In our continuing series of discussions with top supply-chain company executives, Gregg Schiltz discusses new bar-code technologies and how well-designed labeling programs can drive efficiencies.
David Maloney has been a journalist for more than 35 years and is currently the group editorial director for DC Velocity and Supply Chain Quarterly magazines. In this role, he is responsible for the editorial content of both brands of Agile Business Media. Dave joined DC Velocity in April of 2004. Prior to that, he was a senior editor for Modern Materials Handling magazine. Dave also has extensive experience as a broadcast journalist. Before writing for supply chain publications, he was a journalist, television producer and director in Pittsburgh. Dave combines a background of reporting on logistics with his video production experience to bring new opportunities to DC Velocity readers, including web videos highlighting top distribution and logistics facilities, webcasts and other cross-media projects. He continues to live and work in the Pittsburgh area.
Gregg Schiltz is chief operations officer at ID Label, a manufacturer of custom, variable-information bar-code labels, asset tags, and facility signage. He is responsible for day-to-day operations of the company, including manufacturing, sales, marketing, IT, and finance. Schiltz joined ID Label in 2008 as the company’s director of installation services, a division he formed and managed for seven years. He was promoted to general manager in 2015 and COO in 2017.
GREGG SCHILTZ
Q: Where do you see the material handling market heading in 2022?
A: We expect to see the current trends continue: a shortage of available warehouse space, bottlenecks in the supply chain, and increased demand from consumers. These market trends were there pre-Covid, but they’ve been amplified. Consumers are buying more items online, and no one expects that to pull back anytime soon.
For our industry, that means continued demand for space, material handling equipment, software, and bar coding. It demonstrates how integral our industry is to our economy. E-commerce doesn’t work without local storage and last-mile distribution.
Q: Earlier in your career, you worked in operations. How has that experience benefited you now that you work for a supplier?
A: I think it’s been a vital foundation for me. With my prior experience, I know the challenges our customers face and how we can help address them as a custom manufacturer. We have several employees who’ve had experience in warehouse and DC operations. We try to look for that when we recruit and hire. It’s part of how ID Label approaches the market. We train our team to have an empathetic attitude. It helps them listen to customers to understand their needs; then we can design a solution that works for their specific environments.
Q: In what ways can proper labeling create efficiencies within facilities?
A:Bar coding is a key part of a smart warehouse operation. The labels and signs pair with mobile scanning technology, warehouse management software, and a well-planned layout and numbering scheme. Each part is reliant on the others to maximize operational efficiency. At the end of the day, the role of bar coding is to allow data capture within inventory management software. That software needs our labeling products and vice versa. The net result is better inventory management, traceability of parts and finished goods, faster picking and fulfillment, speed, velocity, improved worker movement, and higher productivity—all the above.
It’s a little like the postal system. Every day, they deliver millions of pieces of mail because there is a distribution system in place with individual locations (addresses) so mail can be delivered from point A to B in the most efficient manner.
Q: How are new IT technologies impacting your labeling products and the tracking of inventory in general?
A: New technologies go hand in hand with advances in labeling products. Today’s mobile imagers, for instance, are more sophisticated, which means they can scan from longer ranges at increased scan read rates. That allows manufacturers like ID Label to develop products that take advantage of these capabilities.
Our overhead signs feature retroreflective graphics. These materials enable optimal scan accuracy from long distances—typically 50 feet or more. This is due to the intensity of the light reflecting off the bar code as it’s returned to the mobile scanning device. We also use this material in newer facilities that feature high-bay racking intended to accommodate more units and SKUs. Retro rack-bay labeling on the higher levels accommodates accurate scanning from the ground.
Newer imaging technology can also read two-dimensional bar codes. Unlike typical linear bar codes, 2D bar codes can store thousands of characters of information. That’s because they encode data both vertically and horizontally. They can contain information like product name, serial number, lot number, date of arrival, date to be shipped, and more. A single scan captures all the pertinent information, which is then easily accessible in the facility’s inventory management software.
On the label manufacturing side, newer technology advancements allow us to install in-line verification systems on our presses, so we’re able to monitor bar-code scan quality and read rates in real time as labels are produced. This helps us produce the highest-quality product, which means happy customers.
