Printing Full Circle at Between Rounds
Between Rounds (South Windsor, CT) probably has one of the largest bagel-based menus I have ever seen in my life. With over 20 years serving Connecticut, Between Rounds is one of the Nutmeg State’s most beloved homegrown franchises. And for good reason! Their bagels are made fresh every day, and they hold each of their locations to the highest standards of quality for eggs, meat, fresh produce, coffee, and each of their other offerings. If you’re in a Between Rounds Bakery Sandwich Café, you can be sure you’re getting the best! There’s a reason they have been in business for nearly three decades, and that is because they pride themselves on “recognizing and embracing change as it occurs.”
We couldn’t agree more.
From our first consultation, I knew that Laurie Puiia (operations manager) was ready to make a change that would resolve their stale, document-driven labeling process issue and replace it with a truly fluid and time-efficient data-driven workflow.
The Problem
Remember that wide selection of products that I mentioned in the first paragraph?
Well, all of those delicious products need labels, of course.
Many smaller businesses go about product and shelf labeling in the same way, creating a PDF file for every item and storing them in a “Label” or “Printing” folder. When the time comes to print labels, they comb through a handful of file names, maybe squinting at the file preview to expedite the process and attempt to pick out the correct file. Some companies attempt to combat this by using specific and consistent naming conventions.
And this does work… for a little while.
As the business grows, a handful of product labels becomes dozens. Sometimes dozens become hundreds. The label printing process slows down every time a new file is added, sometimes sub-folders are created and the infrastructure of that label printing folder becomes more and more confusing.
Explaining your label printing workflow shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, nor should it be painful. In our opinion, our customers should enjoy printing labels, not dread printing labels.
The Solution
We’ve seen this time and time again. Even when working with the most organized and forward-thinking client, it’s impossible to avoid this document-driven style of solution without the correct tools.
The first thing we needed to do was get all of the products into a single, organized spreadsheet/database. Through multiple revisions, we were able to chip away at unnecessary and redundant information and create a clean and concise Excel file that would be easily accessible and understandable, and serve as our system of record/master database. Our goal is always for our solutions to be flexible, scalable, and easily adoptable by a new employee, and it always begins by organizing data and clarifying business rules related to printing.
The next thing we accomplished was turning the old document-driven solution into a sparkling, new data-driven solution. We were able to accomplish this by developing Intelligent Label Templates by leveraging BarTender’s easy-to-use label designer, flexible data entry forms builder and intuitive database connector wizard. We deployed BarTender’s companion application, Print Station, for “Print Only” operator interfacing to initiate label printing. Once the printing operator opens the correct label, a simple record selector inserted into the print form allowed us to pull all of the data from the aforementioned database, and place it in front of the user with only the relevant information provided, then providing a Print Preview so all information can be verified prior to sending the job to the printer.
By using built-in conditional printing tools in the BarTender label designer, we programmed the Intelligent Label Template to print data in varying locations when needed, based on the presence of other data. In other words, if a label did not include an ingredients list, we were able to create more room for a larger product name and move it to the center of the label.
With our knowledge of Epson’s line of color label printers, we immediately knew that the Epson ColorWorks C3500 inkjet printer was the correct choice. Fortunately, Laurie already had one! The C3500 is capable of producing full-bleed, full-color, 360dpi labels at speeds of up to 4.0″/sec. With its low price point, minimal maintenance, and small footprint, we knew that a workhorse printer like this would be perfect for an establishment of this size. As an added benefit, we have extensive experience implementing this particular printer into countless IPSi solutions, so we had the utmost confidence in its ability to handle the task at hand.
Lastly, we utilized our label manufacturing resources to not only procure the perfect sized labels and tag stock, but also find the circle-in-square die cut labels that would bring their non-bagel product labeling to the next level. With a logo that is designed to invoke a feeling of warmth and freshness, the use of a grey or black-and white color scheme just wouldn’t do!
Three different label types should mean three different label , not hundreds! At Between Rounds, we were able to accomplish the reduction in individual label documents and prevent the potential cost of massive amounts of money or time that would have been required if they were required to make an update.
Reach out to us today and find out how we can clean up that label document folder, and prevent the dreaded file creep that slows printing workflows to a crawl in businesses from any and all vertical markets.
About Integrated Productivity Systems LLC (IPSi): IPSi specializes in optimizing mission-critical business processes around enterprise label printing and barcoding data collection in manufacturing and distribution companies. Our areas of expertise include fixing inefficient workflows in product and shipping label generation, mobile barcode data collection, inventory and warehouse management, automated label application, and automated bagging and labeling of finished goods. By helping companies streamline and re-engineer mission-critical workflows, our customers are able to reduce costs, eliminate errors, and sustain flexible and scalable operations. We are passionate about helping our customers leverage technology to develop simple, cost-effective systems that ensure their operations run efficiently all day, every day. IPSi's Website
About BarTender® by Seagull Scientific: Every year, the world’s largest and most dynamic supply chains in every industry trust BarTender to create and print over 40 billion of the labels, barcodes, documents, and RFID that keep their products moving, traceable and safe. With corporate headquarters and software development in Bellevue, Washington, USA, and branch offices in Madrid, Taipei and Tokyo.
BarTender is available in more than 150 countries through a global network of local partners. Learn more at Seagull Scientific.
About Epson ColorWorks: Epson’s line of ColorWorks inkjet color label printers has transformed the way business print across countless industries including food & beverage, pharmaceutical, and retail. Their wide range of price points and capabilities create the flexibility and accessibility that helps them find their homes in business of all sizes. Epson ColorWorks Website