Meeting Growing Traceability Needs: Why More Manufacturers and Distributors Need Industrial Coding and Marking Solutions)
Traceability is essential, especially in the pharmaceutical, automotive and food sectors, to meet strict compliance and regulatory requirements. A new market research report forecasts annual growth across the sector of almost 5%, reaching a total value of US$13.2billion by 2034.
Table of Contents
Traceability in the B2B market
Integration, automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) have become integral parts of business to business (B2B) operations. Materials and stock visibility throughout the supply chain enhances operational efficiency and improves customer service. It also plays an important role in the fight against fraud and counterfeiting. As more companies turn to B2B ecommerce, robust labeling is essential to simplify and streamline inventory and shipping management.
Increasing online sales of packaged food and strict safety requirements make this sector one of the fastest growth areas. Pharmaceutical production also requires reliable serialized labeling so coding equipment and software need upgrading. The rise of electric vehicles and connected devices means component traceability is more important than ever.
However, there are challenges, including:
- high initial investment costs
- advanced training required due to complexity in many sectors
- rapidly developing technology
- regional differences in regulatory and compliance requirements
- sustainability throughout the supply chain.
To meet demand and satisfy these wide-ranging challenges, innovative solutions will characterize the industrial marking and coding sector.
Advanced coding and marking solutions
Inkjet, laser and thermal transfer printers each account for around a third of the market. Packaging and labeling represent the largest applications, often integrated into production lines. Uses range from boxes and bags to cases and pallets. As well as branding it includes expiry dates, batch numbers and barcodes. Personalized packaging is an expanding area with, for example, variable quick response or QR codes for use in ecommerce fulfillment.
Digital coders will dominate new solutions to support networking with data systems for serialization and fast, demand-responsive reconfiguration. By 2030 advanced printers will offer Industry 4.0 capabilities. Automated coding and inspection stations linked to central control systems will streamline and simplify operations. Customers and manufacturers can both benefit from seamless interconnectivity through machine learning in the cloud.
Seamless online solutions
Purpose designed software as a service (SaaS) ecommerce solutions like Cloudfy simplify implementation of advanced marking and coding. Whether you sell perishable goods, digital downloads, or items under warranty, you can easily apply serialized license numbers to orders.
Powerful serialized inventory and order management tools simplify your B2B sales. You can use your preferred license generation software to create lists of serialized license numbers in your enterprise (ERP) system or via Cloudfy’s administration dashboard. When customers place their online orders, automatic tagging provides reliable and robust traceability. You can collaborate with supply chain partners to achieve end-to-end visibility. You can streamline operations with:
Enhanced ecommerce fulfillment
Even if you offer thousands of unique stockkeeping units (SKUs) online you can easily manage product labels and packaging markings.
Personalized packaging
Digital printing offers fast and cost-effective solutions for short runs of customized packaging or on-demand labels.
Improved regulatory compliance
The pharmaceutical and food sectors require unique coding and expiry dates on packaging. Strict international product tracking and safety standards are adding complexity to sales and fulfillment. With advanced tools in the cloud, you can simplify and automate your processes.
Supply chain transparency
Your customers want real time information about their orders. You can meet their needs with end-to-end visibility throughout your supply chain.
Example: CITB
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) provides subscription services for e-book and hard copy materials. They needed an online store to provide a seamless automated workflow. With their Cloudfy solution customers can download e-books or order hard copies with unique license keys.
Find out how to simplify, save and scale your B2B operations with Cloudfy. Book a free demonstration today.
