So you’ve hit the point where labelling bottles by hand is too slow, frustrating and is holding you back. You need to take your label application to the next level and start adding some automation to the process. You don’t have £20k for a full bottling line so where do you start when it comes to finding the right label applicator for you?

Good news!!!

We’ve taken the three most popular bottle label applicators and looked a little closer to try and help you work out which applicator to choose.

Which Label Applicators are we looking at?

There are three models we’ve chosen that have a few variants of their own model too so what are they?

What type of Label Applicator are these?

These applicators are called “semi automatic” applicators. Semi automatic means that the labels are applied automatically but you have to load the bottle onto the system and press the button to start the application process. This button can either sit above or below the table you are working on so you can either activate by hand or the most popular way is to use it as a foot pedal. This way your hands are free to focus on loading and unloading the bottles.

What are the benefits of using a Label Applicator?

• Fast application & labels can be applied as quickly as you can load the next bottle
• Consistent positioning of the label on your bottle
• Smooth and crease free application of your label
• Ideal for those looking to standardise and speed up label application 

What do they cost & key features?

Closer look: Afinia A200 Applicator:

The Afinia A200 is the best priced of the label applicators and it’s great if you’re applying labels to smaller products. It has a 6.3″ width although a bottle neck can hang over to the left of the machine. So it will take slightly longer bottles depending on the shape. Unlike the BottleMatic & AP362 there is just one model available. This model however can do single or double label application (front & back labels). Is also has a light sensor to detect the gap where as the others use a physical flag sensor. Flag sensors can get rubbish or glue stuck on them sometimes and this light sensor can be calibrated to suit your labels so this is positive.

You can also store labels jobs in the memory of the A200. Once you load your labels on your can select your pre-saved job and away you go. All in all we like the A200 and for the price it’s great value. It’s only real limitation is working with very large bottles.

Closer look: DTM AP362e Applicator

The AP362 from DTM (formerly Primera) has been around the longest out of these applicators. It comes as either the AP360 (single label) or AP362 (double label). Unlike the Bottle Matic there is one size and you just decide if you would like single or double label application.

The DTM AP360 & AP362 have a 9.4 inch width so can take a fairly large bottle as standard. Again this is built very well and we don’t really see any of these back. Like the Bottle Matic it has a flag sensor that is used to detect the start of a label. This is good but be careful not to knock or damage this or it may need aligning again. To be fair it’s hard to knock but I’ve seen people do it. However there is very little setup or adjustment needed on this machine so it’s probably the most “out of the box” solution but probably the least flexible for the same reason. It comes pretty much setup and there is little adjustment. I find the other two models can be a little more flexible with the containers or bottles they’re working with. Really this is a small thing that is both a positive / negative and again I’d say the DTM AP360 / AP362 are great machines.

Which is the best Label Applicator to buy?

Now this is the million dollar question and one we get asked all of the time. The fact is that all three are great but your product is what will determine which is right for you. Bottles, tubs, containers etc come in all shapes and sizes and depending on your product you will get different results. The same machine can look amazing or terrible depending on what your putting through it.

The answer to this question is that really you need to have your products tested on the machine before you buy. Here at HD Labels we have the machines and you can send us your bottles and labels to be tested so we can ensure you get the right machine for you. This is FREE of charge as we believe that you should only buy one of these if it’s going to help your label application. If your product doesn’t work in an applicator then it’s best to know before you buy one. We will send you a video of your labels and bottle going through the machine so you can be sure you’re buying the right label applicator for you.

Talk to our team using the link below and we’ll guide you through the process.