Output Management in Manufacturing: Why There Is No Margin for Error

Each phase of a product manufacturing lifecycle in any industry relies heavily on the functions, performance, punctuality, and quality output of every other phase up and down the supply chain. Manufacturing operations involve many moving parts. One function that intersects with all of them is document output management. 

Every manufactured product includes critical information that is either delivered with the product or archived for internal records. The entire manufacturing lifecycle relies on the creation and delivery of the materials that accompany product development, making reliable output management an essential aspect of the manufacturing supply chain.

A current trend for companies across most industries is a transition to fully digital documentation. This is practical and efficient for most documentation purposes; however, there will always be reasons to print. This is especially true for manufacturers who need to print documents for regulators that require hard copies and printed signatures, standard operating procedures (SOPs), job travelers, and a host of other documents.

Every document has a destination, and it’s not always to a printer. Many documents require specific management tasks, such as being scanned, uploaded, submitted, used, and archived in a digital format. This is where effective output management tools that function in concert with print are essential to overseeing the organization’s document version control, workflows, and print jobs. 

Labels serve as a bridge between the digital supply chain and the physical product. Manufacturing processes, production lines, and labeling processes continue to grow and become more complex. When label systems malfunction, it creates supply chain visibility gaps, production output delays, and racks up downtime costs. In regulated industries, it puts compliance at risk. Therefore, product labels require a development process that spans across multiple operational stages. 

The impetus of multi-stage label workflow is the variety of tools used to design, provide information, approve, and print labels. For example, the product’s description might come from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the address information from a warehouse management system (WMS), and for regulated products, that information could come from a source approved by the legal staff. The label’s audit trail is also an integral part of the workflow.

Every manufacturing organization deals with issues standing in the way of getting products developed and delivered, particularly for companies developing long-lifecycle products. One of the more daunting challenges involves documentation because manufacturing companies have a lot of it in different formats for different purposes, making it more difficult to track, update, and maintain. Those tasks alone are lofty, but when an unexpected documentation-related issue occurs, it can have far-reaching consequences. 

For example, if a barcode printer goes offline, label output stops, which has a downstream impact on production that can sometimes take days to resolve. This translates to costly audits, inventory delays, and delayed shipments. It can even impact customer trust.

Businesses can't afford to let these events and delays undermine their operations. The research report, “The True Cost of Downtime 2024” from Siemens revealed that in the automotive industry alone, the cost of an idle production line at a big plant can add up to $695 million a year. The same report found that the world’s largest companies can lose 11% of their revenue due to downtime.

Root Causes of Workflow Delays

Delayed Documentation

Because documentation is a central component in manufacturing processes, much of the supply chain pivots on documents being accurate, complete, and expedited on time. However, throughout the course of document creation, review, revisions, approvals, and distribution, it’s not uncommon for documents or other printed materials to get misplaced, leading to rework and delayed product deliveries.

Incorrect Labels

Undiscovered misinformation, errors, or omissions on labels lead to costly issues, including rejected shipments, customer chargebacks, and relabeling expenses. A misprinted label might not be scannable at a critical section of the supply chain, requiring staff to manually enter the data—a process that is prone to errors. This can be particularly costly for companies in regulated industries as label issues can lead to noncompliance. 

For example, food product recalls are common due to manufacturing errors where an incorrect or incomplete label was applied to the finished product. According to an analysis of FDA data, labelling errors were the leading cause of food recalls (192 out of 422) in 2024. Consequently, that can lead to supply chain bottlenecks, as well as costly recall expenses.

Software Malfunction or Incompatibility Issues

Manufacturers depend on ERP and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to store and manage critical data. They also employ ERP-integrated output workflows to ensure printed materials are generated accurately and on time. Even brief downtime, due to incompatible software, maintenance, or untimely server upgrades, can cascade into multiple supply chain bottlenecks.

