How to Avoid Running Out of Ink This Holiday Season

The United States’ election has had its share of snafus, causing delays in counting ballots. In Wisconsin, one of the closest races, absentee ballots were delayed in Green Bay when one of the counting machines ran out of ink. While we don’t know if the site had extra ink cartridges on hand, had to send a staffer to the local office supply store, or needed a specialized ink cartridge only available online, we do know that running out of ink can cause significant disruptions to businesses of all types — including yours.

With the holiday season already starting up along with the pandemic and the uncertainty of shipping times, we expect to see a significant shift to online Christmas shopping. The last thing you want to have happen in the midst of tight shipping deadlines and a crush of eCommerce orders is to run out of ink or blank labels. If you run out and don’t have extra ink cartridges on hand, how will you print your shipping labels?

Use the tips below to avoid running out of ink this holiday season:

1. Order extra ink cartridges now. Having extra ink cartridges on hand takes a lot of the pressure off of you. When the printer needs a new ink cartridge, downtime is limited to however long it takes for you to walk over to the supply cabinet and replace it. On the other hand, if you don’t have any more ink, your print jobs will be delayed until you can procure ink cartridges.
2. Create a system for ordering more ink cartridge when supplies get low. It’s smart to reorder when your ink supplies reach a predetermined level. For example, you might be comfortable having three extra cartridges on hand. Thus, whenever you have just two left, place a new order.
3. Consider other label printing options. Depending on what types of labels you will be printing, you may want to consider a different label printing solution. For example, if you’re strictly printing shipping labels, a direct thermal label printer is an excellent choice. There’s no need for ink or ribbons so you’ll never run out of ink. If you prefer to stick with a color inkjet printer so you can print shipping labels as well as other document types in color, take a look at Epson Supertank printers, which come with two years’ worth of ink.

DuraFast Label Company wants your holiday season to go as smoothly as possible without downtime due to ink shortages. We have a large inventory of ink cartridges, label printers, and business inkjet printers.