Dockweiler chooses ColorWorks series

Dockweiler AG in Germany is one of only a few specialists in the world for the development of high-purity stainless steel pipe systems. The company chose Epson's ColorWorks to produce its labels.

The Dockweiler product range is very extensive, all products, for the most part, manufactured in Germany itself. One of the company's strengths lies in its extensive storage capacity, in order to deliver goods as fast as possible, even at very short notice.

Dockweiler has been printing the labels for its entire product range in-house for many years.

"This is a service we offer to our customers," says Marco Offermann, Marketing Manager at Dockweiler.

"The labels give our customers a quick overview of which product is available, in which quality and design. This is important on larger construction sites."

In 2015, Dockweiler replaced its old thermal transfer colour printer. The new system was required to print colour labels quickly at high quality, even when in a small format, as uniformly as possible, because Dockweiler employees stick the finished labels on products already sealed in film – the labels must therefore fit onto the narrowest packaging.

Marco Offermann says, "The labels should underline our status as leader in quality and therefore, despite the small format, be easy to read and look neat. They also serve as an aid to sales."

The labels also include, among other things, the batch number and the type of material used. Using a colour field, they also provide information about the surface quality. The labels also need room for customer-specific information without being cluttered.

Because of this challenge – a lot of information on a small area – the print quality of the label solution must be very high, especially as a QR code should also be placed on the label. This QR code provides customers with up-to-date information about every single product, such as reports and certificates, via an online app.

The print must dry immediately after dispensing so that the colour does not smudge upon sticking.

In addition, it is important that they stick firmly to the carrier film, to survive rough handling on construction sites, and must not be damaged by moisture.

Finally, the print speed should be very high, as the company produces an average of 8,500 labels per day, which works out at 1.4 million labels per year.

Before the acquisition, extensive comparison tests were carried out with label printers from many different manufacturers.

Marco Offermann says, "After a test phase of almost a year, we opted for Epson because we were particularly impressed by the print quality."

Since then, all Dockweiler product labels worldwide are printed on seven ColorWorks printers: two C7500s and five C3500s.

"We are very satisfied with the Epson printers," concludes Marco Offermann. "They meet our needs perfectly and are reliable. The running costs are also very reasonable."