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Packaging artwork has become an integral part of the product manufacturing process. To stay relevant in the current competitive landscape, manufacturers now need to launch their products much faster. With the rise of e-commerce and customized products, manufacturers must use modern artwork management platforms to create attractive, compliant, and error-free labels that stand out on shelves. 

The cost of artwork management

Artwork management is a laborious process that can take up a lot of resources. Without the right tools for the job, brands can end up spending a lot more then they need to. Often these costs are not visible up front. A launch delayed by a week can also hurt a brand’s revenue quite a lot. Here is now using a legacy system for artwork management is hurting your brand. 

#1. Risk of Recalls

The highest cost comes from labeling errors. Labeling errors do not just cost money but can cost you the entire brand. The situation is even more grave in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences industry where labeling errors for a single specimen can cost as high as $712. For larger organizations, this can cost them up to a million US dollars per year. Product recalls can be enormously expensive, while erroneously labelled products that are not recalled stand the risk of expensive lawsuits. 

#2. High Time to Market (TTM)

A high TTM means that your competition will have their product on the shelves before you. Companies lose financially when they do not meet their deadlines. A product that is six months late earns 33% less profit over the next five years. If a brand goes 50% over their budget to release the product on time, the profit reduces by only 4%.  This goes on to show that time is more important than money. 

#3. Lack of Cohesion Across Legacy Tools

Managing projects using simple spreadsheets can seem easy at the beginning. However, they get hard to manage as any project scales up. Source: OnePager Blog

For artwork management, brands often use legacy tools. While all teams can be using the latest software suites, these tools often do not talk well with each other. For instance, the management can be using spreadsheets and charts to manage the projects while using emails and chats to communicate with the stakeholders. The design team is working on a completely different platform. Again, acquiring feedback can be troublesome when reviewers use multiple channels to communicate, such as chats, emails, and phone calls. The lack of cohesion across these tools slows down the project even more. 

#4. Revisions take forever

The more time revisions take, the more money you lose in the long run. Revisions can take place over numerous iterations when the feedback is not effective. With low-quality feedback, designers will not have a concrete idea of what changes they need to make. This can lead to bottlenecks in an already inefficient workflow. 

#5. Reduced Quality of Work

Finally, one of the more fundamental costs you pay is the reduced quality of work. Without the proper tools, managing a label development project becomes a cumbersome task. The productivity levels drop as the process is filled with monotonous and repetitive tasks. Moreover, there is a general lack of accountability as it becomes difficult to trace who is approving which artwork. Since brands have many label development projects running simultaneously, the lack of dedicated infrastructure 

How Artwork Management Software helps

Investing in brand asset management tools such as artwork management software can help maximize profit by saving time. In a competitive landscape, time is more crucial than money when it comes to making revenue. The more time a brand spends on developing or manufacturing, the more time they lose out on making revenue. Hence, investing in a dedicated artwork management tool can help save costs and maximize profits in the long run, leveraging the power of creative automation.

#1. Reduce labelling errors with precise feedback/reduce iterations

Artwork management platforms come with a host of tools for online label proofing tasks. You can compare files, check colors, fonts, spelling and grammar, sizes of elements and even see how a label would look on a packaging in 3D renders. 

Along with the use of checklists, reviewers have a clear view of what items they need to review and provide that feedback accordingly. Designers have a better understanding of what changes they must make. Using this system, brands can release error free and complaint labels with much fewer revisions. 

#2. Reduce Time to market with efficient workflows

Source: bizongo.com

The artwork management platform, as a comprehensive Workflow Management Software solution, will set up the workflow along with the deadlines automatically. Managers also have the flexibility to set up custom workflows if required. With a simplified workflow management system, brands can launch their products faster.

#3. Collaborate seamlessly across departments and organizations

Source: G2

Managers can easily onboard stakeholders from inside the organization as well as outside. Managers can send email invites from the platform and the stakeholder simply needs to sign up to access the project. Artwork management platforms provide role-based access and depending on the role of the stakeholder, they can access the project assets. This system adds an extra layer of security. 

#4. Address Bottlenecks 

Source: Bizongo

Managers get a bird’s eye view of the projects that are currently underway. During product launches or even refreshes, multiple label design projects take place at once. Managers need to keep an eye on each of them. With an artwork management platform, managers can see which projects may experience delays. Artwork management platforms can proactively alert managers of potential bottlenecks, allowing them to react before the problem even occurs. 

#5. Improve productivity and accountability

While efficient workflows improve productivity, automated tracking and logging also improves accountability. Artwork management platforms can include e-signatures in the workflow, allowing reviewers to provide an electronic signature before they approve an artwork. This allows the workflow to stay compliant and meet the recordkeeping requirements. Audit trails also ensure complete traceability of the workflow allowing brands to find the root cause of any errors and address them. 

Wrap Up

Artwork management platforms saves brands money and brings in multiple quality-of-life improvement for brands. It allows brands to stay compliant and still launch products quickly without any risk of labeling errors. 

Still unsure whether you need to invest in an artwork management platform? Try out Artwork Flow for free to see how it can help you.

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