GB2384599A

GB2384599A - Producing a product label

Info

Publication number: GB2384599A
Application number: GB0201469A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Derek Swan
Original assignee: FASTABS Ltd
Current assignee: FASTABS Ltd
Priority date: 2002-01-23
Filing date: 2002-01-23
Publication date: 2003-07-30
Also published as: GB0201469D0

Abstract

Information for incorporation into a label design is received in a computer readable format and saved to the memory of a computer system under an accession number. Remote user access is allowed to the information to enable the information to be modified by the remote user. The modified information is saved to memory and subsequently applied to a label design. Preferably, the information is saved in the form of a text file and the computer locates and identifies information for incorporation in a label design in the text file and applies the information to a template for a label design in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy of rules governing how the information is to be presented, so as to originate a label design. The originated design may be saved to memory for subsequent downloading to a remote user for printing.

Description

Method and Apparatus for Producing A Product Label The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for use in the retail industry and in particular to a method and apparatus for producing a product label. The method and the apparatus of the present invention have particular application in the garment industry.

Garments sold by most retail outlets carry a number of labels, either sewn into the garment, attached as a swing ticket or adhered to the outside packaging of the garment. These labels contain information relating to the garment which is provided for the benefit of the retailer and/or the consumer. For example, the content label, which is conventionally a sewn in label, contains a great deal of information relating to the garment and its manufacture, including for example size, colour, style, season code, wash care instructions and/or suppliers reference. Much of this information will be specific to the batch of goods in which the article is produced and so will change from batch to batch. It is essential that the information on the labels, and in particular the content label, is accurate and that errors in the labels are minimised.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings illustrates a method of producing a garment label currently used by the garment industry. Initially (stepl), the garment retailer generates information relating to an order for garments which may include, for example, the number of garments required, the colour, details of any particular style or miscellaneous details such as button size, type and number. This information is manually entered into a computer (step 2) which applies the information to a form, known as a package and presentation (P/P) sheet, stored in a memory on the computer. The P/P sheet is held on the computer in a format which is generally unique to the retailer and is therefore not generally readable or accessible by computers without the appropriate software. Figure 2 shows a typical example of a P/P sheet.

Once all of the information has been entered into the P/P sheet, the sheet is printed and sent to the desired manufacturer (step 3) who uses the information to manufacture the garments ordered. In practice, the retailer usually faxes or mails the P/P sheet to the manufacturer since the latter will not generally possess the appropriate computer software for reading an

electronic version of the P/P sheet in the format used by the retailer. A hard copy of the P/P sheet is therefore required by the manufacturer.

When the manufacturer receives the P/P sheet he will set about the process of manufacturing the garments. As part of the process, the manufacturer must order the required labels for the garments from a printer. The order which is sent to the printer is usually based on the P/P sheet as this sheet already contains much of the information which must be included in the labels. However, since details of the label order may be different from those of the garment order, it is usually necessary for the PIP sheet to be amended before it is sent to the label printer. For example, the retailer may have specified use of a material having a particular fibre content but the manufacturer may have to use a different fibre content material due to manufacturing or supply constraints. A change in the fibre content of the material may also result in a change to the wash care instructions. Furthermore, the P/P sheet as sent from the retailer will specify the quantities of garments that the retailer requires, the manufacturer will have to increase the quantities specified when ordering labels to allow for wastage in the manufacturing process. Once completed, the amended P/P sheet is sent to the printer (step 5), for example by fax, who will produce a design for the label using the information contained in the amended P/P sheet, a process known as origination in the art, and print the labels from the originated design.

Use of the P/P sheet in the manner described above eliminates the need for the manufacturer to transcribe the information on the P/P sheet into another format for use by the printer and so reduces the probability of errors being introduced into the information. However, in view of the fact that amendments are made by hand to the P/P sheet, there is still a significant risk of errors being introduced if the amendments are not clear.

In addition to incorporating the information contained in the P/P sheet, the printer must ensure that the labels are produced in accordance with the label format required by the retailer. In order to do this, the printer must know the standard label formats which the retailer requires. Normally, each retailer will set out its standard label formats, which may include the style and positioning of the trade mark of the retailer, in a manual which is

supplied to certain designated printers who are approved to produce labels for the retailer in question. Use of the correct label format is important to enable detection of counterfeit goods and to ensure a uniform presentation of the retailer's trading style.

