mlit october 2016

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OCTO

BER

2016

The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications

Special Technology Report:PRINTING & LABELLING

Interview:ELECTRIUM SALES LTD.

AAlso in this issue:Gain the competitive edge with the right printers

Label management and the extended supply chain

Enterprise Asset Intelligence and the hardware to deliver it

Supply Chain Management in the Cloud Downlo

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3ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

Putting IoT to the test

ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

4 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

Manufacturing and Logistics IT October 2016

Editor: Ed Holden

Contributors: Ken Moir, NiceLabel Samuel Mueller, ScanditJörk Schüßler, Citizen Systems EuropeRichard Scott, SATODavid Stain, Zebra TechnologiesPaul Swaddle, Pocket AppMari Waldron, Honeywell printers

Publisher:Dean Taylor

Designer: First Sight Graphics Ltd,www.firstsightgraphics.com

Production: Carolyn Pither

Circulation:Carole Chiesa

IT Manager: Ian Curtis

Accounts: Sarah Schofield

Published by:B2B Publishing LtdPO Box 3575,Barnet, Herts, EN5 9QD UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1707 664200Email (publishing):[email protected] (editorial): [email protected]

Printed by: The Magazine Printing Company,www.magprint.co.uk

No part of this publication may be reproduced in anyform without written permission from the publishers.No liability is accepted for any action arising fromthe contents of this publication; readers are advisedto check any manufacturer’s or supplier’s claim forproducts. The publishers do not endorse opinionsexpressed in any article by an outside contributor.While every care is taken over photographs andillustrations, which are returned when requested,no liability can be assumed by the publishers forthe loss of such materials.

ISSN:1463-1172


CONTENTS5 Electrium Sales Ltd.

Special Technology Report 10 Printing & Labelling

Printing & Labelling 18 Citizen Systems Europe: Gain the competitive edge with the right printers

NiceLabel: Label management and the extended supply chain

Honeywell: Mobile printers improve productivity

Seiko Instruments launches new MP-A40 Series mobile printers

SATO: Application-enabled printing solutions for the manufacturing and logistics industries

Automatic Data Capture 28 Zebra Technologies: Enterprise Asset Intelligence and the hardware to deliver it

Scandit: Mobile barcode scanning – capturing top performance without breaking the bank

Voice Picking 32 BEC: Modernising the warehouse puts Raleigh ahead of the pack

Voiteq launches VoiceMan Data Analysis

Warehouse Management Systems 36 Vanderlande: Automation paves the way for ifm’s success

Iptor Supply Chain Systems adds ProTrack Labour Management to Warehouse

Management solution

Chess Logistics Technology: Cloud-based warehouse stock control for

e-commerce business

Manufacturing 40 Eco-friendly packaging manufacturer prepares for growth with QAD ERP

solution upgrade

Supply Chain Management 42 Oracle: Supply Chain Management in the Cloud

Gartner announces ranking of top European supply chain organisations for 2016

Transportation Management 46 PTV Group acquires DPS and invests in Cloud-based trip planning

Maxoptra helps Thornbridge Brewery keep the beer flowing

Pocket App: Mobilising the logistics supply chain

Electrium Sales Ltd. Interview

October 2016 5ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

Electrium Sales Ltd. is one of the

UK’s largest electrical installation

equipment manufacturing

companies. The company’s supply

network operates throughout the

UK, as well as exporting to more than 40

countries worldwide. All Electrium products

are designed, manufactured and tested in

accordance with British and international

product standards in quality-assured and

approved factories and laboratories. Each

Electrium brand is well-recognised and long

established with most achieving over 100

years of service to the electrical installation

market – brands such as Wylex, Crabtree,

Britmac, Volex Accessories and Appleby.

From a supply chain perspective, Paul

Simpson, head of residential supply chain

management at Electrium, explained that

since 2014 the supply chain activities within

the company have been separated into two

primary aspects; Residential and Commercial.

“Commercial is more project-oriented,

covering things such as large distribution

boards and high power applications, while

Residential is more focused on electrical

wiring accessories for homes, offices and

factories; under-stairs consumer units, plugs

and sockets, lights etc. My colleague on the

Commercial side deals with more of the high-

value, lower-volume demand, which equates

to around 15 to 20 per cent of Electrium

annual turnover. On the Residential side, I am

responsible for the higher-volume, lower cost,

fast moving products.”

Demand Planning

In terms of the Electrium’s most recent IT

deployment, the company went live with

DynaSys’ Demand Planning software

solution as recently as May this year. The

DynaSys sourcing and implementation

project was largely led by Simpson and the

Residential side of the business to deal with

some of the complexities that go hand-in-

hand with volume and transactional

activities, and all the product management-

related aspects involved.

Prior to sourcing DynaSys, Electrium largely

relied on Excel spreadsheets for its demand

planning processes. “The data was mined

out of our SAP ERP system and

downloaded into a spreadsheet, from which

we sought to determine what our daily,

weekly or monthly requirements were in

order to satisfy product or component

demand,” explained Simpson.

Interestingly, DynaSys’s business

consultant, Gary Shaw, worked for

Electrium up until 2005. “During his time

with the company Gary was involved in

forecasting and the demand planning for

Electrium’s retail customers,” Simpson

pointed out. “He was the commercial sales

lead for this aspect of the business, while

also liaising closely with the operational

side, which largely dealt with providing the

right product at the right time in the right

format for the customer.”

Electrium was then acquired by Siemens in

2006. “Gary and I kept in touch over the

years,” continued Simpson, “and last year

he invited me to attend a supply chain

conference in London, which DynaSys was

sponsoring. I accepted the invitation and

Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Paul Simpson, head of residential supplychain management at Electrium Sales Ltd., about recent and ongoing enhancements tothe company’s IT estate and the business and operational rationale behind the changes.

Energising IT

www.logisticsit.com

6 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS October 2016

during the event Gary explained what

DynaSys solutions could offer. Upon further

investigation I realised that DynaSys offered

the type of statistical and scientific

discipline to the whole supply chain and

demand forecasting process that we were

looking for within Electrium.”

After the Electrium board had agreed to

source the DynaSys Demand Planning

solution, Electrium established two main

sponsors for the project; Simpson, who was

given responsibility for the functional

outputs and requirements, and Dave

Woolham, Electrium’s head of IT. Simpson

and Woolham then liaised closely with both

Shaw and Barry Drummond, DynaSys’s

business development manager.

Commencing in April 2015, the Electrium

and DynaSys teams had a number of

strategy meetings, during which the

decision was made to source the DynaSys’

Easy On-Boarding Demand Planning

solution. Implementation then commenced

during the latter part of last year, with Chris

Yates, programme manager at DynaSys,

becoming involved and liaising with the

Electrium team, including the company’s

logistics manager Karen Taylor.

“The whole process, from discussions with

DynaSys to scoping and deploying the

system has been impressively fast,” said

Simpson. “When sourcing a new system, it

can be tempting to make something of a

monster out of the deployment by

customising its functionality to the exact

perceived requirements of the whole team

within the company. By doing this, systems

can grow a life of their own and become

rather cumbersome. However, DynaSys’

Easy On-Boarding solution gave us all the

key functionality that we required, whilst

retaining its inherent flexibility.”

One of the things Electrium needed to

determine early on during the scoping

process was whether DynaSys was able to

easily extract business and operational data

from its SAP ERP solution and then be able

to upload the updated demand

management information back into SAP

while respecting the Siemens’ security and

confidentiality protocols.

In this regard, one of Electrium’s ‘satellite’

software solutions, Phocas, became an

invaluable part of the mix. Phocas was

initially deployed by Electrium prior to

sourcing its first iteration of SAP some 12

years ago for the purpose of mining sales

and related data out of SAP on a frequent

basis. “Phocas was already mining the data

out of SAP and putting the information into a

data table, so all the information we

required was already mined and accessible

in accordance with Siemens’ security and

confidentiality protocols,” said Simpson.

From that point it was just a case of

understanding how DynaSys worked as a

demand planning tool. With this in mind,

DynaSys familiarised Electrium personnel

on using the software with products that

were unrelated to Electrium’s normal range.

“Through this type of training and

familiarising technique, we got to

understand the system from a purely

functional perspective,” said Simpson. “So

we were able to forget about the product

detail and concentrate more on how the

DynaSys system worked from a purely

demand-orientated perspective without

getting hung up on specific product details

related to our own company.”

Electrium then set up working groups

comprising people who were going to use

DynaSys as part of their daily routine, and

began a training process based on utilising

the system within the context of Electrium’s

own portfolio of products.

Sales & Operations Planning

One of the key selling points of the DynaSys

solution for Simpson was its Sales &

Operations Planning functionality. “DynaSys

looks at 20 different algorithms and

chooses the best fit for each product based

Interview Electrium Sales Ltd.

www.logisticsit.com


upon historical demand. And because

Electrium deals with the retail, wholesale

and export markets, DynaSys also helps us

make forecast adjustments for each of

these segments.”

Simpson explained that DynaSys gives

Electrium statistical validity at the

granular/item level, so each product can be

treated in a different way. “For example, a

two-gang switch socket normally attracts a

very high demand, and prior to deploying

DynaSys we may have held six weeks’

worth of stock for the product. Because

DynaSys gives us the capability to treat the

requirements of each product individually,

we could more easily determine that,

because stock demand patterns for two-

gang switch sockets are so predictable it

might only be necessary to keep three

weeks’ worth of stock, thus freeing up

capital and space in the DC.”

ERP

In terms of its ERP requirements, Electrium

relies on SAP. “Prior to first sourcing SAP

around 5 years ago, we had used an IBM AS

-400 PRMS (Physical Resources Management

System),” remembered Simpson. “However,

this became increasingly customised in-

house. When users wanted to operate the

system in a particular way we would append

the system. With SAP you have the ability to

adjust the system to your requirements while

also benefitting from greater functional rigidity

and reliability within the system.”

Simpson added that, from Electrium’s

perspective, one of the key benefits of SAP is

that users can easily mine deep within its data

banks to access detailed information related to

any particular item in stock or on order.

However, in order to maximise the ease, speed

and flexibility of accessing data related to the

14,000 SKUs in its distribution centre (DC),

Electrium designed additional functionality within

Phocas so that it was able more easily to

present data in different groups. “We group

products into what we call ‘P types’, and we can

mine data out of Phocas to look at sales orders

within a particular P-type group. So, essentially

the process involves accessing data within SAP

at the granular level, and then analysing it as a

product group within Phocas. This functionality

is important in that it allows us to cluster

products together, moving sideways between

groups of product, and then diving down into

the detail to establish what is going on.”

On the sales and commercial side, Phocas was

first implemented around 15 years ago. “This

gave the company directors the ability to

analyse the activities of sales personnel and

how they were responding to different targets

etc.,” explained Simpson. “For example, you

could drill down to the national sales manager

level for a particular brand and then you could

drill down to regional teams or to individual

salespeople. So it was very useful in terms of

gaining a feel for what was going on in the

business and determining which areas of the

business needed more support.”

About nine years ago, Simpson and

Electrium’s then head of supply chain

management, John Gair, sat down and

discussed how the supply chain side of the

commercial Phocas functionality could be

enhanced so that the company could more

easily drill down into customer orders to

determine which customers were buying the

most stock, and survey supplier purchase

orders to ascertain which suppliers were the

most reliable terms of on-time delivery etc.

“For a number of years now, this aspect of

Phocas has been a highly respected

facilitator of this type of supply chain data,”

said Simpson.

WMS

In terms of warehouse management,

Electrium’s SAP WMS has proved itself to be

a highly effective system for stock control and

stock accuracy, according to Simpson. “We’re

well into the realm of 99.9 per cent stock

accuracy in the DC,” he enthused. “It used to

take four to five days to complete a stock take

with our old PRMS system; now within SAP we

can complete a wall-to-wall stock check –

every single product every single location, all

14,000 SKUs on site – in less than three days.

This offers major additional benefit in terms of

reduced downtime when counting items.

There are also the functional day-to-day

benefits that you get in terms of knowing

exactly what aisle and shelf location you need

to go to in order to pick a particular type and

quantity of product.”

Additionally, Simpson pointed out that if an

issue arises regarding a particular product on

Electrium Sales Ltd. Interview

www.logisticsit.com

October 20168 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

a particular day that particular product

doesn’t have to be isolated within the DC

universally. “If we have two different locations

for the same product – one delivered on 5

September and the other on 5 October – and

we find we have an issue with the batch code

of 5 September, we can freeze that location

while still being able to deliver the product we

received on 5 October.”

Simpson reflected that, because of the SAP

WMS’s functionality richness, when the

system was first implemented it took Electrium

staff in the DC a while to determine what flags

to turn on and which ones to turn off.

“However, we put the time in upfront and had

a particularly effective team employing that

approach. So it wasn’t long before we had 40

to 50 people within the DC gaining major

accuracy and time-saving benefits from the

WMS during every day of the week. Because

of these benefits the payback period for the

system was impressively short too.”

Order entry

Electrium has also developed new order

entry tools over the past year. “They’re

primarily aimed at providing a better

customer experience, in terms of ensuring

order information is stored in one electronic

iteration; cutting back on the need for

paperwork and the dual-keying of

information,” explained Simpson. “The

system also helps us to remain compliant

regarding regulatory rules and regulations.”

The order entry tools are SAP-based;

although Electrium’s IT staff have customised

these assets with some additional SQL-

based functionality.

Lean methodology

Simpson pointed out that a Lean IT

methodology is something Electrium is keen

to develop further going forward. “Deploying

the best IT solutions, customised where

necessary to our specific needs helps us

minimise waste within the business, whether

this relates to maximising the daily

efficiencies of staff performance, keeping the

right level of inventory in the DC in the best

accessible locations, storing and best

reacting to customer information, improving

manufacturing processes and so on.”

One of the more mature and long-proven IT

solutions within Electrium’s IT armoury is its

Gemba OEE (overall equipment

effectiveness) software package. It helps

Electrium to visually express objectives and

performance metrics using live data, helping

to drive continuous improvement where it is

most needed – for example, in terms of job

sequencing, maintenance, tracking and

removing the need for paper-based

operations wherever possible.

“This is a very valuable and reliable OEE

reporting tool for us,” said Simpson. “Among

its benefits is its ability to track the

productivity of individuals in the production

area producing, assembling or labelling.

Essentially this tracks and assesses output

quality and yield, and formulates

percentage-based appraisals which are then

multiplied together to form what is referred to

as an OEE statistic. We can then focus on

improving performance in any area that is

deemed to be under-performing. This also

ties in with our in-house Lean manufacturing

regime. It’s essentially our version of the

Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)

concept – a proven methodology for

reducing waste within manufacturing

processes. We refer to it as a ‘three-second

pit-stop’; making changeovers as quickly as

possible.”

Data capture

In terms of data capture, Electrium has relied

on RFID labels from Checkpoint Meto for a

number of years. The company also used

Motorola RF scanners in the DC for picking

and packing. “We don’t actually scan

specific item barcodes themselves because

they are not universally applied to the

products. Instead, we have a set of

barcodes that we utilise for various different

warehouse locations and different packaging

SKUs – the packaging SKUs could contain

anything from 1 item to 100.

Printing & labelling

Within the Electrium Residential production

facility are a number of Zebra inline printers

for the generation of 2-D and QR barcodes.

The barcodes are required mainly to meet

the requirements of the company’s retail

customers. Electrium also uses a Hand Held

Products inline laser verifier, which checks

the validity of the barcodes; e.g. that they

are positioned at a certain level in

accordance with the requirements of the

customer.

Greater efficiencies

In summary, Simpson said Electrium sees

the value of investing in state-of-the-art IT

solutions and related equipment, “The type

of financial commitment we put aside for

systems such as DynaSys Demand Planning

is a no-brainer when you consider the

business and operational benefits they can

bring to the table, not to mention the

enhanced service we are then able to

provide to our customers.” �

Interview Electrium Sales Ltd.

www.logisticsit.com

D

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Special Technology Report Printing & Labelling

www.logisticsit.com

This report will consider a host of

current key discussion points and

recent and ongoing areas of

innovation and development with the

printing & labelling space; one of

the most vibrant and fast-changing technology

areas actively deployed within the

manufacturing, logistics and retail fields. Michael

Dizdar, project manager, Panorama Consulting,

opens the debate by observing that labels are

moving away from being a display mechanism

for static, dated data. “Gone are the days where

a label was printed two days’ ago when a pallet

was received (and may or not be correct at the

current time) to a vessel that can give updated

and changeable information based on

transactional events and environmental factors,”

he said. “New labelling advances from

companies like Thinfilm allow real-time

temperature data to be produced accurately

and timely based on the needs of the current

user, not what was produced in the past based

on stale information.”

In terms of drivers for change, Dizdar makes the

point that the pervasiveness of technology into

the day-to-day lives of consumers has

significantly impacted the changes in the

labelling and printing environments. An end-user

of a label mostly likely has a ‘smartphone’, has

played a new video game, and/or interacted

with a kiosk at the grocery store – maybe all

within the last day,” he said. “This ease of

technology understanding and adoption has

driven advances to end user labelling and

printing requirements.”

