Forms and labels.
While they seem like simple business supplies that you can pick up at a local store or print in the office, they are a critical need for many companies. If you aren’t staying a step ahead of that need, you can end up overpaying, wasting time and sacrificing efficiency. Even worse, it can mean lost business or regulatory headaches.
That’s happened to many companies. Because forms and labels are seen as overhead, minimal effort is put into management. The business has no idea how deep the waste goes.
That’s where a Forms and Labels managed service program comes in. The business works with an outside expert, a managed services provider (MSP), to deliver a sustainable process or system for maintaining inventory. The MSP, an expert in the market, leverages its expertise to deliver superior service. It focuses on staying ahead of form changes, looking at ways to reduce expenses, saving the business significant time and boosting business efficiency. The business gets a higher level of service, while its employees can focus on higher-priority operations. Here’s how it works.
What Are Business Forms and Labels?
As much as there is a push to eliminate paper and go digital, many business operations are still built on paper forms and labels.
A form is any printed material that a business uses to manage operations. For example, for a moving business, forms are used to help the movers (or agents) move customer products. That can include regulatory forms or forms required by the government, or forms that are provided to the customer after work is completed.
Labels fill a similar role. Many companies use labels to mark products or objects, connecting information to the product. They are a shipping label or a temporary identification marker.
The Problems with Inefficient Critical Supply Processes
Companies that aren’t managing their forms and labels will run into potentially expensive problems. These include:
- Inefficient business processes: To lower costs, many companies bring the production in-house or purchase low-quality labels. This is highly inefficient. Purchasing additional inventory to lower the cost per unit will mean storing and managing the additional forms. And low-quality supplies can mean forms that can’t be read or labels that fall off your product. A single mistake can completely eliminate any expected savings.
- Higher costs and wasted time: Switching suppliers and re-evaluating the price of forms and labels every time you need them can lead to out-of-control expenses. You may overpay one time and then struggle with low-quality labels the next time. There’s no price or quality control. In addition, pricing and finding a new supplier are time-consuming tasks that remove an employee from higher-priority, more valuable work.
- Incomplete tasks: People are innovative. When a form or label isn’t readily available, they will find a workaround. Often, that workaround can lead to downstream problems, like missing information, incomplete work, regulatory issues or angry customers.
What Is a Forms and Labels Program?
Typically, a business will work with a managed services provider to deliver a label program.
The provider, or supplier, has relationships with a range of vendors for supply chain redundancy. It will evaluate the vendors with your business needs in mind to provide the right forms and labels at the optimal quality and price. A business-to-business ecommerce site is used to manage and simplify ordering.
This program is designed to simplify the ordering process while providing higher-quality products, significant time savings, competitive pricing and supply chain redundancy. It provides forms and labels in a way that meets the business's needs. Other benefits for the business include:
- Single-source ordering: Employees go to one place for all orders. Since the provider works with a range of suppliers, the business gets the benefits of competitive pricing without all the work and effort.
- Up-to-date and efficient forms: The provider will work with the form owners, including regulatory representatives, to ensure the form is correct and up-to-date.
- Bulk purchasing: Rather than paying for higher-cost, smaller orders or managing overstock, the provider purchases stock in bulk and manages that inventory for the business. Employees can place smaller orders with a much shorter lead and shipping time, and receive the reduced bulk pricing without excess inventory.
- Market-stable pricing: The price between different vendors can widely fluctuate, making it challenging to estimate costs, especially in a volatile market. An MSP has a better view of market pricing and can quickly adjust to price changes, providing the business with stable pricing.
- Quality products: Typically, the MSP will provide quality control of the inventory. This means labels will be checked for adhesion and forms will be reviewed for readability. Employees at the business have confidence in the forms and labels they use.
Looking Ahead: Implementing a Critical Supplies Program
The market is too volatile, and business processes too complex, to leave critical supplies like forms and labels up to chance.
This is why so many businesses are turning to managed services providers and business-to-business ecommerce marketplaces to manage their critical supplies. They save significant time and overhead, receive very competitive pricing, and can focus on higher-priority work rather than worrying about critical supplies.
If you are interested in learning more about a business-to-business ecommerce site or discussing a program for your critical supplies, contact GO2 Partners today.
