Industrial Label Buying Guide

on 12/30/2017

Let's say that you're the owner or manager of an industrial business, one that doesn't do a lot of shipping and isn't especially concerned with the aesthetics of its products. You might think that labels aren't really needed in your company's day to day operations. The truth of the matter, however, is that labels can be of great use in industrial settings. They can improve the organization of your stock, heighten communication among employees, and even make the floor safer for you and your employees.

Organization

Disorganization can be a quiet killer of once-successful companies, an insidious force that seeps into your operations to ruin their efficiency and efficacy. What's more, the issue of disorganization is often much worse than it appears. For every time an employee expresses confusion over where a product is meant to be stored or transported, you can bet that there's been several other instances where a different employee hasn't said anything because they didn't want to bother management or appear stupid. The result is a silent unraveling of the well-tuned practices and procedures that got your company to where it is today, the consequences of which seep in so slowly that they're often not noticed before it's too late to fix them.

You can get ahead of this frightening phenomenon by ensuring that every section of your work floor is properly labeled. By lessening confusion over where stock is supposed to be stored or over where your employees are meant to be working, your company will save the man hours that those employees once spent trying to figure out what to do. What's more, proper labeling can make the training of new employees much quicker and simpler. Even if they forget everything they've learned, proper labeling will ensure that they'll still be able to look up and figure out where they're supposed to be. To that end, we suggest making use of this handy warehouse sign, which can be hung from any traditional shelving and comes in sizes ranging from 8" x 5" to 16" x 9". You can either affix permanent labels to these signs or write on them in dry erase marker, a convenient feature for companies that reorganize often.

Communication

Though related to organization, communication distinguishes itself by being about more than just letting your employees know where they're supposed to be and what they're supposed to be doing. As your company grows and its supply lines extend, it's of the utmost importance to maintain proper communication across all channels and ensure that no vital information is lost across transactions. Your efforts in doing just that should start right at the heart of your operations. If you're not communicating clearly with your employees - if they're not communicating clearly with each other - then what hope do you have of being understood by your clients and vendors?

Any manager worth their salt will tell you that successful communication extends beyond electronic missives and face to face interactions. Your work floor must also be properly labeled to ensure vital information reaches those who need it the most. You wouldn't, for example, want an employee working on a piece of machinery that's been malfunctioning - by applying this bright and easily-seen "Accepted By" label, whoever clears that equipment for use can, without saying a word, let everyone who might work on it know that it's safe to do so. Likewise, this Inventory label simplifies the tedious task of counting stock by allowing employees to mark which products and areas have already been counted.

Safety

Safety should be the paramount concern of every owner or manager. It's not just the right thing to do - it's also good business sense. No matter how successful your company is, it might not stay that way for very long if your employees keep getting hurt on the job. Though you can't hope to stop every accident that may occur, you can greatly reduce the number of those accidents by making employees more aware of hazardous conditions. Depending on the nature of your business, you may in fact be required to do so by OSHA regulations. If that's the case, you may be fined for not providing proper labeling even if none of your employees have gotten hurt.

Avoid those crippling costs by making use of the industry labels appropriate for your company's operations. In that category, you'll find labels for anything explosive, noxious, flammable or poisonous. You may also consider making use of our "Inspected By" labels, which lets your employees know that a dangerous element or item on your work floor is being addressed by the members of your safety team. Though it may sometimes seem like a costly hassle to properly label unsafe products or equipment, consider how much more expensive and how much more disastrous it would be if ignorance led to the injury or death of a customer or employee.

Conclusion

At LLT, we know that managing an industrial business is a full-time job and then some. That being the case, you may not feel as though you have the time necessary to properly label all the components of your company that need marked. Putting off this important task, however, may in fact be costing your business money for every day that it's not done. Though applying labels may seem like a simple task, doing so can help improve both the productivity and profitability of your business. If you have any other questions on how your company can make use of labels, please feel free to get in touch with one of our helpful customer service representatives.