Viroop Narla, mobility research analyst, Frost &

Sullivan, considers 3D printing and the

technology’s impact on the automotive industry.

This, he states, has primarily been in research

and development (R&D), but OEMs are turning

the corner into commercially printed parts for

mainstream production. Frost & Sullivan

research indicates that in 2014, 90% of 3D

printing applications in the automotive industry

were for prototyping and 10% for production,

enabling OEMs and suppliers to:

• Create proof of concepts with localised

manufacturing.

• Fabricate complex and unique production

tools such as jigs, fixtures, and moulds.

• Prototype parts, such as Ford’s 4-cylinder

EcoBoost engine and F-150 exhaust

manifold.

By 2025, new US OEMs such as Local Motors

are expected to increase adoption of

microfactory business models to:

• Print parts at authorised representative

locations, reducing supply chain

complexities and cost.

• Expand crowdsourcing and collaborative

design to capitalise on a diverse talent pool.

• Enable convenient and quick vehicle

servicing to maximise customer satisfaction.

Expansion of 3D printing in the value chain is

expected to face multiple challenges, such as:

• The high cost of 3D printing machinery and

materials.

• Conventional component manufacturers

lobbying governments against 3D printing.

• Customer patent infringement implications

for OEMs and suppliers.

Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with a number of experts from the vendor and analystcommunities about recent developments in the world of printing & labelling technologies.

October 2016 11ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICSwww.logisticsit.com


A shift from 3D prototyping to production is

expected by 2030 due to:

• An expected 40% reduction in raw material

prices for 3D printing.

• Price similarity: A conventionally

manufactured part now is 78% cheaper

than one that is 3D printed; the gap is

expected to shrink to as low as 11%.

Gartner analysts, Michael Shanler and Pete

Basiliere, comment that the 3D printing (3DP)

industry continues to see growth, innovation and

many new players. “While several of the seven

3DP technologies have existed for nearly 30

years, those early tools had limitations to speed,

quality, resolution and performance,” they said.

“They provided limited value to enterprises

beyond prototyping in manufacturing. Over the

last five years, the ‘maker movement’ catalysed

numerous 3DP activities and inspired 3DP

solution vendors and end users alike to begin

leveraging 3DP in ways to create brand new

values and societal impacts. Many industries

have moved beyond leveraging 3DP in

experiments and will be approaching an

inflection point within the next five years, where

executing on 3DP is industrialised into the value

chain.”

Shanler and Basiliere added that, recently,

major aerospace and automotive companies

have leveraged 3DP to create new products

and assemblies that were previously impossible

to build or to shorten delivery times on orders.

“New materials have been 3D-printed in the

retail industry to create new aesthetic and

performance characteristics, as well as to satisfy

consumers' growing appetite for personalised

products,” they remarked.

Shanler and Basiliere

also make the point

that the medical

device and healthcare

community has

moved toward

improved patient

outcomes and

reduced cycle times

by delivering 3D-

printed personalised

dental devices,

hearing aids, implants and surgical tools.

However, they comment that while there are a

lot of 3DP technologies that have promise and

have moved beyond the proof of concept phase

at companies, not every organisation is ready to

adopt. Further, merely adopting 3DP in a

vacuum can be a recipe for disaster, they said,

adding: “The majority of organisations still need

to adapt or create new internal processes for

handling 3DP workflows, data, hardware, supply

chain management and products. The

mainstream media, vendor capitalists (VCs) and

vendors are still creating a very ‘hyped’

environment where 3DP can solve everything –

from 3D-printed food to end world hunger to

creating body parts so people can live forever.”

Internet of Things David Stain, senior vertical marketing manager

EMEA manufacturing, field mobility &

healthcare, Zebra Technologies, comments that

developments we see taking prominence are

the need to bring the Internet of Things (IoT) to

life in the printing/auto ID world. This, he

explains, is about making the print devices

visible across the user estate where there may

be several hundred or thousand devices,

flagging their status, use rate and being able to

manage them from a central location.

Configurability Another development of note, according to

Stain, is the appreciation that the labels

themselves have become much more

configurable by use case; for example, new

RFID tags designed specifically to work better

on metal components, shelf-edge labels that

peel away more easily when being replaced

and wrist bands for medical applications. Stain

considers that the drivers for change can be

characterised as follows:

• Customisation. “Both end user and

enterprises want products and components

that are right for them. Hence we are seeing

mass customisation or product variants

being produced to fulfil this need.”

• Visibility. “In a connected world, all devices

need to be connected and indeed the

outputs of a printer – the tag or label –

enable the connectivity by giving a digital

voice to the item it

is placed on.

More and more

we are seeing,

however, the

need to connect

the printer to the

network so status

can be observed.

Also, the ability to

connect quickly to

other peripherals

such as scanners

or mobile computers is key to efficiency and

intelligence.”

• Availability. People will wait for goods and

merchandise if they get accurate and

convenient delivery commitments. Those

that won’t will shop around, so inventory

visibility is key and getting the stock to a

convenient location for the customer just as

key. Track & trace is vital to both.”

Centralisation andstandardisation

Ken Moir, VP marketing, NiceLabel,

comments that, first, there is more

centralisation and standardisation taking

place because companies want to increase

the agility of their business. “These types of

process optimisation benefits can mean

companies are able to ship product faster,

sell more product, have less downtime, have

less product returns, reduce inventory,

mitigate the risk of mislabelling etc. – these

are the key drivers for change,” he said.

Also, Moir points out that web technology now

allows companies to do client-side web printing.

“This is now fully usable,” he said. “The latest

web technology doesn’t require Silverlight or

Flash plugins, and doesn’t require administration

rights for users to install software locally. So

web-based technology can now be deployed

anywhere across the extended supply chain for

any authorised user. It can be deployed across

your own business, your stores, your franchises,

your suppliers, your contract manufacturers or

your 3PLs etc., and all be controlled centrally.”

Moir adds that the latest integration systems

and service buses also allow companies to

take advantage of universal templates and

www.logisticsit.comOctober 201612 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS


print from any device on any operating

system. “So a big part of the story here is

mobility; it’s not just PCs that you can print

from, it’s also tablets and android devices,”

he remarked. “Most retail stores and

warehouses use mobile devices and it’s now

easy to actually print from these devices. You

no longer need to hard code or generate and

embed printer command templates in your

applications. This is what NiceLabel calls

next-generation mobile printing.”

Previously, explains Moir, some vendors

would offer template printing solutions

whereby users could design a label, print it to

file, take the printer command language and

embed it within their application. “However,

what users now want are universal templates,”

he said. “Integration systems now make it

easy for iOS, Android etc. to print universal

intelligent labels; they don’t need to store

separate templates for different mobile

devices. It’s now easy to integrate mobile

computers into label management systems

(LMS) so that users can print to any printer,

whether mobile or fixed. It doesn’t matter what

printer you use. The point is that mobile,

desktop or tablet computers can be easily

integrated into LMS.”

In terms of the key drivers for change, Moir

comments that, in addition to reduced product

returns, reduced inventory, reduction in

labelling errors, etc., there are drivers

concerning legal compliance. “In life sciences,

the FDA UDI deadline recently passed in the

US,” he pointed out. “The next thing regarding

medical device manufacture is going to be the

EU medical device

directive. In

pharmaceutical,

there will be further

changes regarding

serialisation and

track and trace over

the next couple of

years. This is all

naturally driving the

need for a more

centralised,

standardised

labelling

methodology.”

Greater business efficiencyIoana Nitu, product manager at ICT services

provider Brother UK, states that the main

function of mobile and label printers in the

manufacturing and logistics industry is to

increase business efficiency by allowing

employees to print simply, quickly and easily

while on the move, and this hasn't changed.

However, what has changed in her view is the

capabilities of the technology in facilitating this,

and that is what is steering the biggest trends at

the minute. “As businesses across all sectors,

including this one, broaden the devices they're

using, connectivity has become more important,”

said Nitu. “Manufacturing businesses are

investing resource into innovative new

technology to help employees work more

efficiently while reducing costs, and any print

systems need to be compatible with these.”

Running almost parallel to this, according to Nitu,

is the growth of different technology used across

businesses and the impact this has on how

easily these different devices integrate. “As

technology develops, businesses are

continuously trialing new software and hardware,

making it more and more challenging to ensure

these different systems are compatible with each

other,” she said. “We're finding that customers,

now more than ever, want mobile printers that

integrate easily with existing systems and cause

minimum disruption.”

Additionally, Nitu considers that the evolution of

technology over the past decade has raised the

bar in terms of customer expectations. “In

everyday life people want solutions which have

an instant impact with minimal inconvenience,

and this is certainly the case in this sector,” she

said. “Customers are looking for high-speed,

compact devices that increase business

efficiency and empower employees from any

location.”

Nitu added that the speed that technology has

developed in recent years has led to a

continuous need for investment in Brother’s

products. “All of our solutions are designed with

the customers’ needs front of mind, and we

spend a lot of time understanding the sector and

the challenges they're facing to ensure our

products can help meet these needs,” she said.

“Our mobile print solutions seamlessly integrate

with industry-leading software, meaning the set-

up and incorporation of the technology into

existing systems is straightforward. We've also

invested in the range of connectivity options

available on our products, helping to ensure

they're compatible with a both iOS and Android

devices. Print speed has always been a key

feature for us, coupled with the continued need

for reliable, hardwearing and compact solutions.”

Mari Waldron, global business development

manager, Honeywell printers, points to key areas

of development as being simplicity, ease-of-use

and connectivity – with command language auto

sense, printers automatically analysing incoming

data streams. This, she explains, means a user

can pull the printer out of the box and

immediately start printing, which makes the start-

up process quick and simple for the end user.

“Customers have come to expect user-friendly

design, including a large, multi-colour touch

screen with easy-to-use commands,” said

Waldron. “This is driven by consumerisation

trends, which means a familiar interface and

compatibility with consumer devices, such as

smartphones.”

In terms of motivation for change, Waldron

believes the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

and the need for connectivity is driving retailers,

manufacturers and supply chain firms to invest in

technology to enhance their business

performance. She points out that companies look

to connected devices to improve flexibility,

efficiency and profitability.

Increased adoption ofconsumer technology

In addition, Waldron explains that Honeywell

customers place a strong emphasis on ease-

of-use when it comes to technology for their

workers. “This is partly driven by an increased

adoption of consumer technology,” she said.

“Workers on a manufacturing or distribution

centre floor expect the devices they use to be

familiar and intuitive. This is particularly

important when hiring and training new

workers. For seasonal workers hired during

peak times, a printer must be easy to use in

order for the new staff to be productive in a

short amount of time.”


Jörk Schüßler, marketing director EMEA for

Citizen Systems Europe, maintains that

omnichannel, mPOS and reverse logistic are

some of the most interesting current talking

points where printing and labelling is involved.

“For example, customers now receive and return

goods in a variety of ways, which can be

challenging for warehouse and logistics

operations,” he said. “To ensure this process is

efficient and not overly costly for the goods

provider, it requires perfect integration. For

instance, let’s say a customer who ordered

something online opts to pick up the

merchandise in store but return it via a courier if

they decide not to keep it. The customer will

receive a receipt from the store, and also a

returns label to send back the goods. This

places different demands on printers. The way to

overcome the challenge is to combine the use of

mobile POS and label printers or box printers,

and perfectly integrated them – through Wi-Fi or

Bluetooth – into the shop’s retail system.”

Regarding motivation for development, Schüßler

explains that these changes are simply driven by

the changing world and the different demands of

shoppers. “Potential customers are always online

nowadays and they expect the same from

shops,” he said. “They demand the same user

experience from the tools they use at home as

they do in their professional lives. The line

between private and professional IT is blurring

more and more, with the user experience

becoming a critical factor in the success of

implementing different technologies.”

Laurent Lassus, general manager marketing &

product management, SATO, believes the

most current trends in printing and labelling

are connectivity,

more intelligent

printing and mobility

of equipment, and

that they all relate to

the wider Internet of

Things (IOT)

megatrend. “End

users are demanding

printers that easily

connect to the

network and can

communicate

through a number of

ways; for example, Bluetooth and WiFi,” he

said.

Lassus added that printers with intelligence

onboard, such as SATO Application Enabled

Printing (AEP), mean that separate printers and

PCs are no longer required. “An application-

enabled printer not only has its own internal

processing power – so it can connect to other

devices such as weighing scales, a handheld

barcode scanner, or a keyboard, and it can print

without the need to connect to a PC – but it is

designed to be readily reprogrammable,” said

Lassus. “With increased intelligence, printers can

also monitor their status, reporting back to the

maintenance team 24/7, and alerting them before

any problems occur. This reduces downtime as

well as unnecessary regular service costs.”

Also, Lassus explains mobile printers that are

portable and easy to operate allow users to print

on the move, where and when required,

regardless of having to be near a power supply

or infrastructure. In Lassus’s view, drivers for

development include the continual need for

businesses to work more efficiently, and

streamline operations, with the adoption of

Cloud-based technologies.

Optimisation Gartner analyst, Lai-ling Lam, states that

providers can no longer rely on the success

formulae of print hardware and supplies to thrive

in this industry. Printing cost, being one of the

nonpriority expenses, was high on the cost-

cutting lists of most organisations. To control

printing costs, Lam points out that organisations

have embarked on projects to optimise their

printing fleets, reduce hardware purchases, and

control excessive printing and supplies usage.

As a result, print volume has shrunk, followed by

lower consumables sales. Total end-user

spending on printers, copiers and multifunction

products (MFPs) has declined for the past five

years. In 2015, total end-user spending on

printers, copiers and MFPs declined 6.2% while

consumables spending for enterprises shrank

13%, and the outlook for the next five years is not

expected to improve despite having small

pockets of growth, such as production printing.

Lam comments that adoption of print

management tools to track and monitor printing

patterns also helps

organisations to

manage printing

activities. “As

electronic business

and communication

processes gradually

replace paper,

organisations are

reducing costs by

moving pages from

printed to digital form

and printing only

when and where they

truly need physical documents,” she said.

Print providers, in turn, evaluate, transform and

adapt to a maturing technology market and

businesses' impending challenges, commented

Lam. “The need for organisations to manage

printing costs and move content freely back and

forth from physical to digital is creating

opportunities for providers,” she said. “The need

to better manage printing costs in organisations

led to the growth in managed print services

(MPS) over the years. As organisations seek to

digitise their work processes and manage their

workflow more efficiently and effectively, print

providers are investing in expanding their range

of solutions, such as data capture and retrieval

solutions, document management services and

managed content services (MCS), that help

companies to this end. Investment in high-

volume digital printing technology is increasing

as print service providers gradually shift from

offset to digital printing.”

Lam added that the growing trend toward Cloud

delivery, digital transformation and global

adoption of mobile devices leads to revenue

opportunities for print management solutions and

a possibility for managed IT services that extend

beyond printing.

Printable electronics andthe packaging industry

Mike Hopkins, project manager, CDi Yorkshire (a

special interest group of the BPIF), explains that

the increase in the use of smartphones and the

incorporation of printed electronic solutions and

printed logic into consumer products is creating

a global billion-dollar industry. “In 2013, over 967


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million smartphones

were sold to

consumers worldwide

and it is projected that

by 2019 sales of

smartphones will

reach over 2 billion,”

he said. “The

capabilities of

smartphones and the

way in which we use

them has changed

since the first

smartphones came onto the market in the late

1990s. Today’s smartphones include touch-

screens, high-speed internet access and NFC

(near field communications) which has altered

the way we interact with people, and objects,

conduct business and make purchases.”

As the market opportunities and demand to

incorporate NFC into smart products grows,

Hopkins points out that so does the demand to

produce high-volume printed electronic

components at low cost. “This is essential to

extend the reach of electronic intelligence into

everyday objects, where conventional silicon-

based electronics is unsuitable,” he said.

The BPIF is involved with project SCOPE, the aim

of which is to develop new processes,

equipment and applications – in essence

building a UK supply chain – in order to meet the

growing demand for high volume (billions or

even trillions) units incorporating various

components, at low cost. It will also provide a

technology platform to develop new, innovative

and ultimately more complex and novel

functionalities and applications, build skills and

capabilities and strengthen the UK supply-chain.

Initial concepts have been carried out to develop

low-cost, high volume, printed logic for

integration into labels, for smart packaging and

product branding on fast moving consumable

goods for the end user. Initially prototypes were

produced using a combination of conventional

and printed electronics, including Labels

incorporating LEDs, used for promotional

purposes by one of the UK’s major fast moving

consumer goods manufacturers. While the

prototypes demonstrated the potential for printed

electronics, the concepts have been

predominantly manufactured with conventional

electronic components. The project is continuing

to work to overcome the challenges of creating a

hybrid label which will be manufactured with

both conventional and printed electronics that is

able to survive the rigorous application process

and post labelling electronic quality control.

Hopkins explains that the printing of electronic

functionality will enable designers to embed

technology into their designs, creating innovative

components that are smarter, lightweight and

wireless without the need for expensive and rigid

silicon chips. “Typically, the technology has been

embedded into RFID (radio frequency

identification device) tags used for tagging and

tracking purposes,” he said. “These electronic

tags (circuits) contain data which can then be

transmitted back to an antenna using radio

frequency signals. But NFC is an emerging

technology which goes one step further. An NFC

chip, which is embedded into a device, operates

as one part of a wireless link. Once it is activated

by another chip, data can then be gathered and

transferred between the two devices when held

a few centimetres apart.”

