How Thermal Printing Improves Your Material Handling Operations

Thermal printers like those in the Toshiba printer line ensure that shipping labels are easily read and scanned, reducing errors while enhancing overall efficiency. Image courtesy of Toshiba

Field-tested technology provides labels that withstand harsh environments, facilitate real-time data access and optimize workflows.

By: Jessica Bernardo, Contributor

Thermal printing technology offers significant advantages for businesses in material handling! It accomplishes this by addressing myriad issues while enhancing overall efficiency, accuracy and traceability. Here’s how you can take advantage of this ultra-reliable, field-tested technology to transform your business’ material handling.

First off, what is thermal printing exactly? Thermal printing is a technology that allows you to create clean, sharp and easily identifying labels and barcodes that fulfill wide-ranging shipping, logistics and material handling purposes. Leading thermal printers create such labeling and barcodes and QR codes very quickly (as many as 60 per minute) with the complementing resolution to match.

IMPROVED INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

A primary benefit of thermal printing is its impact on inventory management. Accurate tracking of inventory is crucial to sidestep overstocking, stockouts and inefficiencies. Thermal printers produce high-quality barcode labels that facilitate real-time tracking of inventory items. This real-time capability improves the accuracy of inventory counts and reduces discrepancies while ensuring optimal inventory levels. Multiple categories of printers manage specific volume requirements you may have.

Desktop and mobile systems for example deliver around 500 to 1,000 barcode labels per day with industrial versions easily creating 3,000 such labels a day.

PRECISE PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION

Misidentification of products can lead to errors in picking, packing and shipping processes, resulting in operational delays and worst of all, customer dissatisfaction. Thermal printers create clear, durable labels for accurate product identification. By ensuring that each product is correctly labeled, your business may significantly reduce errors and enhance the efficiency of your material handling processes.

BETTER TRACEABILITY AND COMPLIANCE

In industries where traceability and regulatory compliance are critical, thermal printing presents an ideal solution. Barcodes and QR codes generated by thermal printers enhance the traceability of products throughout the supply chain. This capability is essential for meeting industry regulations and standards, as well as for facilitating product recalls if necessary. Better traceability helps maintain detailed records of product movements, which is vital for both compliance and quality control.

EFFICIENT SHIPPING AND RECEIVING

Thermal printing technology streamlines shipping and receiving operations by producing high-quality shipping labels improving speed and accuracy. Whereby inaccurate or unclear shipping labels lead to misrouted packages, delays and increased costs. Thermal printers ensure that shipping labels are easily read and scanned, further reducing errors in the shipping process while enhancing overall efficiency.

CONSISTENT PALLET AND CARTON LABELING

Inconsistent or unclear labeling on pallets and cartons confuses while halting material handling processes. Thermal printers produce durable labels that withstand various environmental conditions for clear and consistent labeling to help fast-track your shipments while promoting client satisfaction and loyalty. This consistency is crucial for maintaining order and efficiency in warehouses and distribution centers, where quick identification of pallets and cartons is essential.

DURABILITY IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

Material handling often takes place in environments that can be harsh on labels, such as those with extreme temperatures, humidity or abrasion. Thermal printing technology creates labels that are resistant to these conditions to ensure they remain intact and legible. Such durability is vital for maintaining the integrity of labeling information, which is crucial for accurate material handling. Thermal transfer industrial printers perform exceptionally well in these harsh conditions.

REAL-TIME DATA ACCESS

Access to real-time data is essential for effective decision-making and responsiveness in material handling operations. Thermally printed labels, equipped with barcodes or RFID tags facilitate such real-time data capture and access. This capability allows businesses to monitor the movement of goods accurately while making more informed decisions based on up-to-the-minute information. Both desktop entry-level and high-end industrial printers accommodate specialty requirements such as RFID tags.

COST CONTROL

Thermal printing is a cost-effective solution for labeling needs. Unlike traditional printing methods requiring expensive ink or toner, thermal printers use heat-sensitive paper or ribbons, which are generally much more affordable. Thermal printers themselves also cost less while requiring less maintenance.

LABOR EFFICIENCY

Manual labeling processes are time-consuming and prone to human error. Thermal printing systems may significantly automate these tasks while bolstering labor efficiency and reducing the likelihood of errors. Such automation enables your employees to focus on more important tasks while enhancing your team’s overall productivity.

WORKFLOW OPTIMIZATION

Efficient workflows are essential for smooth material handling operations. Poor labeling can slow down these workflows, leading to bottlenecks and inefficiencies. By delivering fast and accurate labeling, you’ll optimize your workflows using thermal printing technology.

As I touched on, thermal printing technology presents a ton of benefits for strengthening your material handling operations! From enhancing inventory management and improving product identification to ensuring better traceability and compliance, thermal printers address everyday processes. They provide durable, high-quality labels that withstand harsh environments, facilitate real-time data access and optimize workflows.

Thermal printing is also more cost-effective and improves labor efficiency. By integrating thermal printing into your material handling operations today, you can expect to achieve greater accuracy, efficiency and overall operational excellence. WMHS

Jessica Bernardo is Toshiba America Business Solutions’ Senior Product Marketing Manager, Barcode and Label Print Solutions. Toshiba label printers are counted on daily for retail transactions and deliveries all over the world. From receipts to tags, custom labels to barcode shipping labels, Toshiba’s long-lasting print heads provide a low total cost of operation with minimal maintenance. Visit https://business.toshiba.com/products/label-receipt-printers