Paleo Powered Labeling
Paleo Power Meals (Saugus, MA) is a small, individually-run prepared meal distributor with remarkable growth. They know how to hit health-minded people where it matters, placing stress on both delicious, nutritious food as well as reasonable amounts of exercise. However, our previous experience in food manufacturing and distribution labeling prepared us to do the heavy lifting this time.
When Michael (chef and owner) first contacted us, he was audibly frustrated. And we understood completely because unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence in our industry. Micheal had purchased a thermal printer after being told that it would be greatly beneficial to his productivity. And that is true! … At least, it would be. However, no one told him how he could make this printer truly work for his business.
Now there is, of course, nothing wrong with thermal printers, but one of the first establishments we must make with every client that approaches us is just what they task they need the printer to perform. In this context, the printer was only a drop in the bucket of what Paleo Power Meals needed.
What was the issue?
Although thermal printers are excellent for printing simple black & white labels and things like dates and barcodes, companies that want vibrant, colorful labels would typically benefit more from an inkjet printer.
We set Micheal up with an Epson Colorworks C3500 inkjet printer- and the difference in capabilities became instantly apparent. While a thermal printer could still have been utilized in adding black text to a label, it would have meant that the folks over at Paleo would have no choice but to order pre-printed labels with their logo and background.
What a pain! But we have a solution!
We immediately got to work in our printing lab, and with the help of BarTender Label Software, had full-bleed samples ready to ship in the blink of an eye. Once Michael saw the labels, he was instantly on board. It seems simple enough, right?
Well, most prepared meals companies have a few (pronounced “dozens”) different meals. Sure, printing a static label that looks great is easy, but what about an entire menu’s worth of labels? Could you imagine creating that many different labels and pulling up a new one every time you want to print? Thankfully, BarTender gives us the tools we need to create dynamic labels.
If you’re interested in trying BarTender, click here to get the free version!
Here is an example of the label we created. As I mentioned, it looks pretty simple and straightforward. What you can’t see is that every object on the label (aside from the logo and background) is a dynamic object, being pulled from a database and placed perfectly into its place.
In this case, the information is being taken from an array of fields in an Excel spreadsheet. Below, you can see two of the fields that were used as samples while constructing the label. The recipe in the first row contains the information being sent to the label.
This form also makes it very easy to add other items to the label, including lot number and expiration date. If they do not want to include the data in one of these fields, that object will not print at all. This allows us to meet the customer’s needs while keeping the label clean and looking good! Lastly, I hopped on a TeamViewer call with Michael and transferred over the appropriate files, ran through the printing process a couple of times, and tested printing remotely to the 3500 in his office within a few hours.
I think it may be an understatement to say that Michael was happy. The excitement in his voice said it all. Another small business discovering the power of in-house label printing!
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.