Accurate Barcode Labeling Throughout the Supply Chain

Accurate Barcode Labeling

The Problem: An increasingly important part of making products is to ensure that the product packaging and shipping containers have the correct barcode labels to meet customer requirements — which requires an accurate barcode labeling process. Failure to do so can result in your customer rejecting the shipment or imposing financial penalties. It used to be that all you had to do was to create a product label with at most a UPC barcode label and put the products in a shipping box with a shipping label with the customer’s address on the outside. In many cases, the UPC label could be preprinted and the shipping label could be printed using your UPS or FedEx shipping system.

Today, each customer wants the products you ship to them labeled according to the special needs of each customer. This is often accompanied by a requirement to send Advanced Shipment Notice (ASN)

The Solution for Efficient and Accurate Barcode Labeling

When a request to print a barcode label is received through an online web browser interface, a set of user-defined rules is invoked to select the correct label. These rules are based on factors, such as:

  • The product being labeled
  • The customer and customer address
  • The type of container the product is being placed in

Your label software then uses these rules to select the correct label and printer. It also uses these rules to automatically retrieve the data needed to be printed on the label and places this data in a print queue on the server. This includes keeping track of serial numbers and automatically issuing unique serial numbers, as needed.

The software you select in an IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things) network has a primary purpose.  That is to continuously monitor the print queue in the server. When it sees a request to print a label of a barcode printer in its facility, it picks up the request, calls up the stored label format, from its local memory, populates the label with data and prints it out on the selected printer.  This eliminates the need for a user on the floor, to manually select a label format, type in the needed data, and print it out on the selected printer. Result: Time Saved, Accuracy Improved

This same data can be saved for automatically relaying to customers as part of ASNs or other supply chain data, which improves your connection to your supply chain, establishing your value as a supplier, vendor or manufacturer.

How it Works:

Setting up the rules to achieve accurate barcode labeling is done using Excel spreadsheets, which are imported to your label software system.  There is an initial investment of time to do this setup, but the information only has to be input once for each customer and product combination, typically in conjunction with creating the label format for your label layout software tool. Thereafter all that a production worker has to do is to select a button on the screen of their data entry device and the correct label will be printed out in the correct format, on the correct printer.  Not only does this prevent mistakes but it also prevents shipment rejects at the customer site, when the labels on the received products do not correspond to the advanced shipment notice data (ASN).

The is an excerpt from © BellHawk Systems Corporation blog:  Preventing Barcode Labeling Mistakes by using On-Demand Rules-Based Labeling


About Bell Hawk
BellHawk Systems provides its BellHawk real-time inventory and operations tracking software to manufacturers, distributors, food processors, laboratories, engineering and other industrial organizations. It also provides related professional services to assist its clients in implementing these systems as well as in integrating these tracking solutions with their ERP, CRM, accounting, E-Commerce and other systems.

For more information on PaladinID

icon-square-01

Get Help With Your Next Label Project

We have over 35 years of providing exceptional service and labeling products to the world.  Take the first step to an easy, stress-free solution for your label needs by contacting us.

Schedule a call below or email dritchie@paladinid.com

Make Your Mark

“Making companies more competitive by offering the correct label printing solution, on time, within budget, while creating unmatched value”.

About PaladinID, LLC
PaladinID develops and supports high-performance barcode labeling applications. We work with our clients to “Make Your Mark” by providing the expertise and tools necessary to create an entire product label printing solution. Located in central New Hampshire, PaladinID has been serving Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New England, and beyond for over 30 years, and in 2017, became an RFID-certified company. We look forward to working with you.

You may be interested in our other services:

Product Labels

Product Labels

Labels for every type of application: Blank, Pre-printed, Variable data

Label Printers

Label Printers

We sell and support: Direct/thermal transfer, Inkjet, Laser

Printer Ribbons

Printer Ribbons

We sell ribbons for ALL barcode printers including: Zebra, Datamax, Sato, Intermec

Flexible Packaging

Flexible Packaging

We offer a wide variety of packaging containers for your products.

Label Software

Label Software

Software for all barcode printing and product labeling.

Label applicators

Label Applicators

Wide selection of applicators: Desktop/Mobile, Applicator only, Print & apply