Evaluating Label Printers to Support Transportation & Logistics Operations

Bar coded shipping labels are key to sophisticated tracking and material handling systems that make efficient transportation and distribution operations possible.

Therefore the shipping label printer is a key component of these systems.

Plenty of printers can produce shipping labels. The true differentiator among these printers isn’t their purchase price, but the value they return by performing reliably, minimizing support time and costs, and consistently meeting label quality requirements.

This white paper identifies the features that save time for users, and those that simplify integration and management for IT support staff, so the printer will return maximum value for long-term, low-cost reliable operations.

Printers Are Part of the Total Service Package
Parcel, trucking, transportation and distribution companies provide their customers with convenience and speed. If they do so reliably at a reasonable price, their customers won’t have a reason to look anywhere else.

Label printers can support this value proposition or undermine it. Just as with companies, customers want to use printers that are convenient, fast and reliable.

If it is easy for customers to produce your shipping labels, you make it easy for them to work with you. Problems with the printer can cause customers to look elsewhere.

That is why it is important for printers to be easy to set up, use and manage. Here are some brief examples of how these attributes can affect the carrier’s value proposition:

• Easy to set up
• Easy to use
• Easy to manage