4 Reasons You’re Afraid of Label Supply Transition

March 20, 2017

It’s not always an easy conversation to have. You have a label supply, but for some reason or another you’re uncomfortable talking about transition. As a label supplier we’ve found this usually stems from some commonly misguided or misunderstood hesitations to the topic. So we thought we’d address some of those commonly known fears to label supply transition.

It costs too much.

We hear it all the time… “Switching label suppliers will cost us money.” It’s almost a knee-jerk reaction. Rather than assuming major costs will accrue throughout the transition of your label supply, we challenge you to look at it from the mindset of “How will this process help save us money?” You might be surprised by what you find. Typically a good label supplier can show you what additional savings can be earned as a result of business transition. Better yet, they’ll be able to explain how their label supply will help eliminate future costs for your company. Take for instance efficiencies to your labeling line, ordering structures, or forecasting. Each of these could save your company thousands of dollars each year and significantly impact the total cost of your label supply. The possibilities are endless for helping you save money, so the cost of transition shouldn’t be a major concern.

It will take up too much time.

We know how it goes. Your to-do list is already running out of room and to add something like transitioning business to the mix? Dream on!  But hear us out. Label supply transition should be something that is well planned out. And that’s what we’re here for. A good label supplier will work with you to determine a series of strategic transition phases that break the project out in manageable steps. From there, we’ll take the lead. We’ll also put together a transition team who helps manage the tasks that have been outlined and provide checks and balances to the transition. Inland also has a dedicated team member whose core responsibility is to aid in business transition and streamline process integration. With support like that, the least of your worries should be your time (and your team’s time) being wasted while switching label suppliers.

I have a fear of the unknown.

Okay, we’ll be honest. We never hear this one directly, but we can sense it. You’ve become familiar with your current supplier and you’ve never had to experience the need for business transition. The last thing you want to do is throw yourself into an unfamiliar process of switching label suppliers. One way we should be able to ease your mind is by showing you examples of recently transitioned business or reviewing past experiences that are similar to your situation. For example, Inland has transitioned customers with just several SKUs to 1,500 SKUs, from a variety of food, beverage and consumer product organizations in the last year alone. There are many growing businesses who are also experiencing label supply transition for the first time. We’ll do everything we can to show you that we’re experts on providing you with an efficient, successful label supply transition.

I’m comfortable where I’m at.

We get it. There’s not always a compelling reason to switch label suppliers. Sometimes business as usual is preferred. Yet, more commonly than not we find that organizations have some form of lingering concern or reoccurring issue. This is when the importance of competitive suppliers come in. They should be the ones assuring you that your current provider is top-notch by suggesting labeling initiatives that get to the root of your concerns – whether that be lead times, cost, quality or something else altogether. Do their suggestions not add up? Then you may be right – you’re best with sticking with what you know. Just be sure you’re not settling for a mediocre label supply because it’s what you’re familiar with.

Do any of the above sound familiar to you? Then let’s talk. Label supply transition should be something that is fully supported and well executed. At Inland, we can promise both.