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64 SMT Magazine • December 2014 2. Customer and regulatory fines Label production delays due to non-com- pliance labels mean product shipment delays. With customers having agreements for timely delivery, delays often equate to monetary pen- alties. Labels in non-compliance with regula- tory authorities can trigger recalls and fines as well. With the advent of emerging initiatives for global harmonization of product labeling, this is more important than ever. 3. Loss of business Chronic label issues resulting in delayed shipments, customer fines, or the delivery of the wrong product can turn customers away to seek alternate sources of supply. "This nega- tively affects market share and margins, leads to loss of brand credibility, and increases customer dissatisfaction." 4. Label-related safety compliance Beyond the regulatory implications of label- ing-related safety compliance, failures in this area can dramatically impact a company's over- all brand and reputation. In severe cases, many companies do not survive the reputational ef- fects of a major product recall. 5. Inability to scale labeling operations in manufacturing, shipping and distribution centers In today's electronics industry supply chain, speed and efficiency are two areas most manu- facturers examine for value-added opportuni- ties and improved economies of scale. When labeling inefficiencies such as improper load di- viding or redundant relabeling slow everything down, or even bring operations to a halt, the bottom line suffers. 6. Label-related recall execution; track and traceability solutions One of the reasons for the dreadful effect of a major product recall relates to how long it can take to identify and find the product and complete a recall cycle. Contemporary track and trace labeling solutions speed the process, thereby minimizing costs as well as the poten- tial downside to a company's reputation in the marketplace. 7. Global readiness for evolving industry standards Emerging product labeling standards, some mandated by governments, can mean the differ- ence between market entry and exclusion. For companies working with supply chain, manu- facturing, and distribution partners in these countries, compliance with regional standards can streamline the supply chain. The need to support language requirements and compliance variability based on each country's regulations is becoming more and more complex. 8. Inability to meet customer-specific labeling requirements More than ever, customers are driving re- quirements for both label layout and data con- tent for labeling. Both a baseline requirement and a point of differentiation against the com- petition, labeling is a critical factor when con- sidering businesses' ability to quickly and seam- lessly distribute their products from supplier to customer. If manufacturers lack responsiveness to these customer requirements, a loss in mar- ket share is a real possibility. One consequence of Organic Growth: IT Stress On top of all this, many IT professionals in the electronics industry sector are apt to rec- ognize the following profile characterizing the most common labeling technology challenges. For example, organizations often struggle with disparate labeling systems, accumulated over time to meet the needs of various divisions or functional areas. Some are standalone, purpose- driven or silo systems with no relevance or connection to enterprise data and business ap- plications. For electronics manufacturing com- panies that have grown through mergers and acquisitions, multiple units may have varied la- beling methodologies and technologies. Labels may be printed by these disparate systems for case, pallet, customer requirements, regulatory compliance, or other purposes, and may also have unique applications for each type of label. These companies lack an overarching process or global product identification solution that can consistently efficiently generate labels by prod- uct, customer, or country. HIGH-reLIAbILITY, Pb-Free, HALOGeN-Free SOLder continues ArTiClE