What do I call the operation of printing the expiry date and batch number on a drug vial label?

Question

Этикетирование и маркировка флаконов осуществляется на этикетировочной машине. Номер серии и срок годности на этикетку наносят с помощью маркировочного узла машины этикетирования.

My translation:

The labeling and marking??? of vials is performed using the labeling machine. The batch number and the expiry date are placed on the label using the marking??? unit of the labeling machine.

The labeling machine starts with attaching a label to the vial. The "marking" section of the labeling machine merely prints out the expiry date and the batch number upon the label that is finished in all other respects.

I wonder what word to use for this operation.

Answer 1

"Printing the expiry date and batch number on a drug vial label" would normally be called "labelling". Google translate provides this, but also illustrates the problem of using it here:

Labelling and labelling of vials is carried out on the labelling machine. The serial number and expiry date on the label are applied with the labelling unit of the labelling machine.

I would agree that marking might be an alternative in the first sentence, but you could use a more technical expression for the second sentence. "Print unit" or "printer unit" are descriptions I've seen.

Labelling and marking of vials is carried out on the labelling machine. The serial number and expiry date on the label are applied with the print unit of the labelling machine.

Or, you might get away with a slightly looser translation (since you are changing words anyway):

Labelling of vials is carried out on the labelling machine. The serial number and expiry date on the label are printed by the labelling machine.

Since there is one machine, it's reasonable to describe what that machine does as "labelling". The second sentence makes it clear that part of what that machine does is print information on the sticker. Unless you specifically need to mention a "print unit", it's reasonable to infer that there is such a mechanism in order to do the printing.

Answer 2

I don't think your Russian translation is quite correct. A labelling machine won't have a specific part to place batch number/expiry date onto a label, it will be performed by the printer head the same as all the other label information.

I found this article which explains the labelling of medical products clearly:

CV Labels

They use a nice phrase for the batch number/expiry date information (in the Blood bag labelling section) which you might find useful, which is:

audit trail

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"Each blood bag or infusion bag carries two labels. The first is applied during the manufacturing process and a second label is applied over first label, once the bags are in use at blood centres or hospitals. These labels contain information on the donor and are assigned specific expiration dates, a unique product code, and a matrix tracking bar code which ensures an accurate audit trail."

Answer 3

I am a scientist in a laboratory that specializes in the creation of polymers. When we mark phials or bottles with the lot and expiry information, we call this process "tagging", as in "we tag the phial".