Hopkins adds that printable electronics is

moving from niche applications into more

lucrative mainstream applications. One such

application area is packaging and labelling. “As

the unit price for a printed electronic system falls,

smart packaging is set to become a reality and

may even evolve into what futurists are heralding

as an ‘Internet of Packaging’,” he said. Hopkins

observes that brands, packaging companies

and retailers are all keen to embrace this

technology for applications such as:

• Anti-counterfeiting/brand protection.

• Consumer management.

• Logistics track and trace.

• Monitoring a pack’s contents.

“All of these functions can be framed within

the umbrella term ‘smart packaging’ as a set

of technologies that allow packaging to

contain, evaluate and transmit relevant

information,” he said.

Back-office relationship In terms of the relationship between some state-

of-the-art Printing and Labelling systems, what

do you feel have been some of the key recent

changes? Nitu believes this ties into the growing

trend for seamless integration. “Businesses are

looking for one solution to help them increase

business efficiency and cost savings,” she said.

“Our customers don't care if it's different

companies providing these services, so long as

they work together as one solution which is why

simple integration is key.” Nitu adds that due to

the flexibility that technology has offered

businesses, customers are also now demanding

bespoke end-to-end solutions that serve their

specific needs. “No one business and their

requirements is identical, so it's important ICT

services providers spend time understanding the

company and ensuring its mobile print or

labelling solution is going to achieve optimum

results,” she said.

Dizdar considers one revolutionary change to be

the increasing incidence of data that originates

outside of the ‘system’ (ERP/CRM/WMS, etc.)

and ends up being printed via a label or other

‘hard copy’ means. “Data collection is no longer

restricted to the four walls of a facility,” he said.

“Instead, information can be obtained via any

number of devices – whether a personal phone,

an anchored RFID reader, or a camera attached

to a traffic light. These different collection

mechanisms are driving consistency and

openness with the ERP/CRM/WMS vendors in

order to allow their customers ease of integration

and use.”

Waldron considers that, increasingly, users are

wanting to print their own shipping label directly

from their smartphones to reduce cost and

increase speed. “It is important for printers to

integrate with smartphones – supporting the

major mobile

operating systems –

in order to seamlessly

connect the devices,”

she said. “For

example, a consumer

needs to ship a

parcel. He or she

books the shipment

with a smartphone

app and takes the

parcel to a store to

ship. Using the


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phone’s camera, the

consumer scans a

barcode from the

store’s printer screen,

which pairs the device

to the printer and

communicates the

shipping data. The

printer immediately

prints the shipping

label, thereby saving

time and giving the

shopper a user-

friendly process. Honeywell’s PC43d printer

offer a hi-res, colour display to enable this

process.” Another trend highlighted by Waldron

involves the use of smartphone apps and

mobile printers in transportation & logistics

space. “Delivery drivers are being utilised for

other doorstep services, such as collecting

parcels, for which a receipt or label would be

needed,” she said.

Stain believes touch to pair on devices is without

a doubt of massive benefit to enterprises that

see a huge time saving as configuring printer to

scanner or mobile computer, is done in seconds

– almost like the speed difference between

contactless card payment transactions and the

PIN number method. Stain also makes the point

that manufacturing is in the midst of Industry 4.0

(the 4th Industrial Revolution). “That means one

of the key elements is better visibility of material

flow through the line extending right back to the

supply chain = AIDC and RFID deployment,” he

said. “Transport & logistics business are seeing

parcel delivery increasing and the need for

accurate time slot of delivery. Waiting in all day

for a parcel is no longer acceptable for the

consumer. 30- and 15-minute delivery windows

are here along with a stream of notification

capabilities to the customer on status of

delivery.”

SaaS and Cloud In terms of device integration, Stain points out

that Zebra offers Cloud Connect, which allows

Link-OS printers to interact with the Cloud. It also

drives areas such as SAP or Oracle ERP

integration as well as Zebra’s Link OS PDF Direct

capability that allows the printing of PDF

documents without middleware. Stain explains

that integration can, of course, cover everything

from document design and device integration

through to device management and developer

tools. Regarding developer tools, he thinks it is

important that users provide an SDK developer

kit to their suppliers to allow them to use the app

in the way that suits them best. This, he adds,

can also enable the devices and the Cloud

platform to connect better.

Stain said many of the Cloud challenges that

Zebra comes across are around what the

company terms terminal emulation, for

companies that want their brand on the label,

and also want standard format and standard

label sizing. “These companies want the format

of that printer to be able to be emulated across

all the devices on their estate,” he explained.

“This is an area where the Cloud can really reap

benefits because you can place your template in

the Cloud for, as an example, front of store for

houseware and this can then be downloaded by

each store as a when they are need it.”

ConvenienceStain adds that in the retail world ‘convenience’,

is becoming the watchword; hence the click &

collect and home delivery markets are

developing to fulfil the consumer need, as well

as seeing into other store branches’ stock levels

to check availability. In terms of the healthcare

market, Stain points out that Positive Patient ID is

the cornerstone of secondary healthcare. He

also makes the point that, with the digitalisation

of records, administration of the right treatment

and medication is now much more accessible.

“In hospital, that means giving the patient a

digital voice via a wristband,” he said.

Lassus believes the methods of communications

have seen the most development. “Bluetooth-

enabled printing has been available for a

number of years, but now printers are being built

with SIM cards and 3- and even 4G capabilities,”

he said. “Near field communication (NFC) is also

being introduced into equipment which allows

users to simply copy the settings from a printer

to an Android phone, so they can send the same

settings to other printers while they are switched

off. The NFC also allows users’ phones to view

some of the printer’s settings which is an

advantage for service.”

Moir points out that SAP is the ERP system of

choice for many companies, particularly the

larger ones. “We realised that more and more

companies wanted to deploy LMS and see

previews of labels inside SAP before they printed

them as finished labels; basically, they wanted to

see the label with the master data in the ERP

system,” he explained. “However, there wasn’t

an easy way to get a preview into SAP from

LMS. Realising that some of our clients had

spent a considerable amount of time trying to

achieve this, we decided to develop an add-on

for SAP, which has proved to be very popular

with our customers. We are now looking to

develop similar pre-built solutions for other

systems so that more companies are able to

achieve faster time to value.”

In Schüßler’s view, one key change that stands

out is the relationship between mobile and back-

office systems, which is so close that they have

to become one system. “This combination helps

enterprises to work more efficiently by reducing

time and increasing precision,” he said.

ConvergenceWhat are the current key discussion points

concerning convergence within the printing &

labelling technology space? Dizdar comments

that convergence is a consequence of

technological advancement, thus it is a

positive force for the end user and the

marketplace. “End users are going to

continue to demand increasing functionality

from any technological device in the future,”

he said. “Technology that can only perform a

single task is going to be seen as outdated

when compared to other multi-function

technologies. For example, the ability to take

a picture via a

smartphone is now

commonplace; thus

for many purchasing

a camera to take

pictures is now

unthinkable. From a

printing/labelling

perspective, a

movement towards

multiple functions

(with printing as one

of the basket of



functions) for a device will be seen as

commonplace and necessary at a minimum.”

Moir believes there will be an increasing level of

convergence in terms of, for example, labelling

and direct marking solutions. A good case in

point is the dairy company he referenced earlier,

which has adopted a NiceLabel LMS solution

that satisfies both its labelling and marking

requirements. Moir is also seeing convergence in

the ability to access label master data from ERP

and MES on mobile devices such as

smartphones and tablets; as well as on desktop

PCs. “Again, the requirement for greater

standardisation and centralisation is driving

conversion,” he said. “We also see that more

and more companies want to reduce IT

complexity because this also helps to reduce

costs and unplanned downtime, as well as save

time and increase agility.”

Schüßler sees the convergence trend as very

positive. “The acceptance is much higher and it

offers the chance to choose best of breed

solutions,” he said. “Besides that, IT isn’t any

longer a secret or bad things. Most people fully

understand that it is making their work life and

private life much easier.” Lassus also believes

the convergence of technology is a good thing

for manufacturers. “With printers using the same

common languages to communicate, installation

and operation will become much easier, so users

can ensure their workplace runs more efficiently,”

he remarked.

In general, Waldron considers technology

convergence to be a positive trend. “Today,

businesses face constant pressure to do more

with less,” she said. “More often, enterprises are

looking at Smart Printing, in which the printer

runs apps and

doesn’t require a

computer, to support

convergence. This

can help reduce

costs as a company

does not need to

invest in additional

computers to support

their printers. Smart

Printing also leads to

decreased energy

consumption, a

smaller environmental footprint and efficient use

of valuable space. We also see this in the field

for connecting mobile workers and enhancing

productivity. Logistics and direct-store-delivery

firms are implementing PrintPads which combine

a mobile computer and a printer, vehicle-mount

printers and wearable printers.”

Stain explains that Zebra is putting labels on hot

ingots of steel for Tata Steel. “If you have this

type of convergence capability regarding

adhesives and labelling within the business it

starts to open up many more avenues of

application,” he said. “I think part of the

challenge for many print companies is they don’t

have a print supply business, whereas Zebra

does. In terms of marking, from etching through

to direct part marking, our scanners can read

both.” Stain added that tap to pair is another

convergence where NFC enables printer and

scanner to be paired swiftly.

Stain considers that technology will continue to

advance, but believes we need to remember

that many enterprises want scalability. “So even

though sensing technology could be seen as a

threat to the printed barcode, having a portfolio

that embraces both positions the supplier in a

more strategic light with customers as it gives

them choices as to which technology to deploy

based on use case and density of visibility

needed.”

The future What might be the next key

innovations/developments to look out for over

the next year or two within the printing &

labelling technology space? Dizdar

anticipates continued development of the

ability for a printed document or label to give

‘real-time’ information in a proactive instead

of a reactive manner. “Instead of a label

‘waiting’ to be accessed by a user, the label

will utilise rules and data to determine when

to inform due to changes in the entity that is

labelled,” he said. Another development,

states Dizdar, is to continue to allow for a

user outside of a closed system to access

data via a label or printed document. “This

will allow organisations to market better

transparency between themselves and the

end customer due to the end user’s ability to

access data via

labels or printed

material,” he

explained.

Schüßler reflects that

labelling & printing

are commodity

solutions nowadays.

“They might be

enhanced in a way

that they are APP like

and web-based

systems, so for the

next year or two I think usability might be the

main focus,” he said. Waldron believes linerless

media presents interesting, environmentally

friendly opportunities in printing and labelling in

industrial applications. “When printing linerless

labels, backing paper, which may end up in

land-fill, is eliminated,” she explained. “In

addition, there is no risk of workers slipping or

tripping over any backing paper hanging off a

printer in linerless printing.”

Waldron added that the future of the printing &

labelling marketplace will be dynamic as

companies look for ways to reduce costs and

increase productivity. “Consumers and retailers

are increasingly moving away from printed

receipts and instead receiving their confirmations

and invoices by email,” she said. “Printer

manufacturers need to continue to find new ways

to deliver solutions that still provide Return on

Investment where demand is reduced.”

Stain believes we will see the 2D barcode get

a lot smaller; to micro label size. “This can be

very valuable from a security and authenticity

(fake product) standpoint, for example,” he

said. “Zebra has already supplied micro

labelling to a number of electronic

manufacturing businesses. This means the

companies are able to identify small parts very

easily and readily using 2D barcodes with scan

capabilities on the other machines. Therefore, I

believe marking, and certainly 2D printing, will

increasingly become not just about ID; we will

also start to see more security features too.”

Stain also maintains that interoperability

between devices will grow, and that will yield

unprecedented ease of use, configuration and

manageability. Also, he believes the ability to

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embed identity into a small form factor will help

lead to an age of total transparency.

Hopkins observes that developments in smart

and connected electronics applications are

opening up significant new market opportunities

in areas such as e-health, intelligent packaging

and wearable technology (IoT technology).

Hopkins reminds us that the Internet of Things

describes a world in which every day physical

objects or ‘things’ are embedded with

electronics, sensors and connectivity which

enable them to exchange data with the

manufacturer, operator and/or other connected

devices.

He adds that, although embedded computers

have been able to communicate wirelessly for

years, the majority of these have been closed

systems that are only able to communicate with

a central computer. “With the Internet of Things,

devices are able to communicate with other

devices,” he points out. “They have the ability to

communicate through wireless technologies

(such as RFID and NFC), are able to report on

activities worldwide through sensors, and they

can be controlled or accessed from anywhere in

the world. The Cloud provides the power to

store and exchange information, irrespective of

location.” Hopkins explains that we are able to:

• Connect to things simply by scanning them

with our smartphone.

• Monitor things remotely.

• Manage things better, from traffic flows to

use of energy within the home.

• Control things, such as smart thermostats.

Project SCOPEProject SCOPE, in which the BPIF’s role is to

connect the technology and technology

providers to the packaging industry, began in

late 2014 and will conclude in the middle of next

year. Towards the end of the project the BPIF will

devise awareness and training programmes to

inform the industry of the new opportunities that

the technology will open up. Hopkins points out

that of particular importance will be the

brainstorming with the technology experts to

understand the potential applications of the

technology both now and in the future and how

the label industry in particular can integrate into

their production runs.

Narla considers that the future price of 3D

printing is expected to stagnate if speed,

machinery technical capabilities, software usage,

and material specifications do not change

significantly; conventional manufacturing

techniques are still expected to dominate.

He added that the cost of difference between

conventional manufacturing and 3D printing is

expected to shrink to only 11% by 2030 based

on close parity to raw material prices. A

summary of some of the key future indicators

regarding 3D printing from Frost & Sullivan’s

perspective is as follows:

• Large-scale commercialisation of 3D printing

is expected to bring about faster and

localised production, but only by achieving

economies of scale.

• Current high cost of materials and

machinery, and low printing speeds, prohibit

large-scale manufacturing.

• Only very-low-volume production can be

undertaken when tooling investment is

necessary.

• Prices decline exponentially as quantities

increase since cost is spread over

quantities.

• In the future, low prices for materials and

machinery are expected to lower production

costs.

• Printing time and material availability

challenges still expected to prohibit wide

adoption and stagnate prices.

Lassus believes the next generation of printers

will have look and feel of tablets and

smartphones, becoming PCs that print, rather

than simply printers. “Users will come to expect

a similar user experience throughout their

industrial applications as they find in their typical

day-to-day personal lives,” he said.

Lam comments that weak demand for print

hardware and consumables will remain the main

challenges for print vendors as demand for

printed pages stagnates or declines, and

content moves from paper to digital. She adds

that consumables spending will fall at a faster

pace than hardware spending within the forecast

period. Lam also maintains that print services

and solutions will become growth drivers that

place print vendors in front of enterprises;

however, their revenue

contribution would

remain a small part of

the overall print

industry. Lam adds that

total enterprise print

spending will still shrink

throughout the forecast

period. However, “the

shift to Cloud,

increased workforce

mobility and digital

business transformation are opening up

opportunities for print providers to sell related

MCS solutions”, she said.

Shanler comments that while there are myriad

options for 3D printing of concept ‘non-

functional’ prototypes to assist with iterative

design and feedback, users could consider

driving 3DP for creation of ‘functional

prototypes’. “This could mean leveraging more

advanced 3DP technologies, such as powder

bed fusion and directed energy deposition, that

may deliver more exotic materials than

traditional acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene

(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastics,” he

said. Shanler added that using 3DP for

prototyping can assist with reducing new

product development schedules via faster,

frequent and more insightful feedback when in

the concept/ideation, research, development

and beta-testing phases.

Moir considers that IoT will increasingly

empower managed print services (MPS) and

predictive maintenance etc. He anticipates that

further Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS)

development will also continue to change

things. “In the near future, LMS could move to a

model that’s something similar to Office 365,

and a lot of this will be multi-tenancy in the

Cloud,” he said. “I think when people become

more confident about having business-critical

manufacturing applications in the Cloud this will

become more prevalent. It is possible that

smaller users will move to this type of solution

before some of the large businesses, then more

and more companies of all sizes will adopt it.

The main point is the Cloud and SaaS will

change LMS in the future. Indeed, I think we will

start to see SaaS LMS in the Cloud within the

next few years.” �




Printing & Labelling Opinion

With more than 63,000

companies operating in

the sector, the UK logistics

environment has arguably

never been more

competitive. New small businesses and the

consolidation of larger companies, combined

with increasing fuel prices and the fluctuating

value of sterling, has resulted in significant

pressure on prices and therefore margins.

Indeed, considering the growing

opportunities in emerging markets, the

competitiveness of the sector is only going to

intensify in coming years. It’s therefore

becoming increasingly critical that logistics

firms focus on finding new ways to save time,

increase efficiency for enhanced

performance and deliver greater value to

customers.

