Shipshape labeling

As more product manufacturers enter the world of direct-to-consumer small-parcel shipping, they now have an opportunity to set up a more efficient, less costly ship shop from the get-go.

DuplexPackSlip

Raming ticks off the many benefits of the streamlined and efficient DuplexPackSlip compared to the traditional multi-step packing slip system, which typically produces high labor costs and excessive errors:

• Eliminates the expensive "Packing List Enclosed" plastic pouch, along with the labor intensive folding and stuffing.

• Guarantees accuracy with 100 percent match of shipping labels and packing slips to help avoid customer complaints that the wrong or no packing list was sent with their order.

• Reduces the number of steps in order fulfillment so more orders can be shipped by fewer employees, increasing department throughput and controlling labor costs.

• Cuts the number of consumables to inventory, saving materials and lowering costs.

• Requires only one printer (instead of one to print shipping labels and another to print packing lists), minimizing equipment costs and maintenance.

The back story
While the unique label is seeing some success now—it was promoted at several tradeshows in 2010, including PACK EXPO by several exhibitors—DuplexPackSlip has had a prolonged development. Raming attributes its ultimate commercialization to persistence and partnerships.

It all started in the late 1990s. Raming had the idea and partnered with labeling specialist Ward/Kraft Inc. to develop and patent it. They applied for a patent in 1999 and it was issued in 2001. Raming has since bought the patent outright, but with the agreement that Ward/Kraft be the exclusive manufacturer.

The product sat dormant for the next eight years as Raming worked on finding a printing equipment partner to complete the system. 

"My passion for this product caused me to walk tradeshow after tradeshow and walk up to every major printer booth—all the big guns. I would say, ‘I want to print on the back of the label.' And they would laugh at me," Raming recalls.

Then he met Rick Fox, president/CEO of FOX IV Technologies, at the ProMat show in January 2009. The company already had a two-sided print thermal unit, and was open to expanding markets for it. Fox was sold on the DuplexPackSlip concept but he had one stipulation before he would task his engineers to rebuild a printer specifically to handle the label: Get a customer first.

It would be another year before Raming had an order in hand and FOX IV built a unit. But, in April 2010, FOX IV displayed its first DuplexPackSlip-compatible TwinPrint thermal printer at a small regional show, NA 2010.

"Basically, DuplexPackSlip label technology is now a viable solution, whose time has come, because of FOX IV," Raming says.

Shannon Gazze, marketing communications manager at FOX IV Technologies, says, "It's been fun working with Bruce the last few years. He's actually sold a lot of labels in this market and believes in our solution. Hopefully, this technology will catch on to where we think it ought to be."

Raming and Gazze are realistic, though, when it comes to recognizing what's holding shipping departments back from embracing the DuplexPackSlip solution.

"It's amazing how many big companies are resisting automation because of a general fear of change," Gazze says, pointing to how shippers can't afford to be down to install and learn a new system (the FOX IV units are actually plug-and-play).

Despite the challenges, Raming and Gazze are optimistic because automation in the shipping department is an area that's been lagging and needs to catch up. "Big picture, we see the demand there long-term," Gazze says.

The label structure
The secret to the DuplexPackSlip label functionality is how it is die cut and perforated so the shipping label, once adhered to a case, can be easily removed to expose the packing slip.

The standard 5x8-in. label has a centered 4x6-in. print area. On the front of the label, perforations define this center print area, with a pull-tab zipper at the top for easy access. The back liner is die cut (nearly overlapping the perforations) so it releases when the shipping label is pulled off. The back die cut also creates an outer frame where the liner is removed so the label can stick on a box in the first place. Lance Triplett, GM of Ward/Kraft Labels Div., explains that the top perfs and bottom die-cuts are done all in one pass during the die-cutting operation.

Ward/Kraft makes two versions of the DuplexPackSlip label: One version, a patented material supplied by Technicote, has both top label facestock and back liner able to be direct thermal printed—the liner is specially treated to accept a thermal image. The other version is for direct thermal printing on the label facestock and the more-affordable thermal transfer printing on the back of the regular liner. FOX IV offers printers to accommodate both versions.

Ward/Kraft is able to preprint the 50# facestock (about 3.2 mils thick) in up to eight colors, using water-based inks, on its flexo web press.

Ward/Kraft produces DuplexPackSlip labels both fan-folded (for tabletop-printed/hand-applied operations) and on rolls (for automated print/apply operations), and sells the labels through its distributor network, which includes Premier and FOX IV.

