5 Signs It’s Time to Evaluate Your Labeling System

5 Signs It’s Time to Evaluate Your Labeling System

BY: DOUG NIEMEYER / DATE: 10/17/2019 / TOPICS: MANUFACTURING, SHIPPING & RECEIVING, WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION, LABEL DESIGN, ENTERPRISE LABEL MANAGEMENT

You wouldn’t wait years to go to the doctor for a check–up.

We go to the doctor to make sure we're healthy, to prevent future illness, and to ask questions about healthy living habits. Your labeling system needs that same kind of attention. Read on to find out why it’s important to evaluate on a regular basis.

Does your business experience any of these signs?

1. Business growth or changes in the market

2. Changes within your current technology environment

3. Business initiatives that affect your future labeling system

4. Ever-changing labeling regulations

5. New demands from your customers & suppliers

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those signs, you’re not alone. In a recent study, we asked our customers when the last time was that they evaluated their labeling system. 30% have waited over 3 years, and another 20% have never evaluated. In order to prevent labeling emergencies and implement healthy habits, we recommend evaluating your labeling system quarterly. Read on to learn about five common signs that it's time to evaluate your labeling system.

Let’s take a closer look at the 5 signs:

1. Business Growth

The goal of running a business is to make money, right? A great way to make more money is by expanding your company. When you’re at the heart of experiencing growth, it makes sense to evaluate your current labeling process to identify if it will support your future business needs.

Common business growth events that impact labeling:

• Merger or acquisition
• Entering new markets
• Opening new locations
• Introducing new products 

2. Changes in your Current Environment

Labeling can be a ‘set it and forget it’ effort for a lot of businesses. Change happens and it’s important to stay up to date with current technology to avoid compatibility issues.

Common technology environment changes that impact labeling:

• Implementation of a new server configuration
• Updating your current operating system (OS)
• Business system implementation or updates such as

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Warehouse Management System (WMS)

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

3. Business & Process Improvement Initiatives

There are always new trends to follow to keep a healthy and balanced life. The same is true for your business system.

Common business & process improvement initiatives that impact labeling:

• Sustainability

There is a lot of business value and benefit for companies to ‘go green," that revolves around using fewer resources that will result in saving your company money, reducing waste, and driving business sustainability.

• Lean Manufacturing

Lean labeling is a great way to reduce wasted time, resources, and cost by applying lean principles to your labeling system. There are a few ways to go about this:

1. Identify waste in your software maintenance, label design, and printing processes

2. Automate steps of the printing process to save time and money

3. Integrate labeling with your business systems for greater ROI

• Standardization

Companies eventually reach a point where they must rebrand or design new labels. To streamline that process, it can be extremely helpful to standardize your entire labeling system. Technology standardization can help to improve productivity and minimize IT costs by reducing the number of tools you have in your environment. Standardizing to the same brand, edition, and version of labeling software across your business is a good first step.

4. Regulatory Compliance for Labeling

Labeling regulations are often introduced to improve traceability or protect consumer and worker safety. Many of these regulations require your labels to follow strict guidelines so that you remain compliant across industries.

How might these affect your labeling system:

• Specific data required on labels: Use smart database-driven label templates
• Color requirements: Implement a one-step on-demand color labeling process
• Serialization requirements: Use sophisticated counters to effectively serialize your product labels

5. Customers Demanding More from your Labeling Capacity

Customers and suppliers can contribute to the complexity of your labeling system. The more organizations that your company works with, the more rules you must follow. Therefore, it’s crucial that your company is prepared to meet demands at every turn.

Not meeting these expectations could result in:

• Customer or revenue loss
• Brand equity degradation
• Dissolution of the relationship

Give your labeling system the care it needs and evaluate your labeling system when faced with these 5 signs.

Get started by requesting a free assessment of your labeling system here.