Zebra's Industry Solutions can give your business a competitive advantage by connecting people, assets and data to help you make better decisions.
Scale and energize your retail strategy with a digital backbone that unifies your team, informs priorities and drives results with Zebra's retail technology solutions.
Zebra’s mobile computing, scanning, and printing solutions connect each operational area in your warehouse to give you the agility to realize transformational gains.
Zebra's healthcare technology solutions provide patient identity management, mobile health devices, and business intelligence data to improve efficiency.
Zebra’s manufacturing technology solutions enable manufacturers to become more agile, optimize plant floor performance and embrace market changes.
Zebra's market-leading solutions and products improve customer satisfaction with a lower cost per interaction by keeping service representatives connected with colleagues, customers, management and the tools they use to satisfy customers across the supply chain.
In today's world, the demands on transportation and logistics companies are higher than ever. Dedicated Warehouse, Fleet and Delivery, and Yard and Terminal solutions enable visibility to every aspect of your business and keep operations running flawlessly around the clock.
Zebra's hospitality technology solutions equip your hotel and restaurant staff to deliver superior customer and guest service through inventory tracking and more.
Empower your field workers with purpose-driven mobile technology solutions to help them capture and share critical data in any environment.
Learn how Zebra's public sector technology solutions empower state and local governments to improve efficiency with asset tracking and data capture devices.
Zebra's range of Banking technology solutions enables banks to minimize costs and to increase revenue throughout their branch network. Learn more.
Zebra's range of mobile computers equip your workforce with the devices they need from handhelds and tablets to wearables and vehicle-mounted computers.
Zebra's desktop, mobile, industrial, and portable printers for barcode labels, receipts, RFID tags and cards give you smarter ways to track and manage assets.
Zebra's 1D and 2D corded and cordless barcode scanners anticipate any scanning challenge in a variety of environments, whether retail, healthcare, T&L or manufacturing.
Zebra's extensive range of RAIN RFID readers, antennas, and printers give you consistent and accurate tracking.
Choose Zebra's reliable barcode, RFID and card supplies carefully selected to ensure high performance, print quality, durability and readability.
Zebra's location technologies provide real-time tracking for your organization to better manage and optimize your critical assets and create more efficient workflows.
Zebra's rugged tablets and 2-in-1 laptops are thin and lightweight, yet rugged to work wherever you do on familiar and easy-to-use Windows or Android OS.
With Zebra's family of fixed industrial scanners and machine vision technologies, you can tailor your solutions to your environment and applications.
Zebra’s line of kiosks can meet any self-service or digital signage need, from checking prices and stock on an in-aisle store kiosk to fully-featured kiosks that can be deployed on the wall, counter, desktop or floor in a retail store, hotel, airport check-in gate, physician’s office, local government office and more.
Discover Zebra’s range of accessories from chargers, communication cables to cases to help you customize your mobile device for optimal efficiency.
Zebra's environmental sensors monitor temperature-sensitive products, offering data insights on environmental conditions across industry applications.
Keep labor costs low, your talent happy and your organization compliant. Create an agile operation that can navigate unexpected schedule changes and customer demand to drive sales, satisfy customers and improve your bottom line.
Empower the front line with prioritized task notification and enhanced communication capabilities for easier collaboration and more efficient task execution.
Get full visibility of your inventory and automatically pinpoint leaks across all channels.
Reduce uncertainty when you anticipate market volatility. Predict, plan and stay agile to align inventory with shifting demand.
Drive down costs while driving up employee, security, and network performance with software designed to enhance Zebra's wireless infrastructure and mobile solutions.
Explore Zebra’s printer software to integrate, manage and monitor printers easily, maximizing IT resources and minimizing down time.
Make the most of every stage of your scanning journey from deployment to optimization. Zebra's barcode scanner software lets you keep devices current and adapt them to your business needs for a stronger ROI across the full lifecycle.
RFID development, demonstration and production software and utilities help you build and manage your RFID deployments more efficiently.
RFID development, demonstration and production software and utilities help you build and manage your RFID deployments more efficiently.
Zebra DNA is the industry’s broadest suite of enterprise software that delivers an ideal experience for all during the entire lifetime of every Zebra device.
Advance your digital transformation and execute your strategic plans with the help of the right location and tracking technology.
Boost warehouse and manufacturing operations with Symmetry, an AMR software for fleet management of Autonomous Mobile Robots and streamlined automation workflows.
The Zebra Aurora suite of machine vision software enables users to solve their track-and-trace, vision inspection and industrial automation needs.
Zebra Aurora Focus brings a new level of simplicity to controlling enterprise-wide manufacturing and logistics automation solutions. With this powerful interface, it’s easy to set up, deploy and run Zebra’s Fixed Industrial Scanners and Machine Vision Smart Cameras, eliminating the need for different tools and reducing training and deployment time.
Aurora Imaging Library™, formerly Matrox Imaging Library, machine-vision software development kit (SDK) has a deep collection of tools for image capture, processing, analysis, annotation, display, and archiving. Code-level customization starts here.
Aurora Design Assistant™, formerly Matrox Design Assistant, integrated development environment (IDE) is a flowchart-based platform for building machine vision applications, with templates to speed up development and bring solutions online quicker.