Q: What is the most popular facility sign that you produce, and how is it being used?
A: The most common sign is a 16- by 11-inch bent PVC sign. These are typically installed above bulk storage areas that contain large, bulky items or pallets of fast-moving products. The signs commonly feature a retroreflective graphic—a bar code and human-readable letters and numbers. Workers in lift trucks can easily drop or pick their load and scan the overhead sign to log it into the WMS without leaving the forklift. That’s just another way bar coding drives efficiency and speed.
Q: What is the one piece of advice you would give to facility managers about their labeling programs?
A: Based on my experience, labeling is typically one of the last items that warehouse managers think of. This can leave them scrambling to find product if there hasn’t been enough time built into their planning. The last thing you want to see is a multimillion-dollar facility miss its go-live date due to lack of location labels.
My advice is to consult with your labeling partner at the start of any project. With today’s supply chain challenges, that’s more important than ever. Hand in hand with that is mapping your facility for efficiency. Signs and labels tell the story of how to navigate a warehouse, and they communicate information to your staff. Most warehouse location IDs consist of four to six fields that reflect the layout and organization of a facility. This nomenclature is a shorthand language to help workers quickly know where products are to be stored or picked. And that logic is also built into the warehouse’s inventory management software.
Beyond that, be sure to use quality products that perform in your environment, whether that’s ambient or cooler/freezer settings. If the location labels are easily damaged, smudged, or peel and fall, the result is lost efficiency and potential errors from manual data entry.
Q: What is the most significant change in labeling you have seen during your time in the industry?
A: We’ve seen materials and adhesives progress dramatically over the past 10 years or so. The industry has moved from using general all-purpose adhesives and paper face sheets for everything. The focus now is on designing custom solutions for specific applications and environments featuring more durable poly materials and advanced adhesives. Bar-code labeling today needs to perform in extreme cold and heat, in outdoor settings with extended exposure to ultraviolet rays, in challenging manufacturing environments—you name it.
For instance, with the growing demand for cold storage facilities, labeling has had to adapt. We developed Arctic Xtreme cold storage labels to meet this demand. They perform extremely well in cold, wet, and subzero conditions—down to -65F. And they can be installed in temperatures as low as -20F.
Repositionable labels are another advancement. Our Clean Release labels adhere tightly to warehouse racking and shelving but are easily removable and reusable without any adhesive residue left behind. This supports our customers’ need for greater flexibility in slotting and reconfiguring their locations to meet seasonal demands or needs arising from facility expansion.
As our customers’ needs change, we’ll be there with innovative bar-coding solutions. That’s the advantage of being a custom manufacturer. There’s no “one size fits all” in our world.
Warehouse automation orders declined by 3% in 2024, according to a February report from market research firm Interact Analysis. The company said the decline was due to economic, political, and market-specific challenges, including persistently high interest rates in many regions and the residual effects of an oversupply of warehouses built during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The research also found that increasing competition from Chinese vendors is expected to drive down prices and slow revenue growth over the report’s forecast period to 2030.
Global macro-economic factors such as high interest rates, political uncertainty around elections, and the Chinese real estate crisis have “significantly impacted sales cycles, slowing the pace of orders,” according to the report.
Despite the decline, analysts said growth is expected to pick up from 2025, which they said they anticipate will mark a year of slow recovery for the sector. Pre-pandemic growth levels are expected to return in 2026, with long-term expansion projected at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% between 2024 and 2030.
The analysis also found two market segments that are bucking the trend: durable manufacturing and food & beverage industries continued to spend on automation during the downturn. Warehouse automation revenues in food & beverage, in particular, were bolstered by cold-chain automation, as well as by large-scale projects from consumer-packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers. The sectors registered the highest growth in warehouse automation revenues between 2022 and 2024, with increases of 11% (durable manufacturing) and 10% (food & beverage), according to the research.
The Swedish supply chain software company Kodiak Hub is expanding into the U.S. market, backed by a $6 million venture capital boost for its supplier relationship management (SRM) platform.
The Stockholm-based company says its move could help U.S. companies build resilient, sustainable supply chains amid growing pressure from regulatory changes, emerging tariffs, and increasing demands for supply chain transparency.
