Over the past several months supplies continue to be viewed as a commodity, not as an important component of a business strategy. But a label can do much more than simply identify an asset. It can help streamline processes, improve productivity and efficiency, and even give you the actionable insights needed to exceed key performance indictor (KPI) goals. In today’s environment, with fewer employees working per shift and order volumes rising by the day, choosing the right label solution has never been more important to your business’ success.
Just think about…
- what would happen if you were to continue using the same label specs you used 20 years ago, especially given that your business and the external circumstances influencing operations have dramatically changed.
- the amount of time your workers waste creating workarounds for labels that are not right for their specific applications. Do you even know?
- how much waste occurs when you try to adapt your existing labels to your new warehouse management system (WMS) or workflows, only to find that you are no longer using the entire label and throwing part of it away.
- what happens when a label doesn’t scan and you have minutes to get a shipment out the door.
- how significantly your labels become a bottleneck when you are not able to print at maximum speed.
- what happens when the production line goes down or a truck pulls away without an order on it because you can’t print an accurate or readable label.
Though you may not have considered all of these things in the past, you must do so moving forward if you are to identify and address the supplies-related issues impacting your business.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT LABELING SOLUTION PROVIDES A HIGHLY POSITIVE RIPPLE EFFECT
Taking a holistic approach to labeling as an integral part of your business strategy means selecting the right label solution for your specific applications at the outset. This will enable efficient workflows and provide countless additional benefits. For example, it…
- Increases efficiency and productivity: When labels match applications and consistently print, adhere and scan properly, workers encounter fewer obstacles. Plus, IT receives fewer help desk tickets – which also keeps them focused on more valuable and strategic projects – and operations managers experience less downtime. In other words, everyone gets more done in less time.
- Eliminates unnecessary creative solutioning. Employees don’t need to resort to costly and time-consuming ingenuity to make do with labels not developed for their specific application.
- Eliminates over-engineered or under-utilized labels that lead to the financial and material waste that typically occurs when printing solution procurement is siloed, without considering or understanding the labeling process as a whole.
- Enables printing color on demand, greatly reducing errors on shipping labels used for cross docking and sorting. A Zebra label solution helped a customer get 19% more packages out the door in the same amount of time.
- Can help streamline complex processes. The identification and labeling of parts, components and assets is a critical phase in the manufacturing processes, subject to stringent requirements for both manufacturers and their suppliers. A sound labeling solution can help avoid delayed shipments, loss of contracts, drop in supplier rating and slowdowns in productivity, which can adversely impact KPIs and profitability.
THE TAKEAWAY
Obtaining the right label solution is a fairly easy task when you engage an expert and, in many cases, requires little to no IT support. The right labeling solution is easily accessible, but it’s not always so easy to find that solution on your own. Having the right technology partner by your side and tapping into its supplies-specific expertise takes the burden away from you and ensures that the selected solution seamlessly aligns with your specific workflows.
To learn more about label solutions, contact an AbeTech Solution Expert to get more details.
