WS Packaging develops time indicator label

WS Packaging has developed a replacement indicator label exclusively for the New FridgeFresh Refrigerator Air Filter from Arm & Hammer. The white bar on the label turns pink as time passes. When it is completely pink, there’s no guessing it’s time to replace the air filter.

The label uses the chemical reaction between two microencapsulated proprietary materials to signal when it’s time to replace the air filter. Key objectives of the project were to make the label highly functional and easy to use. It also had to physically be part of the product casing, but not interfere with the functionality of the air filter device.

‘We took the label to market in less than two months,’ said Ron Hagen, research and development manager with WS Packaging. ‘Church & Dwight, the parent company of Arm & Hammer, had an established timeframe for launching its new FridgeFresh Refrigerator Air Filter. We had to meet that deadline with a fully functioning label, despite the technological hurdles of engineering a multiple-ply construction that had never been done before.’

The pressure-sensitive labels are produced in a single pass on a Webtron flexo press at the WS Packaging facility in Neenah, Wisconsin. The construction includes the label material, proprietary inks used for the indicator, a separation strip the consumer removes to activate the indicator, and a top ply.