Labelling Solutions
Intelligent Printing: the key to solving supply chain labelling challenges?
By SATO product management solutions, Eckhard Wernich
he Covid-19 pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. From the mis-labelling of goods and logistical errors, to the wider issues of sustainability and packaging, businesses in all sectors have discovered operational issues over the past year. In a recent survey conducted by NiceLabel, more than 75% of IT directors in manufacturing across the UK, US, Germany and France report that over 10% of their goods are mis-labelled every year. This results in £65,000 direct costs lost on average annually, without taking into account the hidden costs that may be lost as a result. For example, if we combine these mis-labelling errors with the impact to a company’s sustainability model, the likelihood is that they will not only increase waste, but it will also have a knock-on effect to their carbon footprint and brand reputation. When more than 60% of consumers attach value to brands that can offer transparency in their operations, there is a real risk that incorrectly labelled goods and simple logistical errors can create much more long-term damage than first thought.
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GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY To combat these errors, intelligent printing combined with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has become a ‘game- changing’ solution for sectors that require both labelling accuracy and the flexibility in
customisation to increase speed to market. In the pharmaceutical sector, for instance, pharmacists can use RFID labels (versus traditional 2D barcodes) to simply scan all their goods’ expiration dates without having to turn and face-up the vials, saving them time to offer value-added services elsewhere. In apparel, bio-based near-field communication (NFC) tags act as digital passports on garments, instructing the user on the carbon and water footprint, as well as material contents, dyeing, production and distribution details. Since they have the ability to update in real-time, it allows consumers to understand the clothing’s supply chain story for greater transparency. Meanwhilel, in the food and restaurant industries, RFID has been used for many years to enable a smooth track and trace process meaning goods can be collated and checked while data is applied in real-time with timestamp labelling. For example, if a product recall is required, the item can be easily identified and returned accurately; all while maintaining stringent health and safety standards.
STRENGTHENING RFID TECHNOLOGY SATO combines the advantages of RFID technology with powerful labelling and intelligent printing solutions. Businesses can simplify the labelling process by using Application Enabled Printing (AEP). Essentially, this on-board intelligence
simplifies the labelling process, as it enables complete customisation of printer operations – without a PC, third-party software, operating systems or middleware. It works by discovering, sharing, processing and retrieving data autonomously from a local internal database, or through a cloud network. This means that label data and design templates can be centrally managed, with minimal user input or training required. So, when a user wants to print an RFID label from a local or cloud product database, they scan a barcode label with a peripheral scanner, where the product data is then taken from the database and the RFID data is calculated by AEP. This works wonders for lost tags or returned customer items in retail for example, as AEP minimises the risk of error with zero manual input.
SAVE ON TIME, REDUCE COSTS There are multiple benefits to combining RFID and AEP technology. For instance, PLC engineers in manufacturing have traditionally been required to learn the printer programming languages to integrate label printing on their systems. This limitation in flexibility creates major business slow-down, since an engineer is required to reprogram the PLC with a new set of printer commands. With AEP, label templates are saved in the printer, requiring only variable label data to be sent from the PLC for printing, so there is no need to modify the customer’s system. When manufacturers use either the SATO CT4-LX, CL4NX Plus or CL6NX Plus series of intelligent printers in this scenario, not only do they save time, cutting their production hours by up to 50%, it can reduce the total cost of ownership too. With intelligent printing, many sectors can begin to reap the benefits while restoring confidence in their supply chains. RFID technology has repeatedly shown that it can help resolve incorrect labelling of goods, minimise user errors and accurately track and trace goods-in and goods-out. Yet, when we use RFID technology combined with powerful intelligence that sits inside the printer, it could be the missing key that locks supply chains together.
u
sato-global.com
14
July/August 2021
convertermag.com
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