Ajax Metal Processing, a wire processing company with a diverse global customer base, needed to streamline the process of printing and applying barcode tags to steel coils. In the old method, an Ajax employee printed barcodes on thermal labels, and then applied the labels to clipped-corner tags. The tags were then attached to wires and hung from the many steel coils throughout the plant and outside in the yard.

The problem was that it took a full time employee to simply print and apply the labels to the tags. An additional problem was that the clipped corner tags were not holding up to the harsh environments of the steel plant, as well as the outside weather conditions. Some tags tore and fell off the wires. Often the barcode on the paper thermal labels became compromised by grease, dirt and extreme weather.

Anytime a coil could not be properly identified due to a missing or unreadable barcode, Ajax had to spend excess time re-identifying the coil. Also, Ajax customers issued complaints if the unidentified coils were discovered at their facility. Again, excess time was spent receiving and documenting the coil delivery. Customer shipping issues were routine and order deviations were rising.