Global provider of auto-ID solutions, SATO, has published a white paper looking at the role of traceability in a digital world and its role in competitiveness.
Digital world
The author Richard Scott stressed that no matter what the industry there is a pressure to deliver products and services of high quality while also maintaining efficiency and profits. “This drive towards optimisation is revolutionising the role that labels and printers play, particularly in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the evolution of ‘smart’ tools. We felt this was worthy of further exploration, particularly in light of the latest developments in labelling and printing technology,” he added.
Titled Traceability in a digital world: using intelligent printing to increase security through the supply chain, the white paper reveals the necessity of being proactive in the evolving digital landscape and explores how each component in the supply chain should add value. This latter point is found to be particularly true for printers, with the white paper going into detail about application-enabled printing, where intelligence is placed within the printer itself.
“Giving the printer an identity within a larger communications system and enabling it to not only receive information but also relay information to other objects has major benefits for traceability,” said Scott. “The resulting improvements in data accuracy will in turn help to deliver greater supply chain security.”