The stickler from a technical standpoint, Triplett tells us, was getting the right tear strength on the zipper so that the label would function through Ward/Kraft's converting process, through thermal printing and through manual or automatic application and yet still remove easily by the recipient.

The "just right" process was found the old fashioned way: trial and error. "We did a lot of test runs," Triplett remembers, laughing.

Multiple printer options
FOX IV now has a family of TwinPrint Generation III systems that can handle DuplexPackSlip labels (see the "Two Print Head Applicator" video here). 

DuplexPackSlip

The print-and-apply TwinPrint can handle label rolls up to 16-in. outside diameter (OD), but Gazze says most customers elect to use the lighter 12-in. OD roll. The system tamp-applies the labels at speeds up to 25 boxes/min.

In all its units, FOX IV uses the Xi4 printhead from Zebra Technologies. Because a lot of shipping departments already use Zebra printers, they can easily swap out their existing systems to gain the newer technology with little interruption to the operation and virtually no need for extra training. Customers can use the same software, too, and simply format the unit to print the packing slip on the back of the label.

As far as making sure the right packing slip is printed on the back of the right shipping label, Gazze explains that this is partly designed-in hardware and secret software code. "We configured the control software to wait until both data sets were in the buffer, allowing us to match the labels," Gazze says, before the machine starts printing. "Providing one system with unified but separate controls for the two printheads takes a lot of variables out of the game and gives more control to the operator. Hopefully, this will eliminate some of the corporate fears that have proven to be barriers to automation thus far."

How the savings add up
Estimated total system cost is shown in the "Process Flow" diagram (below).

DuplexPackSlip

Here's how Raming breaks down the savings. First, he estimates consumables as $57.00/ thousand for DuplexPackSlip (5x8 label with direct thermal ship side and thermal transfer pack slip side) versus $61.00 per thousand for the traditional system (4x6 shipping label + pouch + 8.5x11-in. paper packing list + laser toner and maintenance).

Next, he figures the labor savings for an automated print-and-apply DuplexPackSlip by multiplying the time saved (35 seconds, which includes the time to print a packing slip, fold and insert it into a pouch, affix the pouch to the case, print/match the shipping label and adhere it, too) by an hourly labor rate of $16.25 (includes wages, taxes and benefits). 

So for every 1,000 boxes shipped, DuplexPackSlip saves 35 seconds x 1,000 = 35,000 sec. ÷ 3,600 sec. or 1 man-hour = 9.7 man-hours saved x $16.25 per hour = $157.62 labor saved for every 1,000 boxes shipped.

On top of that, DuplexPackSlip touts its sustainability advantage of repurposing the label liner. After labels are applied, the resulting leftover liner waste is 58 percent lighter than for a typical shipping label. The Packaging Assn. of Canada (PAC) even selected the Fox IV TwinPrint system as one of the top 10 sustainable innovations for 2010.

Raming and Gazze see even more opportunities as the technology finds other applications. Now that packaging has this underside printing capability for thermal labeling, what more can you do with it?

FOX IV Technologies Inc., 877/436-2434.
http://foxiv.com
Premier Print and Services Group Inc., 800/648-3677.
www.duplexpackslip.com
Technicote Inc., 800/358-4448.

www.technicote.com
Ward/Kraft Inc., 800/821-4021.

www.wardkraft.com
Zebra Technologies, 866/230-9494.

www.zebra.com

ONE LABEL DESIGN, THREE PRINTER OPTIONS

Premier Print and Services Group has identified three printer manufacturers able to process the DuplexPackSlip. The main article outlines the available units from FOX IV Technologies, the company that worked with Premier to launch the two-side-printed label/pack slip. Here are two others:

By this article's printed date, SATO America will have released its GY412 two-sided direct thermal printer. The unit is able to handle the standard 5x8-in. fan-folded DuplexPackSlip label for hand application or can be set up with an optional unwinder to accommodate roll-fed labels. Resolution is 305 dpi and print speed is up to 10 in./sec.

The low-cost Toshiba 2ST direct thermal label printer runs the standard 5x8-in. fan-folded or roll-fed DuplexPackSlip label for subsequent hand application. Resolution is 203 dpi and print speed is up to 6 in./sec.

SATO America Inc., 704/644-1650.
www.satoamerica.com

Toshiba TEC America, 949/462-2850.
www.toshibatecusa.com

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