According to a 2021 report, U.S. manufacturing companies lose more than $1 million each year because of mislabeled products. Every time companies mislabel products, they must shut down their production lines and start from scratch to ensure everything on their labels is correct. About two-thirds of these companies report having to stop their production processes for at least an hour in these instances.
Has mislabeling become a big problem for your manufacturing company? If so, make learning how to prevent mislabeling a top priority. This will improve labeling accuracy and potentially even help your company avoid regulatory compliance issues, depending on which industry you operate in.
We’ve created a guide on how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing, which should make it simple for your company to create more accurate labels for products from now on. Check out the top ways to accomplish this goal below for the peace of mind you deserve as a business owner.
Minimizing Manual Data Entry
Studies suggest nearly half of American-based manufacturing companies still do manual data entry to some degree. If your company falls into this category, changing your approach to data entry is an effective way to figure out how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing.
See how to step into the 21st century when it comes to data entry, benefiting your business by saving the time and energy you put into rote tasks.
Auto-Populate Labels With Software
While far too many manufacturing companies continue to rely on manual data entry, not all companies have gotten stuck in the past. The same study on data entry that we just referenced found that about three-fourths of manufacturing professionals have spent some time working with software solutions designed to stop mislabeling from occurring.
Invest in these software solutions and start auto-populating labels for your company’s products instead of continuing to do the process manually. This should reduce the number of mislabeling mistakes, checking that one worry off your list.
Integrate Production Systems for Coding
In addition to investing in software solutions that can auto-populate product labels, why not invest in production systems you can use for coding purposes? You can integrate these production systems into your current processes and utilize them to cut down on mislabeling incidents.
Enhance Data Accuracy
If the data you’re using to label products contains inaccuracies from the start, you can spend as much time as you want to figure out how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing without seeing any results. By ensuring your data is accurate, you can increase the chances of the correct information being placed on your company’s labels.
Here are a couple of methods you can implement to improve data accuracy on your production line.
Enforce Data Format Requirements
Whether you enter data manually or use software solutions, always adhere to the same data format requirements to keep your company’s data accurate. Deviating from what you’ve established could cause minor errors that lead to major mislabeling mistakes.
Come up with data format requirements and educate your employees on how to use them or teach your software solutions how you would like data formatted to eliminate costly errors.
Utilize Statistical Analysis To Detect Potential Data Errors
About 60% of companies admit to using data analysis to improve innovation within their operations. If you collect data but do not analyze it accordingly, you might miss the opportunity to discover how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing.
Get into the habit of analyzing the data you use during the labeling process. This will help you spot errors long before they cause trouble. Data validation and analysis can also make your manufacturing company more efficient.
Leveraging Automation Technology
Mislabeling within the manufacturing industry refers to more than just labeling products with labels that contain the wrong information. It also alludes to manufacturing companies placing labels on the wrong parts of products and inhibiting consumers from being able to read them easily.
Integrate Automated Labeling Systems
A recent survey involving almost 500 American CFOs revealed that about two-thirds of companies have introduced automation into their operations in some form or fashion. Automation and, more specifically, automated systems that can label products can work wonders for those in the manufacturing space.
By automating your products’ labeling, you can guarantee that they are labeled in the same way over and over. Integrating automated labeling systems into the production process has never been easier than in 2024.
Explore Robotic Labeling Solutions
Industrial robotics are on the rise throughout the world as more companies count on this ever-evolving technology to perform tasks on their production lines. If your company has been considering investing in robotics, now is the right time to do it.
Similar to automated systems, robotic systems can properly label products. They’re surefire solutions for those looking to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing.
Implementing Vision Inspection Systems
Is your manufacturing company still relying on humans to perform inspections on products moving down your production lines to ensure they have the correct labels? You might not have to put your faith in them any longer.
Vision inspection systems can provide top-notch results for quality control while your company labels bottled, canned, or jarred products, virtually eliminating the possibility of human error.
How Vision Inspection Systems Detect Errors
Vision inspection systems have found a home in many facilities that specialize in packaging and labeling products. They’re routinely used by companies that work in the following industries:
- Beverage
- Chemical
- Cosmetics
- Food
- Pharmaceutical
These systems include artificial vision equipment that can “look at” every product that moves down your production line and pinpoint any possible label errors. They can also automatically detect other mistakes made during the manufacturing process, such as improperly filled packaging or unwanted contaminants, and alert your employees accordingly before those products reach consumers.
Integration With Existing Manufacturing Processes
The beauty of buying vision inspection systems for your manufacturing company is that you can integrate them into your existing manufacturing processes without worrying about them being damaged. TDI Packsys offers vision inspection systems that are highly adaptable and will work well within many systems that companies already have set up.
Maintaining Consistent Labeling Practices
All the technology in the world won’t help your company prevent mislabeling in manufacturing if you don’t have strong labeling practices in place from the beginning. Your company should develop streamlined practices for labeling products and use them to maintain consistency within your operation.
Get a glimpse of how you can make this possible next.
Regular Audits of Labeling Processes
The word “audit” might send shivers down your spine since it often conjures up images of tax collectors sifting through financial records to find mistakes made by financial professionals. However, audits of a different kind have become paramount within the manufacturing industry.
Your company should take a step back and evaluate its labeling processes through regular audits. This will showcase some of the problems within these processes and allow you to make adjustments while thinking about how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing. Think of it as a form of third-party quality control.
Continuously Improve Based on Data Analysis
Remember the ever-important data analysis we mentioned earlier? You should always analyze any data your company collects to find areas in which you can improve your processes. Your data is one of the most valuable assets your company owns these days.
Promote Staff Training and Awareness
At the end of the day, highlighting the fact that your company is trying to find out how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing and speaking with your staff about it might be the most effective way to improve your quality control efforts. Talk to your employees about the downfalls of mislabeling mistakes and stress the importance of your company getting the labels on products right the first time every time.
Develop Clear and Concise Labeling Procedures
Do you get the sense your employees aren’t all on the same page when it comes to how you’d like them to label products? This is a recipe for disaster.
Come up with clear and concise labeling procedures for different products so you can train new and existing employees alike on how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing.
Train Staff on Proper Labeling Techniques
Creating the right labeling procedures for your manufacturing company is only half the battle. You’ll also need to train staff members on using the proper labeling techniques.
Decide how often you would like to put them through training courses related to labeling. The more often you can train your employees, the harder they’ll work to stop mislabeling from happening within your facility.
Let Us Show You How To Prevent Mislabeling in Manufacturing
If your company mislabels products a little too often nowadays, it can cost you time and money. Allowing mislabeled products to leave your front door can also impact your reputation.
TDI Packsys can discuss how to prevent mislabeling in manufacturing with you further. Contact us for more information on how our vision inspection systems and other solutions can benefit you and your business.