In his foreword to the Freight Transport

Association (FTA) Logistics Report 2016, FTA

chief executive David Wells pinpointed

greater technical innovation as a key

opportunity, and one which has the potential

to make UK logistics firms among the best in

the world. This could not be truer, as the

technology is there for the taking.

Essential fixture

Everything from transportation management

systems to unmanned robotics is now a

possibility for the logistics industry, yet it is

often the smaller elements that can have the

biggest impact on operations. Take printers,

for example. They are an essential fixture in

any warehouse for producing documents,

slips and labels that if specified correctly can

streamline processes and boost productivity,

but if not can waste resources, cause

considerable delays and, ultimately, eat into

profits.

This is especially true when it comes to

barcode label printers as poor image

reproduction can result in rejected deliveries

and the associated significant, unnecessary

costs that come from extra transport and

administration fees. In the case of shipping

perishable goods, these costs can be

particularly steep and cause weighty damage

to a supplier’s bottom line and reputation.

Equally, some printers are not designed to

withstand the demanding warehouse

environment and will succumb after only

short operating lives, requiring frequent

replacements and resulting in yet more

unnecessary dents in the budget.

The job calls for rugged devices that can

cope with challenging environments and

consistently produce high quality, fast and

reliable results over high volume workloads if

tangible time and cost savings are to be

realised. In response, market leading printer

manufacturers that understand the

challenges experienced by the logistics

industry have been developing technology

that delivers exactly that to help firms

manage costs, achieve the best possible

return on investment and maximise

profitability.

The latest generation of industrial desktop

printers, such as the CL-S700 from Citizen

Systems, are specifically designed to provide

extreme efficiency over long operating lives in

busy warehouses. These robust yet compact

machines offer high performance printing at

up to 10 inches per second and excellent

quality definition for accurate DataBar, QR-

Code, Datamatrix and PDF417 reproduction.

Gain the competitive

www.logisticsit.com


Printing & LabellingOpinion

They are also ideal for the logistics industry

where space is often at a premium as they

include clever features like vertical opening,

which does not expand the already small

footprints of the units when the lid is opened

for media or ribbon changes.

Another innovation in the printer market that

is delivering huge benefits to logistics

companies is the introduction of mobile

printers. Harnessing the increased

capabilities of mobile devices, these

industrial handheld units are an ideal solution

for quick and easy label and receipt printing.

They have been specially designed for

simple operation and feature USB, Bluetooth

and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as iOS and

Android compatibility, meaning that they can

be operated using a standard mobile

smartphone or tablet with suitable software or

an application.

Unlike some other mobile technologies, these

printers are built to last and withstand tough,

frequent use. Citizen’s CMP-40L, for instance,

is IP54 rated and made with a durable and

shock-resistant moulded plastic housing that

means it can survive being dropped from up

to 1.8 metres and keep on running. These

models also provide exceptionally long

battery life and ample media capacity for

reliable operation over long periods of time

without having to be charged or the media

being changed.

Reduced risk of errors

As well as providing a high quality print

output, convenient mobile printers can help

logistics firms to achieve substantial time

savings and increased productivity by

eliminating the need for unnecessary trips

backwards and forwards between a point in

a warehouse and an office, where a static

printer might otherwise have been located.

Similarly, this instant, on-the-spot printing in

situ reduces the risk of errors. The units are

also extremely quick and easy to set up and

configure and require minimum maintenance

for uninterrupted label and receipt

production. Consequently, the time saved

can be spent elsewhere on other areas of the

business that perhaps require more attention

for better operational efficiency.

Although the competitiveness of the sector

might be daunting, there are routes that

individual businesses can take and options

that can be explored for enhancing

operations and delivering greater value.

Giving due attention to the smaller details –

even down to the label and receipt printers in

a warehouse – can create significant

improvements in efficiency, productivity and

profitability that give logistics firms the

competitive edge. �

www.citizen-systems.com

Citizen CL-E720If you‘re searching for a printing solution that can help you to achieve efficiency savings, look no further!The CL-E720 is packed with features usually reserved for higher class machines. It is a highly reliable and cost effective printer, perfect for busy environments.Further key benefits:• Space saving design• Hi-Open™ Case• Easy media loading• Simple maintenance operation

High spec,

low budget!

Scan for more Info.

Label management

For many years, label design was

largely something that was

undertaken using a software

package installed on a PC.

However, today’s state-of-the-art

web-based printing and labelling solutions

can allow companies to maximise value for

their own businesses – and their partners –

by providing a single, scalable platform to

manage all their global labelling and marking

management needs. At NiceLabel, we call

this new category of solution LMS (label

management systems). Initially it was mainly

the larger companies that began to deploy

this type of technology. Now, based on the

compelling deliverables enjoyed by these

enterprise-level organisations, we are seeing

an increasing number of smaller companies

taking on board this type of solution – and

across all core vertical sectors.

The silo issue

Within the food & beverage industry, for

example, one of the largest global dairy

companies is standardising on a NiceLabel

LMS. Previously, they relied on a number of

different label printers, and continuous inkjet

printers (CIJ) at dairies around the world.

Each dairy would undertake its own type of

integration with the Manufacturing Execution

System (MES). There were also a number of

local IT companies providing integration

support for connecting the printers to the

MES. This resulted in escalating IT costs or

sometimes even unplanned downtime.

Some production lines had no integration

and the printers where operated standalone

with manual data entry. If a user typed in the

wrong best-before date, the item would ship

to, say, a large supermarket chain and it

would be rejected, and would be scrapped

because it was perishable.

Lost sales can naturally have a serious

effect on a company’s profitability. Even if

this amounts to just 1% of a company’s

turnover this could equate to millions of

Pounds. So the cost of LMS software is

completely irrelevant by comparison.

Therefore, the company decided to move

away from relying on many different printing

and labelling systems throughout their

dairies globally and standardise on one LMS

for all its labelling and marking

requirements. It initially approached some of

its existing providers of labelling and

marking solutions to come up with a

standardised solution, but this proved not to

be forthcoming, largely due to different

providers only being able to support their

own printing equipment.

Standardised integration

The remedy was for NiceLabel to share the

dairy company’s vision and develop

standardised drivers not just for its

labelling requirements but also for its direct

marking needs. This allowed the company

to benefit from having a single unified

solution with standardised integration with

the MES at each dairy to automate the

printing process. The company can now

provide all its dairies with this pre-built

integration. Also, because it’s a single

solution – rather than various different

methods of integration – the company can

provide its own centralised global 24/7

support. This results in significant

reductions in IT costs as well as a more

consistent, centralised means of support,

which results in less unplanned downtime,

which helps to secure a fast return on

investment (ROI). However, the really big

numbers are to be found in less rejected

product due to more accurate data entry.

Selling more

Another NiceLabel client within the food &

beverage sector is a Belgian bakery company

that sells freshly prepared sandwiches in its

stores. Because people need to queue to buy

their fresh sandwiches during busy periods,

the company wanted to find a way to sell

sandwiches pre-packed. However, when

sandwiches are pre-packed a label must be

put on the package in order to comply with

allergens and nutrition regulations. With

NiceLabel’s centralised web printing solution

managed at the company’s HQ, staff at all its

stores can now simply log in, access the

solution and print the labels out on-site. This

queue-busting advantage means the

company now sells more sandwiches.

Extended supply chain

Greater control and collaboration within the

extended supply chain is now more

important than ever. Take the retail sector,

October 201620 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.com


www.logisticsit.com

for example. NiceLabel works with a number of retailers on

supplier labelling. In the case of a leading luxury goods retailer,

our LMS was initially deployed within a number of regional

warehouses, then to several manufacturing sites and has now

just been rolled out across the business. The next stage of

development for the retailer is to deploy the solution within its

branded shops so that labels and tags can be reprinted in store

so products don’t have to be sent back to the warehouse, which

could result in lost sales opportunities.

Brand protection

Also, from a brand consistency and brand protection

perspective, the retailer is now able to control suppliers’

labelling activity and to be able to stop production overruns by

building-in anti-counterfeiting RFID methodology that can be

controlled via the web.

[subhead] Quality or regulatory compliance

Any company that relies on a quality management system to

remain ISO 9001 compliant should consider LMS as it provides

similar quality controls and procedures for the entire labelling

process. Highly regulated industries such as life sciences

(medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical) require a

centralised, standardised labelling solution and it is critical in

order for these companies to remain compliant.

Regulatory requirements are very similar in both the medical

device and pharmaceutical sectors. In the US, for example, both

are regulated to 21 CFR Part 11, part of the Code of Federal

Regulations that establishes the US Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) regulations on electronic records and

electronic signatures (ERES). One of NiceLabel’s clients in this

area is pharmaceutical manufacturing company Krka, which

delivers medications to more than 70 countries worldwide. The

company has centralised and standardised its labelling

operations with NiceLabel’s LMS. The solution has improved

Krka’s master data management, streamlined compliance and

provided a next-generation system to support future growth.

Complete system

Labelling systems have moved away from being a ‘box’ to

becoming a complete business system offering greater agility

and empowering business users to streamline the whole

labelling process. It’s about not relying so much on IT; for

example, for making label change requests. We see this need

across all industries and among all sizes of company.

Companies want universal intelligent labels and the ability to

consolidate label variations. They also want to mitigate risk and

optimise processes by being able to seamlessly integrate with

the ERP’s or MES’s master data. NiceLabel is dedicated to

helping businesses to modernise and achieve significant

financial and productivity gains from their labelling process. We

call this ‘print productivity’. �

Streamline your labeling

More than a million companies use NiceLabel technology to reduce the complexity of barcode labeling.

www.nicelabel.com

Find the solution that best meets your needs

Start producing professional labels without IT help.

Streamline label printing to control labour costs and eliminate errors.

Standardize your entire labeling process to meet quality requirements.

Mobile printers

Businesses are faced with more

and more complex supply

chain requirements, including

shorter delivery times, the

need for greater accuracy and

pressure to reduce costs. Companies need

to optimise their processes to prevent

disruptions that can lead to supply

shortages, financial losses and damage to

a company’s reputation.

One of the unsung productivity tools in the

supply chain is the mobile printer, which is

used for packaging and labeling of goods,

spare parts and shelves. Virtually every

product needs a label: during storage,

repackaging for short-term storage and

eventually shipment. These processes

involve a high potential for error if

distribution centre or manufacturing staff

have to pick up labels from a stationary

printer. To avoid duplication of work, they

may print the labels in groups and fix it to

the corresponding package. In this

method, they risk applying a label

incorrectly, which leads to delays in

processing or an error in the delivery.

Mobile printers can solve these challenges

and enhance operations in industrial and

warehouse environments considerably. By

attaching printers to vehicles such as

forklifts, they save valuable time and

reduce errors. Labels and receipts are

printed immediately and directly attached.

These mobile receipt and label printers

must meet high demands because the floor

of the manufacturing or distribution centre

– or on the loading dock – presents a

number of challenges such as confined

spaces and harsh environments. The

following tips and recommendations will

help operations managers select a mobile

printer that meets their needs.

Durable designFork trucks present a challenging work

environment for printers. The devices are

exposed to harsh conditions for long

periods of time. Printers must be able to

handle shock, vibration, high and low

temperatures and humidity throughout the

day. For these rigorous industrial

environments, the successful rugged

printers are the ones that are constructed

on a solid cast metal frame and protected

with metal die-cast covers.

Print in confined spacesOn the manufacturing or distribution centre

floor, space is incredibly valuable and the

smaller the printer, the less space it

occupies. Compact printers must have the

flexibility to be installed in a variety of

configurations on-site using additional

brackets and mounting plates. In addition

to the normal standing position, printers

may be installed vertically, on the wall or

even upside down.

Easy access to electrical power is

important. During space planning, owners

should consider placing a charging station

in a central location to avoid work

interruptions. With a voltage converter, a

mobile printer can be connected to the fork

truck’s battery. To avoid damage in this

configuration, mobile printers should offer

power spike and vibration detection.

Small but powerful Users should also make sure that the

device is easy to use and powerful

enough to meet their needs. For example,

the new model of Honeywell’s MP





Compact printer weighs less than eight

pounds, making it easy to mount on

tables, walls or a mobile cart or forklift

truck. It supports higher media capacity to

reduce the frequency of reloading media

during a single shift, ultimately helping to

boost productivity. The Honeywell MP

Compact printers support large label rolls,

which are typically less expensive to

produce and thus cheaper to buy.

Ease of use A user-friendly design is significant when

choosing a new printer. To prevent loss of

time when changing media, it is important

that the printer can be easily operated by

workers wearing leather or rubber gloves.

Look for a printer that allows fast reloading

by using a paper feeding form or a slot on

the side of the device. Ideally, rolls can be

changed without an employee having to

open any doors or removing covers. Parts

should be interchangeable and not require

special tools to replace. Finally, printers

should support quick and easy integration

into existing IT infrastructures.

Long-term thinkingWhen selecting printers, buyers prioritise

which devices offer the lowest possible

total cost of ownership, which includes

factoring in costs for service, repair and

spare parts. In some extreme cases,

certain printers may not have spare parts

readily available. Also important to

consider is having access to maintenance

service and support that is available

around the clock to fix defects quickly.

The following is a checklist that buyers

should consider for choosing the correct

mobile printer:

Printer type

• Compact, mobile printer solutions for

more flexibility in the supply chain.

• High print quality.

• Direct thermal and thermal transfer

printing.

Performance

• Option for processing wide label rolls.

• Larger rolls mean fewer changes and

interruptions of work.

• Connectivity to voltage onboard

industrial trucks.

Ruggedness

• Resistance to extreme temperatures,

moisture, drops, shocks and vibrations.

• Protective housing, such as cast metal.

• Additional brackets for multiple

mounting positions.

Intuitive operation

• Easy operation by workers with leather

or rubber gloves.

• Intuitive label feed.

Quick integration into existing IT

infrastructure

• WLAN (802.11 a / b / g / n) with WPA2

security protocol.

• Connectivity options: USB, serial

connection, Ethernet.

• Compatibility with common software.

Low total cost of ownership

• Availability of products and spare parts.

• Service and support options.

Seiko Instruments USA Inc. (SII)

Thermal Printer Division, recently

launched a new mobile printer

line, the MP-A40 Series. The

printer offers a 100mm/second

print speed and is said to be able to

withstand multiple drops from up to 6.6 feet.

With up to a 4-inch paper width, and

weighing just a little more than 1.5 pounds,

the MP-A40 Series mobile printers are built

tough – but that doesn't mean they lack in

style or simplicity. With intuitive drop-in

paper loading and easy access button, the

printers offer a smart and robust design

that fits into the palm of your hand, or belt

clip; a small carry-on case offers the option

of over-the-shoulder transport.

Ergonomically designed

The MP-A40 Series mobile printers are

ergonomically designed to be used in

‘front-of-house’ verticals like retail and

hospitality, but also have the ruggedness

and strength for usage in areas such as

direct-store-delivery, warehousing and

logistics, field service, and public utilities.

Other important features of the new mobile

printer line include compatibility with the

latest operating systems, including

Windows 10, as well as SDK availability for

both Android and Windows CE print class

libraries for added mobility. The printer also

offers auto-detection Bluetooth interface

and Wi-Fi capabilities, providing added

value and easy transition from cable to

wireless communications.

"At a time when today's end users are

looking to further mobilize their business

processes, it was only natural that the MP-

A40 mobile printer line was designed with

these trends in mind," said Kaz Onishi, vice

president of Seiko Instruments USA. "In

addition, our partners are realising the

demand from their customers for this

technology, which is something that was at

top of mind during our research and

development process." �


Printing & Labelling Product News

To enhance and accelerate

sustainability commitments to

customers, employees and the

communities in which it operates,

Epson Europe has announced

that Henning Ohlsson, managing director for

Epson Deutschland, will also take on the new

role of Epson corporate social responsibility

(CSR) director for Europe, Middle East and

Russia (EMEAR).

Epson, provider of printing, wearable devices,

robotics and visual communications solutions

– comments that the appointment formalises

the company's long-standing commitment to

sustainability in Europe, building on a global

CSR track record that stretches back eight

decades to actions taken in the 1940s.

Epson's forward-thinking on the environment

is contained in its Environmental Vision 2050,

established in 2008 as a long-term guide for

environmental action, which includes the goal

of reducing CO2 emission by 90% across the

lifecycle of all of its products and services by

2050.

Sustainability Report

Ohlsson's appointment coincides with the

publication of Epson's Sustainability Report

2016, a new downloadable document

detailing the company's CSR actions in the

development of environmentally responsible

products, initiatives to develop its own

human resources with diverse values and

capabilities, steps taken to enhance

corporate governance and volunteer

programs launched in communities local to

Epson operations.

Rob Clark, senior vice president, Epson

Europe, said: "Bold sustainability actions

are our duty as a leading technology

manufacturer, considering the scale of the

environmental and social challenges that

the world faces. More than ever,

sustainability actions are also a business

imperative, helping us to deliver

differentiated value to our customers, retain

and attract the best talent in the industry,

and enhance the communities in which we

live. Henning's role in leading our CSR

initiatives across Europe is therefore critical

to our long-term success across the

region."

