CHALLENGES IN LOGISTICS
With so many different elements involved with the distribution of products and goods, timing is everything. The goal is frictionless logistics that are efficient and secure. The boost in demand over the past few years combined with the impact of the global pandemic has increased pressure, timeframes, and costs.
Documents such as shipment details, barcodes, shipping notes, labels, inventories, rotas, and receipts sit at the heart of logistics. Handling confidential documents must be done securely and quickly. Many logistics businesses are battling with an old unwieldy print environment which is costing them time and money. Downtime, disruptions, delays, and security breaches pose serious threats to deadlines and budgets. As a sector, contributions to global emissions are recognized as high, so additionally there is a drive to support sustainable goals where possible.
HOW PRINT MANAGEMENT CAN HELP
Meeting high-security requirements, saving money, improving efficiency and productivity are all benefits of using a great print management solution. Here are many factors logistics companies need to consider.
COST SAVINGS
There are many print management features that assist with cost savings. These include usage reports that accurately track print services activity and provide insights to make informed changes to reduce print costs. For example, IT can see which printers are heavily used and which are not and therefore can be taken out of commission or moved to relieve the burden on other printers.
Another cost saving feature is predefined print rules, for example those that enforce duplex, or black and white printing, which can reduce print consumables. As a last example, the right print management solution should have an architecture that enables you to reduce the number of print servers needed. Ideally, the solution can be hosted on a private cloud or public cloud eliminating the need to purchase and manage servers altogether.
COMPLIANCE & SECURITY
Whether regulatory or a company’s own privacy and security policies, document security and data privacy are a must. The authentication feature ensures that print jobs are only released to the authorized user while print services activity reports provide an audit trail to prove compliance. Password-protected PDF files provide additional security on financial or client documents and information. Additionally, access to printers or certain printer functions can be restricted to certain individuals or groups of individuals.
FLEXIBILITY & SIMPLICITY
Print management solutions need to be as easy for the IT team to deploy and manage as it is for staff to use. This means users should have the ability to print their documents at any printer whether in the warehouse, sorting center, back-office, or dock side. Users need to be able to quickly access their print jobs through login credentials or card swipe. And now, more commonly, users should be able to “log into” a printer via their mobile phone and print documents without ever touching the printer.
EFFICIENCY & PRODUCTIVITY
Busy shipping centers, loading docks and transfer hubs need easy ways to track material and the documents associated with them. Automatic detection of scanned documents using bar codes and optical character recognition supports fast, digital processes and creates new efficiencies while helping the logistics sector reduce its carbon footprint.
Download the YSoft SAFEQ in Logistics Case Study
Y SOFT HELPS KEEPS THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY MOVING
As a critical business process, we understand that printing services must be reliable, secure, and cost-effective to aid in keeping the world’s goods moving. YSoft SAFEQ offers the features mentioned here as well as many more. Further, SAFEQ can be deployed in any way that suits your business: using cloud-based or on-premises/private data centers infrastructure. Contact us to learn more.
MATTHEW WRIGHTON
My role in Y Soft is to lead the product strategy and execution for YSoft SAFEQ ensuring customer insights and our company’s strategy and goals are supported by those in product development. I am a family man with 3 children. I love sports, both watching or participating, especially football. Outside of sports, I love to socialize and enjoy a nice glass of wine with good food.
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