In order to originate the label design, the printer will normally use a suitable proprietary software package such as"Quark" (RTM). Using the software package, the printer sets up a template for the label format required and must transcribe, by hand, the information contained on the P/P sheet into the appropriate sections of the template. The process of transcribing the information can lead to the introduction of errors into the labels, particularly if the printer is not familiar with the language in which the P/P sheet is written. Furthermore, where the P/P sheet has been amended by hand it is possible that the printer may incorrectly interpret the amendments. For example, the number 6 can often be read as 3, 5, 8 or 9 depending on the clarity of the information contained in the P/P sheet.

Once the designs have been originated using the proprietary software package, the designs are transferred first to film and then to a plate which is used to print the labels in a conventional manner.

The problems which exist with the known method and apparatus for producing labels have been exacerbated by the recent trend for the manufacturing of garments to be switched to countries outside of the country in which the retailer operates. In order to keep costs low, retailers and manufacturers are constantly moving the manufacturing process to areas where labour costs are low. These areas have a tendency to change as labour costs vary across the globe, hence the location of the manufacturing process also changes. Clearly when ordering labels it is advantageous for the manufacturer to be able to source the labels locally to the manufacturing process. This means that there is a requirement for locally produced labelling which meets the required standard for incorporating the correct technical information.

As discussed above, it is necessary for each label printer to be designated by the retailer concerned and given the necessary information to produce the labels to the required format. Thus it is a problem for retailers to ensure that there is a network of locally designated

printers available for the selected manufacturers. This makes it more difficult to switch manufacture from one region to another quickly. Furthermore, with a large network of designated printers, it can be difficult for retailers to ensure that the current standard label formats are being used consistently and that all designated printers are made aware of any changes which may be made to the standard format.

The present invention seeks to eliminant many of the drawbacks of the known methods and apparatus for producing labels.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing a label comprising : providing a computer means having a memory, processing means, and interface means; receiving information for incorporation into a label design in the form of a text file; saving the text file to the memory of the computer system under an accession number; displaying the information contained in the text file to a remote user via the interface to enable the information to be modified by the remote user; saving the modified information to memory in the form of a modified text file; running a computer programme arranged to instruct the computer processing means to locate and identify information for incorporation in a label design in the modified text file and to apply the information to a template for a label design in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy of rules governing how the information is to be presented, so as to originate a label design; saving the originated design to memory;

downloading the originated design to a remote user via the interface.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for producing a product label, the apparatus comprising computer processing means programmed to locate and identify information for incorporation in a label design in a text file and to apply the information to a label template in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy of rules governing how the information is to be presented.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing a label comprising : providing a computer means having a memory, processing means, and interface means ; receiving information for incorporation into a label design in a computer readable format; saving the information received to the memory of the computer system under an accession number; allowing remote user access to the information stored on the memory via the interface to enable the information to be modified by the remote user; saving the modified information to memory; and applying the modified information to a label design.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing a label comprising : receiving information for incorporation into a label design; originating a label design incorporating the information received ;

saving the originated label design in a computer readable format ; and transmitting the saved originated label design to a remote location for use in printing the labels.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings which: Figure 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of producing a garment label according to the prior art; Figure 2 shows a typical P/P sheet according to the prior art; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a system for carrying out a method of producing a label in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 is flow diagram illustrating the method of producing a label according to the first embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 shows one side of a typical sewn in content label for a garment; Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a system for carrying out a method of producing a label in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention; and Figure 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the method in accordance with the further embodiment of the invention.

A first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The system as depicted in Figure 3 comprises a retailer having a computer system 10, a manufacturer having a computer system 12 and a printer having a computer system 14. Each of the computer systems comprises processing means, memory means and interface means (indicated by the solid lines 16) by which each of the computer systems can exchange data, for example by

means of the internet 18.

As with the prior art method, the retailer generates information relating to an order for garments (step 1) and inputs the information into a computer system 10. The information is applied to a P/P sheet by the computer system (step 2) where it is held in a format which is unique to the retailer. The information is, therefore, not readable or accessible by third party computers without the appropriate software. The retailer then prints and sends a hard copy of the P/P sheet to the manufacturer 12 in the usual manner (as indicated by the dashed line 20). As well as producing a hard copy of the P/P sheet for the manufacturer, the retailer uses a suitable conversion programme on its computer system to extract the information from the P/P sheet and place it in a file which is generally universally readable. For example, the information in the P/P sheet can be converted into a text file (step 3). The text file is then sent (step 4) directly to the designated printer in electronic form, for example, by e-mail or over the internet.