Ohlsson commented: "My role as CSR director

will include amplifying the environmental

benefits of our product range, ensuring our

regulatory compliance, and raising employee

awareness and engagement in local and

regional CSR initiatives. I'm proud to lead this

effort and to work for a company that takes its

environmental responsibilities so seriously." �

Printing & Labelling Company News

Epson Europe appoints

Seiko Instruments

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topdeskprinters/cts/

Application-enabled printing

In the age of the Smart Phone, almost

everyone is familiar with ‘apps’- or

applications - in mainstream technology,

which allow users to take a standard

piece of equipment and adapt it with

software to easily configure a device that is

perfectly suited to the individual’s use.

Perhaps what is less well known or

considered however, are the huge benefits

that this technology holds for the business

world.

It should come as no surprise that the leading

printer manufacturers are now incorporating

this ability for end-users to customise their

product, giving the concept of customer

satisfaction a whole new meaning by helping

businesses streamline their printing

processes. In this paper, I will discuss how

Application-Enabled Printing technology is

offering manufacturing and logistics

environments sophisticated and flexible

solutions which are set to revolutionise the

way we do printing.

Businesses are always looking for ways to

work better and more efficiently, and one area

where major gains are possible – especially in

manufacturing and logistics – is printing. In

particular, the use of new intelligent printing

technologies to make the production of labels

and tags more flexible and cost-effective.

While businesses want label printing solutions

that are tailored to their individual needs and

work processes, too often they are offered a

standard non-intelligent package that either

does far more than they need and is complex

to install and maintain, or one that must be

laboriously built up from a kit of parts. The

result can be multiple labels where one would

suffice, plus wasted staff time and resource.

Smart Printing was one of the first

technologies to address these problems, and

it offered a partial solution. It allowed a printer

to be used stand-alone by making it

programmable and able to operate without

being attached to a PC. However, it had the

drawback that once programmed, the smart

printer became a single-purpose device until

it was taken back and reprogrammed, with all

the potential downtime it might entail. That

might be acceptable in some industries, but

not in more fast-moving areas that we find in

today’s era of e-commerce. To put it briefly, in

the world of manufacturing and logistics, one

size does not fit all.

Enter application-enabled printing (AEP), a

new generation of technology that leaps far

beyond the smart printer in capability. AEP

brings intelligent printing into the 21st century,

helping businesses get a grasp on their

printing processes. An application-enabled

printer not only has its own internal

processing power – so it can connect to other

devices such as weighing scales, a handheld

barcode scanner, or a keyboard, and it can

print without the need to connect to a PC –

but it is designed to be readily

reprogrammable. Unlike smart printers which

can only hold one program at a time, new

applications can be added to an existing

AEP, as you might add multiple apps to an

iPhone or Android smartphone.

For example, in a manufacturing and logistics

environment an app could be downloaded to

automatically calculate and print thaw and

use-by labels – relying on the printer's internal

real-time clock. Another app might use its

internal product and price database to

correctly calculate and clearly print mark-

down labels to clear older stock.

Not only does this mean that you could start

with a printer with one function, then add

others as the needs arise, it also means that

the printer can be customised to include

exactly the right set of applications for a given

purpose. The product more accurately fits the

user's needs, yet at the same time it also

means fewer components in the chain – fewer

devices to look after, fewer interconnections to

manage, and fewer things to go wrong.

It can also mean a simpler package that is

easier to understand. That is because it can

be easier to set up and tailor an AEP app for

a specific purpose than it would be to set up

a large PC-based software suite of which only

a few elements will actually be required. And

because AEP devices can be powered by

batteries, they can operate free of connection

to a PC and do not need a mains lead.

Printing can therefore be located where it is

required such as, on a trolley or a table in the

centre of a warehouse and away from any

power sockets, not where the infrastructure

dictates.

AEP devices are also designed to be user-

friendly. Some of the current models have a

mobile phone-type keyboard which will be

familiar to most users. Both the buttons and

the display screen are designed for ease of

use – the buttons are large and the screen is

wide. Future models could include a

smartphone-type touchscreen, too. Apps can

be downloaded to the AEP unit either using a





PC running a utility program, or loaded

directly as a package containing all the

necessary elements, such as a pricing

database. They can be loaded via a USB

cable, a wireless network (Wi-Fi) connection,

or on a memory card, with some AEP units

accepting the same SD-cards that are widely

used in digital cameras and other devices.

Programmable printing

So-called smart printers are not new, of

course: the ability to set a printer up and

then use it independently of a PC has been

around for many years. What has changed

now with the arrival of application-enabled

printing is the sophistication and flexibility

of those printers, and their ability to grow

with the customers, providing far greater

levels of investment protection.

The ease of programming has also

changed dramatically, mirroring the huge

advances that have taken place in

application development tools in recent

decades. Gone are the days of having to

write code in BASIC, and instead we look

for advanced scripting languages, and

development tools that abstract most of the

heavy lifting involved in creating new

applications. Called AEP Works, these app

development tools include a PC-based

printer simulator, enabling developers to

load new apps and test or demonstrate

them.

It also helps that the AEP is a system with

well-defined functional areas, unlike say an

Android or Apple smartphone which might

be called upon to be a telephone one

minute, a satnav the next, and a

videogame thereafter. Add advanced

programming tools to an AEP therefore,

and you have a system that allows new

applications to be created and deployed –

and subsequently updated – remarkably

easily.

A major benefit of being able to add

applications for the AEP is customisation,

with no need to buy an entire suite of

printing capabilities if you only need certain

specific ones. It allows an AEP to be set up

to exactly meet the user's needs by mixing

and matching from a standard set of apps,

either written by the manufacturer, or

bought in from other programmers,

appstore-style. If further customisation is

needed, existing apps can be modified or

new ones written to suit. AEP apps are also

able to run on multiple platforms, so there

is no need to redevelop apps if you

change or update your printer. Instead, an

app developed for the first generation AEP

units should also run on subsequent AEP-

capable devices, whether they are desktop

printers, mobile printers, or other print-

capable devices.

And of course if the manufacturer is not

sure yet what their needs will be, that does

not matter: they can choose an initial app

or set of apps to load now, then change

that mix or add more apps later on as their

use of the technology grows and as the

need arises. These capabilities are not

entirely free of effort, and some

programming skills are required to modify

AEP programs.

Today's implementation of application-

enabled printing is just the start. The same

concept will be implemented on multiple

classes of printers in the future, including

both mobile and desktop printers ranging

from low-end to high-end. All these devices

will be able to run the same AEP-

developed apps. It is also possible to run

the intelligence behind AEP on a separate

device, such as a smartphone or tablet

computer, and have it print to a mobile

printer, or even a suitably-equipped

desktop printer.

SATO’s NX Series

The NX Series printers features SATO’s AEP

technology, offering users a more flexible and

cost-effective option for the printing of labels

and tags. SATO’s NX Series printers are quick

and easy to install and maintain, all these help

reduce downtime and improve productivity.

For businesses which are often running 24/7,

reducing downtime is key to responding to

customer queries effectively while improving

operational efficiencies. Minimising costs

associated with maintenance can also go a

long way to improving the bottom line.

SATO’s CL4NX/CL6NX are plug-and-play

printers that are easy to set up, without

needing specialists to install them. They can

also can print immediately. Printers that have

been designed for parts to be replaced by

the users, without having to call in technicians

are also preferable. They are designed to

allow for fast parts replacements. ‘Wear parts’

such as print head and platen roller are quick

to replace with no tools needed, while help

videos are also available in the front display,

to aid with maintenance.

The SATO NX display reads in up to 31 global

languages and are intuitive and simple to

operate, reducing the time spent on staff

training. In addition, SATO’s NX family is

equipped with 100MB user accessible

memory allowing formats, large graphics and

custom fonts while delivering best-in-class

speed processing and fast throughput, which

is also essential when it comes to fulfilling

orders as fast as possible. �

AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE

MOBILE COMPUTING

28 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS October 2016 www.logisticsit.com

As manufacturing and logistics

businesses strive for products

that deliver on their promise

together with flawless fulfilment,

realising these can be

challenging. Today’s customer invariably not

only wants more product customisation as

standard but also transparency of when the

product or merchandise is available.

Relationships and revenue streams are built

around the ability of suppliers to deliver on

their promise of when components will be

delivered to a manufacturer and onwards from

the manufacturer to its promise of when it will

deliver finished product to a customer.

The use of technology in these environments is

critical, and whilst investment can be seen as a

barrier it is something that must be overcome if

companies are to survive and grow.

Enterprise Asset Intelligence andhow it helps At Zebra, we have looked at the challenges

you face, and come up with a solution in the

form of Enterprise Asset Intelligence, a full

cycle of visibility for the manufacturing sector.

Enterprise Asset Intelligence is about

delivering visibility solutions to help

manufacturers both improve productivity and

deliver better experiences for their customers

through sensing, analysing, and driving

business actions. Using tools and technologies

that give you real-time operational visibility into

people and things, you get a full sense of what

is happening in your enterprise, helping you to

simplify and improve operations.

Where it is all-pervasive and potentially

overwhelming, we help you to extract and

analyse the most appropriate data and

formulate actionable information to drive

smarter business decisions and enhanced

profitability.

Sense – Analyse – ActThe key features and benefits of Enterprise

Asset Intelligence solutions include:

• A functionality portfolio that addresses

every point in the plant manufacturing

lifecycle; from supply in, to build, to supply

out.

• Adherence to operational KPIs – on cost,

on plan, on specification, safely.

• The ability to extract the maximum value

from the Internet of Things (IoT).

• These solutions are developed to optimise

efficiency, productivity and asset utilisation.

What the solution looks likeIn a 2014 survey Zebra commissioned from

Forrester, over 80% of firms indicated that IoT

solutions would be the most strategic

technology initiative for their organisation within

a decade.

IoT and mobile capabilities provide operational

and actionable data on the location and

condition of assets. This gives you better

control of processes and costs and helps to

mitigate risk, while enabling more functionality

and increased collaboration. Today’s

technologies can help to create a smarter,

more connected business that incorporates

complete visibility, enabling you to take a

holistic view of operations and know what’s

going on across your demand chain.

By capturing the data available, and turning it

into actionable information, you can streamline

processes and make positive steps towards

optimal production. The two themes of focus

that resonate across the manufacturing sector

were identified as:

• Track & Trace

• Process Compliance

Tell me something I don’t alreadyknow As a technology company it is sometimes a

lottery as to how much a customer’s enterprise

actually knows what technology can do for

them. They are busy people, and taking on

new technology or refreshing their current

hardware can be daunting. However, the

following are just a few insights that might start

to help you realise that the challenge is worth

the effort.

Enterprise Asset Intelligence andthe hardware to deliver it

Opinion

By David Stain, senior vertical marketing manager EMEAmanufacturing, field mobility & healthcare, Zebra Technologies.

A manufacturer may be driven by its customerto comply with a product specification anddeliver those products on a just-in-time basis.This in turn often drives that manufacturer toeither look at its environment to establishpinch points and compliance challenges.

Technology becomes the enabler to followdue process by making work instructionvisible on a mobile PC screen or voice-directed via a mobile PC in the ear of theoperator etc.



MOBILE COMPUTING

October 2016www.logisticsit.com

Maintenance operationsIndustry 4.0 - the fourth industrial revolution –

has arrived. The cyber physical world is

where the human-to-machine interface is

becoming critical, so to bring this into the

here and now think about the way you

manage your critical machine assets (be that

a manufacturing line machine or your vehicle

fleet). Maintenance – be that preventative or

reactive – can be much better served by

providing technicians with the information they

need real time; the schematic drawing on a

mobile PC, the ability to scan a barcode label

on the machine to determine the model type

or calibration setting, the ability to locate parts

on the system all make sense.

Assembly lineAs we think about manufacturing line

operations the ability to bring new staff on

board or to cross-skill staff becomes

imperative. With technology tools such as

wrist-mounted wearable computers, voice-

guided assembly and intelligent ID badging,

the skills uptake becomes much more

achievable within a shorter time frame, with

the potential of a clear audit trail generated

giving operations undertaken, when, by who,

and using what tools.

Another point worthy of mention is as product

complexity increases the correct components

fitted to an assembly is critical. Build manifests

are the backbone of process compliance, so

the notion of scanning in components used

and of printing on-demand the new

assemblies’ identity makes a lot of sense for

product assurance and for audit trail needs in

the event of a quality or efficiency issue.

Line side partsWith eKanban forming the basis of an efficient

template to work with, the opportunity to

shrink storage space at manufacturing

facilities and drive the supply chain to deliver

just-in-time to line side means that barcodes

and RFID working together can drive

unprecedented efficiencies across the

demand chain. Technology in this instance

can link up the demand chain silos into a

powerful visibility engine that drives

inefficiency out and enables agility to

unpredicted events.

Stage and gateTrack & trace and process compliance – the

foundations to smart manufacturing. There’s a

tendency for different cells and areas of

plants and supply chain to operate as silos.

Stage and gates help to cross these divides.

A gate is a point for tracking, checking and

auditing – for example, at goods-in to check a

delivery manifest against arriving materials or

components. The stage is the area between

two gates. It follows that the more gates there

are, the more visibility you have. You can

automate the data collection processes at

gates by using barcode and RFID labels and

tags. The data on labels can be captured

using handheld scanners or automated

systems whereby fixed RFID readers in your

facilities track the location of items as they

move through.

With the data from tags shared over Wi-Fi

networks with your back office and control

systems, and your team’s mobile devices, you

can keep a constant eye over the progress of

the manufacturing line. Best practice track

and trace embeds the right technologies into

every element of the stage and gate process,

giving every physical asset a digital profile,

and every action a measurable and

manageable value. In this scenario, on time in

full is very much achievable.

Process complianceToday’s technologies can help operations to

execute, monitor, diagnose and resolve asset

and equipment issues to decrease downtime,

increase repeatability and supply efficiency.

They can improve inventory accuracy and

reduce associated time and costs of

manufacture.

The key to working this way is to give every

physical object a digital identity or signature

using a combination of mobile computers,

barcode printers, scanners, tablets and RFID

readers. By also capturing and presenting

information to mobile devices the visibility that

results, when incorporated into wider

operations, helps to assure compliance, drive

product quality and optimise process

efficiency.

A manufacturer may be driven by its customer

to comply with a product specification and

deliver those products on a just-in-time basis.

This in turn often drives that manufacturer to

either look at its environment to establish pinch

points and compliance challenges. Technology

becomes the enabler to see these areas and

also the enabler to follow due process by, for

instance, making work instruction visible on a

mobile PC screen or voice-directed via a

mobile PC in the ear of the operator. Scalability

is the key so that the investment can be staged

as the organisation grows.

With the right combination of technology,

processes, solutions and people in place, the

potential to create a world-class

manufacturing operation is very real indeed,

and not to be missed.

Transforming visibility Gartner projects that 25 billion connected

things will be in operation by 2025. With smart

sensors and labels and tags attached to items

the Internet of Things promises to transform

visibility over your production line and through

the demand chain. As Abraham Lincoln, 16th

President of the United States, said: “An

investment in knowledge pays the best

interest.” �

Opinion

With eKanban forming the basis of an efficienttemplate to work with, the opportunity toshrink storage space at manufacturingfacilities and drive the supply chain to deliverjust in time to line side means that barcodeand RFID working together can driveunprecedented efficiencies across thedemand chain.

Purchasing barcode scanners has

become a matter of varied

choices. No longer are enterprises

restricted to selecting from an

array of dedicated scanners or

traditional mobile computers. Barcode

scanning options now include smartphones.

Organisations must determine which device

will deliver the scanning performance needed

at the right price.

As any IT buyer knows, one of the most

important considerations in a technology

purchase is getting the biggest bang for your

buck. Upfront costs are only one of many

factors barcode scanning device buyers need

to include in their evaluation. Others include

how long the device will last, how frequent

and expensive maintenance and repairs will

be, ruggedness, the amount of training

needed, ergonomics, scan performance

levels, and how many different tasks the

device will handle.

Taken together, these and other elements

comprise the total cost of ownership (TCO).

TCO accounts for all hard costs (such as the

device itself, the software that runs on it and

associated software development costs) and

soft costs (such as training, operation and

downtime expenses).

Lower TCO First, it's important to understand that

smartphones can be deployed as

consumer-grade devices to be used in a

variety of enterprise workplaces. However,

they are also available in rugged models to

ensure operation in physically demanding

environments. By deploying ruggedised

smartphones, or smartphones protected by

rugged cases, enterprises can further lower

TCO and benefit from the same durability

as traditional rugged mobile computers or

dedicated scanners.

Mitigating the higher hardware costs of

rugged smartphones is the fact that they

still have a much lower TCO than the

dedicated scanning devices traditionally

used in demanding scan scenarios.[1] Even

so, mobile computers can still cost over five

times as much as a rugged smartphone

over the device's lifetime. Meanwhile,

rugged smartphones developed by

traditional barcode scanning hardware

manufacturers can cost three times as

much as standard iOS or Android

smartphones.[2]

Fortunately, other options exist for

enterprises seeking to perform rugged

scanning operations without paying too high

a price. In good news for supply chain

managers seeking convenient and efficient

scanning solutions, enterprise technology

providers offer cloud-based software that

utilises the built-in camera and flash of a

smartphone to turn it into an enterprise

scanner. Many smartphone manufacturers

also offer ruggedised smartphones

designed for use in harsh environments.

