Addressing Cost Control in Labeling and Artwork

Before optimization, labeling and artwork aren’t just a cost of doing business—they’re cost centers. On the labeling side, businesses may be forced to reprint shipping labels due to labeling errors, and they’re constantly forced to pay fines for compliance violations that are also due to inaccurate labeling. On the artwork side, time is money. Excessive review and approval cycles and errors in version control and stakeholder accountability can result in costly delays and bottlenecks. Keeping artwork locked in an endless cycle of review and approvals can result in delays impact product introduction and give competition an edge.

Not only that, but current economic conditions mean that businesses have become even more sensitive to costs. In many situations, leadership is faced with either cutting costs by optimizing inefficient processes or by cutting budgets. That’s why, for logistics and packaging managers, it becomes very important to demonstrate improved ROI and reduced spending. This starts by learning exactly where departments are spending unnecessarily.

For labeling, logistics managers must consider:

• How much is spent on reprinting labels – including costs for storing inventory, as well as considering the impact on sustainability concerns?
• How often they’re forced to pay fines for compliance violations?
• How much time is spent updating labels – Ideally, this should be a job for business users, as this task increases in time and cost when performed by IT?
• How much time is spent relabeling when receiving goods from partners and suppliers?

 

In the packaging artwork department, business unit leaders must understand:

• Where bottlenecks occur during the artwork creation process?
• Proofing accuracy—how many mistakes occur in development?
• How many times artworks must be revised before completion?
• How often delays in artwork production result in overall product delays?
• The length of the average delay?
• Where bottlenecks occur in the approval process?
• Which stakeholders take longest to approve artwork?

 

Through this understanding, business leaders will come to realize how optimizing their processes will positively impact the company’s bottom line. This could take the form of more efficient workflows, increased revenue due to faster time to market, happier customers due to faster logistics, and more. Additional cost savings can also come from reduced template management and administration, while shared content reduces labor overhead on reviews/approvals.

The good new is that with the right Enterprise Labeling and Artwork Management solution, businesses can avoid delays and downtime, eliminate redundancies, reduce fines and waste, and create a clear path to growth and improvement for business processes. To accomplish this, however, business leaders don’t just need to understand where they costs are coming from—they also need to be able to quantify positive change.

To find out more about how your business can address cutting costs with Enterprise Labeling and Artwork Management, download the full report Assessing the Strategic Role in Labeling.