When to Buy Label Jumbo Rolls Instead of Finished Rolls

Jumbo roll and finished roll are two different products for two different businesses, and the mistake usually runs in one direction: an end user buying jumbo stock because the price per square metre looks better.

What a Jumbo Roll Is

A self-adhesive laminate in its full web width, wound on a core and supplied on a pallet. It is the material a converter slits, prints and die-cuts into labels.

Because it is a material rather than a product, it is specified by number: basis weight and thickness for the facestock and the liner, adhesive type, and peel adhesion values at 20 minutes and 24 hours.

Who Should Buy It

• Label converters with their own printing and die-cutting lines.
• Printing houses adding a self-adhesive line.
• Regional distributors holding stock for several local converters.

Who Should Not

Anyone without a slitter and a die. A jumbo roll cannot be loaded into a desktop printer, and the cost of having it converted by a third party usually exceeds the saving.

Specifying a Grade

If a customer has approved a product code, supply that code. A near-equivalent laminate with similar properties is not the same as the material the job was quoted and approved against, and the whole run can be rejected on that basis.

A specified grade such as AW3209.2000 gives you 80 g/m2 coated paper to ISO 536, 0.070 mm thickness to ISO 534, a Fasson general purpose permanent acrylic emulsion, and a 60 g/m2 white glassine liner with back printing, with initial tack and 24-hour peel values published to FTM 9 and FTM 2.

What to Check on Arrival

• Roll edges wound straight and flat, with no telescoping.
• Liner grammage matching the specification; a lighter liner breaks on the press at speed.
• Back printing on the liner, where the grade is supplied with it, so the material can be verified on the machine.
• Rolls allowed to reach workshop temperature before running.