Who is responsible for ordering custom labels at your organization?
Is it an engineering team that understands the role the label must accomplish and the specifications it must meet?
Is it a marketing team that meticulously manages your brand image and chooses design elements to connect with consumers?
Or is the entire job of ordering custom labels left up to the purchasing department?
If you answered the purchasing department, don’t worry; you’re not the only one. Typically, purchasing personnel are chiefly responsible for ordering custom labels. The problem is when they’re not fully aware of all the demands related to the labels’ form and function.
This is no knock against purchasing departments. We have the pleasure of working with purchasing professionals who are extremely good at what they do: efficiently and affordably sourcing the materials that keep your company’s production schedule rolling. But engaging other divisions in the custom label buying conversation from start to finish can help streamline the process, avert mishaps and delays, and ensure the labels meet or exceed your performance expectations.
Who Should Have a Say in Custom Label Ordering?
Most often, a label’s life begins with either a marketing or engineering/operations decision. Purchasing is involved in the actual buying process, but there are a number of steps that usually take place before that request is made.
Consider getting input from the following departments:
Marketing
Marketing teams play a crucial role in custom label design. They focus on how the label represents the brand, the messaging it conveys, and its visual appeal to consumers. Their insights ensure that your custom labels align with your brand identity and attract the target audience. From color choices to typography, they know how to make a label pop and connect with customers on an emotional level.
Your marketing team oversees how products are launched, promoted, and rebranded with timelines for the custom labels needed today and the changes to those labels in the future. The purchasing department won’t be privy to that information without marketing coordination.
Design
Similar to the marketing team, your company’s design team is responsible for the aesthetic elements of custom labels. They work closely with marketing to create visually appealing labels that can elevate brand perception and enhance product shelf appeal. They are the artists who turn concepts into reality, blending creativity with functionality to craft labels that stand out in a crowded marketplace. And they concept those rebrands we just mentioned, which can sometimes be subtle and not so obvious to an untrained eye.
Sales Team
Sales teams provide valuable feedback from direct interactions with customers. They understand customer preferences and pain points, which can inform the customization and functionality of the labels to better meet market demands. They bring the voice of the customer into the label design process, making sure the labels don't just look good but also solve real-world problems.
Engineering & Operations
When the label application is of a technical nature — for example, a safety sign on a piece of industrial equipment or an electrostatic discharge label on an electrical component — an engineering or operations team tends to lead the label requests.
Engineering and operations teams understand the technical requirements and functionalities that the custom label must fulfill. They ensure that the labels are compatible with the product's materials, withstand environmental conditions, and fit seamlessly into the manufacturing process. They tackle challenges like ensuring the adhesive sticks in extreme temperatures or that the label can survive the rigors of transit.
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance teams monitor the consistency and reliability of the custom labels. Their involvement guarantees that the labels adhere to industry standards and meet regulatory requirements, thus ensuring product safety and compliance. They are the gatekeepers who ensure that every label is up to snuff before it heads out the door.
Why Ordering Labels Should Involve Multiple Stakeholders
Whether the label order originates in the marketing department, engineering or somewhere else, the final step is almost always purchasing. However, despite internal collaboration, there’s no guarantee that the specifications chosen for the label are suitable for the job. Your custom label manufacturer may have questions or suggest improvements to boost the label’s performance or reduce its cost. In some cases, your custom label manufacturer may inform you that what you’re asking for won’t deliver what you need.
Allowing your label vendor to have direct access to other departments to discuss options can help alleviate the back-and-forth with purchasing stuck in the middle and potential misunderstandings along the way.
Ordering Too Few or Too Many Labels
If the marketing department fails to fill the purchasing team in on their demand forecasts, purchasing may end up ordering a few thousand labels when a few million would be more appropriate. Conversely, ordering too many labels to reach a desirable price point, outside of any real demand, can result in overspending for labels you don’t need.
Label suppliers set up their equipment and determine prices based on volume. So, to avoid unnecessary costs or delays, it’s crucial to communicate both your short-term and long-term expectations.
Over- or Under-Engineering the Label
Because they’re not directly in contact with the custom label manufacturer and therefore don’t understand the cost implications, your engineering team may request label features that aren’t strictly necessary (to which your custom label manufacturer might suggest alternatives).
On the other hand, your custom label manufacturer may recommend additional features your engineering team didn’t consider, such as a waterproof coating for wet environments.
Creating a Label That Underperforms
Many factors can affect a label’s performance, depending on the label’s role. For example, environmental conditions such as heat, moisture, and sunlight can degrade label material, weaken adhesives and cause ink to fade. A poor choice of ink or material may drain the life from your eye-catching design.
An expert custom label manufacturer can help you make the right choices to avoid these issues during the label design phase. By the time it gets to the purchasing department, it may be too late for significant alterations.
Getting Locked Into a Suboptimal Label
Changing a spec once it’s been written can be an elaborate and expensive process in certain industries — medical and pharmaceutical products, in particular.
It’s better to get your custom label manufacturer involved with the design process early on to avoid setting in stone a label that is more costly than it needs to be or lower quality than it should be.
On top of that, some custom label manufacturers will use deliberate tricks to make it challenging for your business to change vendors – such as including their own proprietary name for a common label material in the spec sheet. Others may list a certain vendor’s material in the spec sheet, leaving you with few options should that vendor experience supply chain issues. That’s why working with a custom label manufacturer who can help you navigate these challenges without limiting you to a specific vendor is critical.
Turning Custom Label Buying Into an Interdepartmental Label Discussion
If you've been tasked with ordering labels for your company, we encourage you to think of your role as managing a conversation rather than making a simple order.
A good custom label manufacturer will ask several questions to help your company get the best label for the job at the best price.
Whether you’re in marketing, product development, purchasing or any other role in your company, you should be prepared to bring the people at your organization who know the most about your label’s function and environment into that conversation and addressing those questions. Doing so early on will help you avoid many more questions — and potentially, taking your label design back to the drawing board.
Partner with a Superior Custom Label Manufacturer Extraordinaire
To achieve the best results, collaboration with a reputable custom label manufacturer is essential. They bring expertise in label applications and production and can offer insights on materials, printing techniques, and innovative solutions that may not be apparent internally. By involving a custom label manufacturer early in the process, companies can leverage their knowledge to enhance label quality and functionality.
Get the perfect label with our Custom Label Buying Guide
