D.I.Y. Industry Client

Background

Our client is a leading South African board specialist supplying wood-based solutions to the furniture, building and decoration industries. Processed wood-based board products are purchased in bulk and then cut down to size as required by the customer. Unprocessed boards are labelled according to supplier, product and date received for stock control purposes. Boards are then drawn from stock and cut to size as required by customers. Each board that is cut is labelled with the relevant product and customer information ready for collection/delivery.

The Challenge

The problem that the client was experiencing was that the adhesive used on the labels applied to the products when received from supplier were difficult to remove leaving label and adhesive residue that could only be removed by chemical cleaner. The same issue was experienced by the clients’ customers when trying to remove labels on the finished/processed products.

The Solution

After meeting with the client and discussing their dilemma, we recommended trying to use a ‘peelable/removable’ label. With a peelable label the adhesive used on the label is not as ‘sticky’ as standard Hotmelt adhesive which means the label can be applied and removed with little to no adhesive residue being left behind.

Unfortunately, the initial ‘trial’ using the peelable label was not successful as the client reported that several of the labels had fallen off after application making it difficult to identify the raw materials and processed products. We investigated the possible cause of the labels falling off and it was established that the staff applying the labels were not wiping the surface area of the product where the labels were to be applied to remove dust and other residues before applying the labels.

Once this was established as the primary cause of the labels falling off we arranged and conducted a training session with the relevant staff to advise and demonstrate the correct process to be followed when applying the labels to ensure that the surface area is clean of any dust or other material that may impact on the performance of the adhesive on the surface it is being applied to.