VDC Research: RFID, Barcode, Retail Automation & Self-Service Market Blog

Preview of VDC's Barcode Label Generation Software Report

Barcode labeling is mission-critical to everyday operations for many enterprises. Organizations continue to invest in and adopt barcode technologies to accomplish a multitude of business objectives, including improving operations, ensuring compliance with industry standards, gaining visibility into processes, and associating more information with assets, products, and personnel. The demand for barcode label generation software has grown with the expanding adoption of barcode technology systems as a whole. When it comes to software, having fewer moving parts translates to better reliability. Flexibility, configurability and solution customizability are critical criteria influencing enterprise end users’ label software purchasing decision. Seamless integration with disparate data capture hardware solutions and enterprise software systems (including ERP and WMS) will be critical for application success. With traceability becoming a necessity and finding use in product recalls and market withdrawals, inventory accuracy, and safety and quality assurance checks, enterprises are increasingly turning to their solution partners for support. Each enterprise also has its own specific business processes and requirements that its barcode software investments must accommodate. The ability to configure off-the-shelf software in-house or via third-party partners, with minimum hassle, is an increasingly desirable characteristic.

Through innovative product features and complementary service offerings, vendors stand to distinguish their brand from competitors. From their solution partners, organizations seek configuration flexibility, vertical market/domain expertise, training and consulting services, and premier support. VDC believes that solution providers need to align their portfolio and service delivery models with what is now, new and next in the software industry – including cloud-based offerings, licensing options, mobile device applications, and hosting services.

In this research report, VDC discusses the fragmented vendor landscape for barcode label generation software solutions along with end user requirements and expectations of their solution partners. To learn more about the contents, click here.

Walmart’s Adoption of the PTI Compliance Mandate and What it means for the Produce Sector

In an effort to achieve greater transparency in the supply chain and to ensure customer confidence in their product, Walmart has mandated that their fresh produce suppliers must use case labels compliant with the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI). Walmart began enforcing the mandate as of November 1, 2013 but will not begin rejecting produce until January 1, 2014 in an effort to work with suppliers. With Walmart leading the way, other retailers are sure to follow suit. 

PTI is a voluntary, industry-wide effort promoting the adoption of GS1 standards with a goal of “implementing case-level electronic traceability in the produce industry,” according to the PTI website. Widespread acceptance of this standard would vastly improve and maximize the effectiveness of current trace-back procedures, while also helping prevent and control the outbreak of foodborne illnesses. Suppliers will be able to take advantage of a vastly improved supply chain and data interchange, especially in the event of a recall, and retailers and consumers will benefit from greater visibility into the origin and remaining shelf-life of fresh produce.

Walmart’s mandate of PTI compliant labels will serve to educate the broader retail and produce distributor (including growers, packers and processors) communities, making them aware of the wide-ranging benefits of such a standard in enhancing product quality and expediting delivery. We fully expect comparable retailers to seek to limit Walmart’s resulting product differentiation by mandating this standard with their produce vendor partners.

Rigorous labeling standards, covering everything from format and orientation down to required displayed information, could be a significant obstacle for suppliers scrambling to adhere to this requirement. VDC believes that PTI compliance regulations create a tremendous opportunity for label generation software and hardware vendors not only through the sales of their products, but through training, support, and implementation services for growers and suppliers.

Food traceability initiatives (including PTI and the recently revised country-of-origin labeling requirements) are designed to keep consumers well-informed about the source of their food, helping them make intelligent purchasing decisions. We certainly do not want another horsemeat scandal on our hands now, do we?

(A special thank you to Scott O’Leary for his significant contributions to this blog post. Scott is currently a Research Assistant in VDC’s AutoID & Data Capture practice.)