A study on challenges and barriers for software implementation, determined that from a technical standpoint, the integration of a manufacturing execution system (MES) or management information system (MIS) with legacy ERP systems creates barriers because the technologies are incompatible, making it difficult to connect and exchange information.  

Lack of Visibility

Disparate issues, such as slow system processes, a production line waiting on a label, and a stalled print queue, go unnoticed for a long time until someone traces them to a systemic infrastructure gap. Therefore, sufficient visibility across the supply chain is necessary for business units to avoid these kinds of oversights. However, global supply chains have evolved into complex, multitier networks, which contributes to the lack of reliable insight into the operation’s supply chain.

Over Reliance on IT

Manufacturing environments often function with legacy print servers and distributed devices across multiple facilities. When a printer or print server malfunctions, it usually falls to the IT teams to restore printer functionality, printer drivers, and output workflows. However, each day, IT teams are tasked with several critical organizational and operational tasks, making print- and output management-related issues a lower priority.

As industries continue to grow, processes and workflows become more comprehensive. To stay current and competitive, companies are adopting advanced technologies, which infuse human creativity, automated systems, and innovation. This concept is inaugurating a paradigm shift toward adaptive manufacturing ecosystems and dynamic supply chains.

To alleviate the delays and exorbitant costs from the aforementioned workflow challenges, manufacturers are getting onboard with modernized strategies. They are embedding the technology into the core of their manufacturing processes to keep all aspects of the supply chain functioning efficiently and on time. Advanced technology allows organizations to:

• Automatically route manufacturing-related documents to the right destination, incorporating automatic reminders instead of follow-up emails.

• Unify print, email, fax, and document archive streams.

• Implement full-text indexing, version control, and proactive alerts to identify and mitigate bottlenecks. 

• Deploy integrated platforms that rally historically disparate systems (ERP, MIS, CRM), which typically had competing priorities.

• Leverage artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing operations. According to the “2026 State of Manufacturing & Supply Chain” report featuring insights from 300+ manufacturers:

  • 95% say AI is a requirement.

  • 97% say they have AI deployed across core manufacturing and supply chain workflows. 

  • 98% say they see significant opportunities to improve supply chains.

• Eliminate print servers and leverage more reliable cloud-based printing. 

In addition, intelligent document processing technology gives organizations opportunities to enhance their document workflows that require manual processes for routing, review, and storage. Overall, organizations are experiencing faster approval cycles, fewer delays due to missing or outdated documents, and reduced duplication of efforts that often accompany manually expedited documents.

The right technology and efficient output management strategies enable businesses to provide timely, accurate, and relevant information and printed materials for manufactured products. However, many organizations still rely on legacy output management systems to route print jobs either to pre-configured printers or digital destinations. These processes are vulnerable to a variety of issues that cause delays, and IT teams often spend hours routinely troubleshooting the recurring problems.

PrinterLogic Output ensures uninterrupted operations, visibility into all print activities, total control over document tasks, and automated failover mechanisms to minimize downtime and streamline mission-critical workflows. This reduces duplicated efforts and waste, improves accuracy, and ensures consistent, predictable output across the supply chain. It unifies end-user and system-level (ERP/EHR/CRM) printing into a single platform, offering a holistic view in a single interface.

• Digital workflow. Critical documents (e.g., purchase orders, shipping labels, quality records, and inspection forms) move automatically from the moment they're printed, scanned, or submitted.

• Reliable label printing. Dependable, high-speed printing of any type of label.

• Failover-protected production printing. When a primary printer goes offline, the system automatically redirects jobs to available devices so labels print without delay, keeping lines running and shipments moving.

• Unify end-user and system-level printing. The centralized platform eliminates issues that are typical of multiple, disconnected systems.

• Automate print and workflow behaviors. Rule-based automation streamlines print and workflow behaviors.

There are too many unforeseen risks and error-prone processes with manual output management and document handling that can shut down the manufacturing supply chain. You avoid unplanned downtime when you automate, customize, and maintain control of your output management processes. Schedule a demo to see how PrinterLogic Output can help your organization.