March 26, 2025

Overview
A multinational beverage manufacturer reached out to Grantek for help at one of their facilities in Ontario. During the beverage canning and case packing process, they noticed that some of the Universal Product Code (UPC) labels were missing from their 24 count case packaging. Many times this missing UPC label was not noticed during the shipping process, which resulted in shipments to distribution centers for grocery stores and big box stores that included 24 count cases with the missing UPC labels. If put on the retail floor by the grocery or big box store, these cases with missing UPC labels would result in consumer frustration and confusion during point-of-sale at the cash register. These cases with missing UPC labels also created extra work and retail floor coverage issues for the employees of the grocery and big box stores. Beyond the confusion on the retail floor, the beverage manufacturer was being fined by a big box store for this error on their packaging. Public awareness of these fines also posed a potential negative impact to the reputation of the beverage manufacturer with category and procurement managers at other grocery and big box stores. These fines and potential reputational brand damage were creating a real problem for the beverage manufacturer, leading to them contacting Grantek for help correcting the issue.

Challenges
To solve the missing UPC labels issue, Grantek started with a road-mapping session. This allowed both the beverage manufacturer and Grantek to fully understand the possible root causes, potential solutions and desired outcomes for the beverage manufacturer. After this road-mapping session it became clear that Grantek’s Label Verification Solution could be implemented to put the beverage manufacturer in the best position to solve this continuing problem. The beverage manufacturer was found to have a barcode detection system at the facility that was outdated and not completely functional. The key challenge to this problem in confirming the UPC labels are not missing on the cases, while not dramatically increasing downtime when issues arise.

Solutions
Grantek’s Label Verification Solution was commissioned and installed at the facility. The Label Verification Solution was also successfully integrated with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) machines. Those OEM machines were a shrink wrapper and conveyor). The Label Verification Solution was able to halt the machines immediately when the system detects a missing or incorrect label, and prompting an operator or supervisor to resolve the issue and restart the line. This prompt was reliably and quickly delivered, allowing the issue to be remedied in a timely manner, keeping production downtime to a minimum. Grantek’s Label Verification Solution was able to catch every single mislabel event and advise the operator to add a label when machine failed to do. After running Grantek’s Label Verification Solution in a live production environment for a few months, Grantek and the beverage manufacturer were able to review some labeling statistics which confirmed labeling rates at 100%, with the system alerting operators when manual intervention is required, ensuring complete confidence that all packages are correctly labeled. Given the average market fine, it’s estimated that the beverage manufacturer is saving around $80,000 per month in fines alone. These cost savings do not factor in the potential risks and costs associated with a recall and reputational brand damage. The success of this Label Verification Solution also impressed Enterprise level management at the beverage manufacturer, so much so that they are planning to implement a similar Label Verification Solution on 19 other lines across 5 sites at other facilities.