Pipe Labels – In-House vs. Pre-Made

Using Pipe Labels for Safety and Convenience

Keeping the pipes in your facility properly labeled is important for both safety and convenience. In some cases, it will be a requirement from OSHA or other regulators, and in others it is just something that you want do to help ensure your facility is following industry best practices.

Whatever the reasons for needing to use pipe labels, you will need to choose whether you want to be able to create the pipe labels in house or you want to order them pre-made. There are advantages and disadvantages of each, so take a look at the following information to see which one will work best for your facility.

Benefits of In-House Pipe Labels

If you purchase an industrial label printer such as the LabelTac 4 PRO, you can create the labels that you need right in your facility. These label printers are surprisingly affordable, and are built to last for years. For this reason, a growing number of facilities are moving in this direction. In addition, however, there are a number of great benefits that any facility will enjoy from being able to print in-house pipe labels, including these:

• Custom Labels – When you have your own printer, you can easily create your own labels for anything you can imagine. Whether you want added information on a standard label, or you want to make a completely new design, you have everything you need to do it.
• Costs – The price per label is significantly lower when you are able to print off your own labels rather than order them from a third party printer. Over time, this can save you a significant amount of money.
• Faster Turnaround Time – You don’t need to wait around while your labels are printed by a third party or shipped from another company. If a label is damaged, for example, you can immediately print off a new one and have it replaced in minutes, rather than days.
• Easy to Update – In the event that something changes in your facility, you can quickly make an update to your standard pipe label template and create new labels on the fly. This provides you with additional flexibility for all your label printing needs.

Benefits of Pre-Made Labels

Of course, there are some benefits of using a pre-made label. They have been used by facilities for generations, which obviously shows that they are good, at least for certain things. The following are a few of the advantages of going this route.

• Meeting Standards – When you buy a pre-made label, you can be confident that you will be meeting the standards from regulatory organizations. If you need something very specific, this may be the lower risk option.
• No Printer Required – If you don’t have an industrial label printer, you can always buy pre-made labels (which you can find here). If you use a lot of labels, however, this is a more expensive choice.
• No Added Training – You don’t need to train anyone on how to use an industrial label printer. Just order the pipe labels that you need, and when they arrive, you will be all set.

Which Option is Right for Your Facility?

Of course, whenever making choices like these, you want to make sure you are taking the time to think it through. For many facilities, the correct answer is actually both. For certain simple labels, for example, they may just want to pick up some pre-made labels to keep in stock at all times.

For others, however, they will want to enjoy all the added benefits of being able to print off their own labels in-house. Both of these are great choices, which is why it is so popular. If you have to pick just one, however, you will almost certainly be better off having a printer on site and creating your own in house pipe labels for your facility.

Additional Resources

• Pipe Color Codes – ANSI/ASME A13.1– creativesafetysupply.com
• Sign Maker Machines– blog.creativesafetysupply.com
• How to Create Custom, Durable Labels– thermalboss.com
• Pipe Marking in the Warehouse – 5 Tips– warehousepipemarking.com
• ​Printing Multi-Color Labels and Signs– blog.labeltac.com
• Creating Pipe Marking Labels– babelplex.com
• Creating Your Own Custom LabelTac Labels– creativesafetypublishing.com
• Reviewing the LabelTac Pro X Printer– realsafety.org
• The Possibilities of LabelTac Labels– iecieeechallenge.org