Listen to this articleEpson is releasing the Epson ColorWorks CW-C6500 color label printer in January 2020. With its release, big changes are expected within the color label printing industry.
Here’s our recent interview with Basat Khalifa, CEO of DuraFast Label Company:
Q: What’s different about the Epson ColorWorks CW-C6500 color label printer compared to some of the other color label printers you’ve shared with us in the past?
A: The Epson ColorWorks CW-C6500 color label printer is part of the ColorWorks family. It is an 8-inch-wide color printer that uses pigment inks and Serial PrecisionCore TFP printhead technology to deliver crystal clear text and barcodes with full color, fast print speeds, and 1200 dpi print resolution. As such, it joins the likes of color label printers such as the Primera LX2000, Afinia L501, Afinia L701, Afinia L801, and NeuraLabel 300x in this market space.
That said, it is designed as a full color replacement to black and white only thermal transfer printers in enterprise environments. The Afinia L501 and Primera LX2000 are strong contenders in the small business, home-based market where printing small quantities of high print resolution labels is important as well as a low initial investment. Meanwhile, the higher speed Memjet-based printers like the Afinia L701/L801 and the NeuraLabel 300x can produce a large number of labels at a quick speed. However, none of these printers are designed for large enterprises that have many thermal label printers in manufacturing and logistics. They simply are not practical for printer fleets, which is a huge segment of the market, as they do not have the features needed in this setting.
Now that the Epson CW-C6500 color label printer exists, black and white thermal transfer printers can now be replaced with full color printers using the 8-inch Epson CW-C6500A or CW-C6500P, which begin shipping in January 2020. A 4-inch-wide version, the Epson CW-C6000 color label printer is also coming in May 2020.
Q: You mentioned an “A” and a “P” model. What are the differences?
A: The Epson CW-C6500A color label printer comes with an auto cutter to cut the labels as they are printed while the Epson CW-C6500P color label printer comes with a peeler which prints the label and then peels it from the liner and presents it. This is helpful when you need to quickly apply label as they are printed without having to peel them from the liner. This is a very important feature when you are in a manufacturing or warehouse logistics environment and want the label to be printed and quickly applied to the product or carton as it comes off the line.
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Q: How will the new Epson CW-C6500 color label printer transform label printing for enterprises?
A: Currently, many enterprises have a two-step process for printing labels. They order preprinted color labels from a print service provider (for example, blank shipping labels with their color logo on them) and then use the thermal transfer printers to print black text and barcodes on the preprinted labels. As you can imagine, this adds complexity to their processes. Not only is it more work to manage and an extra expense, a lot of label inventory gets wasted. Either it becomes obsolete as their label designs change or the extra labels could become damaged or lost over time.
Since the Epson CW-C6500 color label printer is designed specifically as a color upgrade to black and white thermal transfer printers which currently dominate the manufacturing market, it fits in beautifully to existing workflows. The Epson CW-C6500 color label printer is comparable to black and white thermal transfer printers with similar media handling, speed, features, and most importantly, connectivity options.
By replacing thermal transfer printers with a color solution such as the Epson CW-C6500 color label printer, there’s no need to pre-print labels.
Q: What are some of the comparable features?
A: It’s a seamless integration with enterprises’ existing systems. The Epson CW-C6500 color label printer is compatible with ZPL II, major middleware, SAP, Windows, MAC and Linux. Remote printer management ensures that any Epson CW-C6500 printers added to the fleet can be remotely managed over the network. These printers also have an applicator I/O control port that supports I/O commands and can be fully integrated into any manufacturing workflow environment where the label is printed and applied to the product.
Because enterprise label printing environments often have different requirements within the fleet, several nearly identical sub-models are available including:
– Epson CW-C6500A color label printer – 8-inch model with auto cutter (January 2020)
– Epson CW-C6500P color label printer – 8-inch model with peel and present (January 2020)
– Epson CW-C6000A color label printer – 4-inch model with auto cutter (May 2020)
– Epson CW-C6000P color label printer – 4-inch model with peel and present (May 2020)
Q: What else do we need to know about the Epson CW-C6000A color label printer?
A: They also produce extremely durable labels. The Epson CW-C6000A color label printer meets GHS BS5609 certification when used with DuraFast Chemical label media.
Recommended: Q: ow do you handle service and support for the Epson CW-C6500A and CS-C6500P label printers in these large deployments?
A: Each manufacturing or logistics facility is different with different needs and requirements when it comes to service and support. That’s why there are several options available with these printers to better help large enterprise business that deploy the Epson CW-6500 printers.
The standard warranty on the Epson ColorWorks C6500 is one-year depot warranty, which covers parts and labor. However, this warranty can be upgraded as per the following options:
• Spare-In-The-Air (SITA) – You can purchase up to 3 years of SITA warranty on these printers. With this warranty, if you have any issue with the printer which the Epson support technician cannot resolve over the phone, Epson will ship you a replacement printer within two business days. This way, you can get your critical production or label production back up and running quickly.
• On-Site-Service – You can purchase the onsite service option for up to three years. In this case, a service technician will arrive at your business to fix the issue at hand.
Finally, I would urge anyone interested in the Epson CW-C6500A color label printer or the Epson CW-C6500P color label printer to consider pre-ordering it as quantities may be limited and demand high. Plus, our pre-order special is worth $1,000 in free labels with this discount code: C6500PRE. This special is only for our pre-order period.
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