When the pandemic hit, Robert Parker, CEO of Label King, CA, knew the company needed to streamline its workflow and provide online tools.
Robert Parker admits that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, his company, Label King, was using its Label Traxx software relatively minimally.
“We were just doing the basics – estimating, packing slips, job tickets – that sort of thing,” he says. “But then Covid hit, and suddenly we had employees working remotely. So, we went on a journey with the goal of simplifying things, and part of that simplification process was our move to use Label Traxx to create purchase orders and invoices. And since doing, things have been so much easier for us – my only regret is not doing it sooner.”
Based in San Diego, CA, Label King has been in business since 2002 serving a multitude of end-use markets, and since that time has printed more than 2.9 billion labels. Not only is that a lot of labels, but also a lot paperwork.
“Prior to transitioning to Label Traxx, we used Quickbooks, and were dealing with so much extra paperwork while slogging through redundant data entry processes. Label Traxx has allowed us to become completely streamlined,” Parker says. “An order comes in, Label Traxx creates a job ticket, confirmation and invoice – all at once. The confirmation goes to the customer to confirm price and quantity, next the ticket then goes to production, then we print the labels from the job ticket and ship using the packaging slip. We then invoice straight from the packing slip.
“We’ve gotten rid of so much paper, and we are no longer bogged down with redundant product entry,” Parker says, adding, “Plus, being able to invoice faster helps our receivables – the quicker you invoice, the quicker you get paid.”
The Label King team was easily also brought up to speed on the software. “It’s very intuitive,” Parker says. “Our staff was able to get dialed in very quickly.”
Label King is in the early stages of its digital printing journey, and one of its first moves was to hire Turi Fiske, an experiencesd graphic designer with a deep understanding of the labels and packaging industries. In addition to adding Fiske, who spearheads the new digital department, the company also opted to invest in Siteline from Label Traxx – a web portal for end users to order labels, review their products and view order history. The tool is proving to be a tremendous customer service asset and is poised to play a critical role in the new digital department.
“With Siteline, we’re so much more efficient with large, multi-line orders,” Fiske says. “Order entry has been decreased dramatically. As we start serving more and more customers with needs for several SKUs, we want to make things as easy as possible for them. And providing them with the ability to place their own orders with Siteline accomplishes that.”
As Label King ramps up its digital business, Siteline is a key component. “It’s a real value-add and a huge time-saver. It’s so intuitive,” Fiske says. “Being mobile-friendly and visual are just a couple aspects of Siteline that will make a real difference for our customers – and they are going to love it.”
Parker acknowledges that its investment in Label Traxx and Siteline is helping take Label King to a whole new level. “If we did things the old way, it would be a nightmare.” He concludes, “Our goal is to continue growing our business with the great team we have in place, and the way to do that is increasing what they are able to do with enhanced efficiency – and we are well on our way to doing just that.”
