The truth about label printing speed: What really matters

When it comes to shipping processes, it is often the mere speed of label printing that is discussed. However, the question of how quickly a label is generated and printed falls short. The key is to determine at which point in the process speed truly makes a difference - and where flexibility is the more important factor.

Considering label printing performance in the overall process

Where does speed originate?

The performance of label printing essentially depends on two factors:

Label creation - how quickly is the label generated, for example in the cloud?
Transfer & output - how quickly is the label sent to the printer and printed there?

True peak values can be achieved if label layouts are stored directly in the printer memory and only variable data is transferred. This is very fast, but also means a high level of dependency: Every layout change or carrier change immediately becomes a complex project.

A flexible approach

A modern approach relies on label generation completely in the cloud. All layouts are maintained centrally and returned in native printer language. This ensures high printing speed while simultaneously providing maximum flexibility. It is important to understand that it is not the system itself that "prints," but rather the WMS or ERP that outputs the labels.

The overall process

In high-volume environments, automated label applicators are common. The crucial question arises here:

How much time is there between the scale and the applicator - and how fast does the conveyor technology operate? As the weight is usually the last piece of information in the shipping process, it must be available in good time for label generation.

A proven tip is to temporarily store pre-generated labels in a ring buffer of the applicator. Thus, the printer is supplied directly from the memory, ensuring that even brief network interruptions do not pose a problem.