The text file created by the retailer contains most of the information needed to produce the labels for the goods ordered. Each piece of information, such as the colour code, style code etc, is placed at a predetermined location within the text file. Information which can be recorded directly using the characters or symbols generally supported in a text file, e. g. alphanumeric characters, are recorded using those characters. Information in a form which is not generally supported in a text file, is given an alphanumeric or similar reference number or code which is stored in the text file at a predetermined location. For example, the group of wash care symbols in the P/P sheet shown in Figure 2 are given a reference number 7. This reference number is recorded in the text file at the predetermined location for information relating to wash care symbols. For this purpose, suitable reference numbers or codes can be attributed to each wash care symbol or predetermined group of symbols as is required.

Similarly, reference numbers or codes can be ascribed to other types of information which cannot be recorded directly using alphanumeric characters, such as bar codes.

The text file sent to the printer is saved to memory on the printer's computer system under a unique accession number (step 5) which identifies both the retailer and the manufacturer

to whom the garment order has been sent. The memory location at which the text file is saved, is either on or accessible by a web server running a web site. It will be understood that the server running the web site may not be owned or operated by the printer but could be operated, for example, by an internet service provider who has been retained by the printer to run the web site on his behalf. However, for the purposes of this patent application and in interpreting the claims, the web server and web site should be considered as forming part of the printer's computer system.

When the manufacturer receives the P/P sheet he begins the process of manufacturing the garments. When ordering the garment labels, the manufacturer rather than amending the hard copy of P/P sheet now accesses the printer's web site (step 6) and selects a web page for ordering labels. The manufacturer will then input an access code which identifies him as being a designated manufacturer for the retailer concerned. The printer's computer system compares the access code input by the manufacturer with the accession numbers of the text files stored in its memory. If the computer system identifies at least one text file having an accession number corresponding to the relevant manufacturer, then the web page will be loaded. Where only one such text file is identified, the information in that text file will be displayed on the web page for the manufacturer to read and edit. If the printer's computer system identifies more than one text file relating to that manufacture, the manufacturer is given the opportunity to select which of the text files or orders he wishes to process. Once the manufacturer has selected the appropriate file, the information in that file will be displayed on the web page for the manufacturer to read and edit (step 7).

When displaying the information from the text file, it is preferable if the information is presented in a format which is the same as, or very similar to, the format of the P/P sheet. For this purpose, the printer will have software capable of reconverting the text file back into a P/P sheet format. The conversion software is configured such that the computer processing means looks in the predetermined locations within the text file for the information which must be displayed. Once the information has been read and correctly interpreted, the information is displayed in the required format on the screen. So for example, the screen presented to the manufacturer will have a section for wash care instructions. In order to

complete this section, the software instructs the computer to look in the predetermined location for information relating to wash care instructions in the text file, read the reference number and then display the appropriate wash care symbol or group of symbols corresponding to that reference number in the wash care section of the screen. The conversion software will carry out this process for each piece of information which must be displayed.

Once all the information is displayed, the manufacturer is then able to check and amend the information in accordance with his requirements for the label order. Having made all the required amendments, the manufacturer saves the amended P/P sheet as a label order (step 8). When saving the amended P/P sheet, the printer's computer system will once again convert the information from the P/P sheet into a universally readable format such as a text file. When saving the amended P/P sheet, the information which has been altered can be saved to the predetermined locations in which the original information was saved, effectively overwriting the original information. Alternatively, the amended information could be saved to different predetermined locations, so that the amended text file contains both the original information provided by the retailer and the amendments made by the manufacturer.

The printer now has an amended text file containing all the information needed for producing the labels. Because the information has been amended electronically, errors in interpretation are far less likely to occur than with hand amended P/P sheets. Also, because most of the information in the amended text file has been received directly from the retailer in electronic format, the information should be clearly legible, which cannot be guaranteed in the case of an amended hard copy P/P sheet which may have been faxed several times. The printer may reconvert the text file into the P/P sheet format for use in transcribing the information using the conversion software previously described.

The printer is now in a position to originate the label designs using the information in the amended text file and to produce the labels for dispatch to the manufacturer (step 9).

It should be noted that each retailer will be sending orders to a number of manufactures,

possibly in different parts of the world, each of which may use a number of designated label printers. Using the above method, therefore, would require the retailer to send text files to each of the designated printers. Furthermore, each of the printers would be required to operate their own web site and to have access to the software required to interpret the text files sent by the retailer. In order to simplify the method, rather than the retailer sending the text files direct to each designated printer in respect of their various orders, the retailer sends the text files for all their orders to a central label coordinator (CLC).

