Labels typed at the end of the shift
Despatch has twenty pallets for three depots. For each one, someone opens the label software, types the product, the number of cases, the batch code and best before date, and prints a label with a new SSCC number. Then, for the depots that want it, the same details are typed into the EDI portal as an advance shipping notice.
A pallet gets relabelled after a last-minute change and the ASN still has the old count. The depot's goods-in scan does not match, and the delivery is held or rejected.
Why pallet labels are still manual
Label software on a PC by the despatch door works on its own. It does not know the order, the stock or the batches, so all of that has to be typed. And the ASN is a separate system again, so the same data is typed twice by people working to a haulier's collection time.
- Label templates are set up per customer and edited by hand.
- SSCC numbers are generated by the label software with no link to the order.
- Batch codes and dates are copied from the pallet by eye.
- ASNs are typed separately and are not checked against labels.
- Relabelled pallets are not reflected in the delivery paperwork.
What goes wrong at the depot
Deliveries held or refused because labels and data do not match. Charges from customers for non-compliant deliveries. Time at the despatch door that holds up the haulier. And your record of which batch went to which depot, which your traceability records rely on, depends on the typing being right.
Pallet labelling we build at despatch
- Pickers build pallets against the order on a tablet or handheld scanner, scanning cases or selecting finished stock with its batch and date.
- When the pallet is complete, the system allocates an SSCC from your company's number range and prints the label in the layout each customer requires.
- Labels are printed on your existing label printers wherever they can be driven from the network.
- The pallet data, SSCC, product, cases, batch and dates, is stored against the order.
- The advance shipping notice is built from the stored pallet data and sent through your EDI provider, so it matches the labels exactly.
- Relabelling a pallet updates the stored data and the ASN before it is sent, and delivery notes print from the same data.
| Output | Built from |
|---|---|
| Pallet label with SSCC | Order, pallet build and stock data |
| Advance shipping notice | Same pallet data |
| Delivery note | Same pallet data |
| Despatch record by batch | Same pallet data |
A quieter despatch door
Labels print as pallets are finished, without typing. The ASN always matches what is on the lorry, because both come from the same record. Depot rejections for data mismatches become rare. And the despatch record, pallet by pallet with batches and dates, is there when anyone needs to look it up.
Despatch supervisors get a live view of the loads being built, so they can see which pallets are still open when the haulier is due and move people to the ones that are behind, rather than finding out when the driver is already waiting.
It also makes new customers with their own labelling requirements easier to take on. Their label layout is set up once and printed from the same data as everyone else's.
Is your despatch like this?
- Pallet label details are typed into label software.
- ASNs are typed separately from the labels.
- Deliveries have been held over label or ASN mismatches.
- Relabelled pallets leave the paperwork out of date.
- Batch-to-depot records depend on handwriting.