Joint solution improves accuracy, enhances productivity, and reduces pre-printed label costs

Loftware, the world’s largest cloud-based Enterprise Labeling and Artwork Management provider, and Seiko Epson Corporation (TSE: 6724, “Epson”), the global leader in color label printers, today announced a strategic partnership that aims to revolutionize customers’ labeling workflows.

Epson and Loftware will collaborate to develop cloud-based 1-step color printing solutions to improve print efficiency and ease-of-use. The companies will lower barriers for on-demand color label printing through seamless integration with SAP and other leading business systems.

The partnership will integrate the Epson ColorWorks series of color label printers with Loftware’s NiceLabel Cloud platforms. Businesses will be able to print from NiceLabel Cloud directly to Epson ColorWorks cloud-connected printers. This will improve productivity, reduce customers’ reliance on IT, minimize print errors, and decrease the cost and inventory of pre-printed labels.

The partnership between Epson and Loftware comes following a sharp increase in demand for high-productivity color labeling solutions as businesses invested in supply chain improvements, both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand has particularly grown among companies that employ SAP EH&S ERP systems and who plan to migrate to S/4 HANA and the cloud. These businesses manage production, warehouse, and distribution facilities and operate across multiple industry segments including chemicals, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, electronics, automotive, aerospace, and retail.

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The Epson-Loftware collaboration meets a growing demand from businesses for the use of color on products, cartons, and pallet labels for identification. Furthermore, companies in the chemical (GHS), medical device, and pharmaceutical segments are faced with the urgent need to comply with international labeling regulations requiring color. Through the integration of Epson color label printers with Loftware’s NiceLabel Cloud platforms, companies that use 2-step printing to print color labels can now move to lower cost and error-reduced 1-step on-demand color label printing.

“We’re partnering with Epson to help businesses of all sizes move their labeling into the cloud,” said Paul Vogt, VP of Channel and Alliance Strategies at Loftware. “Businesses are adopting best-of-breed partner labeling solutions and 1-step color label printing to bring radical improvements to their supply chain printing operations. We’re delighted to collaborate with Epson to deliver such transformation.”

The collaboration will bring several important benefits for customers. Businesses will gain the ability to print labels efficiently and quickly without missing production and shipping deadlines. They’ll reduce waste by eliminating leftover and unused label stocks when a label’s format changes. Additionally, organizations will no longer be required to manage the inventory of urgent procurement or customer label stocks. Finally, customers won’t need to purchase higher cost pre-printed customer short-run labels, but can instead use low-cost standard blank label stocks.

“Readiness to adapt to cloud trends is critical,” said Junkichi Yoshida, Executive Officer and COO of the Printing Solutions Division at Epson. “Our goal is to drive the growth of color on-demand printing in various kinds of businesses and applications by further enhancing the quality of our label print technology and optimizing both hardware and solutions. This partnership with Loftware is essential for our future business development, since by providing Cloud print, our Colorworks printers can connect to the systems of enterprise customers across multiple industries.”

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