The CLC performs all the functions of the printer as described above in relation to the first embodiment of the invention except for the origination of the labels. In this modified method the CLC will operate the web site and carry out steps 5 and 8 of the method as described above. However, once an amended text file has been saved by a manufacturer, the CLC makes the information in the amended text file available to the designated printer who originates the label design in accordance with step 9 of the above method. For example, the designated printer may access the web site operated by the CLC and having input an appropriate access code will be able to upload a web page displaying the amended P/P sheet which he can then download or print off and use to originate the labels.

Using a CLC in this way eliminates the need for the retailer to send text files to each of the designated printers and also means that printers not having access to the conversion software necessary to interpret the text file can be used to produce labels. The use of a CLC also eliminates the need for each of the designated printers to operate a sophisticated web site and so keeps costs to a minimum.

The methods described above eliminate many of the sources of error which arise in the known methods of producing labels. However, the method can be further improved by the use of a self origination software programme which is capable of automatically extracting the information from the amended text file and originating the label designs.

The self origination software works in conjunction with the proprietary label design software package used by the printer. This package may be"Quark"as discussed above. Before using

the self origination software, the printer will have set up in the proprietary software, label templates for each of the retailer's standard formats in a conventional manner.

When the self origination software is run, the printer will input information telling the computer system to produce a certain type of label for a certain retailer using the information from a specified text file. The text file specified will normally be a text file as amended by the garment manufacturer in accordance with step 8 of the method described above. The self origination software will open the proprietary design package and select the appropriate template for the retailer and label type specified. The self origination software will also open any other software applications which are needed to complete the label design, such as a bar code reader and a file maker for example.

Having opened the appropriate template, the self origination software completes the template by extracting the information required from the text file and applying the information to the appropriate part of the label template. The self origination software is configured to extract and apply the information in accordance with a predetermined sequence for the type of label being produced. When the information is incorporated into the template, the software applies a set of rules which define how the information is to be presented. For example, the rules may set out for each section or type of information the font which must be used, the font size, the colour, the maximum number of characters permitted in a line, and the minimum spacing permitted between the text or image and the edge of the label. The rules are applied in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy in accordance with the requirements set down by the retailer for their label designs.

Figure 5 shows a typical example of one side of a sewn in content label design 22 incorporating carrying various pieces information such us the wash care instructions 24, fibre type 26, and various alpha-numerical codes 28. In order to complete a label of this type, the self origination software instructs the computer processing means to work sequentially through the various different pieces of information required and to apply these to the label design using the appropriate hierarchy of rules. For example, the software may first of all apply the wash care instruction symbols. To do this it first looks in the text file at the

predetermined location for the wash care symbol reference number. The printer's computer system will already contain pre-defined images of each prescribed wash care symbol or group of symbols. The self origination software will identify the appropriate pre-defined image for the reference number found in the text file, this may be done through a programme called "file maker"for example, past the pre-defined image into the template at the appropriate location and apply any rules which govern the presentation of the symbols. The selforigination software continues in this manner for each piece of information, until all the relevant information has been applied to the label template in accordance with the rules and the label design is complete.

Where the amended text file is such that the information modified by the manufacturer is saved at a different location from the original information created by the retailer, the self origination software may be configured such that it first looks at and applies to the template the information as originally created by the retailer and subsequently looks for any modifications to the information saved by the manufacturer and amends the template accordingly.

Use of the self origination software eliminates the need for the printer to transcribe by hand the information provided by the retailer and amended by the manufacturer and thus eliminates a major source of errors in the label production process. Use of the self origination software is particularly advantageous for printers who are not familiar with the language in which the information is provided and indeed by using the self origination software it is possible for printers who are unable to read the language in which the information is provided to produce labels accurately and without errors. This enables manufacturers to select from a much wider range of local printers than might otherwise be the case, so helping to reduce costs.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 in which origination of the label designs is carried out at a single location, known as a central label originator (CLO), and downloaded to local printers for local production of the labels.

The system depicted in Figure 6 comprises a retailer having a computer system 10, three

manufacturers Ml, M2 & M3 each having a respective computer system 12a, 12b and 12c, three printers each being associated with a respective manufacturer and each having a respective computer system 14a, 14b, 14c, and a CLO also having a computer system 30. As with the previous embodiment, each of the computer systems comprises processing means, memory means and an interface means (indicated by the solid lines 16) by which the computer systems can exchange date, for example via the internet 18.

