Getting different results than the ones you’re used to usually requires some subversive thinking. While many people are comfortable with the status quo, those who excel are constantly looking for new ways to improve the way they go about doing things. Sometimes this results in changing the way entire industries think. These people are called disruptors, and while you may have been reprimanded in grade school for being disruptive in class, you can receive accolades for being disruptive if you go about it the right way. We believe this is especially true in Marketing’s packaging and labeling disciplines.
So what’s wrong with the status quo in the labeling process? Well, for one, it leaves you exposed. Developing a label is a highly complex task and it’s usually a manual process that involves many stakeholders. It doesn’t matter how competent and hard working these stakeholders are, when there are a lot of them, the waters get muddied and that invites the likelihood of error somewhere along the line.
Think about it. Every label gets scrutinized by people in all different departments. Marketing, regulatory, packaging, product responsibility liaisons, a number of people. And each time it’s passed to a new person, they have a different and potentially contrasting approach in terms of the time and level of efficiency they use in their approval process. That adds a lot of time, which can quickly lead to missed deadlines and ship dates. While missed deadlines and ship dates might not show you exactly where the problems lie within your process, they’re solid indicators that your process is broken.
And missed ship dates aren’t the only problem. Human error often results in labeling mistakes that lead to expensive recalls or occasionally products going to market with outdated or inaccurate information that can put consumers at risk. Lost money from missed launch deadlines, content inaccuracies, unneeded waste and potential lawsuits? These are very real dangers for companies everywhere, but they don’t have to be.
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Our Director of Process Consulting, Jackie Leslie, has developed four steps utilizing Microsoft’s former VP Steven Sinofsky’s “Stages of Disruption,” outlined here:
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Assess Where You Are: Reference a maturity model that will allow you to see where you are and where there is room for improvement in your organization’s packaging and labeling capability. Try to pinpoint whether your process is repeatable, defined, managed or optimized.
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Establish objectives: This is where disruption is necessary. Try to measure everything to discover what’s working and where the process is breaking down. Focus on accomplishing key transformation tasks like reducing cycle time and increasing visibility, developing brand consistency and establishing a single source of truth. Make sure that your process is flexible and scalable. And, finally, tackle regulatory compliance and traceability.
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Detect obstacles: Clear the communication process with your team. Defining your processes across the organization is key and that can be best achieved by better communication, improved information sharing and clarifying each person’s responsibilities.
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Align People and Technology: Taking advantage of technology doesn’t mean canceling out the human element. On the contrary, software can actually enable each individual to perform to his or her potential. Technology helps divide the workflow and track it so it runs more efficiently and with less errors. It also allows individuals to work more efficiently by offering them an effective framework within which they can work.
Jackie Leslie shared these four stages to show you how you can disrupt antiquated processes and introduce change. Benefits like giving everyone a consistent way of working, a clear view of what they’re responsible for and a dashboard that allows managers to track where everyone is in the process are just a few advantages of disrupting the system and choosing a software solution for your artwork and labeling process.
Check out Jackie Leslie’s key insights, in her on demand webinar “Disrupting the Process: Controlling Label Content.”
And read more on Stephen Sinofsky’s 4 Stages of Disruption here.
