Of all the office supplies that workers rely on everyday, I’m willing to bet that labelers probably don’t rate very high on the list of priorities that office and purchasing managers take much time to consider. If a company even acknowledges the need for a new labeler, they most likely want it cheap, with low maintenance, quality performance, and a long shelf life.

Employees that use labelers on a regular basis understand that all of those qualities typically are not co-dependent. Money is often sacrificed for low maintenance and performance. Quality is typically downgraded when price is lower.

Somehow, many CFOs are still convinced that these two qualities can co-exist. However, the psyche of a career accountant is another blog post in itself.

So, to try and help businesses of varying sizes (and their office or purchasing managers) try to figure out what type of labelers are the best choice for their business, the following information should provide helpful.

NOTE: there are obviously other types of labelers to choose between, but these three are generally the most commonly used for a variety of applications. Contact a supplier guy or an industrial label machine manufacturer if you have any detailed questions.

Why Handheld Labelers May Be Best For Your Business

Handheld labelers are probably the most commonly found label machines in offices today. They are easy to transport and very convenient to use for almost any person in a typical office setting.

Also referred to as “personal labelers”, these machines are pretty basic in both form and function. The most advanced models typically have raised keys that make it easy to type data in and have the ability to print up to two lines of text on one label.

As far as business applications, these labelers aren’t really useful for anything more than making ID tags for folders, name badges, and small products that require a “property of” tag. Almost all business have a labeler like this sitting around, and this style of labeler can do wonders for administrative tasks, but not much for highly repetitious projects.

Why Desktop Labeling Systems May Be Best For Your Business

A step up in performance and application from the handheld labeler, desktop labeling systems can be portable – but also commonly have the ability to connect to a PC for more advanced features. Since many of them can connect to a computer, there’s a lot more potential for printing, label memory, and space for content.

In retail settings, you will often find these labeling systems used because of the ease with which they produce 2-color price tagging and receipts. Address labels are also easily printed by these labelers, so large companies that have a corporate mail room may also use these in those settings.

For business applications, these labelers are great for common, low volume projects and everyday repetitive tasks. Desktop labelers are not equipped to handle high volume industrial tasks, but are almost too advanced and too expensive for being used for simple name badges.

Why High Speed Label Applicators May Be Best For Your Business

If you are manufacturing products or creating personal packaging for home made products and selling them in bulk, then a high speed label applicator may be the right choice for your projects. Typically used in industrial settings as part of the packaging assembly line, high speed label applicators like the one to the left are designed for high volume applications.

As far as a pricing comparison to the desktop labeler and handheld labeler, high speed applicators are BIG BOY products – often costing in the $1,000′s as opposed to the $100′s. Also, while the desktop labeler is able to connect to a PC, industrial high speed labelers often come equipped with their own touch screens and printers, creating a complete label machine. Many of these labelers can also accommodate products that need multiple labels.

To be fair, you won’t find labelers like this in most common office settings – it simply doesn’t make sense. Large corporations that do heavy amounts of direct mailings may have a need for a labeler like this. Most often, however, these labelers are meant for high volume, high repetition projects commonly found in industrial workspaces. Quality is often very professional with these machines and while they produce great results, they are pretty unnecessary at places like Dunder Mifflin.

If anything, hopefully you learned a thing or two about some different varieties of labelers after reading this post. Many people will still use handhelds even if they could get more out of a desktop, and some businesses may need an industrial labeler even if they can’t afford it at this time. Making the right choice for your business needs is important, thought, even if a label machine seems like a pretty lame thing to spend a lot of time analyzing.

If your company has a higher than usual print volume then you might want to think about adding a postage meter printer from Pitney Bowes to your office, if you have not done so already. Postage meters save your employees a great deal of money (up to 20% on your postage expenses by eliminating guess work*), time and stress when it comes to organizing outgoing mailings. These mailing stations have built in scales and are capable of weighting small packages or envelopes up to ten pounds (varies with model).  The Pitney Bowes postage meters also support a wide variety of mail types from parcel post and first class mail up to international mailings. Your postage meter will also automatically retrieve the current market postal rates since it is connected to the web. Plus replacing your Pitney Bowes supplies and ink cartridges is fairly cheap! Pitney Bowes currently offers three postage meter digital mailing stations to fulfill the needs of your business; the DM 100, DM 200 and MailStation 2. The first step to choosing which Pitney Bowes Postage Meter is right for you is to evaluate your small business needs. Consider your average monthly postage spend.

