<smallJerry Wade of CTM Labeling Systems was interviewed for an Amazon video blog. A major supplier of automated labeling equipment for Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers, CTM was featured by the company to highlight the suppliers Amazon works with. Read more
You know what feels pretty sweet? Partnering with great people.
After all, strong partnerships make the world go around — where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Your success and theirs is integrated — synchronously beneficial and symbiotic. You work together like distinct parts in the same machine.
That’s why we couldn’t be happier with our partnered collaboration with Amazon. CTM is a major supplier of shipping and printing labelers for Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers. In fact, Amazon ships millions of products that have been labeled by a CTM label applicator. Amazon’s level of trust in our labeling machines is a source of community pride.
In the turbulent world of manufacturing and labeling solutions, you never know what’s waiting on the other end of the line. But, if you’re set up for success and prepare accordingly with proper planning, your custom labeling system should never be a headache. Read more
Think about all the times you’ve had to operate a new piece of equipment but struggled to understand it at first (like the days of the first VCRs, DVD players, smartphones, etc).
Over-engineering often adds to the challenges. And this is especially the case when related to new and sophisticated technologies like high-resolution label printers and high-speed automatic labeling machines. Don’t make that mistake with your facility’s labeling systems!
Well-engineered labeling equipment should create solutions — not exacerbate stress. Keeping the design of automatic labeling machines relatively simple and user-friendly will give you a seamless, pain-free experience and potentially boost your ROI. Read more
Boom times can be challenging. You need to schedule vendor supply orders yesterday. Keeping in front of lead times can feel like you’re trying to outrun a locomotive.
It’s a nice problem to have. Thanks to the booming economy, we’re having one of the best years in the history of CTM Labeling Systems. Fact is — times are so good it can be a challenge to keep up.
In fact, it seems as if the entire country faces this same wonderful problem — business is flourishing and it’s hard to stay ahead of demand. Last September, the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent, the lowest it’s ever been since 1969.
Investing in an automatic label applicator can be a big commitment.
Because of that, it’s important to ensure that you’re researching labeling machine manufacturers and doing your due diligence to ensure that you’re receiving the best possible machine.
If done wisely, investing in an automatic labeling system equates to increased efficiency, consistency and throughput. (Not only that, but it can all be translated into real dollars and cents!)
So, it’s important to make sure that you’re getting the best return on investment. Let’s take a look at 5 ways your business can benefit from an automatic label applicator.
Most production facilities invest in an automatic label applicator to increase efficiency. It is, after all, the most obvious benefit of labeling automation. In fact, the potential savings in regard to performance can be multiplied exponentially.
For example, let’s say that a new labeling system labels 100 products a minute and 6,000 products every hour. Calculate the manual cost by the metric of hourly wage per employee required to do it by hand and compare. That’s a very substantial cost difference quantified by lightning-fast math.
One way to optimize labor efficiency is to design the labeling machine to the unique dimensions of the product (round products, glass bottles, flat surfaces, etc). Rather than using a generic system that can’t always meet your needs, custom labeling systems are designed to address any unique challenge. The optimization potential multiplies in the details.
Naturally, increased efficiency enables you to do more. By magnifying labeling capabilities, production significantly increases (and with it, your capacity to process sales).
We’ve seen manufacturers double, triple or quadruple their production rates as labeling equipment becomes abundantly agile. They can quote larger and more valuable opportunities and accept more projects.
It all comes down to being able to get more product boxed, labeled and shipped. Labeling can be a major bottleneck if you’re not careful. But with automatic labeling machines, you’ll be able to fulfill more orders than ever before.
Automatic labeling machines minimize (and often eliminate) rework costs incurred from manual application errors.
While you may have great employees, they’re only human. Mistakes, irregular label placement and missed applications happen. Unfortunately, though, big box stores often fine you for errors that slip through the cracks.
