The Fox-in-a-Box cable labelling kit soon proved its worth for industrial labelling specialist,

Waverley Engraving – helping it fulfil a large order that would have otherwise been

impossible.

Signs of successful times thanks to Fox-in-a-Box.

Based in Colney Heath, near St Albans, in Hertfordshire, Waverley Engraving has been in

business for over 20 years. They specialise in engraving and sign making for the electrical

industry, working with contractors for such organisations as London Underground Ltd (LUL)

and Network Rail.

“We specialise in industrial engraving, such as labels and electrical panels but we also do

more general engraving work including trophies and brass plaques,” said Bruce Giffen,

Waverley Engraving’s Managing Director. “Among our other activities are laser etching, vinyl

lettering and producing acrylic letters for sign making.”

For the last three or four years, Waverley Engraving has been supplying cable labels for use

in a number of organisations, including LUL. Bruce explained: “The traditional way of

labelling these cables was via placing individual rubber letters onto the cables. It was both

intricate and time consuming work.

“Then newer methods of cable labelling were developed and, once they were approved as

meeting various health and safety – including fire safety – standards, we began using them,”

said Bruce. “However, there were some major issues with these methods with regards to

the quality of the print on the labels.

“We needed a complete solution for printing high volumes of affordable, LUL approved

cable labels,” he added. “Then Silver Fox brought out its thermal printer and included it in

its ‘Fox-in-a-Box’ kit-based cable labelling solution.”

A leading UK manufacturer of labelling solutions, Silver Fox developed ‘Fox-In-A-Box’,

intending it to be an easy-to-use, cost-effective solution for printing large volumes ofcable

labels with all the essential components supplied in a single box. The kit includes a

Plug’N’Play thermal printer, labelling software, a universal guidance system for heat-

shrink and non-shrink tubing, full length thermal ribbon and connecting cables - in fact

everything needed to start printing labels. To help with setting up, there is also a manual

and the company offers a free bookable telephone support/set-up session that also includes

software training.

“Fox-In-A-Box is designed to make engineers’ lives easier, helping them to save time with

every cable labelling job they do,” said Nick Michaelson, Silver Fox’s CEO. “Software updates

are also free for both new and existing customers. These are made possible by the special

automatic web update module incorporated in our software.”

The Silver Fox cable labelling solution uses one printer and one ribbon for all types of label –

including Tie-on Cable Labels, Heatshrink, Non-shrink, Wrap-around self- laminating labels

and 2-Part wire marking. There are also other time and cost savings available because, using

the Silver Fox Plug’N’Play printer, users can load and print whatever label type they need

without any time-consuming set-up and label wastage. They just move seamlessly from one

label type to another.

There are two levels of software available: Advanced and Professional. The latter software

offers some industry leading import functionality such as cross-ferruling for wire marking

and variable duplication of cable labels, where different quantities of each label are

required.

Armed with a thermal printing machine, a supply of blank labels and the rest of the Fox-in-a-

Box kit, Waverley Engraving began a new era in its cable labelling experience.

Bruce soon noticed that the Fox-in-a-Box approach offers some distinct advantages.

Importantly, Silver Fox not only manufactures its labels in the UK but also holds large stocks

of rolls of label ‘blanks’. This means that Silver Fox can supply its customers’ needs

extremely quickly.

“Not only do we now have a reliable thermal printing machine,” said Bruce, “we also get

regular upgrades to the software as part of the package, which is all done online and is very

useful.

“The printer has a smaller footprint than our previous cable labelling machine,” he

continued. “It’s quieter, cheaper and easier to run and the printer has three speed settings –

which means it can produce labels faster than was possible before and it does it without

losing any print quality.

“In addition, the labels that we produce via the Silver Fox thermal printer have a better ‘look

and feel’ than the ones we used to produce,” he said.

“Silver Fox has a larger range of labels – in terms of size and colours – than any other

supplier we’ve found,” stated Bruce. “And, because these labels are made in the UK

whatever amount of labels we need are only a telephone call away. Delivery is never a

problem. For example, we had an order for 1,000 printed cable labels that were being

installed that evening but we only had some 800 blanks in stock. So I was able to jump in the

car and collect some more from Silver Fox. Any other supplier would have taken between

four and six weeks to supply the materials we needed – so without Silver Fox, we couldn’t

have taken the order, let alone been able to supply the goods within the necessary

timescale.

