“How do you label silicone?” asked the Egypt-based manufacturer of electrical machinery and equipment. Their international sister company—an OEM we had already solved this non-stick silicone surface hurdle for—had referred them to Electronic Imaging Materials.
EIM has a solution for labeling notoriously unsticky silicone.
How Do You Label Low-Surface-Energy Surfaces? Ask EIM
Have you ever tried to stick a barcode label to a non-stick surface? Silicone is notoriously difficult to label because of its low surface energy—the lower a material’s surface energy, the harder it is for adhesives to bond to it.
Electronic Imaging Material is excited to offer a solution: our SiliCode™ label securely adheres to silicone and silicone-coated parts. In fact, our research and development team developed SiliCode™ in response to the overwhelming number of inquiries from frustrated clients facing this sticky (or, in this case, unsticky) situation.
Labels that Stick to Liquid Silicone Rubber
The fact is, we consistently receive inquiries from purchasing agents disheartened by their inability to find labels that will stick to their silicone products. Labels play a critical role in manufacturing—tracking products as they move through production, storage, and distribution—and ensuring visibility at every stage of the process.
The manufacturing client who contacted us creates a wide variety of mechatronic components—parts that combine mechanical, electronic, and computer-controlled systems to perform automated functions—for the auto industry. Their products include:
- Electronic and electromechanical devices
- LED lighting systems
- Power-distribution parts
- Sensors
Silicone is used in several of their products, particularly in their automotive lighting solutions and sensor technologies. For example, they use:
- Moldable optical silicone in their LED lighting systems to enhance light transmission and durability
- Liquid silicone rubber molding for a variety of components requiring flexibility and resilience
All these products require tracking through the manufacturing process.
Our manufacturer’s buyer thought they were facing an unsolvable challenge in tracking this unique inventory. How can you get labels to permanently bond to silicone objects, which are essentially designed to repel anything from sticking to them? Fortunately, their sister company stepped in with a referral to the Label Experts!
Glenda S. | GlobalVet
“It has been an easy and seamless process to buy SiliCode labels we required. SiliCode is a fantastic solution for the problem we had.“
Building Customer Relationships
You might think that a referral equals a quick sale, but that’s not how we, or our clients, do business. While the manufacturer was excited about the potential of our silicone labels, they wanted to put them through their full vetting process before committing to an order.
The Label Experts welcome challenges and appreciate customers who want to see our labels in action before buying them. Testing is one way we help customers narrow down the right blend of materials and adhesives and ultimately find the perfect label for their application. So, we sent them several SiliCode™ solutions for them to begin testing—running the labels through every stage of their production process.
Made-to-Order Labels from EIM
The SiliCode™ labels we sent to the manufacturer successfully passed their vetting process. This enabled us to provide them with a custom-designed label that not only adhered—and stayed adhered—to their infamously hard-to-stick-to parts and components, but also ensured they carried the proper markings and tracking data.
Electronic Imaging Materials, Inc.
Stumped by non-stick silicone surfaces? Contact the Label Experts! The team at EIM is ready to help you find—or make—a solution to securely stick to non-stick surfaces, whether they’re silicone, silicone-coated, or another low-surface-energy material.
