Work-in-Process Saves Labels West $15,000 and Improves Productivity

Labels West Inc.
Woodinville, WA
Label Manufacturing and Production
“I would highly recommend this solution.  It does exactly what it is supposed to do…We are very pleased with CheckMate.  It installed easily, is stable and the technical support is excellent.”
- John Shanley, President, Labels West Inc.

About Labels West Inc.

Labels West began in 1978 and specializes in the manufacture and production of self adhesive product labels used primarily for consumer packaged goods.  They specialize in the food and beverage, wine, and personal care industries and made a name for themselves producing world-class full color labeling that is used world-wide.

Challenge

In a soft economy, Labels West came to us looking for ways to cut the cost of labor without impacting their ability to serve their customers. There are hundreds of jobs processing through their plant at any one time. Each job involves several steps, and each step takes place in a unique location within the facility.

Critical documents (drawings, specifications, etc…) travel from work station to work station through the production process in a small job folder. In order to check the status of a job, add new information or modify existing information employees would need to spend hours each week searching for these folders.

Solution

Labels West began looking for bar code software for work order tracking purposes which would allow them to track their jobs. They purchased the CheckMate tracking system to solve their problem and to automate their job tracking process. They use the unlimited user version of the software running on individual PC’s on the production floor.

Rather than expensive mobile handheld scanners, a Honeywell Voyager corded bar code scanner at each workstation was sufficient for their application and turned out to be the most economical solution. Currently about 25 employees actively use the software. Labels West opted to print a bar code directly onto the work order using a laser printer.

Results

With this simple solution Labels West is saving 20 labor hours per week which equates to a savings of $15,000 annually. The software paid for itself in under 3 months.

Contact:  Rob Freeman, V.P. Business Development

              800-342-3999; [email protected]

              www.a-barcode.com