What should you expect from a “Modern” printer?

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With supply chains operating at unprecedented speeds to meet increasing demands, several novel digitized solutions have arisen to help set businesses ahead of change. However, not every modern device delivers the same results. When it comes to optimized enterprise printing, warehouses commonly seek the traits outlined below:

  • Printing Speed – This is an obvious factor due to the growing demand for faster order fulfilment. A modern printer should operate practically invisibly, delivering identification labels with little to no wait time. Mobile printers and powered workstations take this a step farther by eliminating travel time and bringing efficiency directly where you need it.
  • Dependable Security – Cyberattacks have become all the more prevalent in the past decade since they can target any digital device, including printers. As a result, printing security must now be optimized to ward off unauthorized users from viewing past printed data.
  • Quick Flexibility – Change can happen at any given moment, which is why printers should be able to easily adjust between high and low demand without impacting label quality. Configuration -and reconfiguration- should be doable for your teams without involving extensive IT visits in order to minimize downtime.
  • Durable Build – When operating in more stringent environments, such as manufacturing plants and field service, printers must be designed to withstand environmental challenges such as constant dust, icy temperatures, condensation, and abrasion.
  • Reliable Printing Support – After printers are installed, companies still expect dependable tech support in the event of any future issues. This puts pressure on resellers to provide both instant and knowledgeable assistance to keep printing solutions running smoothly.

How Avalon does it all with Zebra Technologies

As a Zebra Premier Solutions Partner, Avalon has been consistently equipping supply chains with these benefits through Zebra’s enterprise-ready printers. From lightweight mobile printers to heavy-duty industrial printers, eliminate inefficiency from your workflows with printers designed to optimize the factors listed above plus:

  • Quick deployment – To minimize training time, Zebra’s printers sport a user-friendly touchscreen with simplified navigational tools and easy media loading. Moreover, quick tap-and-pair Bluetooth connectivity can help printers seamlessly connect to mobile devices to enable remote printing.
  • Optional RFID encoding – Reduce RFID costs with optional RFID encoding that fits directly onto your industrial printer.
  • Expanded printing visibility – Leverage Zebra’s Visibility Services application to monitor printer performance remotely via a cloud-based system. This can help prevent breakdowns and costly downtime.

Check out our full range of enterprise printers here.

As customer demands continue to increase worldwide, Avalon Integration remains committed to empowering operations with solutions built for triumph. Reach out to our printing experts today to see how you can start accelerating throughput in your operations with next-generation printing power.

 

 

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Here are the 3 key components you need for a modernized labeling solution.

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As long as new technologies continue to be released, modernization will continue to be a redefining trend in the enterprise landscape. However, efficient warehouse modernization doesn’t have to be complex or involve drastic changes to the workflow. Small adjustments in crucial tasks such as product labeling can eliminate inefficient, costly patterns while freeing up the workforce to concentrate on other bigger areas of optimization. Although there are many ways to modernize warehouse labeling, three key components stand out as central to ensuring labeling efficiency:

  1. A printer made for sudden high-volume – Changes in demand can happen unexpectedly. As a result, warehouse printers should be ready at any notice to work longer hours without compromising label legibility or continuous uptime. Furthermore, high-volume seasons may also cause the workforce to grow, which means selected printers should strive to incorporate some form of user-friendliness to their functionality in order to lower adoption rates for new hires.
  2. An intelligent scanner – We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: Manual data entry leaves room for error. On the other hand, intelligent scanners can automatically transmit one or more barcodes to your warehouse management system without paper-based reporting, essentially establishing near-real-time accurate inventory visibility. This allows warehouses to sort, pick, and move inventory based on verified stock counts reported on their inventory management system.
  3. An enterprise-ready label – Standing at the center of your optimized labeling solution, the actual tag itself must be developed with both application and storage requirements in mind. Labels that fail to do so can end up fading before time, peeling around the edges, and unsticking when temperatures change. All of these issues eliminate product identification, leading to missed delivery timeframes, order inaccuracy, product spoilage/depreciation, and overlooked compliance codes.

Where to start?

As a Zebra Premier Solutions Partner, Avalon simplifies optimized labeling by pairing your workflows with enterprise-ready printers, scanners, and labels, creating a future-forward system that…

  • Survives in rough work environments. Whether it be high heat or cold-storage’s freezing temperatures, Zebra’s industrial printers and ultra-rugged scanners are designed with a tough exterior and intelligent productivity applications to safeguard uptime under pressure. Likewise, Zebra’s Certified Consumables can be customized from over 300 pre-tested materials to develop a tailored label that matches application and storage environments.
  • Lessen deployment time. Efficient modernization shouldn’t be disruptive. With this in mind, Zebra’s next-generation printers leverage a touchscreen interface and easy media loading to simplify deployment. Scanners, both handheld and hands-free, streamline deployment with simplistic tap-and-pair and WiFi-Friendly connectivity to get devices productive from day one.
  • Are easily upgradable without overstepping budget constraints. Zebra’s printers and scanners are available with cash back rebates up to $550 per device when upgraded through the GO Zebra Trade-In Program. Simply trade in devices from any manufacturer and submit your reclaim form to qualify. As for labels, Zebra’s Printhead Protection Program helps drive down operational costs by offering free printhead replacements when you make Zebra’s Certified Consumables your exclusive label of choice.

Reach out to our labeling experts for a free preliminary assessment of your workflow to target optimization opportunities in your current operations.