Employee familiaritySome organisations are even leveraging

employee's personal devices instead of

investing in enterprise hardware. Apps that

utilise a smartphone's camera can be extended

to personal devices via bring your own device

(BYOD) IT policies, eliminating hardware costs

from the TCO equation. Training on iOS and

Android-based smartphones may also be

easier and more cost-effective, simply because

of employee familiarity.

Other benefits, which may further reduce the

TCO of a consumer smartphone (ruggedised

or non-ruggedised), include its applicability to

numerous non-scanning functions. As

opposed to a dedicated scanning device,

smartphones can also be utilised for tasks

such as communication and navigation.

Rugged smartphones, as well as

smartphones protected by ruggedised cases,

offer a lower TCO by a large margin. IT

buyers and supply chain managers should

note they also offer alternative advantages to

businesses with a barcode scanning

requirement. With fully-ruggedised and

encasement options now available,

smartphone-based scanning solutions offer a

more economically viable alternative that will

suit the rigours of even the most demanding

environments. �


MOBILE COMPUTING

30 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.com

Data Capture

Mobile barcode scanning – capturing topperformance without breaking the bank

October 2016

By Samuel Mueller, CEO, Scandit.

[1] TCO Models for Mobile Computing and Communications Platforms – VDC Research[2] Total Cost of Ownership of Mobile Barcode Scanning – Scandit

Mitigating the higher hardware costs of rugged smartphones is thefact that they still have a much lower TCO than the dedicated scanningdevices traditionally used in demanding scan scenarios.”“

GE PROO MANAAGY TOGTECHNOL

.Just-in-time

.ARIETYY.ODUCT VVA

-and-traceMLcom/track.zebra.online

LIT

Ask anyone in the UK to

remember their first bike and the

chances are that one brand is

mentioned more fondly than any

other – Raleigh. The company is

one of the most successful bicycle brands in

history, stretching back to its foundations in

Raleigh Street, Nottingham, in 1885, and

growing to become one of the largest

manufacturers and distributors of bicycles and

accessories in the UK and around the world.

For many bike fans, Raleigh is adored for its

iconic Chopper, Mustang and famed ‘Banana’

road bike from the 1980s, which is now a

sought-after collector’s item amongst British

hipsters. Raleigh’s pioneering designs and

reliability have kept it at the forefront of the bike

business for decades. In order to keep pace

with its flourishing e-commerce business,

Raleigh undertook a project to transform its

warehouse into a faster and sleeker operation.

NeedsRaleigh’s Parts and Accessories business

was running a manual, completely paper-

based warehouse system, which was not as

efficient as it could have been in terms of the

picking process, resulting in a lot of location

errors. Furthermore, the admin team were

always a few hours behind actual stock levels

on products, so managing sales in real-time

was impossible. This was compounded by

the seasonality of the bicycle business, which

means that Raleigh employs seasonal

workers at peak times of the year to keep

pace with customer demand. However, the

paper-based system only made training more

difficult and further slowed down their

productivity.

The solutionRaleigh knew it needed to change and brought

in BEC (Systems Integration) Ltd., a UK-based

leader in data capture solutions for supply

chain logistics and manufacturing, to map out a

project to automate the warehouse in its

entirety. BEC proposed a two-phase project

using its eSmart WMS software underpinned by

Honeywell hardware to update the goods-in

and goods-out sides of Raleigh’s Parts and

Accessories business. At every stage of the

process, BEC was on hand to help ensure a

smooth delivery of the project.

Phase One focused on the receiving and

picking side of the business, eliminating

existing issues around stock control by

ensuring that all the stock received into the

warehouse was barcoded. Raleigh used

Honeywell barcode scanners to make sure that

everything coming into the business was

scanned and coded appropriately and that the

data was correct before products could move

forward into the storage and distribution

process.

Honeywell CK3 mobile computers were

selected for receiving goods-in as they are

designed for rugged warehouse environments.

For packing, Raleigh opted for 3820 cordless

Bluetooth scanners, which are ideal for


VOICEtechnology

www.logisticsit.com

Success Story

BEC proposed a two-phase project using its eSmart WMS software

underpinned by Honeywell hardware to update the goods-in and goods-out

sides of Raleigh’s Parts and Accessories business.”

– Philip Jarrett, BEC.

“

Modernising the warehouseputs Raleigh ahead of the pack


VOICEtechnology

www.logisticsit.com

Success Story

scanning applications where freedom of

movement is essential.

Phase Two dealt with picking and

replenishment, equipping warehouse staff with

Vocollect A730 Talkman devices, which are

purpose-built for Voice-recognition in

challenging warehouse environments. The

A730 integrates a Voice-activated scanner so

workers are completely ‘hands-free’, while SRX2

headsets allow them to communicate directly

with the warehouse management system.

The resultsWhen the management team at Raleigh first

informed the workforce that they were looking at

implementing Voice and scanning technology,

there was a degree of trepidation, especially

about how effective the Voice technology would

be, however it was well received and there

have been no negative issues.

Introducing Voice-directed workflows into the

warehouse has had an additional benefit for

training seasonal workers, who can now be fully

trained up within a couple of days and are

immediately working with great accuracy.

For Raleigh’s pickers and packers, the Voice

system works well and is quick, being much

more efficient than paper. The workers report

that the headsets are extremely comfortable to

wear and that they forget they are wearing them

in no time. The improvements have led to an

increase in worker productivity, enabling them

to pack and launch much more quickly,

accurately and effectively.

Raleigh also has access to more data than ever

before regarding all the picks, packs and

processes happening within the warehouse.

One of the key benefits is that Raleigh is now

able to produce individual carton packing lists,

which it couldn’t do before.

Compared with paper, the use of Honeywell’s

scanners and the Vocollect Voice system gives

more accuracy and control. It also adds the

benefits of real-time stock control because

personnel are recording directly into the

Warehouse Management System about stock

movement, allowing for a real-time view on

available stock, whereas it used to take

between two and three hours to update the

system. Furthermore, BEC’s eSmart solution lets

Raleigh manage an unlimited number of

concurrent orders, which is essential in

enabling the management and growth of its e-

commerce business.

The benefits of the new system have even

spread to the physical layout of the warehouse.

Raleigh has been able to create a flexible pick-

face which has quadrupled the number of

locations it has for picking without increasing

the physical space. Due to the success of the

Honeywell and BEC system, Raleigh now plans

to extend the solution across the rest of the

business. �

Benefits

Call BEC today and speak to the experts: +44 (0)1254 688 088 or visit www.becsi.co.uk

VOICE WMS

BEC eSmart® Voice WMSEnabling Complete Door-to-Door Voice Solutions

Increase worker productivity by up to 35%

Reduction in picking errors by up to 50%

ROI typically within 6-12 months

Built with voice technology at its core, not as an add-on

Based on our proven eSmart Warehouse platform

Real-time dashboard reporting & status updates

Seamless integration into any host ERP system

Committed to providing its

customers with highly reliable

and innovative solutions, Data

Analysis has been developed to

meet the growing need for

actionable insights in the supply chain;

providing understandable and usable

information to improve business processes and

performance. With Data Analysis, customers

are able to benefit from interactive

visualisations; supporting more informed

decision-making for both short and long-term

planning.

With the latest business intelligence

technologies, VoiceMan Data Analysis uses

predictive analytics for users to test future

'what-if?' scenarios. An easy-to-use application,

the new solution doesn't require any changes

to be made to existing host systems and data

visualisations are available at the touch of a

button, whether it's for one site or multiple

operations across the network.

Isabel McCabe, managing director, Voiteq Ltd.

said: "Supply chain is under increasing

pressure to reduce costs and meet ever

increasing demands. So visibility into logistics

operations is vital. Customers are realising that

big data is the solution and are looking for

more powerful tools to access the information

needed to run smarter operations.

"We've always been at the forefront of the voice

market and our latest solution proves that we

are staying ahead of where our customers

need to be. We have invested a lot into our

data capture and reporting methods.

Understanding the market and our customers'

needs, we are now taking data to the next

level, moving from static reporting to providing

a platform with dynamic, advanced, interactive

data analysis capabilities. VoiceMan Data

Analysis is the next generation analysis tool."

Predictive analysis – 'what-if?'capabilities

In addition to current and historic information,

VoiceMan Data Analysis includes predictive

analytics, calculating future outcomes for

proactive management and allowing 'what-if?'

analysis of future scenarios, including year-on-

year comparisons. Data Analysis can also be

used to simulate the short-term impact of

operational changes, such as reallocating

resources or workloads around a busy

distribution centre. This gives managers the

ability to plan ahead and proactively manage

service levels and performance.

Deep-dive analyticsData Analysis works in near real-time providing

clear visibility of critical operational information


VOICEtechnology

www.logisticsit.com

Product News

Voiteq launches VoiceManData Analysis

Voiteq, global provider of Voice-directed work solutions, launched its 'nextgeneration' business intelligence solution, VoiceMan Data Analysis, at IMHX 2016.

and processes; converting raw data captured

by VoiceMan into valuable, actionable

information and making it available for deep-

diving analysis by managers and staff in a

single site or across a warehouse network.

Big picture and tiniest detailData can be analysed with a high degree of

granularity without 'walking the floor' – ranging

from identifying bottlenecks, weekly and daily

shortage counts, mismatches in staff

deployment to reviewing productivity rates by

person, team or zone, and much more.

Historical information can be retained for long-

term analysis. This allows for precise

comparison of performance over time against

standard or bespoke KPIs or amongst

individuals, teams and sites.

Flexible accessAccessed via a browser, data can be viewed

by remote or off-site personnel. Access can be

assigned to specified users, limited by

parameters (team, zone, date) or broadcast

within the workplace. Multi-language support is

simple, reflecting the capabilities of the

VoiceMan system itself.

Data can be filtered as required, and then

exported to CSV files for seamless integration

into other reporting tools. Data Analysis users

can also query the data warehouse directly,

enabling customers to add VoiceMan

generated data into any existing investment in

business intelligence.

Interactive visualisationsRather than traditional reports and dashboards,

Data Analysis offers more sophisticated,

interactive visualisations including a blend of

text, charts and images that can be viewed on

desktop, tablet or mobile devices and feature

touch-friendly user interfaces. With the ability to

drill down and move through data to access

the information when needed – users don't

have to switch from report to report or across

applications. The powerful, yet simple user

interface, also means that customers can 'self-

serve'; easily creating custom views and filters

to highlight data most important to their

operation.

Supports better decision-makingIsabel McCabe added: "The value of data

comes when it is distilled to help make better

decisions. Resourcing, managing seasonal

peaks, identifying process improvements and

responding to trends are just some of the

areas where our new VoiceMan Data Analysis

solution can deliver significant benefits to

companies.

"Often business intelligence tools are

controlled by IT departments. Operational

staff can find that data is either out-of-date or

too rigid to get the information they need. With

VoiceMan Data Analysis, operations teams

can have access to valuable information when

they need it to help them run a more efficient

business and identify opportunities for further

process improvement." �


VOICEtechnology

www.logisticsit.com

Product News

The logistics world is constantly changing, withmore SKUs and an increased frequency of smallerdeliveries, keeping on top of it all is a challenge.s crucial for you to be in control and responsiveIt’

to consumer spending habits as well as seasonaloiteq offers a solution that will flex andpeaks; Vo

grow with your business.

Business intelligence should be at the core ofoiteq we are data-led. Usingy operation; at Voever

our powerful Data Analysis tools, rich visualisationsenable you to see, understand and interact with

d t bli t k b tt d i i

Hearing a S

oicemarter VVo

Hear a smarter voice, runa smarter warehouse

Visibility

Improved Productivity

Increased Accuracy

24/7 Support

your data – enabling you to make better decisionsin your smarter warehouse.

voiteq.com/voice

Since its foundation in 1969, ifm,

based in Essen, Germany, has

developed, produced and sold

sensors, controllers and systems

for industrial automation worldwide.

The company has over 5500 employees, with

around 700 working in research and

development (R&D) and 3800 based in

Germany. In 2013, it achieved a turnover of €

630 million and this had grown to more than €

720 million in 2015. Essen is home to its new

6,200m2 worldwide distribution centre, which

supplies the company’s distribution network in

over 70 countries.

Turning challenges into opportunities

ifm’s ambition is to develop into an integrated

provider of hardware, IT and services, which

through the course of Industry 4.0 will help

companies with the maintenance and

monitoring of their machines. However, the

company recently faced a number of

challenges in realising its growth potential.

One of the challenges was that its old

warehouse was too small to handle the group’s

next phase of development. Order processing

was predominantly carried out manually at the

site and the number of existing storage

locations was no longer sufficient for the

constantly increasing number of products.

Warehouse staff worked from picking lists and

RF terminals in determining what products to

select from shelves and flow racks. This was a

labour-intensive method, with picking errors

and relatively low operator performance not

uncommon. Within the confines of the old

warehouse, it was simply not possible for ifm to

increase its packaging output. In addition, the

inefficient manner of picking goods did not

match ifm’s image as a company at the cutting

edge of technological innovation.

New home, new horizons

ifm’s solution was to move to a new location in

which a future-proof, automated solution could

be implemented. In January 2015, ifm selected

Vanderlande to help it plan for – and realise – a

new solution to overcome its logistic

challenges.

The two organisations worked closely during

the initial phases to develop a solution based

on Vanderlande’s ADAPTO system. This is a

3D solution that ensures easy access to

around 8000 different products in 23,320

locations at all times. It comprises: a racking

structure across ten aisles with an integrated

shuttle track system; 25 multidirectional

shuttles; and seven lifts that allow the shuttles

to move between rack levels and system

exits/entries.

Each shuttle can reach every location in the

system, keeping service levels at a maximum.

Maintenance platforms with additional

staircases also allow quick operator access for

fast troubleshooting if and when required. This

is also supported by a spare parts package,

as well as a maintenance and hotline contract

(to follow).

ADAPTO performs independently of the

number of SKUs and order size, and maintains

a high level of control and shortened lead

times. In addition, it can change rapidly to

match varying business requirements, and

represents a favourable ROI.

“We preferred a ‘hybrid’ system, which

combines goods-to-person and person-to-

goods technologies,” explained ifm’s

Managing Director Thorben Petersen.

“ADAPTO is an excellent solution for moving

goods to the operator, but for faster moving

items, we chose a Pick-to-Light system, in

which the operator moves to the goods. This

combined approach is a perfect match, and its

flexibility and scalability are two of the key

features.”

The optimum process

The process begins at the receiving stage,

when trucks deliver pallets of goods from either

ifm’s production facility in south Germany

(daily), or the company’s other manufacturing

plants in Poland, Singapore and the USA (less

frequently). Additional deliveries are also

received every day from different couriers.

At the ergonomic workstations, pallets are


Warehouse Management � Success story

www.logisticsit.com

Automation paves theway for ifm’s success

Warehouse Management � Success story

raised to an optimum height and operators

position the individual cartons on trays and

scan these on to the system. The cartons are

filled with either one product or different items

spread across four compartments.

If the barcode is positioned on the outside of

the carton, this indicates that only one product

type is contained inside. If there are multiple

products, the operator scans the four

compartments internally in a clockwise

direction. In this way, the system knows the

exact layout of the compartments, which is vital

when it comes to the picking stage.

The cartons are moved down a conveyor and

into a lift, which connects them to another

conveyor. This feeds the new stock on to one

of the shuttles, which carries it quickly to an

available location within the racking.

There are two optional destinations when a tray

is recalled by the system and leaves ADAPTO

again via one of the shuttles: the fast movers

(top 250 products) as replenishment for the

flow racks directly connected to ADAPTO; or

the slow movers for order-related picking at the

goods-to-person workstations (CPS).

ifm utilises four types of cartons – the largest

(600 x 400 x 200mm) is used for both shipping

and storage on site – and three smaller

varieties for shipping only. The numbers of

each shipping carton required are assembled

via a fully automated carton erector. These are

automatically labelled and either transported to

the flow racks or the CPS workstations.

The cartons required for order picking are

‘married’ to an order on their way to the

designated flow racking. With Pick-to-Light,

operators at the three zone-pick workstations

can select from 300 channels through the

‘pick-pack’ procedure. The barcode on the

carton is scanned and the operator is advised

of the direction for locating each product,

which is more accurately indicated by a light.

ADAPTO delivers the cartons in the correct

sequence for each of the three goods-to-

person compact-pick workstations. The

sequence is built within the three-dimensional

shuttle cube, which means that an extensive

installation of loops – found in conventional

systems – can be omitted.

Cost efficiencies

ADAPTO is also providing ifm with a range of

other benefits. The cost efficiencies are

significant as, in addition to the optimised

storage density and maximum system

availability, there is a better return on the

investment should the structure of the business

change.

“The current system is set up for 800 shipping

cartons per hour, so with that level of

technology at our disposal, we can comfortably

reach our 2026 turnover target,” said Petersen.

