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"PACKAGING SOLUTIONS FOR THE NEW E-CONOMY"
"The biggest thing we're seeing over the last six months is the changeover to ERP and integrating barcoding into those systems," said Ann Marie Cook, director of marketing for Weber Marking Systems, a manufacturer and supplier of complete barcode labeling systems. "Recent ERP implementers in midsized and larger companies, who either weren't using barcode internally or were using it in limited, standalone applications, are moving on it." The same motivations that drove earlier barcode implementers--the need to increase productivity and accuracy and cut costs--still drive customers to this technology today, noted Ms. Cook. But with the recent move to ERP business backbones, companies have found themselves re-evaluating their business systems and needing accurate, real-time data feeding their corporate systems. "ERP systems lend themselves to barcoding," said Ms. Cook. "Accuracy is absolutely a driver, as is [the need for] tighter control over product movement along the supply chain...." COURIER COMPLIANCE In the old days, customer compliance labeling was the supply chain barcode issue du jour; it still is in B2B operations, enabling incoming shipment data to be automatically entered--with a scan--into the customer's corporate system. Now, however, the rise of e-tail direct sales and a consequent dramatic increase in outgoing shipments makes courier-compliant labeling a necessity, as well. John Dalton, president of ScanData Systems, is a systems integrator with more than a decade of experience in automatic brick-and-mortar and direct sales distribution centers for high-profile retailers such as Eddie Bauer. "Recently we've been doing more Websites and brick-and-mortar companies supporting Websites," he said. "The system we've developed over the last ten years is more market mainstream now, because of the growth of Internet direct sales, which required many more mixed-SKU and single-item shipments." Historically, the big catalogers--with shipments that peaked above 50,000 cartons per day--traditionally used expensive mechanical tilt trays to expedite shipment flow, while brick-and-mortar distribution systems were geared for palletized shipments, Mr. Dalton pointed out: "now with the emergence of e-commerce and more brick-and-mortar stores servicing direct, the issues of carton verification, real-time invoicing, and credit card update, coupled with carrier compliance labels, creates a complexity at the pack point that requires more system and informational integration." Mr. Dalton explained that optimally, point of pack is the last location requiring human intervention before the shipment reaches the trailer. At this point, scanning verifies every item against the order, triggering the invoice, gift card if indicated, and courier-required shipping label, depending on destination and/or customer choice of shipping method. "FedEx began the courier compliance trend when they first integrated the tracking number with the customer order number," Mr. Dalton observed. "But UPS, RPS, Airborne, and now USPS have followed suit."
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