Streamlining Operations: Grupo APEX's Success with SATO Europe and Logiscenter

04/04/24 Streamlining Operations: Grupo APEX's Success with SATO Europe and Logiscenter

Grupo APEX, a leading Spanish snack manufacturer, faced the challenge of enhancing traceability and efficiency across nine production centres. In partnership with Logiscenter, SATO provided a tailored solution that revolutionised Grupo APEX's labelling process

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The Challenge:

"Ensuring accurate tracking of 20 million boxes and one million pallets annually was a logistical hurdle we needed to overcome." - José Oliver, Grupo APEX Grupo APEX faced a significant challenge in managing their vast operations, needing to accurately track 20 million boxes and one million pallets annually across their extensive network. This logistical complexity required a sophisticated solution capable of easily integrating with their existing systems, ensuring efficiency and reliability in every aspect of their supply chain. The quest for precision and operational excellence led them to collaborate with SATO, selecting printers that promised to transform their tracking capabilities and uphold their commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.

The Solution:

After analysing the project's needs, Logiscenter decides to recommend the SATO CL4NX Plus and CL6NX Plus printers. SATO is one of the world's leading manufacturers of label printers, having been the first to market thermal transfer label printers in 1981. The SATO CL4NX Plus models have industrial capacity to print labels up to 4 inches which will be used to identify boxes, while the CL6NX Plus printers with the capacity to print 6-inch labels will be used to label the previously shrink-wrapped pallets. These SATO models were selected for several reasons, primarily because they are industrial printers capable of printing the large number of labels required by the client's activities.

The Results:

According to José Oliver, from Grupo APEX, the implementation of SATO printers within their operations has been a success - we have not had any problems with these printers and we know they have a fairly long lifespan as long as the users know how to handle them. On the other hand, by having standardised the printer models across all their centres, he acknowledges that they expect a cost saving in the purchase of consumables (thermal printheads, ribbons, platen rollers) due to the higher volume. The food manufacturing process, in addition to being safe and complying with all health and safety standards, must also ensure proper traceability of each bag and production batch in case there is a health alert. The implementation of the SATO CL6NX Plus and CL4NX Plus printers has allowed Grupo APEX to guarantee the quality of their work so they can continue to grow and sell their snacks with all guarantees.