Efficient billet marking on the cooling bed | 01.10.2025

Billet labelling in high-temperature environments enables reliable identification during cooling, storage and internal logistics.
In practice, there are two key stages for the seamless tracking of billets within the plant. The first is directly on the continuous casting line after cutting, where temperatures of around 900 °C prevail. The second stage involves the cooling bed, where the materials must be marked at temperatures of around 400 °C to 450 °C. It is precisely for this temperature range that we are launching a new material.

With the product GRAPHIPLAST^® 7377.130, we are expanding our high-temperature portfolio to include a cost-optimised variant. This has been specially developed to enable reliable labelling without placing an unnecessary strain on the budget. Until now, many plants have often used oversized materials for this temperature range – materials that were actually certified for significantly higher temperatures. The new material fills this gap cost-effectively.

Technical facts: Durability right at the cooling bed in the steelworks

Our heat-resistant labels for the cooling bed impress with their functional adaptation to the harsh environment in the steelworks. The physical properties are precisely tailored to the requirements there:

• Heat resistance: The material can withstand ambient temperatures of 400 °C to 450 °C continuously without suffering damage or becoming brittle.
• Easy printing: The film can be easily labelled in-house using standard thermal transfer ribbons. No expensive specialist ribbons or special printers are required.
• Data security: Barcodes and 2D codes remain completely smudge-proof and permanently machine-readable even when exposed to heat, which eliminates errors during automatic data capture.

Efficient warehouse organisation thanks to heat-resistant inks

The material’s flexible design options allow for easy integration into your existing logistics processes. We use heat-resistant inks, for example, to clearly colour-code steel grades. This makes it easier for staff on the shop floor to identify items and supports error-free warehouse organisation during onward transport.

The GRAPHIPLAST® 7377.130 product proves that extreme durability and cost-effectiveness need not be mutually exclusive. If you wish to optimise the costs of your marking processes at temperatures up to 450 °C, we would be happy to review your specifications. Let us analyse the requirements for your production lines together.