New Enterprise Labeling Maturity Model Offers Framework to Assess Labeling Effectiveness

Outlines Five Stages of Enterprise Labeling Maturity and Provides Roadmap for Continuous Improvement

Portsmouth, NH — August 11, 2020 - Loftware, the global leader in Enterprise Labeling and Artwork Management Solutions, today announced the Enterprise Labeling Maturity Model, which offers a methodology to evaluate the current effectiveness of Enterprise Labeling. This interactive framework highlights capabilities and processes over five specific stages of maturity and offers companies a roadmap for continuous improvement in labeling across their supply chains and global operations.

Companies can use this model to diagnose and better understand the maturity of their current labeling efforts, enabling managers to develop a comprehensive Enterprise Labeling improvement plan. The framework outlines five progressive stages of maturity based upon key criteria referred to as ‘dimensions.’ These nine dimensions include essential labeling components such as standardization, automation, ownership, printing & output, and compliance. An interactive assessment allows companies to complete an online survey to identify strengths and weaknesses across a continuum and determine their current level of Enterprise Labeling maturity. Companies that take the assessment receive a personalized report, enabling them to review their current labeling maturity and then identify areas needed for growth and improvement.

“This maturity model offers business leaders insight into their labeling and allows them to identify a clear path to prioritize efforts and ensure that labeling is optimized.” stated Loftware President and CEO, Robert O’Connor, Jr. “Every company is different in terms of their global requirements and ability to support evolving business demands. This model offers all companies a framework for the key steps needed to progress to the next stage of labeling competency,” he added.

The Enterprise Labeling Maturity Model outlines a progression of five distinct stages ranging from limited labeling capability and processes to comprehensive. The first stage is the “React” or reactionary stage, when labeling is primarily manually driven with siloed initiatives. The second stage extends to “Manage,” when companies are proactively managing and planning labeling. At Stage three, “Integrate” represents companies in which labeling has become integrated with data sources for increased accuracy and consistency. Next, at Stage 4 “Orchestrate” represents companies which have standardized and centralized labeling company-wide. At the final stage, “Extend” focuses on labeling and labeling processes being optimized and extended beyond the organization to suppliers and business partners.

To help determine at which stage a company presents, participants completing the survey assessment are provided with a labeling maturity score between one and five. They also are provided with a personalized report intended to show them how to:

• Evaluate current effectiveness of labeling capabilities
• Determine key steps required to achieve higher levels of competency
• Collaborate with internal teams regarding next steps for labeling
• Develop a blueprint to prioritize labeling investments

The Enterprise Labeling Maturity Model was developed as a result of working with companies in the labeling space for more than 30 years to identify the most critical areas of development and growth when it comes to supply chain labeling. That work, with thousands of leading global companies from across a wide range of key industries, includes decades of research, extensive surveys and feedback from domain experts.

About Loftware

Loftware is the global market leader in Enterprise Labeling and Artwork Management solutions with more than 5,000 customers in over 100 countries. Offering the industry’s most comprehensive digital platform, with SaaS, cloud-based and on-premise solutions, Loftware redefines how enterprises create, manage and print complex labeling and packaging artwork and scale across their operations. Loftware solutions integrate with SAP®, Oracle® and other enterprise applications to produce mission-critical barcode labels, documents, RFID smart tags and packaging artwork. Our combined platform–whether for labeling, artwork management or both–enables customers to uniquely meet regulatory mandates, mitigate risk, reduce complexity, ensure traceability, improve time to market and optimize costs as they meet customer-specific, brand, regional and regulatory requirements with unprecedented speed and agility.