Meyers Printing handles logistics with software

Meyers Printing offers SystemConnect, an online management platform that allows its customers to manage inventory, order online and print on demand. Sodexo is one of about 10 customers who take advantage of Meyers’ offering, through which accounts about US$10m annual sales for Meyers. 

SystemConnect is Meyers’ answer to a shifting landscape in which more buyers are shopping online, and large number of label buyers expect their vendors to be nearby. According to a recently released TLMI study, more than half – 57 percent – of label buyers make it a requirement that their label vendors are within the same general region where the labels are applied. 

Through SystemConnect, Meyers Printing automates and manages the complex logistics of shipping labels for more than 800 different Sodexo products to its facilities throughout the country. Meyers also prints commercial items such as menus and tent cards, standing menus and more for Sodexo. 

Emily Haskell, senior director of brand management at Sodexo, says: ‘With locations across the country having a variety of signage and marketing material needs, along with a wide range of products and price points, managing our inventory has historically been a challenge. SystemConnect makes it simple for us to manage inventory, track the materials, and make smart decisions around future inventory needs. It saves us time and money, simplifies the ordering process, and allows us to realize the advantages of just-in-time delivery.’

SystemConnect can be customized for both large clients such as Sodexo, as well as smaller customers looking for the convenience of online ordering. Each iteration of SystemConnect is created specifically for the client that uses it, complete with custom branding and workflows. The platform helps companies with a widespread footprint maintain consistency of layouts while fulfilling the need for labels, signage and other materials at individual locations. 

Customizable templates allow users to create materials specific to the needs of each location, whether that be pricing information or other location-based requirements. The platform can also track inventory levels and alert team members when levels run low.

Order management
In the case of Sodexo, the food service company directly feeds to Meyers an updated list of its ingredients for items sold at its grab-and-go restaurants and cafeterias. The feed has more than 800 items – many, but not all, are labels – that are automatically synched daily so label changes are not an issue. The Sodexo employee purchasing the labels can log on to SystemConnect, choose the label size and format, pick the number that corresponds to that food item, set the price and hit print. This method prevents incorrect orders because only certain products appear for certain purchasers: a Sodexo label buyer in Manhattan wouldn’t have the same options as one in Dallas.

Meyers aims to have the label printed within 48 hours. Located in the middle of the country, it can ship products with three-day service for most of the US. 

Sodexo averages 70 orders a day from Meyers for any of its sites across the country. Mic Tienken, director of marketing and e-commerce at Meyers, says a system this sophisticated at a plant the size of Meyers is unique: ‘Having SystemConnect allows us to do that volume of business. We couldn’t do it otherwise.’