By Faki Saadi, director of sales UKI at SOTI
New data from SOTI, a global leader in business mobility and device management solutions, reveals that British businesses are struggling to manage and secure the devices that are essential to the delivery of products and services, including rugged handsets, scanners and printers. Concerningly, the study finds that transport and logistics (T&L) workers are each losing 11 hours of productive time per month due to issues with these devices.
And with two in five businesses not having visibility over the printers in their networks, any process adjustments for new legislation, such as October’s Retail Movement Scheme, exacerbates an already challenging situation.
With this in mind, let’s look at why the label printing process is so important and some of the most prominent technology challenges the sector is facing when it comes to getting transport and logistics right.
Keeping up with compliance
In industries such as food, drink or pharmaceuticals, having the correct labelling on products can be a matter of life or death. From making sure the allergy information is correct to detailing expiration dates, it’s essential that organisations get this right every single time.
But regulations regularly change and can often vary depending on where items are manufactured and shipped, creating a complex environment for suppliers. Without the proper tools in place, mistakes can occur because information isn’t properly communicated. Some businesses also continue to rely on outdated software which can make the life of employees more stressful and result in incorrect labelling.
Additional factors to consider when it comes to manufacturing, packaging and labelling a product, include costs, accuracy and timings. As a result, most warehouses and fulfilment centres use different types of software to stay on top of the moving parts.
But a major obstacle arises when these platforms aren’t talking to each other. This can lead to printers not being fed with the right details, goods being shipped back to the warehouse, and labels having to be reprinted, which can all cause major delays or impact inter-vendor relations if deadlines are missed.
The hidden cyber threat
With a lack of visibility over printers, many businesses don’t realise that these devices become a prime target for threat actors. That’s because they can store confidential information from documents sent to be printed which cybercriminals can hold to ransom or sell for a profit.
These devices can also act as an entry point to the wider corporate network if they are connected to a central Wi-Fi hub. These pockets of vulnerability can then result in devices being breached and left inaccessible to workers who need this type of hardware to properly fulfil their daily tasks.
If a printer is unable to function, whether from improper maintenance, a cyberattack or lengthy updates to keep up with the latest legislation, this can cause notable delays. And can impact not only customer satisfaction but also staff, with SOTI’s report showing that device downtime causes stress for over half (54%) of T&L workers in the UK. With the sector already struggling to recruit, it’s essential that these challenges are addressed to ensure that staff retention doesn’t decline because of unnecessary pressures.
Getting it right
Despite all these challenges, printing labels needn’t be a heavy lift to get right. We’ve seen through our work with BarTender, an international provider of label management solutions, that devices can be managed, updated and secured remotely with ease via the SOTI ONE Platform, ensuring minimal downtime and few interruptions to business operations. Even when new legislation comes into play and devices need to be updated, fast, BarTender has templates available to make the process of regulatory compliance simple. Its software is also easy to integrate with other business critical applications and it reduces the quantity of labels that users need to maintain.
Take Renault as an example. The automobile manufacturer needed to address growing concerns over cost, quality and lead times, due to the facility’s high production rates. By taking action and implementing a modernised label printing system with BarTender, Renault achieved more agile, lean and reliable operations and one of its major distribution hubs noted feeling more prepared to deal with changes without fear of disruption.
With the pace of changing requirements, it’s important that retailers, manufacturers and their supply chains are agile and can react quickly to remain competitive and avoid disruption. This starts with effective printer visibility and management.
