How Randa Improves Fulfillment Speed with MarkMagic Barcode Labeling Software

The Customer

Randa is one of the world’s largest men’s accessories company. From their headquarters in New York City, Randa’s footprint spans 11 countries. Randa boasts a portfolio of more than 50 of the most recognizable brands in the world including Hanes, Levi’s, Guess, Dockers, Nine West, and Timberland.

With over 100 years of experience in product development and innovation, Randa is a widely respected manufacturer and distributor of belts, wallets, neckwear, luggage, casual bags, backpacks, jewelry, briefcases, slippers, hats, gloves and other leather goods. From concept to creation, Randa produces exceptional products and services worldwide, delighting millions of loyal customers.

One major reason Randa has stayed at the top of the accessories industry is their constant drive to foster innovation, both in their product development and in their omni-channel capability. To support their supply chain innovation, Randa has developed a close relationship with VSS, a company that specializes in supply chain business and technology advisory and implementation services.

Since 1990, VSS has been helping clients drive innovation and the best solutions to transform, deploy, and improve supply chain processes.

The Challenge

Today, the retail market is changing at an incredibly rapid pace, driven by a constant desire to meet and exceed customer expectations. A quick, responsive supply chain is vital to succeed in the retail space.

To stay ahead of the curve, Randa worked with VSS to plan and deploy several technology and operational improvements that helped to speed up fulfillment and improve their packing and shipping capability. Examples of the work that VSS has helped Randa include integrating acquisitions into existing operations and improving direct to consumer process.

Randa was looking for a partner that would provide both process and technology expertise and skills to assist Randa in improving their direct to consumer and wholesale operations, specifically in the pack-out function explains Tim Walters, Randa CIO.

To improve throughput, meet aggressive shipping times, add capabilities for flexibility & personalization and reduce cost, VSS worked alongside Randa to implement the Autobag packaging systems. Adding Autobag printers and bags to their fulfillment operations allowed Randa to effectively use the appropriate packaging / shipping material, reduce cost in the supply chain and better leverage its labor. In order to quickly deploy the Autobag technology and set a platform for future innovation (e.g. allowing custom printing of logo and branding for more effective branding strategy), VSS leveraged MarkMagic® Barcode Labels, RFID Tags, Electronic Forms, and Report Writing Software.

The Solution

Prior to selecting CYBRA’s MarkMagic solution, Randa’s WMS did not have the required flexibility to quickly edit and update their compliance labels in order to easily stay up to date with their retail partners. That flexibility was precisely why CYBRA’s MarkMagic® Barcode Labels, RFID Tags, Electronic Forms, and Report Writing Software was chosen as a solution. MarkMagic allows end users to create and edit labels without writing a single line of code. But, to allow Randa to enjoy that capability, the MarkMagic team would first need to convert all of Randa’s more than 100 Zebra ZPL language labels into MarkMagic formats.

“Normally, a label conversion process of this magnitude would be a challenge,” says Chuck Roskow, VP of Operations at CYBRA. “But with the MarkMagic proprietary PSI (Print Stream Importer), the label conversion process itself was actually a breeze, taking under 30 seconds per format.” CYBRA’s PSI is capable of importing raw print streams from virtually all popular thermal printer types. It instantly recognizes commands and parameters transforming them into MarkMagic formats that can be converted into any of the more than 450 printer types supported by MarkMagic. For example, in Randa’s case, CYBRA’s PSI effortlessly enabled the conversion of difficult to maintain legacy Zebra code to the Datamax language required for the Autobagger.

Other exclusive CYBRA technology helps Randa change their formats on the fly depending on the data in the print job. MarkMagic’s PrintTransformer option dynamically changes the appearance of formats in real-time based on variable data, even redirecting output based on user defined criteria. For instance, Randa required reverse printing when shipping to certain customers. A simple user-defined PrintTransformer condition accomplished this with no programming whatsoever. Once the MarkMagic team finished the label format conversion, VSS helped Randa go live in less than two months. Randa was then able to begin editing and printing shipping information directly on plastic shipping bags using the Autobag baggers.

The Benefits

According to Dilbeck, “CYBRA’s software is affordable, scalable, and really gets the job done.” Unlike many barcode labeling software products, MarkMagic can manage several kinds of media including labels and forms. Instead of buying one product for forms and another for labels, Roth just needs MarkMagic. Another big plus is MarkMagic’s ability to work with a wide array of printers. Roth affixes their totes with synthetic labels that use water soluble glue. This allows Roth to wash and reuse those totes instead of having to continually purchase new ones. The Roth team assumed a product with that degree of flexibility would be cost prohibitive but were pleasantly surprised at CYBRA’s competitive pricing.

Altogether, it only took a few months for Roth’s new system to go live. Along the way, Dilbeck and his team were amazed by CYBRA’s impeccable level of support. “The support from CYBRA, I can’t say enough about it,” says Dilbeck. “I don’t feel like they sold us their software and disappeared. They were there for us even on holidays. This kind of support makes the decision easy for us in the future to work with CYBRA again.

Now that MarkMagic is integrated into their supply chain, Roth has been able to scale their labeling to other co-packing projects. Roth simply changes the information in their MarkMagic format. “It works flawlessly,” according to Dilbeck.

Roth has recently agreed to do more co-packing projects with other retailers as well. And, with MarkMagic streamlining their fulfillment processes, their appetite for growth will be satisfied.

About CYBRA Corporation

CYBRA Corporation is a leader in bar code and RFID technology, serving customers in a wide range of industries.

MarkMagic® Bar Code Labels, RFID Tags and Forms Software empowers customers to design virtually any type of Auto-ID document – labels, forms, RFID tags, tickets, etc. – and print them on hundreds of types of general and specialized printers from laser to thermal and even automated applicators.

CYBRA’s Edgefinity IoT®, (formerly EdgeMagic) is a platform for rapidly building integrated applications that locate objects and people using passive and active RFID, RTLS and other tracking technologies. Edgefinity IoT provides customers with the ability to quickly implement EPC (Electronic Product Code) compliance systems, as well as RFID tracking and trace applications. In addition to traditional passive RFID applications, the newly released, fully redesigned software, can be used as an all-in-one rules driven solution for the safety, security and productivity of people and assets.

CYBRA software solutions run on all major computing platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Linux, Unix, cloud and IBM Power Systems (System i, iSeries, AS/400, AIX). To learn more about MarkMagic visit MarkMagic.com.

Roth Industries

Roth Industries is a prepared foods company specializing in manufacturing, distributing, selling, and marketing freshly prepared foods. We pack our own brands, which are distributed in more than 8,000 stores nationwide with the largest retailers and supermarket chains in the country, as well as private label and co-packed products for grocers, restaurants, CPG start-ups, and established brands. We are a chef-driven producer of premium prepared foods utilizing a state-of-the-art, USDA, SQF-certified plant centrally located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. With our cutting-edge packaging technology, we’re able to achieve the highest quality products at the best value on a national scale. Making food deliciously in a trustworthy way matters to consumers and to us, which is why we deliver excellent service, fresh ingredients, and safe food with Good Manufacturing Practices. Learn more at rothind.com.