LOFTWARE
Embracing traceability Another reason for investing in the cloud and supply chain printing solutions is help enhance the traceability of products wherever they may be in the supply chain. “In the supply chain, there is an emphasis on data,” says Paul. “Companies are embracing traceability, which is all about tracking and tracing the physical product. But the way they do that is by capturing the data that’s on the label or the RFID tag that is identifying the physical product. “As soon as you’ve captured that data goes up into the cloud. I’m sat in London, and I have full visibility of where my product is, in what conditions it is, at what speed it’s going, where it’s being routed, where it’s going to end up and when. And I know exactly where it came from. “Being able to track from raw materials, components and ingredients right the way through the supply chain to the consumer is the vision, but we’re not there yet. We’re getting there, but that’s very much where regulation and customer demand is driving it.” Consumer demand is driving traceability, he adds. “Previously, track and trace back through the supply chain was very much driven by efficiencies and cost reduction. But now 82% of our survey respondents said that it’s consumer preference that increasingly is the main driver behind these track and trace sustainability initiatives, which we found interesting, because that means it is consumer demand that’s saying suppliers have to be fair trade and they want to see where the ingredients came from and that the product they are buying was developed sustainably and by workers who were paid properly.” Increased traceability helps to back up any claims to ethicalness or sustainability that the manufacturer or retailer makes. “The supply chain has got so sophisticated that it’s possible to have ingredients, components or raw materials in your product, literally from anywhere in the world,” Paul says. “The consumer is now demanding to know where from exactly. That can be hard for a local manufacturer who’s sourcing ingredients from all over, which is possible, but our technology enables them to have that information. “Cloud is the enabler behind what customers
are asking for. We’re seeing all the ERP and business systems are moving to the cloud, which is enabling this kind of track and trace. “Along with that, the RFID software providers with whom we work are all going to the cloud too. And we work with data platforms that manage to capture data printed by us in Hong Kong, Havana and Hawaii and can make that data available to the brand, the supply chain owners. “We’re seeing the fulfilment of the promise that’s going back years, where a supply chain print software supplier like us is working with SAP, Kesla, Tracelink, data providers and RFID providers. You have this incredible supply chain of technology and data making all visibility possible.” Milestone events All these changes in the market helped Loftware to hit a key milestone in 2023 – the company calculated that more than 51 billion labels were produced using its technology during the 12 months. “That is pretty mind blowing,” says Paul. “And that is global, which shows the reach and the impact that we’re making, whether it’s in food, life sciences, chemicals, consumer packaged goods, automotive, electronics, it right across the spectrum of industry. It’s also indicative of how the supply chain is automating and making the next stage of track and trace and sustainability possible.” Increasing complexity As part of this, the labels themselves are getting much more complex: it’s not just a sticky label with some print on it anymore. It’s so much more than that, which makes things
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The supply chain has got so sophisticated that it's possible to have ingredients, components or raw materials in your product, literally from anywhere in the world.
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