“The biggest benefit to us is that we can copy

this design to other warehouse locations in the

world, in fast-growing markets. It is therefore

the blueprint for the development of these sites

and the springboard to offer this solution to

other markets.” �

WAREHOUSINGReliable partner for value-added

logistic process automation

The pressure on your warehouse is increasing with the explosive growth of e-commerce, the high number of stock items and short lead times required to meet demand. The need to optimise the flexibility of your processes has never been greater – and this is where Vanderlande can help. We are a reliable partner for many of the world’s largest retailers, wholesalers and e-commerce operators, who benefit from our vast experience. Whether it’s a new or refurbished facility, we are a leader in innovative systems, intelligent software and life-cycle services for warehouse automation solutions. Want to know more? E: [email protected].

> vanderlande.com


Warehouse Management � Product News

Iptor Supply Chain Systems adds ProTrackLabour Management to Warehouse Management solution

Iptor Supply Chain Systems, formerly IBS - the

supply chain management, planning and

logistics software and services provider – has

partnered with TZA, the supply chain labour

management solutions provider, to include

TZA's ProTrack Labour Management Software

as part of its Warehouse Management solution.

TZA's ProTrack software is a Cloud-based

solution that helps users measure, monitor and

motivate workforce productivity and utilisation for

increased performance, lower cost-per-unit and

greater competitive advantage.

"Considering that almost 60% of the costs

involved in running a distribution centre track

directly to labour, adding the proven labour

performance capabilities of TZA's ProTrack to

our Warehouse Management solution is a huge

value-add for our customers," said Jayne

Archbold, Iptor Supply Chain Systems CEO.

Real-time visibility and decision support

As an integrated part of Iptor's WMS, ProTrack

will give users real-time visibility and decision

support for proactively planning, deploying and

managing associates on the warehouse floor via

any enabled mobile device.

"Logistics operators face critical labour issues

today, including an aging workforce, a

shrinking pool of skilled workers and rising

wage costs," said Evan Danner, CEO at TZA.

"Together with Iptor's WMS, ProTrack software

provides the tools to respond to these labour

challenges and sustain a high performance

operation and culture."

"With the ProTrack interface, Iptor's Warehouse

Management solution becomes even more

powerful for customers," said Bill Tomasi, Iptor

senior vice president of product management.

"In addition to excellent control over material

movement, storage and the transaction

processes associated with running a warehouse,

customers will benefit from labour management

capabilities that drive additional supply chain

productivity gains." �

Warehouse Management � Company News

PathGuide and QubeVu power CascadeOrthopedic Supply’s win at PARCEL Forum 2016

PathGuide Technologies, provider of

warehouse management systems

(WMS) for industrial and retail

distributors, together with QubeVu,

a dimensioning systems provider,

has announced that its customer, Cascade

Orthopedic Supply, has won PARCEL Forum's

2016 Game Changer of the Year Award.

Measurable savings

This award recognises a leading company for

its successful implementation of a significant

innovation that resulted in measurable savings,

enhanced productivity, and other benefits to

improve shipping or distribution operations.

Cascade Orthopedic was chosen for its

successful deployment of PathGuide's Latitude

Manifest and Shipping System, together with

QubeVu's dimensioning solution.

"QubeVu offers the most advanced technology

in the dimensioning market today," said Kim

Karvonen, sales manager at QubeVu. "Our

solution provides certified dimensions of any

object, regardless of shape. Together with

PathGuide, we've deployed a system at

Cascade that seamlessly handles irregularly-

shaped items, helps to lower shipping costs

and provides online customers transparency

into stock availability and shipping costs. This

has literally been a game changer for

Cascade's business."

Designed from the ground up

"Latitude WMS was designed from the ground

up to be compatible with a host of ERP

platforms and other vendor solutions like

QubeVu," said Mark Van Leeuwen, regional

sales manager at PathGuide. "In addition to

helping Cascade reduce shipping costs, this

feature-rich combination has helped the

company optimise warehouse space while

maintaining a 97% same-day shipping rate.

We're very pleased that Cascade has been

recognised for its innovative and

comprehensive approach to operational

efficiency and customer satisfaction." �

www.logisticsit.com


Warehouse Management � Product News

www.logisticsit.com

Cloud-based warehouse stockcontrol for e-commerce business

The application integrates quickly

and easily with all popular e-

commerce platforms including

eBay, Amazon, Woo Commerce,

Magento and Shopify, as well as

traditional CRM solutions such as Sage. It

supports the essential warehouse stock

management functions including receipt and

putaway, picking and despatch, stock

management, and reporting. ProSKU has

been developed by Chess Logistics

Technology, which has delivered enterprise

warehouse management systems for nearly

30 years.

Many online retailers offer exceptional

customer experiences but struggle to manage

their stock effectively; particularly as their

businesses grow. Inaccurate stock

information and failure to identify where items

are located in the warehouse can limit a

retailer's ability to provide customers with

stock availability or fully meet order demand

on request. Stock levels may be too high,

leading to inefficient use of space and hidden

cost, or too low, leading to missed

opportunities.

Supports single and multi-site operations

ProSKU sets out to provide a well-featured

and easily deployed solution designed to

meet the current and future needs of online

retailers. Single and multi-site operations are

supported. During set-up, users follow simple

and intuitive on-screen workflows to create

their warehouse layout and enter stored

product data which along with customer,

supplier and live inventory data can be

entered manually or imported in any common

data format. The application also incorporates

an API for rapid integration with other web

applications.

ProSKU is hosted on secure backed-up

servers. This is claimed to ensure a robust

and resilient stock management component to

the integrated e-commerce solution with

maximum possible service availability and

almost no risk of data loss. The application

can be accessed from any PC, laptop, tablet

or smartphone using any modern browser.

Pricing is based on a simple monthly pricing

plan with a minimum commitment of one

month and no hidden start-up costs. The

system is accessible to the extent that set-up

can be undertaken by the user with minimal

assistance from the vendor. Detailed

operating guides and video tutorials are

provided to assist but ProSKU also provides

cost-effective support services for those

customers who require more handholding

during the key implementation phase. After

commencing live operations, a range of

support options is available to suit varying

needs.

Stock control and warehousemanagement functions

ProSKU incorporates all mission-critical stock

control and warehouse management

functions:

Receipts and putaway: simple and flexible

management of incoming stock items. Users

can process receipts rapidly while recording

important data accurately. The system makes

intelligent automatic decisions but also allows

manual operations. It generates pallet labels

and documentation for putaway execution,

and allows rapid confirmation or amendment

of successfully completed movements. Post

confirmation, all receipt data is archived with

full movement history, as well as period-

based goods-inward reporting.

Picking and despatch: these functions

facilitate rapid conversion of orders to

despatches. Automatically imported (API or

CSV) or manually keyed orders can be

viewed, selected and processed. Flexible

picking strategy allows order selection by

ability to fulfil with pre-process check to verify

product quantities. Single, wave and cluster

picking options are standard.

Standard stock rotation is FIFO (first in, first

out) or BBE (best-before-end), with specific

criteria selection including date, batch and

status also available. Standard task

documents and on-screen confirmation are

provided with an optional handheld scanning

module to allow combined execution and

confirmation. Handling of pick exceptions

ensures full integrity at the confirmation stage.

The despatch function offers dual options to

confirm onward consignments. A standard

despatch process allows quick validation and

despatch paperwork print, while a 'scan and

pack' feature offers order scanning at product

or item level to ensure despatch integrity.

Stock Management: all the essential stock

management functions are included, providing

users with the ability to control and deal with all

stock-handling scenarios and exceptions.

Stock check functions allow verification by

location, product or ownership, offering the

flexibility for regular cyclic stock checking.

Reporting options are designed to offer stock

and movement data in a highly accessible

form while allowing considerable scope for

formatting. Reports have pre-defined fields

and allow additional user field definition.

Sequence selection, filtering, sorting and

totalling are also available where appropriate.

All reports will be selectable by key identities

like depot and stock ownership. �

ProSKU is a new Cloud-based warehouse stock management application that enables onlineretailers to manage and track inventory in warehouses and store rooms efficiently to enhancecustomer service, reduce cost and minimise administrative input.


\\\ Manufacturing \\\ Success story

manufacturerprepares for growth with QAD ERPsolution upgrade

Mauser is a worldwide

producer of industrial

packaging. The company

manufactures and

reconditions a wide range of

plastic, steel and fibre containers including

drums, injection-moulded packaging and

bottles.

Working with agricultural, petro, industrial

chemical, medical waste, food and beverage,

paint, and pharmaceutical companies,

Mauser supplies them with reliable, perfectly

sealed products that reduce risks and prevent

industrial spills and accidents.

Using a ‘buy and build’ strategy of global

acquisitions and joint ventures, Mauser’s

major focus is on expansion of its global

presence and reconditioning business.

Mauser has:

• More than EUR 1 billion revenue.

• 4400 Employees.

• 82 Facilities at 57 production locations in

18 countries worldwide.

• Joint ventures in Europe, Asia and the

Americas.

The challenge: keeping aheadof the curve

Mauser has to deal with a wide variety of

customer needs and distribution challenges

as well as the volatile European economy. The

company also has to accommodate different

currencies and the business and tax

practices of widely diverse cultures.

Mauser has been running QAD enterprise

resource planning (ERP) solutions since 1994.

The company realised an upgrade of its

current system was needed to maximise its

effectiveness and put it in the best possible

position as the company implement its ‘buy

and build’ plans.

“We believe all things have a life cycle,

including our ERP system,” said Dr. Bernhard

Rohde, global CIO at Mauser. “We need our

financial and planning systems to stay ahead

of the curve.”

The solution: thoughtful designand testing make for asuccessful upgrade

QAD met with Mauser to discuss its current

and future ERP needs, set goals and

determine an upgrade timeline.

Strategic goals

• Growth through acquisitions and joint

ventures.

• Continuous refining of delivery abilities.

• Expansion and enhancements of product

offers.

• The most effective, flexible and

easily/quickly deployed ERP system

possible.

• Optimised business processes with

www.logisticsit.com


Success story \\\ Manufacturing \\\

www.logisticsit.com

streamlined IT support strongly based on

QAD’s ERP solution as the core

transaction system.

Mauser determined an upgrade to QAD

Enterprise Applications Enterprise Edition

(QAD EE) was the best solution and upgrade

goals were defined.

Upgrade goals

• Enhanced financial functionality.

• Better built-in reporting functionality,

easily customized by the user.

• Ability to better forecast and more

accurately compare actual vs. budget.

• Clean-up and standardisation of existing

processes including data structures in

accounting, master data, and harmonised

customer, supplier and item numbers.

• Easier ERP maintenance through

reduction of customisations.

• Greater transparency and granularity on

freight costs with QAD Trade Activity

Management.

• More effective management of the supply

chain, especially transport of goods to

customers.

Mauser and QAD partner Kontext-E worked

through the system design, which was based

on a strategy from the QAD Customer

Engagement Process. The superior

internationalisation features built into QAD EE

made it easy to design the system to

accommodate the current countries Mauser

does business in and prepares for future

expansion.

Each of Mauser’s project objectives was

discussed, carefully considered and

incorporated into the system design. Financial

aspects were a particular focus. Mauser was

open to testing, which helped the design

process move forward more quickly, avoiding

problems later in implementation.

Benefits: bigger, faster, betterand primed for the future

“This upgrade was a major success for us,”

says Dr. Rohde. “It was a huge project but the

time frame from the first planning meeting to

going live in Germany was only seven months

— fast and right on schedule. There were few

technical problems and the entire process

was quite painless from a system point of

view. The standardisation efforts to harmonise

system data have been immense and promise

to be a big ongoing success.”

With the upgrade to QAD EE, Mauser’s

financial processes have seen many

improvements mainly in the ease and speed

of the financial closing process. The new

features facilitating the booking in local GAAP

and the group-wide IFRS standard are

particularly a tremendous benefit. Closing the

books is now faster and more accurate,

resulting in both an increase in effectiveness

and a decrease in costs. Moreover, Mauser

was fully prepared for the general switch to

the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) bank

transaction required in Europe.

The new user interface has received positive

feedback on ease of use as well as the better

reporting functionality. QAD’s Browses have

become a major part of day-to-day work, and

the ease to filter and export data has

improved process efficiency.

Budgeting has become easier and more

accurate as forecasting improved with the

addition of more weeks of concrete orders in

the system to better predict customer

demand –resulting in budget versus actual

improvement.

“We have seen improvement sooner and it

has been more tangible than we ever

expected,” said Dr. Rohde. “Standardisation

is taking hold in our data structures

including accounting, master data, and

global customer, supplier, and item

numbers. Our IT department is happy that

with the upgrade. ERP maintenance is

reduced as fewer customisations are

needed, and the greater transparency on

freight costs has already allowed us to save

money and be more efficient.”

Mauser has seen a 20% improvement in

reporting and won a QAD Visionary Award for

record implementation.

“We can now more effectively manage the

supply chain, especially transport of goods to

customers,” added Rohde. “With the success

of the upgrade process and the immediate

and long-term benefits we are seeing, this has

been a great intellectual and cultural

investment for us. QAD’s and their partner’s

care and concern for Mauser’s needs during

the planning and implementation process was

very impressive. When the time comes for the

next upgrade, I will not hesitate.” �

We took the ERP update project as an opportunity to reconsider our corebusiness processes and to discuss, optimise and document them on a company-wide basis.”

– Dr. Bernhard Rohde, global CIO, Mauser.

“

Highlights

At Oracle’s two-day Modern

Supply Chain Experience event

staged at the Intercontinental

London – The O2 earlier this

year, professionals from the

manufacturing, logistics and retail sectors

were able to hear presentations and

participate in roundtable discussions covering

the current state of play and likely future

trends regarding a number of manufacturing

and supply chain-related topics. One of these

themes was supply chain management in the

Cloud.

Rick Jewell, SVP applications development at

Oracle, said that over 80 per cent of all

companies either are using, or plan to use,

Cloud applications for their supply chain

management requirements. Jewell’s view is

that adoption of the Cloud model for supply

chain management is now a case of ‘when’,

not ‘if’. He added that Oracle has embraced

supply chain Cloud as one of its key areas of

development, as is evidenced by the launch

of Release 11 earlier this year, a package that

has been built for use in the Cloud ‘from the

ground up’.

Jewell said that some of solutions vendors

simply adapt existing SCM solutions and offer

them in the Cloud realm, but he stressed that

this is simply dressing up something

designed for the supply chain world of

yesterday into something more fashionable.

However, he added that the modern supply

chain environment is markedly different from

that of a few years ago. Indeed, he made the

point that the way companies interact with

each other – shipping, buying and selling

goods – is constantly changing and adapting

to current needs. Therefore, supply chain

professionals need a software solution that is

able to change and adapt easily as the

market trends themselves. This is why, said

Jewell, the level of rigidity within many on-

premise systems, together with issues

surrounding integration with other software

packages, can stifle effective business

performance rather than enhance it.

With this in mind, Jewell said Oracle has set

about developing entirely new SCM

capabilities with a focus on ease of use,

flexibility and cross-functional business flows,

making integration with the wide portfolio of

complementary Oracle Cloud solutions a

straightforward process.

Shift in mindset

Vikram Singla, product innovation and

supply chain apps leader, Oracle UK,

added that due to the increasing level of

42 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

Supply Chain Event

Manufacturing & Logistics IT attended Oracle’s Modern Supply ChainExperience event in London earlier this year to find out about Oracle’s views on

forward-looking supply chain software developments and strategies.

Supply Chain Managementin the Cloud

October 2016 www.logisticsit.com

confidence and satisfaction in Cloud-based

applications among manufacturers and

logistics professionals there is now a

significant shift in mindset towards the

Cloud. He added that while the majority of

today’s supply chain solution adoptions are

still undertaken in the traditional on premise

fashion (whereby the solution is normally

owned and maintained by the user

company’s IT department), the Cloud model

is being seen as increasingly compelling

among Oracle customers.

Routes to Cloud deployment

In terms of the route to Cloud adoption,

Singla explained that individual companies

will find that their level of required change

may differ. “This is why we champion a fully

flexible deployment model leading to the

Cloud,” he explained. “For instance, a

company may already have an SCM solution

installed on-premise, and it may still satisfy

the company’s core requirements on the

whole. However, the company might wish to

add extra functionality in order to, for

example, maximise compliance or security.

This extra functionality could be provided as

an SCM Cloud solution. We refer to this

process as complementary change.”

Singla explained that the second level of

change – which Oracle refers to as

incremental change, is one whereby the

user’s SCM Cloud functionality of choice is

able to offer the flexibility to be fully and

seamlessly integrated within an existing IT

suite; whether as a hybrid (part on-premise

and part-Cloud) model or whether these

solutions are sourced from the same

provider or other vendor.

He then pointed out that Oracle describes the

third potential mode of change as

transformational. “If a company has been

relying on an old legacy SCM system for a

number of years and is looking to replace it,

then a more transformational approach could

be the best option,” he said. “Here, the

company could set about moving to the

Cloud wholesale for its SCM needs. Similarly,

in the case of a start-up business, where the

strategy is to become operational and

efficient very quickly, while also avoiding often

expensive up-font capex and ongoing

consultancy costs associated with the on-

premise option, then Cloud has to be the

route to go down,” he said. Singla explained

that SCM in the Cloud also offers greater

levels of smart supply chain connectivity,

enabling Industry 4.0 to be realised.

