Other Voices: How labeling can help you do more with less during COVID-19

Editor’s note: The following column by Nick Recht, enterprise product manager for Teklynx, is part of Modern’s Other Voices column, a series featuring ideas, opinions and insights from end-users, analysts, systems integrators and OEMs. Click here to learn about submitting a column for consideration.

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With what’s happening in the world right now regarding COVID-19, you’re probably trying to do more with less. In the current state that manufacturing is in – lower operational headcount and unpredictable production volume, along with a rapidly-changing supply chain – eliminating manual steps is a necessity.

Customer requirements seem to change day-by-day, and some manufacturers are transitioning to production of new products to meet global demand for critical supplies, which may also mean meeting new regulatory and compliance issues. By eliminating manual steps in your labeling environment, you can address these issues now and be positioned well for the recovery period. How can your labeling environment help you do more with less?

Print automation
Manual processes in a barcode labeling environment are a common pain point that cuts deep into efficiency, especially when there are labor challenges and the supply chain is rapidly changing. Implementing business systems at different phases for various large business needs often leads to multiple disparate systems, brands, and versions of software in your technology environment, resulting in an inefficient labeling process that leaves room for error.

If your current labeling process looks like this…
● Open the design software
● Browse for the correct label
● Select the right printer
● Populate the quantity to print
● Click print
● Pray it’s right

...then it sounds like print automation could add significant value to your organization. Print automation can be defined as a centralized technology that replaces the manual processes of triggering a print job within a labeling environment. There is no need to open a label, browse for templates, or manually populate variable label data from multiple databases. You can simply release your work order and your labels will print.

For example, Flex-Strut Inc. was able to increase labeling accuracy by 25%, eliminate its labeling bottleneck and increase label printing speed by 100% with the implementation of label printing software that enables them to use their ERP system to print labels. Print automation is a powerful tool to create efficiencies and reduce costs during these times.

Secure label management
Many of the industries most affected during this pandemic are required to enforce labeling workflows and ensure that the same process is followed every time a label is generated to ensure they are complying with regulations, internal standards, or step-by-step processes.

Some of the top industries that find label security and traceability critical to operations are:

● Healthcare
In the healthcare industry, companies must comply with the Food and Drug Administration’s Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Title 21 CFR Part 11 requires electronic signatures on label files to ensure the signatures are not copied or otherwise transferred to falsify another electronic record. As FDA regulations are changing to meet changing needs, it’s important to be able to track and respond.
● Food and Beverage
In the food industry, strict labeling requirements aim to protect consumers, especially where allergies are concerned. Mislabeled food can trigger a recall and, in the event that you cannot track the source, not only can revenue be lost, but getting food in the hands of consumers is crucial.
● Shipping and Receiving
In the shipping and receiving industry, traceability is crucial during this time in order to maintain records of label creation, approval, and printing.

By implementing label security and traceability software, you can control access to label files to establish permissions to control access, implement a multi-stage approval process, and keep record of changes, comments, revisions, and print history for every label in any industry. Labeling is what enables a product to successfully get to the marketplace. Label security and traceability can effectively support organizations who are re-tooling their manufacturing and facing new labeling regulatory and compliance standards for the first time.

Browser-based printing
There is a growing need for remote work and remote processes. Changing operations may require work from multiple locations, and a need to enable labeling at each location - state to state or even globally. Attempting to organize your label templates correctly and have an accurate record across each facility can become a challenge. Investing in a scalable, browser-based barcode label printing software is a must to prevent having to make multiple software changes year after year.

MicroVention, a leading medical device company, had a very similar situation. They began to experience exponential growth where they had to re-evaluate their current labeling operations in order to gain efficiency across multiple facilities that expanded well beyond the United States borders. By implementing an enterprise label management system, MicroVention saw results such as the ability to:

● Print from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world
● Print labels to a larger number of printers
● Manage hundreds of printers in multiple locations from a single server
● Record audit trails throughout label life cycles.

Enabling browser-based printing means having the ability to print almost everywhere, from anywhere. With COVID-19, it makes it easier to adhere to customer requirements and share approved label files across multiple locations. Your label printing process shifts from managing local, client sized installations of a designer and a print engine, to managing a web page printing interface from one location and securely deploying it to users around the world. This decreases the time it takes to manage separate or individual barcode label software deployments.

Centralization
Centralizing your labeling can be accomplished in a few different ways, but it’s a powerful tool, as companies are transitioning to manufacturing new products, and managing a new and more diverse supply chain. It can mean managing your labels on a shared drive or leveraging a secure tool to manage labels and their history. Centralizing your label management is taking label design, automated printing, and label security & traceability into one unified solution across your whole organization.

Standardizing barcode label printing, approval, and management processes can help eliminate errors by restricting access between users. This means you’re eliminating waste and decreasing label misprints by setting approval rules and customizing each user experience by defining rules for who has access to make design changes, who approves, and who has ability to add variable data at print time. Accountability and traceability is mission-critical for managing the supply chain, especially during this pandemic.

Manufacturing is faced with many obstacles during these challenging times due to COVID-19 – ensuring workers are safe, keeping operations at 100% capacity with potentially fewer people, creating contingency plans that may be changing daily. In an environment that is changing very quickly, consider how labeling solutions can evolve. You may also need to lean more on your partners than you ever have in the past.