An emission label/decal is an important product component that allows U.S. Customs Inspectors and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to verify that a product meets all necessary regulatory requirements. This label is used to describe the emissions that are created as a by-product of manufacturing, transporting, or disposing of a consumer product. Not only are these labels used for regulatory requirements, but they also provide details to the consumer who may be looking to minimize their ecological footprint.

Companies should take a hard look at the type of emission decal they are currently using for their manufactured products in the Durable Goods market. Does your pressure sensitive decal meet the current UL standards and internal company engineering specifications? When was the last time your company conducted a cost analysis to see what new materials or technologies are available in the industry that can provide potential cost savings?

It is important that you know your local requirements when it comes to emission regulations. For example, emission labels in California may be referred to as CARB (California Air Resources Board) labels. This board is considered the "clean air agency" in the government of California and sets the states emission regulations, which are typically stricter than the EPA regulations. Other states are permitted to follow CARB standards or use the federal ones that are spelled out in the Clean Air Act.

Is your company currently using a pre-printed emission decal and also imprinting data to the decal? If you have multiple SKU's you may want to consider a blank emission label/decal and printing the specific details on demand with a thermal printer. Using a blank emission label program can help your company in the following areas:

• Reduce number of SKU's
• Reduce inventory levels
• Avoid obsolescence
• Reduce waste
• Use existing thermal printers
• Avoid rush/expedite charges
• Group parts together to lower label price

If you are using void polyesters, you can also save money using a UL approved PET (polyester) film. Void features can be added during the manufacturing process and are typically more cost effective than using void material direct from the material manufacturer. There are thermal imprintable films that will pass the UL-969 testing for emission decal parts without having a film over-laminate protect the imprinted graphics. The thermal imprinted area will also pass the UL oil/gas splash test.

It is also highly recommended that you use a full resin thermal ribbon versus using a wax/resin based ribbon. It is always important to test the product and work with your supplier, but using a blank emission decal will likely save you money.

Advanced Web would be happy to help you with any emission decal questions you might have. Please feel free to send us an email or call us at 800.424.4154.

 Underwriters Laboratories or UL is an independent product safety certification organization that has been in business since 1894 and is headquartered in Northbrook, IL.  UL has developed numerous standards and test procedures for products, materials, components, assemblies, tools and equipment, mainly dealing with product safety.  UL also evaluates and certifies the efficiency of a company's business processes through its management system registration programs.

UL is one of several companies approved for such testing by the U.S. Federal Agency OSHA.  OSHA maintains a list of approved testing laboratories, known as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories.

Most OEM companies have pressure sensitive labels on their parts that require UL approval or must meet the UL standard.  If so, the company will be required to follow the UL969 standards.  These requirements would cover any adhesive based material applied to the product. This would also include any unprinted label materials, laminates and inks used by label printers that produce the finished pressure sensitive label.

The Canadian Standards Association or CSA is a not-for-profit membership-based association serving business, industry, government and consumers in Canada and the global marketplace with a history dating back to 1919.  CSA marks mean a product has been tested and meets applicable standards for safety and/or performance, including the applicable standards written or administered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), NSF International (NSF), and others.

UL tests products to the Canadian Standard, CSA C22.2 No. 0.15, "Adhesive Labels". Since the CSA Standard includes test methods that differ from UL 969, additional testing is necessary to grant a Canadian Recognition.  Once approved UL will mark the product as C-UL approved.

If you are not familiar on how to submit product to UL for testing, please visit www.ul.com and click on Product Submittal Process FAQ under "New To UL".  This will answer any questions you have regarding the submittal process.

UL costing is determined on the amount of work required for the test.  Pricing is determined by number of surfaces, constructions, etc. involved in the test.  Testing can take anywhere from 12 – 25 weeks to complete depending on the amount of work required for the test.

Advanced Web is a leading supplier to the OEM industry and has one of the broadest ranges of UL/CSA approved materials in the industry.  Through compliance with UL testing, certification standards, and follow-up audits, we are able to ease end-user concerns about the safety and quality of thousands of hi-performance products.