Platform enhancements

So, it can be seen that Oracle’s SCM

functionality offerings in the Cloud are fully

flexible and broad-ranging. But what of the

platform server options on offer, whether for

Oracle’s SCM solutions or an array of other

complementary suites? Last month

(September), Oracle announced new additions

to its Cloud Platform, which enable customers

to get the best of both multi-tenant and single-

tenant environments. These new additions

include Oracle Bare Metal Cloud Services,

Oracle Ravello Cloud Service, Oracle

Container Cloud Service and enhancements to

existing Oracle Cloud services.

Oracle Cloud Platform offerings now also

support Oracle MySQL Cloud Service, Oracle

Big Data Cloud Service and Oracle Event

Hub Cloud Service in addition to enhanced

levels of support for Oracle’s existing

Platform-as-a-Service offerings.

“As more and more enterprises leverage the

Cloud, they want a simple, seamless way to

migrate their large and complex IT

infrastructures to the Cloud, and to use the

security and management controls that their

IT teams already know,” said Thomas Kurian,

president of product development, Oracle.

“The latest additions to the Oracle Cloud

Platform enable organisations to seamlessly

connect their existing resources to the Oracle

Cloud using Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) and

select from a wide variety of computer

services including bare metal, virtual

machines and engineered systems as if it

were a part of their own datacentre.”

Carefully phased migration

Singla concluded that whether a company’s

path to the supply chain Cloud is

transformational, incremental or

complimentary, Oracle can help with a

carefully phased migration, with a focus on

ensuring that SCM in the Cloud delivers

everything the customer wants, and more. �


Supply ChainEvent


"In this year's edition, four of the top five

European supply chain organisations from

2015 (see Table 1) remained in the top five.

H&M and Inditex switched places at No. 2

and No. 3, respectively and Schneider

Electric made its debut in the European top

five," said Stan Aronow, research vice

president at Gartner. "Three new companies

also made the supply chain top 15 ranking in

Europe this year, with Bayer joining the list for

the first time and Nokia and Ahold Delhaize

rejoining after several years."

This year, Unilever not only maintained the

No. 1 spot in the European supply chain

ranking, but also ranked No. 1 globally.

Unilever has made supply chain a true

partner to the business in delivering its

broader Unilever Sustainable Living Plan,

with the aim of doubling revenue and halving

its environmental impact by 2020. H&M

climbed one place to gain the No. 2

European ranking this year, reflecting a

strong record in sustainability and workers'

rights, as it quickly grows its business.

Uncertainty in Europe exists and has

increased since the UK's decision to leave

the European Union. "More than ever, leading

organisations in Europe will need to optimise

their supply chain functions and embrace bi-

modal capabilities in order to drive growth

and remain competitive in new markets," said

Aronow. "They will also need to deliver

strategies that add real value to consumers,

be mindful of new competitors capitalising on

this period of uncertainty, and incorporate

corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals

into their supply chain strategy and

operations."

Gartner has outlined below some of the

common challenges and key supply chain

capabilities of this year's leading European

supply chain organisations:

Growing emphasis on corporatesocial responsibility

This year, for the first time, Gartner included

a CSR score in order to highlight CSR

44 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.comOctober 2016

Gartner, Inc., revealed its 2016 ranking of the top 15 supply chain organisations based inEurope at its annual Supply Chain Executive Conference, held from 19 to 20 September inLondon.

Supply Chain Analysis

Gartner announces rankingof top European supply chainorganisations for 2016

excellence within Europe's top supply chains,

with seven of the top 15 European

companies scoring a maximum of 10 and

four more scoring nine of out of 10.

"The emphasis on CSR is not only driven by

investors, but also by consumers, employees

and the general public, all of whom expect

businesses to run socially responsible supply

chains and for their methods and results to

be made public," said Aronow.

Increased adoption of advancedanalytics

The use of predictive and prescriptive

analytics is becoming more prevalent within

leading European organisations across all

sectors. For example, Nestlé uses predictive

analytic algorithms to support its global

engineering process flows and expand its

supply chain. BASF is developing a single

platform supply chain control tower, applying

advanced prescriptive analytics to remove

silos in its supply chain and create a value-

based supply chain ecosystem.

Digital business and innovationincreasingly featured

Digital business is increasingly featured as

part of the capabilities of leading supply

chains. Companies such as Unilever are

spending a substantial proportion of their

marketing activities on digital, and the supply

chain is being reconfigured to leverage digital

opportunities. Schneider Electric receives

more than 70% of its orders digitally, which

substantially reduces order processing time.

Supply chain innovation is no longer used

just to make supply chain more efficient, but

also to drive a new level of competitive

advantage for leading organisations. For

example, L'Oréal uses its supply chain

technology and analytics to monitor the

safety of its ingredients, thereby reducing

the need for product testing on animals;

also, H&M has a supply chain designed to

move a garment from design to the hanger

within 20 days. �

Notes:• 1 ROA: ((2015 net income / 2015 total assets)*50%) + ((2014 net income / 2014 total assets)*30%) + (2013 net income / 2013 total

assets)*20%)• 2 Inventory Turns: 2015 cost of goods sold / 2015 quarterly average inventory• 3 Revenue Growth: ((change in revenue 2015-2014) *50%) + ((change in revenue 2014-2013) *30%) + ((change in revenue 2013-2012)

*20%)• 4 CSR Component Score: Index of third-party corporate social responsibility measures of commitment, transparency and performance.• 5 Composite Score: (Peer Opinion*25%) + (Gartner Research Opinion*25%) + (ROA*20%) + (Inventory Turns*10%) + (Revenue Growth*10%)

+ (CSR Component Score*10%)Source: Gartner (September 2016)


Supply ChainAnalysis


Rank CompanyReturn on Assets

(ROA)1 Inventory Turns2 Revenue Growth3 CSR ComponentScore4

CompositeScore5

1 Unilever 10.8% 6.9 3.6% 10.00 5.84

2 H&M 25.3% 3.5 16.3% 9.00 4.50

3 Inditex 16.7% 3.9 11.2% 9.00 4.42

4 Nestlé 8.9% 5.2 -1.1% 10.00 3.68

5 Schneider Electric 4.3% 5.1 4.9% 10.00 2.80

6 L'Oréal 11.4% 3.0 7.0% 4.00 2.70

7 BASF 6.5% 5.0 -2.0% 10.00 2.70

8 BMW 3.8% 6.0 8.8% 10.00 2.61

9 GlaxoSmithKline 12.6% 1.9 -1.9% 9.00 2.51

10 Nokia 10.3% 5.7 -0.5% 10.00 2.25

11 Reckitt Benckiser 14.3% 5.2 -1.8% 9.00 2.22

12 Diageo 9.7% 1.0 1.2% 5.00 2.18

13British American

Tobacco14.2% 0.8 -5.5% 8.00 2.10

14 Ahold Delhaize 7.3% 17.0 8.4% 8.00 1.95

15 Bayer 5.5% 2.4 7.1% 10.00 1.92

www.logisticsit.com

PTV Group acquires DPS andinvests in Cloud-based trip planning

PTV Group in Karlsruhe, Germany hasacquired the British company,Distribution Planning Software

International Ltd. (DPS).

Both companies supply software to thetransport logistics market and plan toexpand the international market coverageof their products. The range of solutionswill grow for both companies, and both willprofit as a result. The transport logisticsmarket is benefitting from a new cloud-based product for trip planning viarouteoptimiser.com.

Vincent Kobesen, CEO of the PTV Group,said: "The integration of DPS, with all itsemployees, products and offices, into ourgroup of companies has come at exactlythe right time. It enables us to furtherextend the geographical coverage for ourlogistics software business in the UK,Sweden and South Africa, gaining newplanning and optimisation products at thesame time."

The DPS Route Optimiser productenhances the existing PTV product rangeby adding trip optimisation to its Cloudsolutions. Logistics companies now haveeasier access to powerful technology intoday's connected environments.

Growth objective

Both companies own international salesunits that are mutually complementary. PTVhas had its own office in Birmingham since2013 and has set itself the objective offurther growth, not only in the traffic sector,but also in transport logistics. To achievethis goal, the local sales and marketingpresence in the UK and Scandinavia willundergo further expansion.

DPS is based in Birmingham, withadditional offices in Sweden and SouthAfrica. In future, these offices will marketthe range of solutions offered by bothcompanies under the PTV Group flag.

In North America, PTV is already well-

established in the traffic sector with officeson the East and West Coasts. With itsCloud-based route scheduling PTV Grouphas yet another product in its portfolio,which is expected to put it in a strongposition to specifically target the logisticsmarket.

"This takeover allows usto continue to strengthenour market position,especially in the UK, anddouble our existingrevenue in this region.DPS is now 100% ownedby the PTV Group,” saidKobesen. “All staff havebeen retained. We evenplan to take on additional personnel. Weguarantee to all customers that existingcontracts and product service agreementswill be continued. Later changes arepossible but are not foreseen in the nearfuture.”

Global market presence

Paul Palmer, founder and previous owner ofDPS, added: "DPS benefits from an extendedreach and immediate access to a globalmarket presence for its products. I am excitedto be part of the PTV/DPS journey in my new

role in the expandedbusiness." As a new PTVsubsidiary, DPS canoperate in the market witha broader solutionportfolio.

PTV Group has beenoperating for almost 40years, with 700 employees

supplying software for traffic and transportlogistics to the entire world from theirheadquarters in Karlsruhe. The business hasperformed extremely well over the past fewyears. The company currently produces aturnover of over 100 million euros. �

TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT Company news

46 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS October 2016

This takeover allows us tocontinue to strengthen ourmarket position, especially inthe UK, and double our existingrevenue in this region.” – Vincent Kobesen, PTV Group.

“

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Success story TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT


Maxoptra helps ThornbridgeBrewery keep the beer flowing

The Maxoptra Cloud-basedsoftware is helping the breweryensure customers receive theirbeer in a timely and cost-effective manner. Since

introducing the online delivery routeoptimisation system, Thornbridge has alsoseen an improvement in customer serviceand is planning, with the continued supportof Maxoptra, further expansion of thebusiness.

James Walker, logistics manager atThornbridge Brewery, said: "We discussedin detail what we required from a routeplanner, including all possible factors thatneeded to be taken into considerationwhen scheduling. We then trialled anumber of solutions before concluding thatMaxoptra was the most user friendly andfitted all of our needs perfectly."

Automated process

Prior to the implementation of Maxoptra,each of Thornbridge's drivers weremanually planning their own deliveries. Thisrequired returning to site at the end ofevery day to collect delivery manifests inorder to prepare the next day's schedule.Using Maxoptra, this process has beenentirely automated. Routes are prepared inadvanced and in accordance withcustomer specific requirements, such asopening times, weight of deliveries andtime required onsite.

Walker continued: "Since we started usingMaxoptra, we have seen a noticeablereduction in mileage, and therefore costsand emissions, and driver time is betterutilised. We have also improved customerservice with better communication and areconfident that, as our business continuesto expand, Maxoptra will support us alongthe way.”

Thornbridge Brewery was founded in thegrounds of Thornbridge Hall, Ashford-in-the-Water in Derbyshire. The first craft beerswere produced in 2005, and Thornbridgerapidly expanded opening a new state-of-the art, 30-barrel brewery in 2009.Thornbridge has won more than 350 awards

since opening, is considered by many to bethe UK's first craft brewery and distributesbeer to more than 38 countries. Thornbridgealso operates six public houses in theSheffield area and, in an exciting newventure, their first pub outside of the UK ins-Hertogenbosh in the Netherlands.

Ambitious growth plans

Stuart Brunger, head of businessdevelopment at Maxoptra, added: "It is veryexciting to be supporting Thornbridge atsuch a critical time in the company's

development. The use of Maxoptra isalready delivering tangible benefits andreturns on investment, and will helpunderpin the brewery's ambitious growthplans. It has to be said, site visits toThornbridge are also a pleasure." �

Independent brewer, Thornbridge, is improving delivery costs, increasing driverefficiency and minimising the environmental impact of its mobile operationfollowing the implementation of a dynamic delivery route planning solution.

Since we started using Maxoptra, we have seen a noticeable reduction inmileage, and therefore costs and emissions, and driver time is better utilised.We have also improved customer service with better communication and areconfident that, as our business continues to expand, Maxoptra will support usalong the way.”

– James Walker, Thornbridge Brewery.

“


Mobilising the logisticssupply chain

TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT Opinion

Regardless of the sector, be itbanking, insurance, retail orutilities, the whole world seemsto be adopting a digital ormobile-first strategy at

breakneck speed – and the logisticsindustry is no different.

The reason for this digital transformation issimple; organisations are positioningthemselves for the future, and with thesmartphone arguably weighing in as thegreatest technological disruptor of the 21stcentury, you have to either get with theprogramme or get left behind.

There are real monitory reasons whytransport and logistical companies should

be embracing mobile technology. Not solong ago, I read a survey conducted byIntermec, which showed how transport andlogistics companies could saveapproximately £303,855 per annum as aresult of process re-engineering and theimplementation of mobile technology acrossworkflows. The survey also revealed thatnearly three quarters (72%) had notevaluated their existing processes for atleast two years.

By digitally transforming their business,companies in this sector would be betterplaced to satisfy customer demand, streamlineinternal processes, meet businessexpectations, stay ahead of global competitionand, most importantly, improve that bottom line.

Is adopting a mobile firstapproach going to beexpensive?

Having worked for many years on the frontlineof app development and digital transformationin the enterprise, I've witnessed a widespreadmisconception that this can only be done atgreat expense, and having worked with anumber of logistics companies, I've seen thatthis concern is indeed prevalent in the industry.

This fear is understandable; the words 'digitaltransformation' even sound expensive. Peoplehear them and assume they have to changeevery aspect of their organisational structureovernight, but this isn't the case. Many

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By Paul Swaddle, chairman, Pocket App.


Opinion TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

businesses can take huge leaps forward justby focusing on small, fundamental changes.

A prime example of how a relatively low costdigital change can have a dramatic impact is aproject we undertook for Bridgestone Europe,a global manufacturer of tyres and rubberproducts, and provider of services and vehiclemanagement. Bridgestone required a means ofmonitoring tyre pressure more efficiently thanthe manual procedures that were in place, sowe developed a smartphone-based systemwhich monitors pressure readings fromBridgestone's TPMS sensors using a BluetoothTransceiver.

Transmitters on the valves of each tyre senddata to the Bridgestone Capture Pack (BCP),and then to the smartphone via Bluetooth. Thephone displays the number of tyres that areunder minimum air pressure, indicating whichneed to be serviced.

Before Bridgestone had this mobile system inplace, drivers had to monitor their tyrepressure by inserting a manual pressuregauge into each tyre, which took a hugeamount of time and effort. Thanks to the mobilesolution, Bridgestone is able to more efficientlyensure that its tyres are at the optimalpressure, and that the company is thereforegetting the most value out of its fleet.

That said, we know that measuring tyrepressure is not a key concern for everyone,and this is just one of many examples of howmobile technology can improve business and

logistics operations. Here are other ways anorganisation might benefit:

Receipt of data in real-time

Perhaps the greatest advantage ofimplementing a mobile app is the ability todeliver crucial data in real-time to bothbusiness employees and customers. Appscan also record and store valuable data,yielding more responsive business decisionsby making it easier to perform accounting,billing and regulatory reporting tasks. Inaddition, paper waste is eliminated,manpower is reduced and human error isdiminished, which in turn, will improveprofitability and enhance your bottom line.

Tracking and notifications

For companies in areas such as shipping ortransportation, access to accurate trackingfacilities and notifications that can be sentautomatically at each stage of a journey willenable companies to easily keep track ofvehicles and their cargo. Logistics companieswere previously only able to track deliverieseach time they arrived at a key destination(depot, port, or at the customer's location).Mobile makes it possible to track an individualparcel on a meter-by-meter, second-by-second basis, monitoring the transportprocesses and not only identifying issueswhen they arise, but predicting problemsbefore they appear.

Improve customer service

The opportunities to improve customer serviceby utilising mobile apps are virtually endless.An app can allow customers to trackshipments, arrange updates to deliveries oreven live chat with a company representative.From a business perspective, an app canalso be used to communicate product newsand offers with customers.

Automation of existingpaper-based processes

Finally, one of the main benefits that mobiletechnology introduces is the automation ofexisting paper-based processes. Nowadays, youcan eliminate paper forms by replacing themwith instant mobile reports. This will not only saveyou time, but you can also be sure that your datais safe and collected in one place.

The logistics industry, like most modernbusiness sectors, is continuously transformingand evolving, as business race to meetcustomer demands and keep up withincreasingly sophisticated competition. Thecontinued growth of ecommerce sees nosigns of abating and this is putting pressureon all aspects of the supply chain. With theincreasing popularity and ever-expandingfunctionality of mobile affecting companiesworldwide it is essential that organisationsrecognise how mobile can prove not onlybeneficial but relevant. �

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