Architectures for common operating problems.

Business-critical labels print from software its vendor no longer supports, on PCs and servers kept running for compatibility. Label files sit on local drives, operators choose templates and type in data, the integrations are undocumented and one or two people know how it all works. It still runs, but each year it is harder to change, recover or validate.

We establish what the current system really does, including logic nobody wrote down, and decide what to keep, replace or retire. Templates and data are rationalised, integrations documented, and the move to a supportable architecture, in the cloud, on premises or both, runs in stages, with old and new in parallel until the new one is proven.

What changesA documented, supportable system that more than one person understands, with the risk reduced in a controlled order.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Healthcare
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Draws on

• Enterprise label management
• Systems integration
• Data and workflow integration
• Operational consultancy

Years of copying and editing have left hundreds or thousands of label files, many differing only in a logo, a field or a product name. Nobody is sure which version is current.

We analyse the estate to find what genuinely differs, then design a small set of data-driven templates in which business rules select the variant, so one template can produce many labels.

What changesA template estate small enough to own, version-control and change with confidence.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Chemicals and GHS
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences
• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL

Draws on

• Enterprise label management
• Data and workflow integration

A mix of printer models, drivers, firmware and media, bought over many years and supported by whoever happens to be nearest. When a printer fails, its replacement is bought in a hurry and the estate becomes more mixed.

We survey every device, its print quality, consumables and failure history, define standard specifications for each application, plan replacement in order of risk and set up central management of configuration and firmware, so new devices arrive configured, tested and documented. Devices that are still fit for purpose stay.

What changesA known, standardised estate that is easier to support and change, with a replacement plan the business can budget for.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Retail and multi-site operations
• Healthcare

Draws on

• Printing and hardware
• Operational consultancy

Templates, data connections and printers are managed separately at each site, so the same product can be labelled differently depending on where it was made.

One label management platform holds every template, rule and data connection. Sites print locally from approved, version-controlled designs, with role-based permissions and an audit trail.

What changesOne approved version of every label, changed once and controlled centrally.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Retail and multi-site operations
• Healthcare
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences
• Chemicals and GHS

Draws on

• Enterprise label management
• Systems integration

Each site has grown its own way of labelling. Rolling out a change, or a new customer requirement, means negotiating with every site separately.

A common architecture and template standard, with room for genuine local variation. The rollout is planned site by site, using a repeatable deployment and test pack.

What changesConsistent labelling across the network, and a dependable way to roll out change.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Retail and multi-site operations
• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Healthcare

Draws on

• Enterprise label management
• Operational consultancy

Label servers run on ageing on-premises hardware, and connecting a new site, partner or co-packer is slow and fragile.

Cloud or hybrid label management with secure printing to sites and partners, designed for what happens when a connection drops.

What changesNew sites and partners connected without new local infrastructure, on printing that copes with real networks.

Relevant to

• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Retail and multi-site operations
• Manufacturing and engineering

Draws on

• Enterprise label management
• Systems integration

Label printing is disconnected from the systems that hold the data, so people copy information from one screen to another.

Labels are triggered by and populated from ERP, WMS, MES and LIMS events, through APIs, web services, database connections or file interfaces, with clear ownership, error handling and monitoring.

What changesData entered once, at source, and printed correctly wherever it is needed.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Draws on

• Systems integration
• Data and workflow integration

Operators decide which template to use, type in the data and reprint by hand. Every manual decision is another chance of a wrong label.

Print jobs are triggered by business events, with template, data and printer chosen by rules from existing business data. People are involved only when an exception needs a decision.

What changesFewer touches, fewer reprints and fewer wrong labels.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Food, beverage and hospitality

Draws on

• Automation
• Systems integration

Every product change, whether new ingredients, a new pack size or a new market, means someone updating labels by hand.

Label content is generated from structured product data held in PIM, PLM, ERP or a product database. Templates define layout and rules; the data drives everything else.

What changesProduct changes reach the label without rework, and the label always matches the specification.

Relevant to

• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Retail and multi-site operations
• Manufacturing and engineering
• Chemicals and GHS

Draws on

• Data and workflow integration
• Enterprise label management

Barcodes are printed, but scans fail further down the chain, or the codes don’t carry the data customers and partners expect.

We design the whole barcode workflow: what each code encodes, which symbology, how it is printed and verified, and where it is scanned and recorded.

What changesCodes that scan first time and carry the data every party in the chain needs.

Relevant to

• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Retail and multi-site operations
• Manufacturing and engineering
• Healthcare
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Draws on

• Barcodes and identification
• Printing and hardware

Goods-in, putaway, picking and despatch rely on labels and scans that vary between sites, customers and carriers. Customer requirements live with experienced staff who know the exceptions, and rejected deliveries and relabelling become an accepted cost.

GS1 logistics labels as standard, with SSCCs allocated and recorded once; customer and carrier requirements written into the system; and printing and mobile scanning driven by the WMS at each process step, on hardware placed for the physical flow.

What changesMore reliable flows through goods-in and despatch, and fewer deliveries rejected for labelling.

Relevant to

• Warehousing, logistics and 3PL
• Retail and multi-site operations

Draws on

• Barcodes and identification
• Systems integration

When a quality issue appears, working out which batches, materials and customers are affected depends on slow, manual investigation.

Identification at the right production points, from materials in through work in progress to finished goods and packing, linked to MES and ERP records with aggregation from item to pallet.

What changesThe ability to trace forwards and backwards quickly, with records you can put in front of an auditor.

Relevant to

• Manufacturing and engineering
• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Draws on

• Traceability
• Systems integration

Ingredients, allergens and dates change often and must be exactly right on every pack. When labels are typed or created one by one, that accuracy depends on whoever made the label.

Product and allergen data maintained centrally, a small set of controlled templates with date rules and allergen emphasis built in, and a store or line workflow where the operator selects the product and prints.

What changesFewer errors reaching packs, and a clear audit trail when a label is questioned.

Relevant to

• Food, beverage and hospitality
• Retail and multi-site operations

Draws on

• Data and workflow integration
• Enterprise label management

Hazard pictograms, signal words and statements are added to labels by hand, product by product. A classification change has to be found and repeated on every affected label.

Product and hazard information held as controlled data, centrally managed templates that assemble each label from it, and industrial colour printers that print the complete label, pictograms included.

What changesLabels that match the approved classification, with changes made once in the data.

Relevant to

• Chemicals and GHS
• Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Draws on

• Data and workflow integration
• Enterprise label management
• Printing and hardware

Patient, specimen, pharmacy and asset labels must be legible, scannable and correct, often printed in busy clinical areas by staff with little time.

Labelling designed around clinical workflows: suitable printers in the right places, a standardised and centrally supported estate, data drawn from clinical systems, and codes that scan reliably on small and curved surfaces.

What changesLabels staff can rely on, produced with as few manual steps as possible.

Relevant to

• Healthcare

Draws on

• Barcodes and identification
• Printing and hardware