There is a lot riding on the artwork and labeling process for companies trying to be successful in today’s fast-moving global marketplace. And getting the process right means having the best software to manage complex information effectively. Whether you manage brands at a pharmaceutical or a consumer products company, connecting your Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system with a Label and Artwork Management (LAM) system creates dramatic advantages.
This is why companies are increasingly turning to world-class software as a service (SaaS) options that allow information to flow automatically and efficiently between systems. Tapping into a SaaS provider with this capability saves valuable time on tedious keystroke entry and the delays that accompany these manual efforts. Today, there are companies so adept at incorporating a LAM into your PLM it can be done without disruptive hiccups and complications.
So why exactly does your Product Lifecycle Management system need a Label and Artwork Management system?
PLM systems are not designed to handle the routing and collaborative development of graphics and artwork for marketing materials. A LAM is dramatically faster at handing artwork creation and approvals than a manual process, saving time and effort. And if you add the fact a LAM decreases the possibility of a recall due to either labeling errors or a failure to adhere to regulatory requirements, we’re guessing it can help you save on missed sleep too.
Think of it this way: a LAM works symbiotically with your PLM system to handle projects your PLM wasn’t designed to do. This will give you the ability to share large, digital graphics files with multiple people for approval.
Graphics management is no easy feat. Keeping track of tasks with your PLM can be tricky, and if you’re not paying attention they tend to disappear altogether. With its fully integrated suite of web-based enterprise software solutions, a LAM can track the artwork development part of the process for you so it doesn’t go off course.
So what is the end result when your Product Lifecycle Management system becomes more agile with a Label and Artwork Management system?
You reduce approval times dramatically – anywhere from 20% to 50%. Hard copy approvals will be a thing of the past, as will the need to ship artwork proofs from place to place for sign-off. With online approval, your approvers will simply login, either approve the file or comment on it, and then the file will be sent to the next person in the process. This creates faster cycle times, reduces the number of cycle times, and in turn improves speed to market for your product.
The process of implementing a LAM into your PLM can be accomplished six times faster, and at a lower price, than it takes to implement a PLM. Further, even a company with a robust set of APIs can implement a LAM quickly. Once you’ve started, you will be able to take advantage of a configurable and flexible LAM that is easy to update when the need for various changes arrives.
Companies are discovering the SaaS solution to answer these needs is BLUE. In short, BLUE allows you to make the labeling and artwork process work at an increased rate, with more accuracy, and at a substantially smaller risk of recall or ship date variance. Overall, it not only saves money by providing a more direct and efficient label and artwork management process, but it also protects against catastrophic events that result in revenue loss.