 

 

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This is the real cost of using inferior enterprise labels

In the modernized supply chain, value should outweigh cost. Although cheaper modernization routes can initially diminish expenses, inadequate solutions usually end up being more costly than their expensive counterparts. In no place is this more accurate than inventory labeling. Cheaper enterprise labels can save operations a great deal of money at face value, yet they also impact:

  • Scan speed – If operators take more than 5 seconds per order, they can spend over 3 hours per day scanning barcodes. Fading and peeling labels increase scan time since employees must rescan, increasing wait time and risks of delays.
  • Printing speed – Quality labels with smooth surfaces tend to leave less build-up on the printhead, mitigating future jams and slow printing speeds. On the flipside, poorly made labels often sport a sandpaper-like surface and tightly wound rolls that slow down printing speeds with more leftover debris.
  • Printer performance – Not only do sandpaper-like printers slow production, they can also directly contribute to premature printhead failure, resulting in downtime averaging $10,000 lost per hour.
  • Media loading time – Labels rolled outwardly create slack, which impacts printer performance if not installed correctly. As labels require more time to be properly installed, they take away from assembly time, further contributing to inefficient workflows.
  • Order accuracy – Incorrect shipments are the second most cited reason customers return products, adding to the increasing return costs that already surpass $350 billion since 2017 in the U.S. alone.
  • Inventory tracking – When inventory isn’t accurately accounted for, warehouses risk out-of-stocks, which drive customers to seek services elsewhere. Inaccurate inventory counts also lead to overstocking, which has led many retailers to markdown over 70% of their products.

Whether in the warehouse or in the storefront, inferior printing supplies dramatically impact productivity and profitability. To prevent these issues and more, Avalon recommends feeding your printer quality consumables such as Zebra’s Certified Printing Supplies.

How Zebra’s Certified Supplies Eliminate the Costs of Inferior Enterprise Labels

Developed to secure maximum uptime, Zebra’s certified consumables are subjected to a stringent 23-point inspection to certify dependable performance in a myriad of application and storage environments. As a result, every label is built to…

  • Secure printhead performance with smooth surface that prevents printhead scratches and adhesive build-up.
  • Survive in extreme environments such as high heat, condensation, and cold storage without peeling or fading, ultimately reducing the need for rescans.
  • Easily fit into your printer with loading complications for minimized wait times.
  • Meet compliance requirements to ensure your inventory moves smoothly from the warehouse to the retail shelf to the checkout lane.

Contact Avalon’s labeling experts today to discover a Zebra label that best matches your application and storage requirements to see how you can integrate the best value into your operations for the best return of investment.

 

 

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10 Qualities You Should Be Looking for in Your Enterprise Labels

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It’s a fact that not every label is suitable for your operations. Even the most stringently tested consumables may not be developed to address unique application requirements such as cold storage or high heat. As stated before, cheap inferior labels do more harm than good since they can…

  • Scratch your printhead and cause premature printhead failure
  • Leave behind debris pileup that leads to a jam and costly downtime
  • Lose adhesive strength in rough conditions
  • Fade overtime, compromising inventory and asset identification

Over time, these implications will slow down productivity, increasing operational costs and diminishing customer loyalty. In other words, while labels account for a small portion of your business, they greatly affect profitability. Therefore, businesses are encouraged to search for the following ten qualities in their labeling solution in order to certify maximum productivity from their operations.

What to Expect…

  1. Smooth surface – Rough surfaces made from inferior materials can damage printheads over time as they leave behind label debris with every print job.
  2. Heat-resistant adhesive – Effective thermal printing hinges on heat to produce crisp long-lasting barcodes. If labels aren’t able to handle to heat, barcodes will fade before their time, impacting product identification, stock counts, and inventory management.
  3. Environment resistance – In addition to high heat, labels can face numerous environment challenges such as freezing cold, dust, chemicals, condensation, and abrasion.
  4. Tested material – To ensure environment resistance, label material should be as stringently as the label itself.
  5. Consistent quality – If your labels begin to underperform overtime, it may be because label materials have been changed during production. To secure consistent print quality, you must secure consistent label composition.
  6. Fast replenishment – When labels themselves are out of stock, your inventory runs the risk of being misidentified, improperly stored, and wrongly shipped. Fast replenishment through programs such Zebra’s ZipShip eliminate these dangers by restocking labels in less than 24 hours from one of Zebra’s four label converting facilities.
  7. Environmentally conscious – Discarded labels directly contribute to paper waste along with used ribbons and liners. Eco-friendly consumables such as Zebra’s Linerless Label or 8000D Dissolvable Labels reduce paper waste while continuing to provide crisp barcodes and accelerating order processing.
  8. Label configuration – Labels should be wound outwardly in order to fit your industrial printer without causing slack.
  9. Required certifications – Whether it’s an FDA seal or RoHS compliance, labels can be tailored and customized to meet specialized requirements, eliminating the risks of your products being recalled.
  10. Committed to lower costs – In addition to preserving customer loyalty and inventory identification, Zebra’s certified labels can further lower costs through the . By exclusively purchasing Zebra’s Certified Consumables, your operations qualify for free printhead replacements, virtually eliminating costly downtime from poor print quality and damaged printheads.

Compare Zebra’s Certified Consumables with traditional non-tested labels to see the benefits in our video:

As part of our push for seamless and cost-effective modernization, Avalon is committed to assisting businesses in optimizing workflows with solutions that surpass expectations. Contact us today for a free labeling assessment to find the consumable solution that best fits your needs.

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