Turning a Commodity Into an Opportunity
In Thursday’s post, I talked about the importance of getting the best custom labels and mentioned three things necessary for you to do that. In that post, I focused on the importance of having an experienced and resourceful partner in your corner (and how to recognize one).
Today, I’d like to move on to the second “must” for the best custom labels: having a plan. Sounds obvious, I suppose. But too many businesses look at commodities differently, putting little thought or strategy into acquiring them. They assume that the price, performance and supply process are all fairly standard, thus worthy of little time or energy. That, frankly, is short-sighted and may well be costing your company money and lost opportunity.
Why a Plan for Custom Labels Matters
By working with your experienced print procurement partner, you will make smarter decisions about your custom label practices. Big advantages will come with developing an ongoing plan to obtain the labels or tags you need at the right time and price, without wasting time or worrying about inconsistency or ordering errors.
There are many tangible benefits with a custom label plan. But here are four I think are most important. And they happen to form a pretty “nice” acronym
A N.I.C.E. Plan for Custom Labels
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No Worries
With a plan in place and a partner to depend on, “no worries” is what you have. You can relax, rather than fearing the negative results of different people at different times trying to order labels, making mistakes and wasting money.
And you don’t have to be concerned about supply issues, either, such as shortages or overstock. With a plan, those decisions are automated or scheduled in advance. Thus, your business will flow smoothly. (At least the labels will—the rest, of course, is up to you!)
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Inventory Reduced
You don’t have to store huge quantities, because labels and tags can be delivered on your schedule, at the speed of your operation. And they are delivered to wherever they are needed.
At Superior, we can (when appropriate) incorporate our Corporate Kiosk™ electronic procurement technology. That streamlines the process. It sets up automatic resupply or allows authorized individuals across your enterprise to place orders for pre-approved labels and tags through an online portal.
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Costs Controlled
With a custom label plan, you eliminate unpleasant pricing variations that can happen when different people, often unfamiliar with labels or printing, are charged with making reorders. They choose unfamiliar suppliers or make mistakes in writing the specifications, requiring reprints. A plan can prevent this.
You also get the cost savings of buying in large volumes without the hassles and space requirements of stocking them once you do. Your label spend is minimized and stabilized.
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Efficiency Achieved
This is actually the one that sums it all up. Every business strives to operate as efficiently as possible. That is the most important factor in building the bottom line. Having a partner and a plan for your custom labels checks all the boxes.
- Quality? Assured.
- Costs? Reduced and controlled
- Reliability? You can “plan” on it.
- Employee Impact? Little to none
- Lost Time or Opportunity Costs? Negligible
- Risks? Virtually eliminated
Put simply, you and your employees get to focus on handling your business. An expert partner, following a prearranged plan, handles tags and labels flawlessly. You can’t get any more efficient than that.
Make Us Step #1 In Your Plan
A plan is only as good as the expertise behind it. Few other partners can match our nearly 100 years’ experience in making businesses more efficient. We can help you make the best decisions on type and quality of label, scheduling and many other factors involved.
Our ISO certification holds us to high standards in our procedures and customer service, so you know you can trust us with the details. And if you want proof of results, look to the three consecutive Best of Print and Digital awards we’ve earned on the strength of feedback from our customers.
On Thursday, I’ll close this series on the best custom labels with my third “must-have” component: industry personalization. We’ll discuss how the “right” label can mean many different things depending upon your business. Of course, you don’t have to wait until Thursday. You can also just contact Superior today. This whole post was about plans, and I can’t honestly think of a better one.
