Bloody hard work pays off for label company

Eliminating the need for blood samples, the print company devised the EasiTrace label that can determine the quality of livestock through swabbing an animal via a specially impregnated label.

"A product was needed that could be successfully manufactured in a 24-hour five-day-a-week manufacturing environment, with minimal effect on wider production. Developing a robust manufacturing plan was paramount," said Ryan Granger of Hally Labels, New Zealand.

The meat industry is something that Hally Labels have worked with before, but the EasyTrace label required extensive experimentation and alterations before it was ready to be implemented.

"We needed to overcome the difficulties of de-lamination of a clear syntheic top sheet to allow us to feed in the DNA tape material in one pass, during which the label is also printed and die cut," said Granger. "The die took further development. A die was needed to cut through the synthetic top sheet and the DNA tape, while at the same time placing a functional perforation between each label."

The hard work has paid off, but the final test for Hally Labels will be finding out on June 15 whether its work has won a Pride In Print award. Either way, Granger still remains optimistic. "We love a challenge and are continually working to develop new labelling initiatives," he said.



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