Wasp Barcode Technologies: The Barcode Solution People

Zebra Announces a Barcode Label Price Increase

System ID was notified by Zebra that they will be increasing most stock barcode label and tag prices 4% on August 2 due to the increase in raw material costs. While the US economy has improved, new capacity to match the increased demand has not kept pace, creating shortages of key ingredients that go into adhesives and film resins. There have also been global events which have created additional shortages of the components that go into paper liner and facestocks. The cost of paper and pulp has increased by 57% in the past year to a record high due to increased demand and declining supply. The Chilean earthquake in February took 8% of the world’s pulp capacity offline for several months. Labor strikes in Europe took even more capacity offline and there has been a decline in North American paper capacity. At the same time, China has increased the global demand. Costs for two key ingredients in the making of silicone release liners for labels, platinum and silicon metal, have increased this year; 17% and 30% respectively. The cost for a key component in adhesives, propylene monomer, is up 33% YTD. There is also a strong global demand that has put adhesive components on allocation from key chemical suppliers (BASF, Dow, etc.). With the shutdown of DuPont’s Florence facility, a polyester film shortage is expected as well. Stock up on your supplies now to delay getting hit with these price increases. If you don’t have the storage space or extra room in the budget now, consider a blanket agreement. You’ll be locked into the lower price for the term of the agreement, System ID will store your supplies for you and ship them to you as you need them, and you only pay as the supplies are shipped.