An interview with Georgia Heard from Flexi Labels, Lead of the Hybrid Software implementation
What is the mission of Flexi Labels?
Flexi Labels are UK-based manufacturers of labels and other bespoke adhesive products. Creating every label product to order starting from the material up, we aim to offer labelling solutions for a range of applications to a demographic wider than other leading trade companies. With a minimum of 1 sheet of labels, and the choice between over 50,000 possible product combinations on our website, even the smallest of customers can find labels for their specific needs or requirements.
How has the introduction of ‘automation’ changed the way you operate?
Hybrid has been instrumental in keeping up demand for printed orders while we have been undergoing an internal restructure at Flexi Labels. Recently, we have achieved our ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, and the software has allowed us to maintain standards, almost eradicate human error from our printed label processes, while opening further opportunities to improve our lead times and service offerings to our customer base.
We are very much in the infancy of using the bespoke automated workflows in Hybrid Software’s CLOUDFLOW software, designed completely around our current manual work processes to ensure consistency in the way in which we proof our customer’s orders. There has been an almost seamless transition from manual proofing to automated.
Since the start of our working relationship with Hybrid Software, we were keen to not lose the human interaction and personalised service. Adding an automated proofing software sounds like the very antithesis of this, but being able to replicate our exact proofing document within the PACKZ software allowed us to ease into the new era without losing the look and feel to the proofs that the customers had come to know and recognise.
Hybrid Software has supported Flexi Labels in better pre-press planning, a reduction in waste, and the achievement of quality standards required by ISO 9001
Can you describe the key reasons why you initially chose Hybrid Software as your preferred software vendor?
We had a very rigorous process of vetting the perfect software vendor for us. Hybrid Software seemed to have the edge, and were one of the only companies confident they could integrate their software with our custom MIS system. They had also worked with other label companies known to us, giving us some reassurance after the first sales pitches that our flows could be adapted to suit our very bespoke website, and cope with the demands with a manufacture-to-order business like ours.
How were you solving customer approval before Proofscope? Would you ever go back?
Our main pain point was the tedious task of filling in proof templates with the order details. 50% of the proofing process would be copying order details into an Adobe Illustrator template. While our customers appreciated the human-created proofs with the attention to detail on the artworks, a lot of time was lost on this mundane task. Not only that, but templating orders once they had been proofed was also manual. Each artwork needs to be individually created into a template, following the specific dimensions of the individual product on our website. Although this was a rarity, there was a chance for human error during these tasks as they were so monotonous, yet the attention to detail was critical.
CLOUDFLOW Proofscope automates the creation of artwork proofs and order templates for significant time and click savings
We haven’t completely lost the manual proofing with our customers just yet. Some customer labels are so bespoke, we are in talks with Hybrid’s Solution Engineers and Team Leads on how to tackle the next phase of development.
A really lovely bonus to working with the Hybrid team is that their Customer Service Desk System allows for suggestions towards future development requests. Submissions are being trialled, tested and released by their team all the time, and we as customers are looped in with every software upgrade what new introductions should be looked out for. A truly transparent working partnership.
CLOUDFLOW triggers email notifications for on the go flexibility in customer approval workflows
What has the impact been internally and externally?
It may be too early to tell just simply because we launched our software at a time when other business projects were also well underway however it has supported our design team as we trained up new colleagues and eased pressure internally between pre-press and production.
Feedback externally so far has been positive, with our trusted customer base making suggestions to make the software more user-friendly in ways we can already see can be easily implemented moving forward.
Georgia Heard, implementation lead (left), with her team in Flexi Label’s prepress department
Have there been any unexpected benefits that you hadn’t considered beforehand?
Other than the personal joy of learning a new system, understanding how Hybrid Software works has only fostered new ideas in automating some areas in the business which could be improved. Now that we have nearly sorted our ‘back office’ systems and processes for printed products, we are already seeing our front facing website in new ways, with nothing but opportunities to improve our customer experience right at our fingertips.
What else do you look forward to in the future?
Especially with the approach to our Phase Two, Hybrid’s collaborative requirements talks through to implementation feel like such a collaborative process. The team goes out of their way to understand the issue at hand and offer more than one way to resolve the issue, presenting these solutions in palatable ‘non-technical’ ways in order for us as the customer to be able to be involved in shaping the direction of the development.
It’s been nice as a customer to also be looped into beta trials of new software and testing. Another instance of the transparent working ethos that Hybrid Software seem to foster. Meeting different members of the team, everyone has been professional, but also incredibly approachable, regardless of their position within the company. Refreshing company dynamics from an outsider perspective. Thank you to your team for always addressing our lengthy communications with patience and care.
Would you recommend a partnership with Hybrid Software to other companies pursuing similar goals?
We have learnt a lot as individuals and as a business working with the team. There is a lot of possibility on the horizon for future projects, and we would urge other companies to at least sit down with a team member to see how their individual needs can be met.
Learn more about Flexi Labels on their website, here.
