Brief

We joined Gaea on their mission to reimagine enterprise labelling.

Gaea, a global pioneer in inventory and warehouse management and supply chain execution, approached us with a unique problem.

How do you create a collaborative labelling system that redefines enterprise labelling, and keeps manufacturers, buyers, suppliers and customers on the same page?

Cloud Label Service was the solution.

The team at Gaea had envisioned an innovative, centralized and flexible supply chain labelling system, and we were tasked with the interesting challenge of building this complete system.

The Problem

Incorrect labelling impacts businesses across the world.

Enterprise labelling is the lifeline of every supply chain.

In a highly intricate logistics network with multiple stakeholders and outsourcing units, the lack of standardization in labelling can be expensive and damaging. Incorrect labelling is one of the primary reasons behind:

Expensive product recalls
Industry regulation violations
Product liability claims
Customer distrust

This particularly impacts low-margin retail supply chains. It also affects customer loyalty, triggering complications with reverse logistics.

Challenges

The need for innovation in label printing.

After a deep-dive, we quickly realized the gaps in the current system.

Lack Of Quality Control

Enterprise labelling was disconnected, with too many touchpoints for label distribution across the supply chain and no central quality control systems.

Expensive & Disparate Processes

Companies followed different labelling systems, with their own disparate infrastructure and with limited supplier communication or collaboration.

Singular Focus On Label Creation

labelling tools built before CLS were created to prioritize authoring and design rather than complex, rule-driven label generation.

Uninspired Digital Solutions

There were no strong digital solutions that could integrate SCM, cloud and on-premise applications to improve efficiency.

Research

Our vision for a collaborative cloud interface.

After robust research and feedback from multiple internal teams, we focused on a strong rules engine that could support complex computations and dynamic requirements based on the brand, division, and product line.

We also outlined some additional features.

A Need For Collaboration

Gaea needed a collaborative platform used by multiple enterprise divisions, third-party suppliers and external stakeholders for greater operational efficiency.

Deep Personalization & Detailing

Barcode and labelling standards vary across companies, and the system had to accommodate complex computations based on the brand and product line.

Assured Data Security & Privacy

Since users could directly create and print labels, stringent data security measures had to be deployed in line with the expectations of multinational companies.

Integrations & Web Service Mapping

CLS had to seamlessly integrate with leading SCM systems and cloud systems for improved label lifecycle management.

Tackling Process Complexity

CLS had to support diverse processes, driven by varying customer behaviour. Some customers enter their data manually, while others need auto-population.

Out-Of-The-Box Templates

Usable templates with core fields like product details, receipt, reverse logistics, pick ticket, and license plate numbers (LPNs) were needed to save time.

Solutions

How we infused innovation into enterprise labelling.

Together with Gaea, we built Cloud Label Service to bring enterprise labelling into the collaborative age.

Designed for cross-enterprise collaboration and functionality, CLS democratizes label template creation, management, and automation.

CLS integrates with leading SCM systems, external data sources and third party tools like Zebra Designer while supporting both cloud-driven and on-prem label printing, for a pan-industrial solution that is secure, robust and uniquely rule-driven.

Cloud Label Service allows:

Simplified label template management
Simplified upload, sharing with stakeholders and printing
Web service mapping and integration with key SCM systems
Automated rules-driven label generation
Automated reverse logistics & RMA flow for simplifying product returns
Simplified carrier integration with UPS and FedEx (and others)
Serialization support and integrated field mapping utility

During the project lifecycle, we developed some key functionalities:

Creating Strong User Personas
Building A Robust Rules Engine
Creating A Print Queue System
Building A ZPL Parser
Improving Logistics Via Carrier Integrations
Developing A PDF Builder For Herma Papers
Improving The Deep Search Functionality
Implementing A Web Service Queue System

Here's a look at some primary functionalities.

Building A Robust Rules Engine

We built a strong rules engine that could support complex computations and dynamic requirements based on the brand, division, and product line.

Creating A Print Queue System

During bulk printing from multiple servers, requests are likely to clash. Our print queue sequentially streamlines request bundles based on the printer ID.