If your business has a small volume of postage spend, then the postage meter you should consider is the MailStation 2. This digital mailing system is an all-purpose meter that is perfect for a company that spends between $50 and $100 on mailings per month. This particular unit is capable of weighting packages up to five pounds. You will also be able to manage your costs by tracking one account, with the option to expand to five or ten. By purchasing a MailStation 2 you will be limited to manually loading the envelopes by hand, although the unit does print at a rate of eighteen letters per minute. Replacing your MailStation 2 postage meter (P797) ink cartridge will be required approximately every 880 prints, so keep that in mind! If you are looking for a greater degree of automation or a postage meter that handles a larger volume then consider the next step up with the DM 100.

The Pitney Bowes DM 100 is the intermediate level postage meter. The DM100 is able to handle a higher amount of mailing volume ($100 to $150 per month) and supports up to 10 pound packages on its scale. Other perks of upgrading to the DM 100 postage meter are that your Letters per Minute (LPM) nearly doubles to a rate of 30 LPM and now you don’t need to worry about hand feeding the postage meter as it is semi-automatic.  If you choose to purchase the DM 100, the need to replace your Pitney Bowes postage meter supplies won’t be as frequent as the 793-M ink cartridge has a higher page yield at approximately 3,000 impressions. That last noteworthy difference between the DM 100 and MailStation 2 postage meters is that with the DM 100 you have the option of adding a sealer / moistener. Now if you are looking for the ultimate Pitney Bowes postage meter, look no further than the DM 200 Postage Meter.

The major differences between the DM 100 and the DM 200 lie in the postage meter’s capabilities. The DM 200 is able to handle twice the amount of mail volume as it’s predecessor at a volume of $150 – $300 per month. The LPM is capable of printing at 40 LPM, a 33% increase over the DM 100 model. Another benefit of the DM 200 is that you will be able to track up to 25 accounts (expandable to 50)! Pitney Bowes 765-0 ink cartridges are used in the DM 200 postage meter and they yield the same count of  impressions as the DM 100 (3,000 yield). The one and only drawback to the DM 200 postage meter is that the scale can only handle packages that weigh up to five pounds. So I guess the only question remaining is which Pitney Bowes postage meter is right for you?

*Reference:  PB.com

Can you imagine looking forward to filing? Maybe even being obsessed with filing? Me neither. Until I stumbled upon these creative file folders from Sorting with Style.

They are so pretty that they make me want to start filing papers and get organized. Not only do they look fabulous, but they are heavyweight and durable as well. These letter-size folders will immediately add flair to any tedious filing job. Plus, they have different tab locations for efficient organization.

Or, if you aren’t a big filing kind-of-guy-or-gal you can use these beauties to store documents for meetings and presentations – your coworkers will be green with envy!

While these decorative file folders are a tad more expensive than traditional manila folders, they are clearly a LOT more fun. As you can see from the two designs shown, they cater to both men and women.  

There are folders with funky damask designs with a hot pink interior to brighten anyone’s filing experience. For the manly man, there is a nice wood spiral file folder that adds a personal touch to handling and storing documents. Sorting with Style has tons of great file folders – from maps of the world to parakeets to polka dots.

How would you use these fun file folders – for actual filing or just for decoration?