You can find a list of all of Advanced Web's UL approved materials at www.ul.com.  To locate the listing, click on the "certifications" tab on the home page and enter Advanced Web in the search box.  Then choose the link to the file that is most appropriate for your application.

Advanced Web offers over 40 UL Certified constructions that are suitable for various applications such as:

• Warning Labels
• Branding Labels
• Nameplates
• Emissions Labels
• Cord Labels

These labeling constructions are each uniquely equipped to function in various environments:

• Indoor Only Labels
• Indoor Only – Thermal Imprintable Labels
• Indoor/Outdoor Labels
• Indoor/Outdoor – Thermal Imprintable Labels

By partnering with Underwriters Laboratories Inc., (UL®) Advanced Web is able to provide assurance that the materials we source through our supply chain meet the performance requirements of OEMs, retailers and most importantly – end-users. Through compliance with UL testing (test methods UL969), certification standards, and follow-up audits, we are able to ease end-user concerns about the safety and quality of thousands of high-performance products.

During World War II, a significant consideration was made to be sure that critical equipment was properly marked and color coded according to parameters designated at that time.  To help avoid the risk of “friendly fire”, aircrafts were marked with distinctive colors or stripes so they could easily be recognized during intense military operations.  This was only the beginning of the need for standardization!

As we all know, workplace safety is critical to the manufacturing industry.  To help prevent accidents, standard color codes have been developed for manufacturers and machinery that provides a standard message to all workers.  The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and has served as administrator of the US private sector standardization system for over 90 years.  What began as the “American War Standard” published in 1945, the ANSI standard ensures that the characteristics and performance of products are consistent.  It requires companies to use the same definitions/terms and that products are tested the same way.

How many ANSI/OSHA Safety Colors are there out there and what do they represent?  Listed below are the primary Safety Colors currently used in the OEM market today:

• Red – Designates “danger”, “stop” and the location of fire protection equipment and apparatus.

• Yellow – Designates “caution” for making physical hazards such as: striking against, stumbling, falling, tripping and “caught in between”.

• Orange – Designates “warning” and dangerous parts of machinery or energized equipment which could cause injury.

• Green – Designates “safety” and the location of first aid equipment.

• Blue – Warning against starting or moving equipment under repairs.

• Purple – Designates radiation hazards.

• Black/White – Designates traffic and housekeeping markings.

The OEM industry must follow these designated safety colors under ANSI Z535.  This standard was developed to provide the specifications and requirements to create uniformity of safety color coding, environmental/facility safety signs, and communicating safety symbols.  It also enables the design, application, use, and placement of product safety signs, labels, tags and barricade tape.

Many of you may not know that Advanced Web offers a very unique service to our customers and/or prospects. This value added service is more commonly known as a Label Audit. In short, the end goal of performing the audit is to help us deepen our understanding on the specs of each label. By doing so it enables us to analyze the data and recommend solutions which will help streamline customer ordering patterns for better economic decisions.

We break down the audit into five different categories. They are design elements, materials, secondary operations, procurement process and workflow process. If I included all the things we look for within each category, you'd be reading this until you retire. Anyway, here are a few key bullets inside each.

Design Elements:

• Determine which software is used for artwork creation
• Do common plates/colors exist for any parts
• Any known restrictions which would keep the label from being printed Flexo

Materials:

• Material the label is being applied to (polyester, polyethylene, etc.)
• Face stock properties (paper or film, gloss or matte)
• Adhesive properties (permanent or removable, application temperature)
• Liner (hand or machine applied, lay flat requirements)

Secondary Operations:

• Durability needs
• Sterilization methods
• Final packaging process

Procurement Process:

• Forecast and release quantity
• Supplier Managed Inventory (SMI)
• Shipping methods/terms

Workflow Process:

• Label documentation and Rev level system
• Proofing type and signoff process
• First Article requirements

In ending, this service is yet another integral part of what differentiates us from the competition. It allows us to use our experience and expertise in the industry. By doing so, we earn credibility and it demonstrates that we truly have the customers' best interest in mind. Now you'll have to please excuse me as I need to run to the dry cleaners to pick up my freshly ironed suit.