When it comes to choosing labeling equipment, customers are interested in machines that offer the widest range of applications and uses, explains Roy Oomen, category manager of labels and packaging for HP Indigo and Inkjet Press, Tel Aviv, Israel. “The market is dynamic and changes all the time, so systems and solutions which offer the broadest capture of projects are the most appealing to owners who have limited dollars to invest in new technology acquisitions,” he says. “More versatile equipment is critical as changeovers are more frequent.”

Instead of investing in specialized, customers can consider modular options for multiple applications and projects, says Dave Niemuth, director of labeling technology for Franklin, Wis.-based Krones Inc. The company offers modular labeling machines that can be equipped with several of the same or different labeling stations so that one modular machine can have multiple functions, he says. As part of this system, individual labeling stations are fastened onto the machine’s base frame. This allows a labeler to combine cold-glue labeling stations and self-adhesive label applicators, as well as other machines such as Krones’ Canmatic labeling stations for pre-cut wrap-around labels, and Krones’ Contiroll labeling stations for roll-fed wrap-around labels, for example, in different combinations, according to Krones.