And since increased speed intensified risk, quality control is absolutely necessary when amplifying throughput. If quality control is not central to the product design, chaos may be on the horizon. In just five critical minutes, you might end up with 500 products that need to be relabeled (or outright trashed) if the adhesive proves too strong for reapplication.
To counteract the probability of error, automatic labeling systems can incorporate scanners to mitigate problems. The scanners then provide agile warning systems to ID and remove faulty labeled products, halting production until the error is addressed.
What is one of the most significant factors in savings and production capacity? It’s a well designed, easy-to-use labeling system.
Automatic labeling machines save time and money because they increase efficiency.
Easy-to-use design means that your custom labeling solution can evolve over time. You’ll have less downtime, fewer training issues, and an intrinsic understanding of how to best optimize the automatic label applicator to boost production.
Most importantly, if your machine is user-friendly, your people will be willing to use the labeling system to its fullest capacity. They’ll want to make sure it runs as well as it can because it makes their job easier in return.
More than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day, and that number is only growing! It’s expected that at least 1.7MB of data is created every second for every person on Earth.
Do those numbers seem intimidating? If you learn to appreciate the value that data provides they shouldn’t be because data can drive ROI through the roof. Data helps businesses to cut costs and discover new opportunities for innovation and disruption.
In the age of supply chain logistics and product traceability, data has never been more critical to the labeling industry. Your labeling system can prove to be critical, not only in situations of product recall but in optimizing every aspect of your business to work more intelligently to maximize the bottom line.
For label application, you get out what you put in. Most labeling systems are not an out of the box solution and need to be tweaked to work at peak performance for your business.
More efficient production is the result of increased throughput and accessible, insight-driven data. And, in the end, efficiency means greater potential for your brand, all thanks to your labeling machine investment.
That’s success you can take to the bank, and the kind you can show your team (when ROI is soaring as a result of your automatic labeling system).
Ready to increase your ROI? Download our free guide, “The Secret to Planning a Labeling System,” and find out how to get the best automatic labeling machine on the first try.
Have a question about a labeling system for your specific needs? We’re happy to chat and point you in the right direction, whether you’re looking for a wrap labeler or a print and apply system!
As a kid, ever play blind man’s bluff?
It’s a lot like tag, but you can’t see a thing. You’re blindfolded in a field, scrambling like crazy as every kid on the block screams your name, taunting you to tag them out. Blindly waving your arms like a madman, you fumble, trip over a lawn chair, fall flat on your face.
Sound fun? In many ways, it can be a lot like buying a labeling system without first providing a proper product sample. It hurts right in the pocketbook. Read more
Buying the wrong labeling machine can keep your business from reaching the next level and leave you wondering “What the world am I going to do with this?”
Many of our customers come to us in this very predicament. They didn’t purchase the right label applicator for job, resulting in downtime and a need for high-speed capabilities.
So, how do you go about the process of finding the right labeling machine for your business needs? Whether you’re looking for top and bottom labeling, a bottle labeler or simply need to add a barcode to your packaged products, we can help! Read more
The beauty of white labeling, as well as the spirit of white labeling found in using third-party development for your labeling systems, is integrating somebody else’s technology so you can get rolling with a solution that already works.
Nowadays, a wheel seems like a pretty simple solution: it rolls, you go. But once upon a time, even the wheel was just a barebones concept that required endless experiment and failure to successfully work.
How much value are you getting from your labeling machine manufacturer? Sure, your automatic labeler puts labels on your boxes and merchandise when it’s up and running, but that’s the whole point of using high-speed labeling equipment in the first place! It SHOULD take care of your labeling needs so that you can keep your focus on the key business components.
But a labeling machine manufacturer provides much more than just a label applicator for your business. In fact, the right labeling system can provide flexibility in regard to various application types – accommodating multiple product lines, shapes and label sizes – and ultimately transform your production capabilities and increase ROI.
So, let’s find out how you can make sure you’re getting the most out of your label applicator. Read more