Designed for experienced programmers proficient in vision applications, Aurora Vision Library provides the same sophisticated functionality as our Aurora Vision Studio software but presented in programming language.
Aurora Vision Studio, an image processing software for machine & computer vision engineers, allows quick creation, integration & monitoring of powerful OEM vision applications.
Adding innovative tech is critical to your success, but it can be complex and disruptive. Professional Services help you accelerate adoption, and maximize productivity without affecting your workflows, business processes and finances.
Zebra's Managed Service delivers worry-free device management to ensure ultimate uptime for your Zebra Mobile Computers and Printers via dedicated experts.
Find ways you can contact Zebra Technologies’ Support, including Email and Chat, ask a technical question or initiate a Repair Request.
Zebra's Circular Economy Program helps you manage today’s challenges and plan for tomorrow with smart solutions that are good for your budget and the environment.
The Zebra Knowledge Center provides learning expertise that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your environment.
Zebra has a wide variety of courses to train you and your staff, ranging from scheduled sessions to remote offerings as well as custom tailored to your specific needs.
Build your reputation with Zebra's certification offerings. Zebra offers a variety of options that can help you progress your career path forward.
Build your reputation with Zebra's certification offerings. Zebra offers a variety of options that can help you progress your career path forward.
Thermal transfer ribbons are essential components in thermal transfer printing, a process that uses heat to transfer ink from the ribbon onto a label or other material. These ribbons are typically made of a thin polyester film coated with a specific type of ink, which can vary based on the intended application. The main types of thermal transfer ribbons are wax, wax/resin, and resin, each offering different levels of print quality, durability, and resistance to elements like smudging, chemicals, or extreme temperatures. Selecting the right ribbon formulation is crucial for ensuring optimal performance, as it affects both the longevity of the print and its ability to withstand various environmental conditions.
Not all thermal ribbons are created equal. There are hundreds of different ribbon formulations in the market. That is why Zebra’s Supplies R&D (Research & Development) Team has tested and selected only those ribbons that deliver the best print quality and durability.
To get the Zebra name, each ribbon must pass a series of print quality and durability tests. These tests include evaluating:
Zebra ribbons are compliant with indirect food contact regulations. In addition, all wax/resin ribbons are UL/cUL-certified with specific Zebra materials.
When you purchase Zebra thermal ribbons you can rest assured that the:
Testing thermal transfer ribbons is crucial for several reasons:
Print Quality: Ensuring that the ribbon produces clear, sharp, and legible prints is vital for readability and accuracy, especially in applications like barcoding.
Durability: Different applications require varying levels of durability. Testing helps verify that the ribbon can withstand environmental factors such as abrasion, chemicals, and temperature changes without degrading.
Compatibility: Ribbons must be compatible with specific printers and materials. Testing ensures that the ribbon works effectively with the chosen printer and substrate, preventing issues like smudging or incomplete transfers.
Cost Efficiency: By identifying the best ribbon formulation for a specific application, companies can avoid wastage and reduce costs associated with reprints or material failures.
Regulatory Compliance: Certain industries have strict labeling requirements. Testing ensures that printed labels meet all necessary standards and regulations.
Overall, rigorous testing helps guarantee that the ribbons perform reliably and meet the specific needs of each application.
By running a series of stringent tests, we ensure that you receive the highest-quality and top-performing ribbons every time you order from Zebra. Our supplies R&D team also pre-test Zebra ribbons with a variety of Zebra’s labels and wristbands to ensure the ribbon will meet all your application needs.
Zebra’s Innovation lab has industry-leading testing equipment that can evaluate media print and adhesive performance in extreme temperatures, against a variety of chemicals, abrasion and environmental exposure performance, along with many other testing capabilities.
Industrial and consumer electronic products certified by UL are required to have a UL certified label and ribbon that provides product and date of manufacture information. A UL certification on a Zebra ribbon indicates that UL has tested the ribbon to meet their durability requirements. To view a list of Zebra UL certified labels and ribbons visit http://www.ul.com.
The back coating is the part of the ribbon closest to the printhead and its main function is to protect the printhead from excessive heat, and static. A poor-quality back coating can cause friction between the ribbon and the printhead, causing damage to the printhead. Zebra ensures our ribbons have top-quality back coating to prevent back coating build-up and any other printhead damage.
Wax ribbons are the simplest and most economical ribbons on the market and can support higher print speeds. They are designed for applications that use coated and uncoated paper materials in environments with little to no exposure to chemicals and abrasion.
Wax/Resin ribbons offer a slightly more durable ribbon with moderate print speeds. They are optimized for use with select paper and matte synthetic materials in environments with moderate to extreme chemical exposure and exposure to moderate abrasion or where UL/cUL approval is preferred.
Resin ribbons are the most durable ribbons on the market and require lower print speeds. They are designed for use with synthetic materials in environments with harsh to extreme chemical exposure and/or exposure to excessive abrasion and where UL/cUL approval is required.
With more than 1,000 combinations of high quality and reliable labels, tags, receipt paper, wristbands, and ribbons, Zebra has a media solution for virtually any application. Whether you’re facing shipping, electronic component manufacturing, prescription labeling, or even electronic citation applications, Zebra and our certified partners can provide an in-stock or custom-made solution for you.
Learn More about Zebra's Range of Ribbons
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