Colour coded labels ease picking and delivery

An innovative colour-coded labelling system has helped improve product picking and delivery efficiency for a London-based kitchen manufacturer.

An innovative colour-coded labelling system has helped improve product picking and delivery efficiency for a London-based kitchen manufacturer.

Colindale-based Allied Manufacturing Co has installed a system from GSM Printer and Label Systems as the first step in a programme to streamline warehouse operations.

Allied Manufacturing Co incorporates Kingswood Kitchens and supplies the retail trade with flat-packed kitchens.

The colour-coded labels have replaced hand-written labels and contain information including an invoice number and customer reference details.

The labels have six pre-printed colours and the system decides what colour the label should be and overprints the other five with a black box to produce a colour code for each destination.

Allied Manufacturing Co's manager of information systems Michael Hayes said: "The new system certainly makes our packaging clearer not only for the people who pick the product in the warehouse and our delivery drivers but also for our customers.

It also reduces the potential for human error when handling and distributing the goods." The new system, which includes a Zebra Z4M thermal transfer printer and bespoke software linking a Datalogic Gryphon scanner to Allied Manufacturing Co's mainframe via a PC, is the first step towards automating processes at the company's Colindale warehouse and other sites around the country.

GSM Printer and Label Systems specialises in providing label printing, bar coding and data capture solutions to a wide range of industries.

The GSM Group is one of Europe's largest manufacturers of printed labels and nameplates in metal and plastics and has manufacturing sites in Wales, Oxford and Yorkshire.

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