Drugstore.com

Swedesboro, New Jersey

The Challenge: High-Volume Label Printing To Optimize Distribution
With more than 350 different printers, H. Lorne Brockway, Director of IT at Drugstore.com, needed a label printing solution that could augment the company's 290,000 square foot distribution center without compromising the speed and efficiency of its warehouse management system (WMS). Mr. Brockway had a clean slate to work with— brand new facility for this large and growing online drugstore retailer. So, a label printing solution that could reliably accommodate existing printers, service a high-volume facility, manage retail surges, and scale over time was critical.

Loftware's Solution: Flexibility to Make Retail Distribution Better and Faster
To generate the 2,000 to 3,000 single-page prints per hour that his high-volume business demands, Mr. Brockway selected Loftware Print Server software. His choice was based on this critical performance factor: the capability to handle the high number of print devices reliably. Also, his WMS provider regularly used and recommended the Loftware solution, so it was "lower risk decision.

With Loftware technology, Drugstore.com also has "the flexibility to send data and allow the application to do the formatting without impacting the WMS. By creating and editing labels and forms offline through the Loftware Print Server, the Drugstore.com team can easily tailor them for different customer situations, such as for gifts, by brand or for specialized formats required for healthcare flexible spending accounts.

As operations at the distribution center evolved and grew more complex, Mr. Brockway experienced the flexibility of the Loftware solution to accommodate many different printer and hardware types. During this time, he also experienced responsive customer service from Loftware. With the right people taking the time to provide the right information, he has "never had an issue that Loftware hasn't solved."

The Benefits to Retail: Improving Distribution "and the Customer Experience" With Fast and Flexible Printing
As with all retailers, label printing is a critical part of Drugstore.com distribution operations to help drive profitability with visibility, accuracy and speed of goods. With Loftware technology, Mr. Brockway and his business have experienced:

Robustness of high-volume capabilities to help keep mission-critical distribution operations moving smoothly
Scalability to readily support continued business growth
Flexibility to seamlessly bring on different printers as business needs arise
Flexibility to deliver customer-tailored labels and invoices for a better consumer experience

For more information about the label printing solution described in the Drugstore.com distribution center or any of the proven products in Loftware's suite of labeling software and tools for retail barcode and RFID marking, please contact us today.