Frito-Lay overcame challenges with its shelf strip printing process by implementing Afinia Label printers. The printers allowed shelf strips to be printed on demand, reducing cost and lead time of pre-printed strips, and improving the accuracy and efficiency of their workflow. This helped the company to better serve their customers and keep their products well-stocked and correctly displayed in stores.
Frito-Lay, the $19 billion snack food division of PepsiCo, was struggling to efficiently and accurately produce shelf strips for their products. The manual process, potential for human error, and the high cost of pre-printed strips made it difficult for the company to keep their products properly stocked in stores resulting in waste and lost revenue.
However, with the help of Afinia Label printers, Frito-Lay was able to improve their shelf strip printing process and overcome these challenges. The printers allowed the company to print shelf strips on demand, reducing the cost and lead time of pre-printed strips. This helped Frito-Lay to quickly and accurately stock their products in stores, reducing the risk of expired products and incorrect stocking.
“Afinia Label printers have been a game-changer for our shelf strip printing process,” said Troy Bird, Print Center Manager and Sr Business Analyst at Frito-Lay. “The ability to print on demand has allowed us to reduce the cost and lead time of pre-printed strips, and has helped us to quickly and easily correct errors. This has greatly improved the accuracy and efficiency of our process, and has helped us to better serve our customers.”
In addition to improving the accuracy and speed of their shelf strip printing process, Frito-Lay has seen other benefits from using Afinia Label printers. It takes 55,000 employees to make and distribute Frito-Lay’s 29 snack food brands to customers. It is a complex process where mistakes and inefficiencies have a significant impact on revenue. A major component to ensuring proper product stocking is the planogram process. When substitute delivery drivers fill in, without proper planograms and up-to-date shelf strips, the possibility of improper shelf stocking results in products not making it to the store shelf. This causes problems upstream with inventory and production. It also results in waste with products that have a finite shelf life, and affects the brand perception when the product display is not consistent from store to store.
Frito-Lay currently owns 30 Afinia L801 Color Label Printers, which have been a valuable asset to the company. The team at Vivid Data Group, the Afinia Label dealer that Frito-Lay works with, has provided excellent support and service, making the implementation and use of the printers a smooth and successful process. The savings have been so significant and immediate that the program continues to be expanded.
Overall, Afinia Label printers have had a positive impact on Frito-Lay’s business. The printers have allowed the company to improve the accuracy and speed of their shelf strip printing process, and have helped them to reduce the cost and lead time of pre-printed strips. This has allowed Frito-Lay to better serve their customers and keep their products properly stocked in stores.
Challenges Facing Frito-Lay’s Shelf Strip Printing Process
Before implementing Afinia Label printers, Frito-Lay faced several challenges with their shelf strip printing process. These challenges included:
- A slow and manual process, which made it difficult for the company to quickly and accurately produce shelf strips for their products
- High cost of pre-printed strips, which made it difficult for Frito-Lay to keep their products properly stocked in stores
- Long lead time to get pre-printed strips, which also made it difficult for the company to keep their products properly stocked in stores
- High percentage of incorrect strips, which required 60-90 days to rectify and resulted in expired products and incorrect stocking
How Afinia Label Printers Improved Frito-Lay’s Business
To address these challenges, Frito-Lay decided to invest in Afinia Label printers. With the help of Vivid Data Group, LLC, a leading authorized Afinia Label dealer, a complete solution was developed. The Afinia L801 Color Printer’s versatility, speed and efficient ink usage made it an integral part of the solution. Vivid Data Group’s vast knowledge of not only printers, but printing substrates, enabled them to pair the L801 with custom converted shelf strips that could be produced on demand. This complete solution offers several benefits for their business, including:
- Reduced total cost of strips
- Increased capability to get the correct products to market
- Decreased turnaround time for new stores and changes to existing stores
- Easier stocking with pictures right on the shelf as opposed to using a diagram
- Ability to correct errors on strips on demand, rather than waiting 60 days for reprint
Specific Results and Metrics of Afinia Label’s Impact on Frito-Lay
Since implementing Afinia Label printers, Frito-Lay has seen several specific results and metrics that demonstrate the impact of Afinia Label on their business. These include:
- Reduced turnaround time to replenish strips from 2 years to 6 months
- Improved accuracy of shelf strips, with the ability to quickly and easily correct errors on demand
- Increased efficiency of shelf strip printing process, allowing Frito-Lay to better serve their customers and keep their products properly stocked in stores
Equipment and Dealer Experience
Frito-Lay currently owns 30 Afinia L801 Color Label Printers, which have proven to be a valuable asset to the company. The team at Vivid Data Group, the Afinia Label dealer that Frito-Lay works with, has provided excellent support and service, making the implementation and use of the printers a smooth and successful process.
Conclusion
Overall, Afinia Label printers have had a positive impact on Frito-Lay’s business. The printers have allowed the company to improve the accuracy and speed of their shelf strip printing process, and have helped them to reduce the cost and lead time of pre-printed strips. This has allowed Frito-Lay to better serve their customers and keep their products properly stocked in stores.
