When you think of what you fear most, what comes to mind? Ghosts, darkness, clowns, spiders, snakes…. labeling? While labeling might not be as scary as the former, the implications that come from the wrong labeling solution can be HORRIFYING!
Enjoy these three labeling horror stories that will show you how scary labeling mistakes can be, and how three labeling solutions can help so you don’t face a similar fate.
Help me make labeling less scary
Linda is an operations manager at a cheese factory. To label their products, they have 54 separate label files, one for each separate cheese product. Recently, the cheese company decided to open their first retail store where they would sell all their pre-packaged cheeses, plus cheeses based on weight. Linda figured the best way to get product weight on the labels would be to handwrite it on the printed label after the customer makes their order at the counter. Linda went out and bought a food scale and some sharpie markers.
On the opening day of the cheese store, there was already a line forming out the door. Customers were ordering multiple products which meant employees had to weigh each separate product, calculate the cost on a calculator, and write the weight on the product label. For one customer who ordered seven different cheese products, the checkout process took over 10 minutes.
Many people left the cheese store before getting their cheese because of the long line and hectic environment. There were already multiple negative reviews left online due to “brutally long wait times,” being “unorganized,” and calling the checkout process a “nightmare.” After only the first day of the new store being open, the cheese store had already gained a bad reputation.
The launch of the new store was unsuccessful due to a labeling process that couldn’t adapt. Linda needed a labeling solution that was more flexible, where adding a new piece of data onto a label was easy to implement.
Using CODESOFT barcode label design software, you can connect your labels to multiple data sources that automatically pull in data at print time. Beyond connecting to a database to pull in all product information, CODESOFT’s PortWatch feature allows you to connect to a scale that populates the weight onto your label instantly.
By using CODESOFT with PortWatch as her labeling solution, Linda can now simply key in a number to pull up the correct label template, weigh the cheese on a connected scale, and print out the label with the weight and cost – all within seconds!
Watch Linda’s story:
José works in quality assurance at a food manufacturing company. Being in the food industry, consumer safety is of the utmost importance, which is why all labels must go through an approval process to confirm all labels are FDA compliant. To get a label approved, the label designer creates a label and emails the label to José for approval. Once approved, the label is saved in a folder on the shared drive with all other labels.
After changing the recipe of one of their products to include peanut oil, José approved a new label that had an updated allergen section, but with the numerous email communications back and forth, the label designer accidentally saved the draft label in place of the approved label – the one that didn’t include the updated allergen.
Soon after the product with the new recipe that included peanuts went to market, the food manufacturing company was served a lawsuit. Multiple people had eaten the mislabeled product and had an allergic reaction. This labeling error caused the company thousands of dollars in lawsuits, a recall by the FDA, negative press, and sick customers.
The labeling error the food manufacturing company experienced was a result of an unorganized label approval process. José needed a label approval process that has better quality control.
With LABEL ARCHIVE label security & traceability software, you can set up an electronic label approval process that allows for custom workflows and user permissions. After a label is designed, it is automatically sent to the label approver for authorization. After the label receives the stamp of approval, it is checked into production and users no longer have the ability to access the draft label.
By using LABEL ARCHIVE labeling solution for enforcing a label approval process, José can rest easy knowing only high-quality accurate labels are being printed on the production floor.
Watch José’s story:
Dave works for an automotive manufacturing company in supply chain management that works with dozens of suppliers. Each supplier is required to use a specific label template when shipping in their products to ensure parts are routed correctly. Dave emails pre-approved label templates to each supplier but unfortunately, Dave has no control over how the suppliers keep their labels organized.
With recent shortages in semiconductors, the automotive company was desperately waiting for their next shipment to come in. The order was shipped by the supplier weeks ago, but the automotive company had still not received their order. Without the vital semiconductors, the assembly line stopped and production was delayed, costing thousands of dollars in revenue.
Turns out, the shipment of semiconductors had been received, but they never made it to the workstation. The supplier had used the wrong label template that didn’t contain the crucial barcode telling the receiving dock which warehouse the shipment needed to go to. So there the semiconductors sat, without anyone knowing.
The unsecure labeling environment for the automotive manufacturing company caused a major delay in production. Dave needed a secure labeling solution that gave him more control over the labels being used by suppliers.
TEKLYNX CENTRAL is a browser-based label printing system that makes labeling more secure by integrating with your company’s existing ERP, WMS, or another business system. Suppliers can be given access to the secure browser-based label printing interface, allowing them to print the most up-to-date version of a required label.
After implementing TEKLYNX CENTRAL, each of Dave’s suppliers gained access to a secure browser-based interface containing only approved labels. Instead of emailing label files to each of his suppliers, Dave uploaded the label files to TEKLYNX CENTRAL, giving his suppliers immediate access to only the labels they need.
Watch Dave’s story:
Don’t let your labeling turn into a horror story. TEKLYNX is here to help you find a labeling solution to make labeling less scary.
Nick Recht is the Sales Manager for the Americas region at TEKLYNX RFID and barcode label solution provider. He leverages his passion for using technology to add value to businesses and his 14 years of AIDC experience to help organizations of all sizes barcode better. When he is not working, he is driving one of his daughters to a practice of some sort or doing a project around the house.
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