Is your office or small business looking for a new printer powerful enough to handle a large workload without breaking the bank? If the answer is yes, then you might want to start your search off with the HP LaserJet P4014 printer series. These HP P4014 printers (which include the HP P4014n and HP p4014dn) have a starting price of under $900. The only functional difference between the P4014n and the P4014dn is that the P4014dn includes a duplexer standard (for automatic double-sided printing), while this is an optional feature for the P4014n).  So let’s find out what your $900 will get you.&nbs
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HP P4014 Printer – The Work Horse

If your office requires a high volume of printing, then look no further. With print speeds up to 45 pages per minute and a 540 MHz processor, efficiency will always be a priority.  Now let’s examine a situation and see if it has this ever happened to you. You are running a little late to work (stuck in traffic of course) and you need to print off your report when you get into the office for the big early morning meeting. After being stopped by a few co-workers you finally make it to the computer and send your documents to the printer. When you arrive at the printer to pick up your report, you realize it is still in sleep mode – and warming up! A couple of precious minutes fly by and the printer is finally ready and begins to process your documents. This is an annoying and as this scenario showed very troublesome problem that can be avoided with the proper printer.

Enter HP, who listened to their customers and solved this issue with their Instant-on technology. HP uses advanced fuser technology to process workloads faster when awakening from power save mode thus drastically reducing the total time of a print job (Total Time to Completion) and the HP P4014 series has it. Can you imagine having your first page print in as little as 8.5 seconds?  If you are in need of high print resolution capabilities then the P4014 series printers also have you covered as they print up to 1200 x 1200 dpi. One other benefit is that while your HP P4014 printer is in power save mode, it will be ready to print due to the Instant-on technology, which helps out the electric bill!

Now in order to keep your HP P4014 printer operating as a work horse year after year, it is crucial to keep it maintained and fresh. Toner required for the HP P4014 is the HP 62A series, also known as HP CC364A which has a page yield of 10,000 sheets. Periodically you will need to purchase a maintenance kit in order to maintain high print quality and reduce paper jams. You can use two forms of HP P4014 maintenance kits; the 110v HP CB388A and the 220v HP CB389A. Each maintenance kit has a page yield of 220,000 just make sure your power chord and maintenance kit align!

HP P4014 Printer – The Customizable

So now you know that your $900 will buy you a powerful, energy efficient printer for your workplace – but now you are ready to upgrade, the question is can you? The short answer is yes, as much as your heart (or budget) desires. If you are tired of constantly replacing the paper in the paper trays then consider buying additional paper trays for your HP P4014. In fact when it is all said and done you can extend your printer’s capacity by 2,500 sheets by purchasing up to 3 additional paper trays.  Other paper handling upgrades include adding a 75-sheet envelope feeder, 5-bin mailbox or 500-sheet stapler / stacker.  Instead of using more paper, why not use less by upgrading your printer from an HP P4014n to the HP P4014dn. Essentially you upgrade your printer by purchasing the auto-duplexer thus allowing you to automatically print in two-sided mode, saving your company money and helping the environment! Now if you are interested in improving performance then consider expanding the P4014′s memory in increments to 256 MB, 512 MB, maxing out at 640 MB.  Lastly you can attach your HP P4014 printer directly to your Local Area Network (LAN) by adding one of the numerous options (headlined by Ethernet and Wireless) of JetDirect technology to the printer’s EIO drive.

HP P4014 Printer – Quick Facts

Print Speed – 45 ppm
Document Delivery Speed -8.5 seconds from Ready Mode.
Print Resolution – Up to 1,200 by 1,200 dpi
Processor – 540 MHz
Memory – 128 MB standard, upgradable to 640 MB
Recommended Printing Volume (per month) – 3,000 to 12,000 pages.
Automatic Two Sided Printing? – Optional for P4014n / Standard for P4014dn
Paper Capacity – 100-sheet multipurpose tray & 500-sheet input try comes standard. Upgrades allow 3 additional trays up to 2,500-sheet additional capacity.
Dimensions – 16.5 by 17.7 (21.2 for P4014dn) by 15.5 in.
Physical Weight – 56.93 LB / 62.3 LB (P4014dn)
Warranty – One year limited warranty
Power Consumption – Active: 800 watts, Ready: 17 watts, Sleep: 12 watts
Energy Star Qualified – HP P4014dn Only
Toner Cartridge - HP CC364A / HP 62A (10,000 page yield)
Maintenance Kit – CB388A (110v) / CB389A (220v)