Tags vs. Labels: A Practical Comparison in Cargo Identification

In moving, storage and logistics, proper package identification is critical. In everyday operations, two approaches are most commonly used: paper tags and printed labels. Below is a practical comparison based on real-life usage.

Advantages of Tags

• Tags can be easily removed from polished furniture surfaces and do not leave residue.
• Tags do not require any additional equipment to be used.
• Tags have been used by many generations of movers and have become a familiar, habitual solution in the industry.

Disadvantages of Tags

• Tags do not contain information about a specific shipment.
• The number of tags in a roll is limited.
• When the number of items exceeds the number of tags in a roll, a new roll must be started.
• As a result, the same tag numbers may appear within one shipment, and items must be distinguished by additional attributes such as color or lot number.
• This often leads to confusion during inventory and completeness checks.
• Additional rolls are usually used only partially. Since discarding them feels wasteful, the next shipment often starts not from the first tag number.
• If the roll runs out again, another new roll starting from number one is opened and again not fully used — the problem repeats.
• Tags do not adhere well to cardboard packaging or bubble wrap plastic.
• During unloading, tags often peel off, stick to other items, or even end up on movers’ clothing.
• This causes conflicts and errors when verifying the inventory at delivery.

Labels Printed via the Voxme Bingo Portal

Advantages of Labels

• Labels stick securely to cardboard and plastic packaging.
• Labels include complete shipment information:
      client name, origin and destination, job number, and package number.
• Each label contains a QR code encoding the job number and package number, making every label unique.
• Barcode labels can be scanned using the Delivery Bingo app during inventory checks.
• The pricing model of the Bingo portal and the durability of Zebra printers (which often last 10+ years) offset the traditional cost advantage of tags.

Conclusion:
In practice, the cost of printing individual labels via the Voxme Bingo portal is equal to — and in many cases lower than — the cost of using tags,while providing significantly higher accuracy and transparency.

‍