Plant Tag printing is one of the things UDS has done for nearly 30 years. In recent years it has become frustrating because thermal printers have lagged behind other Windows printers. The solutions currently available are unreliable, over-priced, inflexible and difficult to learn. Most do not work properly with Windows. When a problem occurs there is not one source of information and support. The technical understanding of how application software, printer hardware and tag media should work in Windows is not available from one source. What is worse is that it simply costs too much.  

Ink jet printers cost about $50 and print thousands of pages of information without maintenance or issue. If they do not work it is not a major issue to get another or send it in for service. $500 buys a fast laser printer that prints thousands of pages without effort. These are complex devices running complex application software that work very well with Windows and provide years of reliable service to your company and require little or no outside support. Why do thermal transfer printers not have the same characteristics?

Have you looked at your cost of printing tags? How much do you spend on the tags? How much did you spend on the printer? How much does it cost to replace parts when they break? Does it seem like you are spending a premium price for a less than premium solution? How bad is the warranty on the new printer you just bought? How difficult is it to change the media and ribbon?

How much effort does it take? Do you need “three men and a boy” to resolve a problem? How many companies need to get involved if it does not work properly? Is the response to any issue with a printer “You must run our software in order for it to work.”.  

Who do you call when something goes wrong? How long is your suppliers support chain? Does it have engineers that support the product or is it a tiny part of a very big product line that has been poorly adapted to the green industry? Do you feel like you are left out because you are not big enough? Does your tag printing software have a name and an application from another industry?

There are three aspects to every tag printing solution. First is the printer. Second is the printing material or media. Third is the software that runs the printer. Ideally all three aspects of a printing solution would be supported by a single company. UDS has provided the software part of this puzzle for nearly 30 years but we have not ventured into the hardware or media aspects. Other vendors were in that space.  

Recently I attended a conference where I investigated thermal printers. I came away with multiple alternatives to what is currently available in the market. I was so pleased with the fresh alternatives that we have decided to offer a complete solution for tag and label printing. In addition through www.aatags.com we will offer on demand and overflow printing capabilities. We have taken the three aspects of plant tag printing and added a fourth.

www.aatags.com is a new service that will provide printed and unprinted tags to the green industry. You will create an order for tags on-line or send your own tag queue to aatags@udsgis.com for printing.

Available in December from UDS will be a complete tag printing solution. We will sell and support the tag printer, TAGmaker software, and tags. Plus we will support your company by providing easy methods to supplement your printing capability with printed tags. We will resolve any issues with your UDS supplied printer, tag printing software, or media. In addition you will have the ability to print tags on demand through our on line tag web site. We will provide additional tag production when you need it.

Maybe your existing tag printer breaks down. Maybe you need to supplement your capacity with a few thousand tags of your design. With ActiveApplications and TAGmaker you will have the ability to order tags on line and have them supplied as soon as the next day.

You will receive all of these services and hardware from one source! Go to our web site www.aatags.com for information on the printers, media, and tag printing service.