Posts

4 Ways to Optimize Your Barcode Printing Solution

For decades, barcode labels have safeguarded product identification and facilitated inventory movement down the supply chain. As warehouses become more dynamic to accommodate customer expectations and new compliance standards, effective barcode scanning remains essential to:

  • Verify the correct shipments are packed onto the correct truck
  • Prevent product spoilage or misplacements
  • Maintain accurate inventory counts to meet demands
  • Meet shipping deadlines on time

Furthermore, 82% of warehouses report an increase in stock-keeping units (SKUs) while studies show a 23% increase in shipping volume. With product quantity and differentiators steadily increasing, the time to optimize barcode printing is now.

Speed up Printing. Expand Printer Longevity. Ensure Successful Scans. Protect Printed Data.

Labels generally account for a small percentage of total operational costs, which means that even small adjustments can impact overall profitability. Below are a few ways warehouses have optimized barcode printing workflows.

  1. Match your printer to your throughput levels – Not every enterprise-grade printer is best suited for high-volume printing. Integrating the wrong printer into your space can initially save money, yet frequent printhead replacements and hardware damage create more unnecessary expenses after integration. While industrial printers can handle high-volume workflows and deliver 600dpi barcode resolution, smaller desktop printers like Zebra’s new ZD611 still deliver quality barcodes at faster speeds for smaller workspaces.
  2. Match label composition to your storage environment – Dust particles and extreme temperatures can harm printing performance, draining budgets in the long run. Fortunately, rugged industrial printers are made to withstand harsh environments with all-metal casings and durable printheads. Devices like the ZT600 Series Printers go a step further by combining rugged durability with a user-friendly touchscreen and media loading, accelerating deployment for faster productivity.
  3. Choose labels that protect the printhead – Inferior label quality damages printers over time by leaving behind debris and scratching the printhead. This creates gaps in the barcode that later hinder scanning. To prevent early printhead failure and jams, consider integrating quality labels like Zebra’s Certified Consumables. Labels with smoother surfaces and stronger adhesives are less likely to damage printheads and leave excessive debris in the printer, ultimately improving print quality and safeguarding printer longevity.
  4. Add printers to your cybersecurity initiatives – Lastly, while cybersecurity may seem far removed from barcode printing, peripheral devices are often targeted by cybercriminals since they are less likely to be protected. Data protection applications like PrintSecure block unauthorized users from viewing printed data while encrypting connections and enabling remote management.

Optimizing your barcode printing solution doesn’t have to be complicated. From label redesign to hardware upgrades, work alongside Avalon’s printer specialists to elevate operations and stay ahead of supply chain challenges. Contact us for a free workflow assessment to learn how you can get started.

/by

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

,

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.

 

 

/by

3 Zebra Products Designed for Augmented Visibility

,

It’s not news to anyone at this point that visibility has become an indispensable necessity in today’s complicated supply chains. Although new demands and changing guidelines seem to affect every industry across the globe, not every visibility solution is fit to address your needs. Moreover, as demands grow, businesses are faced with multiple factors to track, from delivery times to storage status, to worker safety. Therefore, to better serve our wide variety of customers, Avalon Integration has taken the time to unfold the unique benefits and features of three of Zebra’s most popular tracking solutions, crafted for dependable visibility in today’s unprecedented changes.

Start small with durable identification

Durable Identification with Zebra Labels

Zebra Certified Consumables as a cost-effective and simple way to ensure accurate identification

When increasing operational visibility, we’ve found that even the smallest changes can yield big results. With that in mind, we turn to your labeling and identification system. Recent surveys have found that over half of “lost orders” are misplaced due to faulty labels that carry vital delivery and storage information. To prevent your stock’s information from getting lost (and eventually jeopardizing your product), we recommend evaluating the following label criteria:

  • Adhesive strength
  • Surface coating
  • Resistance to temperatures, moisture, dust exposure
  • Reel orientation and perforations

Not only can cheap labels harm your printer, but they can peel off or fade away over time, resulting in misplaced and inaccurate orders that hinder the customer experience. To amplify labeling efficiency, Avalon has continuously recommended Zebra Certified Consumables as a cost-effective and simple way to ensure accurate identification no matter the size of your operations. 

Take it up a notch with intelligent applications

RFID Solutions with Intelligent Applications

While RFID solutions serve as a modernized option to track assets and inventory simultaneously

As your business grows, so does the need for flawless technology, which is why when even one device goes missing, your whole team may suffer. As a matter of fact, 80% of costs attributed to lost devices come from data breaches, meaning that one lost tablet could very well impact your whole operation depending on what sort of data it holds.

While RFID solutions serve as a modernized option to track assets and inventory simultaneously, there are other cost-effective tools you can use to track your devices. For example, all of Zebra’s Android-powered mobile computers provide you with access to Mobility DNA applications that expand insight into your devices’ performance.

  • Device Tracker – Ensure continuous uptime with an application that helps you locate your misplaced device anywhere in the workplace.
  • PowerPrecision – Manage battery lifecycles across your entire digital fleet and pinpoint when a mobile device is underperforming to prevent surprise downtime.
  • LifeGuard – Extend security measures with recurrent 90-day patches that keep your devices updated automatically and silently. 
  • Device Diagnostics – Test major systems and deploy simple diagnostics to keep devices running and available without overburdening your IT department.

