Maximizing CPG profits with supply chain visibility

Introduction/Summary

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, from global leaders like Coca-Cola and Nestlé to niche brands like BarkBox and Scrub Daddy, play a crucial role in our daily lives and the economy. They support over 22 million jobs and generate $2.5 trillion in annual GDP. Yet, the CPG sector faces significant challenges including counterfeiting, rising costs, labor shortages, regulatory pressures, and shifting consumer preferences. These disrupt supply chains and pressure profitability.

To overcome these hurdles, CPG companies are adopting cloud-based solutions that streamline operations from product conception to consumer delivery. These systems improve efficiency, enhance visibility, and ensure regulatory compliance, enabling manufacturers to adapt to evolving demands while boosting profitability and resilience.

Recommend end-to-end Cloud-Based Solution

Modern CPG operations demand agile, cloud-based systems to manage the entire product lifecycle — from new product development (NPD) to manufacturing and distribution. These solutions integrate seamlessly with enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), warehouse management (WMS), and product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, offering real-time visibility and control. To stay competitive, CPG manufacturers need an end-to-end, cloud-based solution that streamlines and automates packaging artwork and labeling processes. This solution offers:

• Accelerated innovation: Parallel development of products and packaging increases speed to market.
• Faster time-to-market: Enhanced traceability and compliance streamline new product development, increasing speed to market.
• Improved compliance: Automated workflows and processes ensure compliance with evolving regulations, reducing the risk of errors and recalls.
• Counterfeit prevention/brand protection: Secure, tamper-evident labeling deters counterfeiting and protects consumers.
• Enhanced collaboration: Centralized data eliminates redundancies and streamlines approvals.
• Improved scalability & integration: Seamless integration with existing systems eliminates redundancies and ensures brand consistency.
• Cost reduction: Streamlined processes lower COGS by minimizing labeling errors and waste.

Real-world success stories

CPG companies that embrace digital automation solutions are impressed with the results. For example:

• BIC Automated 100% of packaging artwork workflows, tripled project speed, and improved collaboration to eliminate costly errors. BIC, a leading manufacturer of stationery products, lighters, and shavers, faced increasing demand for production artwork and growing project complexity. Production artwork timelines ranged from one to four weeks, while custom samples for customer meetings took up to two weeks, slowing sales and customer response times. By implementing Loftware’s artwork management solution, BIC improved the accuracy and efficiency of over 10,000 product packaging projects. They automated 100% of their artwork workflows, reduced costly errors, and tripled project delivery speed through advanced collaboration workflows.
• PING, Inc.: Reduced label creation time from two weeks to one day, streamlined global operations, and ensured business continuity with cloud-based labeling. Similarly, PING, Inc., a leading golf club manufacturer, transitioned its labeling operations to the cloud to support expanding production and ensure global business continuity. Producing over 10,000 golf clubs daily, PING relied on a robust labeling system to manage barcodes critical to its production workflow. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PING sought a solution to address downtime and support global facilities. With Loftware’s cloud-based labeling solution, PING reduced label creation time from two weeks to one day, improved global support, and built a scalable IT platform for future growth. The solution enhanced print speed, eliminated delays, and enabled real-time troubleshooting, streamlining operations, and meeting growing production demands.
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