is so important

Barcode management helps in substantially increasing efficiency in the process of inventory management in amazingly simple but important ways. Most importantly, it saves a retail or wholesale business a lot of time and money in a number of areas where manual processes have proven to be quite inadequate. Barcode management begins with barcode scanning which requires specialized barcode scanners that use laser marking for the scanning. The details scanned by the barcode scanners are recorded on the software for further integration with other software related to inventory management and accounting.

Inventory management software is vital in the new tax regime

Today, most businesses, micro, small and large are all in the tax net. It would be very difficult to carry out business anymore without paying taxes. Tax compliance requires proper record of income and expenditure which is closely connected to supply chain management that in turn is based on inventory management and barcode management systems. These systems record all details of flow of goods from the manufacturer to the retailer and furthermore to the customer. All these details are integrated to the accounting software that is the basis of filing tax returns.

Importance of Thermal Paper Rolls in Smooth Functioning of ATMs

ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) are an essential part of modern banking and ATM thermal paper rolls suppliers are a critical part of the ATM supply chain. Just imagine withdrawing anything from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5,000 from the bank in the pre-ATM days! It would have taken you nothing less than an hour if there was a normal crowd rush at the bank. You would have to fill out the cheque and the withdrawal form, get it stamped from one counter and then stand in a queue behind at least 10 customers at the teller counter. In this blog, we will look up the factors that help ATMs function smoothly.

ATMs have almost become indispensable

In the cash economy, ATMs are the essential lifeblood without which everything literally comes to a standstill. Even when ATMs run short of cash it can have a crippling effect on the economy as we had seen during the early days of demonetization in India. What would have been the situation had the ATMs not operated at all for an entire month? Needless to say that it’s unthinkable as everything would have been in utter chaos. If availability of cash in the ATMs is an essential for the machines to be functional, ATM thermal paper rolls manufacturers also play an important role in ensuring that the machines duly dispense transaction receipts.

How thermal paper receipts are printed in ATMs

The process of printing on thermal paper happens through heat transfer wherein, the heat injected via the printhead activates the chemical coating on the thermal paper and produces the print output. Most ATM thermal paper rolls suppliers offer variants of the thermal paper that is coated with BPA (Bisphenol A), a chemical solvent that is harmful to humans. Unfortunately, not many people seem to be aware of the risks that direct exposure to such chemicals can cause.

That’s because most thermal paper manufacturers haven’t really bothered to follow ongoing research on the subject and take preventive action to protect the health and safety of their customers. However, a few reputed thermal paper rolls manufacturers are producing better quality products without BPA and they are gradually gaining ground in the market. 

BPA-Free Thermal Paper Movie Ticket Rolls

In the earlier days, the tickets to movie theaters used to be pre-printed, stamped, rubber-stamped and then signed by the ticket counter clerk before it was handed over to the customer. In fact, it was a long-drawn process that was not just inefficient and slow but also left a lot of loopholes for black market operators to take advantage. Those days are behind us now as the movie theaters are no longer the old style standalone ‘cinema halls’. Today, they are much better organized and issue movie ticket from rolls of thermal paper instantly printed on thermal paper printers.

The risks of BPA exposure must be taken seriously

While efficiency has increased many times over, a different kind of problem has now emerged. It relates to the way the thermal paper used to issue the new movie tickets are produced – mostly with BPA (Bisphenol A) coating. Research on the after effects of the exposure of BPA on humans is quite worrisome as it clearly says that such exposure over a period of time can cause serious health issues like cancer, lung and kidney diseases among others. Hence, cinema theaters should procure thermal paper from cinema tickets paper roll suppliers who offer BPA-free thermal paper.

More efforts should be made to inform the market

Thankfully, there are a few cinema tickets paper roll suppliers who only deal in BPA-free thermal paper but the market needs to know a lot more about the risks posed to humans by BPA exposure. Right now, people are in the dark about the risks and it can be seen from the totally casual manner they handle BPA-coated thermal paper. For instance, people don’t bother about washing their hands with soap and water in fast food outlets before eating their food after paying the bill.

BPA absorption on human skin is quite strong and if hands are not washed properly with soap and water after handling thermal paper receipts, BPA residues in the hand easily find their way into the stomach and other parts of the body. Rudkav International is among the few manufacturers and suppliers of BPA-free thermal paper rolls.