As Kenosha Beef sales continue to rise, the company's move to a digital case printing system for all outgoing cartons of meat is paying dividends.

The digital case printing system allows the company to directly print important tracking and shipping information on more boxes in less time than it previously took to manually place labels on each package. The system's heavy-duty shuttle feed pushes up to 60 cases through the printer per minute.

In addition, certain customers were unhappy with the previous generation of hand-applied labels because of irregular placement on boxes. That interfered with the efficiency of automatic scanning upon delivery at their receiving docks. The new system, which precisely places bar code labels and other printed information, also took care of that problem.

In addition, Kenosha received another customer-related incentive for buying the new system. A major food distribution customer stipulated that all of its cases needed to bear shipping container codes compliant with the Uniform Code Council. The process would have been time consuming and costly had the company not installed the new printing system.

The system saves labor and labeling costs as well. By switching from labels to printing Kenosha eliminates the need for buying 0.055-cent labels and the need for as many workers.

Other benefits include consistently verifiable bar codes, reduction of preprinted case inventories and more flexible production requirements.