LABELS : CLEVER & SMART..

Food, cosmetics, beverages, chemicals or pharmaceuticals - no industry without packaging, no packaging without labels. Labels have always differentiated, informed, designated, advertised and marketed. But the label of the future is no longer merely colourful and informative - it is clever and smart.

Today packaging labels take on more and more functions, just as packaging and printed goods continuously receive new functionality. Paper and cardboard can be printed with microprocessors; intelligent packaging takes on new functions in addition to its classic duties such as filler protection, declaration and advertising. Among these is, for example, data on the integrity of the package and the quality of the contents. Smart labels turn folded boxes into smart packages with active information—and, in the future, even entertainment functions. Will we see a milk carton radioing the refrigerator that it's almost empty? Or a medication package triggering an alarm in the pharmacy when its expiration date is nearing? In any case, electronic labels should ensure that products cannot be counterfeited, protect them against theft and store product data such as manufacturing and expiration dates. It is not so important, however, how much the packaging can do, but rather to find a solution that corresponds with the individual needs of each individual customer.

In cosmetics, special printing techniques and materials are of primary importance. For the game is: The more elaborate the packaging, the more valuable the product seems. The packaging signals quality, value and premium character. Cold and hot foil stamping, fine materials in gold and silver and transparent foil ensure the proper appearance on the shelf. With many body care products, the labels must additionally be extremely moisture- and heat-resistant.

Consumer protection for foods
In the area of foods, characteristics such as freezability, moisture resistance and washability are of primary importance. In addition, labels must meet all food and packaging regulations and must not have any negative effects on the foods. On the contrary. The safety of the consumer is the number one priority. New developments must, for example, be able to document the gapless cooling of foods. Labels that work with temperature-sensitive inks to display the degree of freshness of a foodstuff are in great demand and provide precise information as to whether the cold chain was intact throughout. Next to a time-temperature indicator (TTI), the label has a reference colour. After activation via a suitable light source, the indicator changes colour, getting darker, and becomes lighter over time or through variations in temperature.

So-called shrink sleeves that a wrapped around the packaging like a second layer of skin, then processed with heat in a shrink tunnel, are becoming increasingly popular. They adapt to any container shape. Transparent, white or metallic; OPP, PE, PET, OPA, paper or aluminium compounds; the spectrum is nearly boundless, and shrink sleeves are experiencing high growth rates.

Safety for pharmaceutical products
In the pharmaceutical area the so-called dry peel label recently was granted utility model protection. The "multi-layer data carrier" is actually a label on a label, from which further labels can be removed with no residue. This makes them especially well suited for clinical test samples. They are primarily used for wallets. Sensors provide information on the quality and condition of the contents: Have maximum temperature and moisture levels been exceeded with the medications? Is the product still in immaculate condition? Has moisture seeped into the packaging?

Protection against counterfeiting
Protection of authenticity is increasingly important. To this end, hidden as well as visible features are being deployed. The visible features are important to the consumer, so that he or she can be assured of the product's authenticity. Herein, however, lies the opportunity for pirates. Thus invisible protection features are being increasingly used. Closure seals that signal the first opening with the irrevocable appearance of a logo are being offered as protection against packaging manipulation. Also among the hidden features are micro- and nanotexts, true-colour coding and laser-readable security prints.

As supply chains become increasingly complex, the demand for reliable and gapless product authentication and tracking increases. Meanwhile the industry's potential lies less in the printed content and product presentation and more in the increasingly clever and smart designs of the labels. Add to that the already familiar solutions such as barcodes, snowflake and matrix codes, magnetic or optic coding, holograms, special forms such as images, scratch-off labels or leaflet, brochure and larger text labels, such as the type available for years and still have their place.