Anyone have any recommendations and / or experience with any of the semi-auto table top labeling machines out there? Something suitable for small production runs of 100 - 500 cases? I’m willing to invest some bucks in something that actually works!
We have an MEB table top labeler that we bought in 2001. It works pretty well, but is hard to get set-up. Once it’s all dialed in, it goes pretty smoothly, although you have to watch to make sure the labels stay aligned (they tend to start getting tilted sometimes).
No matter how great a table top works, I’d never want to use one for more than a few hundred cases. Too much manual work, too time consuming. If I had more than that, I’d have a mobile line come in and do all the bottling and labeling. The quality will be better, and the cost is definitely worth it. The labelers aren’t cheap.
We use ours for small charity bottlings (10-20 cases).
I was thinking the same. A table top, or even a stand-alone electric labeller is OK for custom-labelled wines i.e Corporate gifts, wine clubs etc but for runs of 1000 bottles or more I’d always use my usual mobile line.
I saw some noce wooden ones at a recent trade fair but they were about 300€ and could only do one label. The big problem is that they don’t apply enough pressure.
I have an Australian Benchmark unit, and like it quite a lot. I can run it at 50+ cases per hour easily, and upwards of 60+ cph at full speed. It applies front/back off the same spool, adjusts quickly to different bottle or label sizes, and is very reliable - I know three other Washington producers who use it successfully. Don’t know about current pricing. With two labellers, two foil spinners and sufficient crew (easy to get good help up here) I can do 500 cases in a day. Why pay ~$4.00/case for mobile?
Welcome to the board Ben, it’s great to see you here. I hope you’ll stick around.
BTW, I have a 03 Bel Canto on tap for tomorrow night…how long should I decant it for?
Thanks.
I’ve worked on Ben’s bottling line before and operated his labeler and remember it being very easy to operate with a foot pedal and the labels attached very securely.
Ben, do you know who carries this in the States? I can’t seem to find anyone, at least not with a Google search.
And…Thanks, all, for your input and ideas.
I too had an MEB labeler, sold it last year as I have moved all my bottling to a mobile bottler.
In the beginning my labor was cheap, it made sense to hand bottle.
As I grew I really had to look at the cost of bottling, then coming back and foiling and labeling the bottles. As the former GM of a wine warehouse taught me “OHIO” = Only Handle It Once.
I believe gwkent.com is one source. http://www.greatengineering.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is the homepage for the labeller.
Have a unit from labelone out of Beaverton, OR. Very happy with it, had it for 5+ years. One person can label 250 cases a day (if their brain doesn’t implode). Quite reasonable price, too.
I can go pretty long if the labels are going on correctly. Its when the machine starts “acting up” that my head explodes.
Which model do you have?
Don’t remember the model number, it’s very straightforward, very few bottle/label issues. Just a digital delay you set for gap between labels and a foot pedal. Can get a volunteer running it without issues in 3 minutes. Cost a while ago was $4k.