These 3 Types of Label Management Software Supercharge Efficiency

These 3 Types of Label Management Software Supercharge Efficiency

BY: NICK RECHT / DATE: 17/12/2025 / TOPICS: ENTERPRISE LABEL MANAGEMENT, PRINT AUTOMATION, LABEL TRACEABILITY

When it comes to improving operational efficiency, manufacturers regularly review key performance indicators (KPIs) like cycle time, on-time delivery, and customer return rate. Barcode labeling and enterprise label management play a key role across many operational KPIs.

Labeling touches every step in the supply chain, and many in the manufacturing process. If you’re not optimizing your label printing process, it's likely costing you time and money. These costs aren’t always obvious, especially if problems are hidden behind “that’s how we’ve always done it.”

Within this blog post, we'll explore why “the way it’s always been" isn’t good enough, and how three types of label management software solutions can supercharge your operational efficiency now and into the future. 

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The 3 types of label management software

Label management software helps companies manage their label design and printing in an efficient and secure way. The three types of label management software are: print automation, label security & traceability, and browser-based label printing.

Label management software: Print automation

Removing manual steps is one of the most straightforward ways to gain efficiency in your labeling process. Manual steps leave room for mistakes that cost money.

The way it’s always been:

• Users manually launch an application, search for a file, and open it
• Users type in labeling data at print time
• Mistakes lead to wasted label stock, mislabeled product, and production delays

Sound familiar?

By using label management software to automate your label printing workflow from your business system, you can eliminate manual steps, improve return on investment (ROI) on existing technology infrastructure, and increase labeling efficiency and accuracy. TaylorMade Golf increased labeling accuracy to 99%, improved customer satisfaction by 50%, and reduced total equipment costs by 50% after implementing SENTINEL print automation software.

How print automation software works: 

• Label templates are designed in CODESOFT label design software. Each field is connected to a data source. 
• The ERP, WMS, or other business system provides the data to SENTINEL in the form of a REST API call, a database record, or a file. This can be initiated by any action in the business system—manual (like a button click) or automatic (part of an existing process).  
• SENTINEL reads the data, maps it to the label template, and prints the labels. 

Integrating your label printing system with your ERP system promises to minimize errors, increase print speeds, and maximize your ROI. Generating print-time data directly from your ERP system, such as SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Business Central means fewer steps and a lower risk of mistakes. SENTINEL's integration method lets you connect to virtually any business system, allowing for smooth sailing with your label management software.

SENTINEL User Success – Entertainment Earth

Before SENTINEL, Entertainment Earth’s labeling process took days just to design and print labels. With a lean IT team of just three, SENTINEL now enables the team to automatically print labels for over 33,000 products with a seamless SQL integration. Entertainment Earth also benefits from:

• Consistent and reliable customer support 
• Automated document printing for work orders 
• 75% reduction in time from design to print 

Want to learn more how SENTINEL improves operational efficiency? Check out this quick video below:

Label management software: Security & traceability

Wouldn’t it be nice to know the who, what, where, and when of all barcode labels edits, approvals, and prints? With label security and traceability software, you can control your labeling environment by tracking every action. This type of label management software fits into your IT environment by taking file maintenance from the desktop to the server room, minimizing the risk of errors.

The way it’s always been:

• Users have access to the label design software, leading to unintended changes and inaccurate labels
• There’s no way to track who made changes or when print jobs were executed
• Label files are scattered across the company network, or worse, individual workstations

It doesn’t have to be this way!

How label security & traceability software helps: 

By implementing a robust label security & traceability solution, you can also eliminate manual steps and control the label approval process from design to print by setting up automatic label approval emails. This allows the person who manages the labels to view and approve each one, ensuring there are no unauthorized labels entering production. Responding to trends like remote work and sustainability, manufacturers are transitioning to a paperless label approval process to replace manual interaction. By implementing this in their labeling system, manufacturers are set up for success now and into the future. With LABEL ARCHIVE, you can achieve a paperless approval process by: 

• Establishing permissions to control access (design, approve, and print)
• Setting a multi-stage approval process of label designs by reviewers
• Recording changes, comments, revisions, and print history for every label

Want to learn more about LABEL ARCHIVE? Check out this quick video below:

Label management software: Browser-based label printing interface 

When it comes to reducing labeling errors, a customizable user interface can have a big impact. By breaking up your complex printing process into simple steps, it's easier for your staff to master the labeling process. A customized browser-based label printing interface can be simplified and tailored to the needs of each department, business unit, or supplier, and it can be accessed securely from anywhere in the world. 

The way it’s always been: 

• Label printing requires local software installations 
• Users navigate a fully featured software application to achieve the simple goal of printing a label 
• Sharing label files with suppliers relies on email and file sharing sites 

There’s a better way!

Move label printing to the web:

A browser-based label printing interface allows the print user to enter a key piece of data (often by scanning a barcode, sometimes by typing) to pull up the correct label template and populate it with the correct data. The user simply prints the labels and moves on to their next task. Because the interface is hosted on a website, all the workstation requires is a web browser. Suppliers can even be given controlled access to log in and print labels.

TEKLYNX CENTRAL is the ultimate label management software, containing a customizable browser-based printing interface, a print automation module, and a label security & traceability module.  With the ability to manage supply chain labeling and integrate with ERP and other business systems, TEKLYNX CENTRAL is critical for operational efficiency. It can be deployed on-premises, in a private or public cloud, or in a hybrid configuration.

To see TEKLYNX CENTRAL in action, click below to watch a quick video:

TEKLYNX CENTRAL User Success – Nemak

Nemak, a leading automotive manufacturer, struggled with manual processes caused by disparate systems. This led to inaccurate labels, customer complaints, and costly chargebacks. By implementing TEKLYNX CENTRAL, Nemak completely automated their labeling process, implemented a labeling data validation system, and was able to rapidly react to changing customer requirements.

Which type of label management software is right for your company?

If “the way it’s always been” is no longer viable for your labeling process, it’s time to explore label management software. To recap, the three types of label management software are: 

• Print automation software, like SENTINEL: Choose this solution if manual data entry is slowing you down 
• Label security and traceability software, like LABEL ARCHIVE: Choose this solution if errors are costing you money 
• Browser-based label printing software, like TEKLYNX CENTRAL (includes SENTINEL and LABEL ARCHIVE): Choose this solution if local installations have become unmanageable  

If you’re ready to see how label management software can improve operational efficiency in your labeling environment, get in touch with a labeling expert today!

Already know what label management software you’re interested in? Request a free demo today.

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