HERMA - Logimat 2020: The future of shipping labels is linerless

Massive repercussions are expected to follow from the current 17 percent annual growth in the global parcel shipping volume – especially in view of the burgeoning e-commerce segment. Within the next six years, the quantity of shipped parcels will double, from 100 to 200 billion items a year. This prognosis is contained in the most recent Parcel Shipping Index, which was published in mid-October[1]. On Booth C80 in Hall 4 of the forthcoming Logimat 2020 trade fair, the self-adhesive solutions specialist HERMA will be showing how the associated rise in the consumption of shipping labels at least can be managed more in keeping with environmental concerns. The answer lies in a labelling system that dispenses entirely with a liner while offering process reliability and achieving the cycle speeds demanded by modern logistics centres. The HERMA InNo-Liner system, developed specifically for shipping labels, is making a significant contribution to removing thousands of tons of siliconised paper liner from the market and the waste disposal chain. “Shipping labels are usually large, so that this application allows enormous quantities of material to be eliminated at a stroke,” explains HERMA managing director Dr. Thomas Baumgärtner, who also oversees the Self-adhesive Materials division. “In addition, the absence of liner material makes the label rolls much lighter and smaller. In consequence, their transportation delivers a huge benefit, expressed in countless tons of the greenhouse gas CO₂.” This was one of the reasons why the HERMA InNo-Liner system was awarded the German Packaging Prize this autumn in the sustainability category.

High process reliability and speed

Among the distinctive attributes of the new system that set it apart from existing linerless solutions is its process reliability, coupled with a cycle speed of at least 40 labels a minute. An underlying principle that is both easy to understand and simple also plays a key role. “The adhesive, which is not at all sticky at first, is activated by an exclusively water-based unit, for which a patent application is pending. In other words, the process does not involve any solvents, heat or any other media associated with undesirable side-effects,” comments Martin Kühl, who heads HERMA’s Labelling Machines division. “The label user can select practically any label paper and is no longer tied to siliconised thermal grades, which have always imposed severe restrictions on printing. Labels that now fit the bill, furthermore, are no more expensive than conventional self-adhesive labels.”

The HERMA InNo-Liner system is based on a special, patent-pending multi-layer adhesive variant and a micro-atomiser that was developed specifically for this material. The interaction of these two elements is an essential prerequisite of the material’s extremely high adhesion. “To the best of our knowledge, we are the first and currently the only supplier of an end-to-end linerless system capable of operating at the speeds and with the process reliability demanded by logistics centres,” insists Dr. Baumgärtner. “For those who ship lots of parcels every day, all the arguments are in favour of transitioning as soon as possible to this resource-saving labelling method.”