It will be understood that whilst three manufactures are depicted, the number of manufacturers is not essential to the invention. It should also be understood that the manufacturers could be located anywhere in the world. Similarly, the number of printers used is not essential to the invention. For example, where one printer is located proximate to two or more manufacturers, that printer could supply more than one of the manufacturers alternatively, any one manufacturer could source its labels from more than one printer.

In this embodiment, the retailer generates order information (step 1) and applies this information to a P/P sheet using their computer system 10 (step 2). The retailer will then transmit orders to one or more manufactures MI, M2, M3, each order being transmitted using a hard copy of a respective P/P sheet in a conventional manner (as indicated by the dashed line 20). As with the previous embodiment, the information on each P/P sheet is converted into a text file (step 3) but instead of sending these text files to the respective local printers, all the text files are sent to the CLO (step 4) where each text file is saved to memory on the CLO's computer system under a unique accession number which identifies the manufacture and the retailer (step 5). The text files are saved to memory at a location which is either on or accessible by a server running a web site for the CLO. Again, whilst in practice the web site server may be owned and operated by an internet service provided who runs the web site on behalf of the CLO, it should be considered for the purposes of this description as being part of the CLO's computer system On receipt of the order from the retailer, each manufacturer can access the web site (step 6) in order to view and edit (step 7) the text files relating to their orders in a manner similar to that already described in relation to the first embodiment. Once the information has been

amended it is then saved as a label order and is converted back into a text file (step 8).

The CLO is then able to use the modified text files to originate the label designs (step 9).

Preferably, the self origination software described earlier is used but this need not be the case and the printer could transcribe the information from the modified text file by hand. The originated label designs are saved on the memory of the CLO's computer system under an accession number which identifies the designs as being related to the particular manufacturer and/or their designated printer (step 10). The accession number for the originated label designs may be the same as the accession number under which the original text file was saved but preferably is a different number.

In addition to placing an order for the labels with the CLO, each manufacturer also notifies their respective designated printer of the order. Each printer subsequently accesses the web site using the internet in a conventional manner and having opened an appropriate web page enters an access code which is specific to that printer. The CLO's computer compares the access code input by the printer with the accession numbers associated with the various originated label designs stored in its memory and if the computer finds one or more label designs saved under an accession number which relates to that printer, will upload the relevant originated designs to the web site from where they can be downloaded by the printer (step 11). The printer is then able to use the designs which have been downloaded to produce a film and plate and to print the labels in a conventional manner (step 12).

Central origination of the label designs in accordance with this embodiment of the invention means that almost any printer having access to the internet could be used to print the final labels to the required standard. The selected printers need have no knowledge of the standard formats for the labels nor need they even be able to read the information on the labels. This means that manufacturers can source their labels from a much wider choice of printers than previously, increasing competition and reducing costs. Furthermore, the retailer does not have the burden of maintaining a network of designated printers and can keep a much tighter control on the presentation of their labels though the CLO. This make it much easier and simpler for the retailer to make amendments to their label formats as these changes need only

be agreed with and implemented by the CLO rather than with each printer.

Claims

Claims 1. A method of producing a label comprising: providing a computer means having a memory, processing means, and interface means; receiving information for incorporation into a label design in the form of a text file; saving the text file to the memory of the computer system under an accession number; displaying the information contained in the text file to a remote user via the interface to enable the information to be modified by the remote user; saving the modified information to memory in the form of a modified text file; running a computer programme arranged to instruct the computer processing means to locate and identify information for incorporation in a label design in the modified text file and to apply the information to a template for a label design in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy of rules governing how the information is to be presented, so as to originate a label design; saving the originated design to memory; downloading the originated design to a remote user via the interface.
2. Apparatus for producing a product label, the apparatus comprising computer processing means programmed to locate and identify information for incorporation in a label design in a text file and to apply the information to a label template in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy of rules governing how the information is to be presented.

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3. A method of producing a label comprising: providing a computer means having a memory, processing means, and interface means; receiving information for incorporation into a label design in a computer readable format; saving the information received to the memory of the computer system under an accession number; allowing remote user access to the information stored on the memory via the interface to enable the information to be modified by the remote user; saving the modified information to memory; and applying the modified information to a label design.
4. A method of producing a label comprising: receiving information for incorporation into a label design; originating a label design incorporating the information received; saving the originated label design in a computer readable format ; and transmitting the saved originated label design to a remote location for use in printing the labels.