Label Materials

To Print or Not to Print: That is the question.

The decision as to whether to print your labels in the lab or buy them printed from a label printing company is going to be based on label content, economics, and label performance.

Label Content
The variety of sizes of test tubes does not allow for large labels. It is also important to note that placement accuracy affects the size. Scanning devices and automated analyzers do not tolerate labels with unreadable barcodes.The label should be affixed straight and the bar code should be big enough to be easily scanned.

Certain items on the label should be bigger than others. If you are going to make use of a bar code, it should be tall enough to be scanned easily. The width of the bar code will be driven by the needs of scanning equipment to be used as well as the data content, bar code type chosen and the white space that is needed around the code.

If you need to quickly locate a tube, then the key human readable text should be of reasonable size. All other information might be quite small if it will be referenced infrequently.

Your administrator selects label size and format. You can tell the label on the left is the result of in-lab printing because it includes patient specific data. Good printing software will give you the ability to choose from a variety of sizes and label formats so you can meet your lab's particular information needs. See our systems area for more information on custom printing systems integrating your data system or our label printers, bar code scanners, or label printing software areas for a quicker solution.

Label layout and design can improve organization of sample preparation. The layout on the right provides labels in sets of 2. You could use one for paperwork for the tube. You might get sets of 3 or 4 or 6 in for use on aliquotted tubes. Sometimes requisition labels are bar coded to facilitate optical storage of the paper documents.Printing software should allow you to print a flexible number of labels for each test. This feature will bring you better organization and less waste. If your labels need to include extensive patient specific data you cannot specify when you buy the labels, you will need to print them yourself.

Economics
Small usage labs processing 10,000 samples or less per year should consider buying printed labels. Ordering labels periodically makes it simple. Larger usage labs have an easier time justifying printing equipment investment. They save money due to benefits of patient specific information on the label.

Label Performance
Test tube label are often exposed to lab chemicals and other liquids. Alcohol, blood, fats and water are some examples. The analyzer equipment utilizes racks that can scratch the labels. You want to be sure to pick labels that survive. Purchasing printed labels allows you an amazing amount of design flexibility. Colors can be used to easily differentiate labels. Some of these designs can even be printed in your lab.

Gloved hands and adhesives just don't mix well. We have designed our adhesive to be more compatible with the different types of gloves on the market.

Please contact the label experts at EIMINC for more details.