CASE STUDY: Print and Apply Shipping Labeling System

The Problem: Reduce Labor in Shipping Manifest Operation

CASI was contracted by a direct sales organization with the task of reducing labor associated with their shipping manifest operation. Before the automated system was installed, eight people were involved in the shipping operation.

The Solution: Automatic Manifest Labeling System

CASI proposed an automated shipping labeling system using our SolidLabel Module to control the labeling process and SolidComm to interface with the Multicarrier Shipping System.

System Overview

Cartons and envelopes are manually fed by an operator into several zones of zero pressure accumulation conveyor in front of the In Motion scale. A license plate barcode representing the order is read from the top of the carton. This data is sent to the Multicarrier shipping system for rate shopping and a Zebra Programming Language (ZPL) formatted label is returned to SolidLabel.

The carton travels to a blade stop that squares up the carton and the shipping label is printed and applied to the top of the carton. A label confirmation barcode scanner confirms label placement.

If an exception occurs such as a no read from one of the bar scanners, item not found in the database, etc, the carton is diverted from the conveyor using a SortMaster 130 LD pusher.

Benefits from the new efficiencies

The in print and Apply Shipping Labeling System lowers labor costs and allows the faster processing of orders. Total manpower was reduced from eight to two to process the orders. The system also allows peak volume to grow substantially without major system modification from approximately 5000 cartons per day to a peak of 12,000 in a shift.