Strategies for Effective Manufacturing Labeling

As supply chains grow ever bigger and more complex, worldwide manufacturers are dealing with challenges at a scale unheard of in the past. Competitive pressures, new stipulations from governments and regulators, merchandise coming back and market evaluation pressures have combined to make a perfect storm.

Manufacturers are more and more duty-bound to hunt competitive advantage through potency and value reduction measures. Among obtainable choices, labeling technology offers several opportunities for manufacturing firms to tackle rising challenges.

Today, production should move quickly. merchandise become obsolete quickly noncurrent, and with shorter product lifecycles, makers are less forgiving of hiccups in their supply and distribution chains. Making your warehouse more efficient is part of what Prodsmart’s mobile manufacturing execution software is all about, so we definitely believe in the power of labels. And we’re here to share some key strategies.

Why the Label is So Valuable

Labels have been around for years but why is it now that they’re more of a necessity than a nice addition as it once was?

Operational Efficiency / Cost Reduction

Manufacturing is a highly competitive industry – labeling can be crucial in keeping costs low and the quality high across the ecosystem.

Globalization

In today’s world, manufacturing is global. With this level of globalization, there are a number of challenges especially when it comes to maintaining consistency, securing IP and more. Labeling helps address these challenges swiftly and efficiently.

Adoption of New Technology

With the advancements in modern technology and higher levels of robotics and automated integration, the need to move products through the assembly line at a rapid pace has never been higher. Labeling creates a standardized process that helps remove bottlenecks and enables easy customization in products.

Label-Related Problems

The importance of labeling in the manufacturing process is highlighted only when the shortcomings come to light. Here are some of the most common label problems faced by manufacturers.

The wrong label can affect the credibility in the eyes of the customer or vendor. A mislabeled product can cause the entire workflow to halt or call for some serious manual intervention, thus defeating the whole purpose of labeling.

Incomplete labels can cause massive trouble for customers and vendors. Often labels might have incomplete or missing information, thus starting a reverse treasure hunt to find the right match or the missing parts.

Many manufacturers rely on manual efforts for entering data like quantities and names, not only does it slow down the process but human error can cause inventory mismanagement and other expensive results.

Creating a Successful Manufacturing Labeling Process

Most people treat labeling as an after-thought, even though it is an integral aspect of the manufacturing process. In order to have a smooth manufacturing process, regardless of the product or equipment, there needs to be a smooth labeling strategy. In order for manufacturers to be able to be successful in examining and identifying various products, parts and more, the labeling process has to be based on some core concepts and the process as to follow these three steps:

The key is to have efficiency in the labeling process. By capturing key products, container data and other vital information, it becomes easier to streamline the entire process time and again. The supply chain, right from the raw material to the customer should be well-documented and integrated.

Controlling labeling as a powerful warehouse management tool will help manufacturers save overhead costs, material costs, time management and much more.

Labeling is essential when it comes to product traceability. Accurate labeling allows the segregation of defective parts as well as helps manufacturers trace the origin of the serial numbers in case of a product recall or customer query.

Manufacturing Labeling Best Practices

The labeling process must follow certain processes in order to obtain the highest levels of accuracy, efficiency, and productivity.

It’s important to apply and print labels as close to the work stations as possible. In order to maintain the efficiency of production and labeling, it’s important to ensure that the work is done side by side. Having label printers close to production units is an efficient way to approach the process of labeling.

Data integration is key when it comes to the labeling process. In order to minimize risks and track mistakes, integrating printing logic into sales orders helps maximize efficiency.

One should be able to edit and create label layouts as they like to accommodate customer and regulatory changes smoothly. In Prodsmart, you can create your own labels directly from your production records, selecting the specific information that you want to show. That allows you to remove useless information and to avoid human error. By having a printer right next to your production line, you save time and money while you grant the quality of your information.

Conclusion

Implementing a centralized label management system offers manufacturing firms the chance to find profound efficiencies to their business processes, reaching across to the far side of label production.

When successfully enforced, a contemporary label management system or the use of a labeling system embedded in your MES will yield dramatic results, including:

• Redoubled potency and efficient compliance

• More considerable label consistency and client responsiveness

• Label guide consolidation and a discount in modification requests

Improved governance for label content and layouts
An ascendable platform for future growth

Agility, accuracy, and compliance are going to be hallmarks of winning manufacturing firms going forward. In a more and more advanced and difficult marketplace, manufacturing firms need to rethink their processes and realize ways in which of accomplishing additional with less.

This transformation begins with implementing a modern label management system like Prodsmart. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help make your warehouse more efficient and profitable.