Expand visibility across the supply chain with RFID-powered MotionWorks

RFID Powered MotionWorks Warehouse

Zebra MotionWorks provide the greatest ease of use, flexibility, and versatility

Last, but certainly not least, when tracking multiple assets, products, and workers throughout the supply chain, visibility solutions like Zebra MotionWorks provide the greatest ease of use, flexibility, and versatility. Customize and grow your system to incorporate new goals by tracking:

  • Crucial assets – Manage all your deployed tools to verify location, condition, performance, and need all in real-time.
  • Material flow – Track and automate the flow of material while updating your WMS and ERP systems with actionable data that can be used to adjust to changes in demand.
  • Yard systems – Increase gate transaction speed to make sure inventory is transported to the correct dock in a timely fashion.

Bring the dependability of accurate tracking to where it matters most with the new MotionWorks Proximity for seamless worker safety, deployed directly on your Zebra mobile device. Reduce touchpoints to prevent germ spread and count on a user-friendly interface that accelerates safe and efficient contact tracing. 

In response to the health-crisis,  Zebra and Avalon have leveraged MotionWorks for efficient Worker Safety. Tune in to our newest podcast to learn more:

Of course, the above three suggestions fail to encompass the multitude of ways you can efficiently grow operational visibility without increasing costs. To learn how you can integrate a modernized visibility solution in your business, contact our automation specialists for a comprehensive assessment of your workflows.

/by

Avalon found the easiest ways to enhance your inventory system (the results are simpler than you think)

,

Your inventory management system plays a key role in maintaining an undisrupted supply chain. The more efficient your system is, the less complicated your workflows will be. With so many technological advancements available, there are many ways to enhance inventory management. However, building efficiency doesn’t have to depend solely on hardware. As leading providers of warehouse optimization solutions, Avalon Integration brings you five simple ways to start enhancing your inventory system and how you can implement them in your operations for maximized profitability at a lower TCO.

1. Set Threshold Values

Set Threshold Values

A quality inventory system should be able to establish minimum stock requirements to avoid surprise out-of-stocks

At the very minimum, a quality inventory system should be able to establish minimum stock requirements to avoid surprise out-of-stocks. A step ahead would be to monitor incoming and leaving stock to keep it from dropping below your set threshold. Furthermore, threshold levels can also be applied to your supplies to root out downtime before it happens.

2. Prepare for Triumphs and Trials

Zebra Motionworks for Triumphs and Trials

Your supply chain may be disrupted by outside/uncontrollable factors

2020’s global pandemic has gone a long way to prove there is no such thing as over-preparing. Living within a globalized world, it’s only expected that your supply chain may be disrupted by outside/uncontrollable factors, good and bad, such as:

  • Sudden demand of any particular product
  • Shrinking workforces and rising labor costs
  • Running out of storage space
  • Miscalculations in inventory counting
  • Discontinuing materials

By tracking your inventory’s movement concerning demand, you can better prepare for chaotic moments. Zebra’s MotionWorks software helps deliver a birds-eye view of your moving inventory onto your handheld, so you have everything you need to make informed decisions on the fly.

3. Cycle Counting and Spot Checking

MC2200 Cycle Counting

Zebra’s all-new MC2200/MC2700 mobile computer as the next evolution of streamlined data capture

Regular inventory audits provide dependable certainty that your reported stocks match what’s logged in your WMS; however, this manual process takes a long time when done all at once. Automated cycle counting procedures such as the ones supported by Zebra’s TC52 help you conduct accurate audits without stalling productivity. Another option to consider is Zebra’s all-new MC2200/MC2700 mobile computer as the next evolution of streamlined data capture and intelligent ergonomics.

4. Standardize Your Identification Process

RFID Labels Standardize your Identification Process

When inventory arrives at the warehouse, it must be readily verified and labeled

When inventory arrives at the warehouse, it must be readily verified and labeled; however, as the stock moves around the warehouse, it may need to be relabeled and information may be lost from label to label. By simplifying your labeling process, you can prevent data entry errors and constant reprinting, which wears down printheads and wastes printing supplies.

To streamline label information while diminishing supply costs, RFID labels aggregate as much as 40 identifiers in one tag, simplifying data capture from receiving to shipping.

Another way to simplify standardization is to make sure your operating system is up to date and user-friendly. To accomplish this, Avalon recommends Android’s intuitive platform as it’s been shown to accelerate onboarding and protect data from unauthorized access.

Listen to our newest podcast to learn more about the benefits of Android.

5. Prioritize Inventory

Prioritize Inventory

Labeling is crucial in this factor since barcodes house essential information

This is perhaps the most important of all initiatives you can take. By tracking incoming inventory and current shelved stock, you are able to line up inventory and sell older products first before it loses its value or is no longer sellable.

Accurate labeling is crucial in this factor since barcodes house essential information -such as expiration dates, storage requirements, and delivery dates- throughout your stock’s journey. Quality labels can help make sure you always know which product is on your priority list. To boost labeling efficiency, Avalon has continuously recommended Zebra Certified Consumables due to its rugged adhesive and coating strength.

When it comes to enhancing your inventory management system, every small detail counts. For more simple cost-effective ways to maximize operational efficiency, contact our automation experts here.

/by