signs, such as for marking equipment, organizing supplies or identifying vehicles. For this type of marking, a thermal trans-fer printer may be the ideal solution. These battery-powered printers are compact and mobile, enabling users to print on the go. Our research has shown that thermal transfer sign and label printers create lon-ger-lasting labels and are more durable in industrial settings than ink jet printers. If your labels fail to perform for any rea-son, then safety is compromised — some-thing no one wants. Thermal transfer printers may be used by custodial professionals who service office buildings, hospitals, stores, manufactur-ing facilities, warehouses and distribution centers. Compatible with a wide range of printing supplies, safety messages are always clear and constant when printed in-house to unique specifications “We focus on manufacturing facilities and adjacent offices as our customer base,” notes Ken Galo, owner of L & K Office and Industrial Cleaning Services. “This is where signage becomes important, since most of our customers work in the manufactur-ing areas while we are doing our jobs. We have to pay attention to lockout and tagout signs from maintenance personnel so we don’t turn on a circuit breaker to get power to a line of outlets for our buffers or charging an autoscrubber. Since many lines carry power in a grid, an open outlet in the corner may also be connected to a pole outlet that a machine is using, and the maintenance may have the power off while doing a repair.” Signs and labels have come a long way in recent years, particularly in regard to vinyl supplies. Your environment will dictate the kinds of labeling supplies that will make the most sense. Consider the following: ■ Wayfinding signs and facility maps direct visitors and employees to entrances, exits and departments. Wayfinding signs need to be highly visible, appropriate for the design scheme of the office, building or school and must communicate key messages with few words. In some cases, wayfinding signs may help guide people in emergencies such as fires and power outages. ■ Repositionable tapes are specially engineered to adhere to many of the same flat surfaces as many perma-nent labels. These labels are made to provide lasting service and can be reapplied repeatedly. They are ideal for use in temporary inventory label-ing, work-in-progress signage, main-tenance project signage, identifying temporary workstations and marking items needing repair. CM Circle Product Information no. 210 on page 24 www.cmmonline.com 23
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