“We needed packaging that told the fiber story and proved our claims,” recalls Aiko Sato, Sustainability Lead at Kaiyo Threads, a mid-sized yarn and accessories brand operating across Japan and Southeast Asia. “We were already moving to shorter print runs and more SKUs. The labels had to keep up, and they had to be verifiably greener.” The team began a methodical shift to digital print for product labels and thermal transfer for serialized tracking.
The brand partnered with onlinelabels to trial materials and templates while they redesigned the workflow end‑to‑end. Early pilots combined water‑based inks on FSC-certified labelstock for retail units with thermal transfer barcodes and data-matrix codes for pallet and machine assets. That mix also opened the door to IUID-grade traceability for export customers who demanded item-level visibility.
Here’s where it gets interesting: the move wasn’t just about switching presses. Kaiyo rethought procurement with labels by the sheet for seasonal colorways, set rules for QR-driven education (yes, even the evergreen “how to read yarn labels”), and built a verification layer around iuid labels to lock down identity and durability in a humid, fiber-dust environment.
Company Overview and History
Kaiyo Threads started as a boutique yarn dye house in Osaka and grew into a regional brand selling natural-fiber yarns, small-batch tools, and DIY kits. The portfolio includes 120–180 active SKUs at any time, with seasonal color drops that can appear and disappear in a quarter. That volatility pushed the team toward short-run labeling—often labels by the sheet—so they could stage seasonal packs without sitting on obsolete stock.
On the production floor, humidity swings and fiber dust complicated label adhesion and print durability. Paperboard sleeves, labelstock with glassine liners, and PE/PP film for certain kits all ran through packing cells that changed over multiple times per shift. The mix of substrates and frequent changeovers had long strained color control and material waste.
When the sustainability roadmap called for lower CO2/pack and better transparency, Kaiyo scoped a new workflow: digital printing for retail-facing labels, thermal transfer for serialized case and asset tags, and an early “test kitchen” using onlinelabels samples to dial in adhesive strength and liner choices. That sampling step, simple as it sounds, prevented weeks of back-and-forth later.
Sustainability and Compliance Pressures
Kaiyo sells across Asia and ships to the EU and North America, so the labels had to carry multi-language content, GS1 identifiers, and QR codes compliant with ISO/IEC 18004. Customers also wanted proof: fiber origin, wash guidance, and a quick guide on how to read yarn labels, all accessible from packaging. Meanwhile, the company’s board set targets around FSC sourcing and an SGP-aligned print workflow. That meant clean materials, reliable tracking, and credible data across the label lifecycle.
The team’s solution combined Digital Printing for product labels—with water-based ink on FSC-certified labelstock—and a light, scuff-resistant varnishing pass at the end of the line. Thermal Transfer created serialized data for iuid labels and carton-level DataMatrix codes, providing item-to-case traceability. Design moved into a templated system: the onlinelabels/maestro layout library guided dielines, safe zones, and variable fields so operators could swap colorways or languages without rebuilding files.
But there’s a catch. Water-based ink on uncoated paper can scuff in transit, and glassine-liner disposal policies differ by market. Kaiyo settled on a low-odor varnish and a closed-loop liner program where available, with a fallback to certified waste channels. Adhesion on textured cartons took tuning; the team tested three acrylic adhesives from the onlinelabels samples pack before landing on a mid-tack option that balanced removability and hold. Payback for the new flow was modeled at roughly 9–12 months, depending on seasonal demand.
Quantitative Results and Metrics
Six months after the switchover, waste rate on retail label runs fell by about 15–20%, and scrap from color versioning dropped in the 25–35% range thanks to shorter batches and cleaner changeovers. Color accuracy held with ΔE typically within 2.0–3.5 across recycled paperboard and film, which the brand deemed acceptable for yarn category cues. FPY% on digital runs climbed by roughly 6–9 points as operators leaned on the standardized templates and preflight rules.
Changeover time per SKU trimmed by about 12–18 minutes because variable data and dielines lived in the same template set. Per‑label material use came down by 6–9% from a tighter die outline. Estimated CO2/pack decreased in the 8–12% band, primarily from less obsolescence and fewer reprints; the shift to labels by the sheet for limited colorways played a role, as did more accurate forecasting. On the traceability side, iuid labels tightened asset tracking and cut recall trace time from hours to roughly 15–25 minutes during drills.
Not every metric moved right away. Early in the rainy season, adhesion failures on textured sleeves crept up to about 3–5%. After switching to the mid-tack adhesive and adding a light varnish, failures stabilized under 1–2%. The team’s takeaway is pragmatic: water-based systems and recycled fibers interact in non-linear ways, so plan for a pilot period and keep spare materials on hand. The next phase involves extending QR content to care tutorials and fiber-sourcing maps. And yes, they’ll keep refining templates with onlinelabels as the catalog evolves.