“Moreover, we get lots of customer support from Silver Fox – and regular, automatic

updates and upgrades of its Labacus Innovator software.

“We use the Advanced, rather than the Professional, version of the software because we’re

only doing basic labelling,” he revealed. “We find that this software gives us more than

sufficient control over the label design – in terms of the fonts we can use and the size of the

type – than any other labelling method. With the Silver Fox product, we can make whatever

changes we need to the labels we’re producing.

“We’ve also noticed that, since we’ve been using Silver Fox labelling products, the amount

of wastage in producing the labels has fallen dramatically,” he said. “Using other cable label

production processes, there was some label wastage when you were setting up the system

– and these labels aren’t cheap, with each label costing between 70p and 90p, that could

add up! However, there is no wastage at all with the Silver Fox process. Any mistakes on the

labels can be amended and there is no need to run a ‘test’ label before starting the labelling

process.

“Furthermore, whereas other printers use only a small part of the printer ribbon, the Silver

Fox thermal printer offers users two widths of ribbon – and it’s also possible to print two

labels together, which further reduces ribbon wastage.

“I’m particularly pleased to see that the Silver Fox labels come loaded onto a cardboard reel

and packaged in a cardboard box. That makes recycling these reels and the packaging

simple. There’s no need to put any of this into landfill. Contrastingly, other manufacturers

supply their labels on plastic spools – which can’t be recycled. So Silver Fox’s labels are

demonstrably more environmentally friendly.

“Silver Fox is very easy to deal with,” Bruce said. “Any time we’ve had a question, we simply

pick up the phone.

“Silver Fox sent somebody to install our new system but it was clear that, because of Silver

Fox’s attention to detail, we could have installed it ourselves. We were surprised to receive

follow-up calls from them to make sure all was OK. In our experience, this is unusual - and

most welcome. We also give Silver Fox feedback regarding any issues we may have or

suggestions for improvement - which they act upon.

“What surprised us was that they welcome our feedback! For example, the special metal

plate that guides the labels into the print head lay in position and, we felt, wasn’t held

tightly enough; so Nick Michaelson, Silver Fox’s CEO, together with his technical team,

reviewed our feedback. Within days, they produced a modification to the guidance system

that totally addressed the issue. It now fits really firmly – perfect!

“We’re delighted with both the products and the customer service we get from Silver Fox,”

he said. “I’m sure we’ll be using more and more Silver Fox products – to help us exceed our

customers’ expectations.”

“I see our relationship with Silver Fox progressing very nicely. We’re involved with some

large Network Rail and Transport for London (TFL) projects - and the labelling of cables is a

requirement on most electrical installations these days. Silver Fox is a great company to do

business with and is very supportive as a supplier,” said Bruce.

About Silver Fox Ltd

A leader in UK manufacturing labelling solutions using a special Plug’n’Play thermal printer

or a standard office printer - ensuring fast and efficient identification of cables, wires,

optical fibres, panels and equipment - Silver Fox delivers solutions for the Energy, Power,

Rail and Data & Telecoms industries worldwide.

Silver Fox’s production of independently tested durable labelling is only part of the story. It

also offers three levels of software, all of which are downloadable from the Silver Fox

website, for free trial. Developed in conjunction with engineers over the past 15 years or so,

these software solutions offer an array of unique time-saving options which, for the time-

critical project, can turn time into profit.

Silver Fox tests its labels at recognised independent UKAS certified test laboratories in

compliance with a number of different MIL and other standards. Silver Fox is ISO 9001:2008

registered. Silver Fox has spent over 30 years developing its products. Its commitment to

global business was recognised in 2005 by the Queen’s Award for Enterprise – International

Trade.

Silver Fox Social Media Channels:

Further information from:

Nico Frame, Marketing Manager,

Silver Fox Ltd, +44 (0)1707 373727; nico.frame@silverfox.co.uk