According to the company, its platform gives procurement teams a 360-degree view of supplier risk, resiliency, and performance, helping them to make smarter decisions faster. Kodiak Hub says its artificial intelligence (AI) based tech has helped users to reduce supplier onboarding times by 80%, improve supplier engagement by 90%, achieve 7-10% cost savings on total spend, and save approximately 10 hours per week by automating certain SRM tasks.
The Swedish venture capital firm Oxx had a similar message when it announced in November that it would back Kodiak Hub with new funding. Oxx says that Kodiak Hub is a better tool for chief procurement officers (CPOs) and strategic sourcing managers than existing software platforms like Excel sheets, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, or Procure-to-Pay suites.
“As demand for transparency and fair-trade practices grows, organizations must strengthen their supply chains to protect their reputation, profitability, and long-term trust,” Malin Schmidt, founder & CEO of Kodiak Hub, said in a release. “By embedding AI-driven insights directly into procurement workflows, our platform helps procurement teams anticipate these risks and unlock major opportunities for growth.”
Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.
For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Electric vehicle (EV) sales have seen slow and steady growth, as the vehicles continue to gain converts among consumers and delivery fleet operators alike. But a consistent frustration for drivers has been pulling up to a charging station only to find that the charger has been intentionally broken or disabled.
To address that threat, the EV charging solution provider ChargePoint has launched two products to combat charger vandalism.
The first is a cut-resistant charging cable that's designed to deter theft. The cable, which incorporates what the manufacturer calls "novel cut-resistant materials," is substantially more difficult for would-be vandals to cut but is still flexible enough for drivers to maneuver comfortably, the California firm said. ChargePoint intends to make its cut-resistant cables available for all of its commercial and fleet charging stations, and, starting in the middle of the year, will license the cable design to other charging station manufacturers as part of an industrywide effort to combat cable theft and vandalism.
The second product, ChargePoint Protect, is an alarm system that detects charging cable tampering in real time and literally sounds the alarm using the charger's existing speakers, screens, and lighting system. It also sends SMS or email messages to ChargePoint customers notifying them that the system's alarm has been triggered.
ChargePoint says it expects these two new solutions, when combined, will benefit charging station owners by reducing station repair costs associated with vandalism and EV drivers by ensuring they can trust charging stations to work when and where they need them.
New Jersey is home to the most congested freight bottleneck in the country for the seventh straight year, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), released today.
ATRI’s annual list of the Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks aims to highlight the nation’s most congested highways and help local, state, and federal governments target funding to areas most in need of relief. The data show ways to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth, according to the researchers.
The 2025 Top Truck Bottleneck List measures the level of truck-involved congestion at more than 325 locations on the national highway system. The analysis is based on an extensive database of freight truck GPS data and uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations, to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location. The bottleneck locations detailed in the latest ATRI list represent the top 100 congested locations, although ATRI continuously monitors more than 325 freight-critical locations, the group said.
For the seventh straight year, the intersection of I-95 and State Route 4 near the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is the top freight bottleneck in the country. The remaining top 10 bottlenecks include: Chicago, I-294 at I-290/I-88; Houston, I-45 at I-69/US 59; Atlanta, I-285 at I-85 (North); Nashville: I-24/I-40 at I-440 (East); Atlanta: I-75 at I-285 (North); Los Angeles, SR 60 at SR 57; Cincinnati, I-71 at I-75; Houston, I-10 at I-45; and Atlanta, I-20 at I-285 (West).
ATRI’s analysis, which utilized data from 2024, found that traffic conditions continue to deteriorate from recent years, partly due to work zones resulting from increased infrastructure investment. Average rush hour truck speeds were 34.2 miles per hour (MPH), down 3% from the previous year. Among the top 10 locations, average rush hour truck speeds were 29.7 MPH.
In addition to squandering time and money, these delays also waste fuel—with trucks burning an estimated 6.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel and producing more than 65 million metric tons of additional carbon emissions while stuck in traffic jams, according to ATRI.
On a positive note, ATRI said its analysis helps quantify the value of infrastructure investment, pointing to improvements at Chicago’s Jane Byrne Interchange as an example. Once the number one truck bottleneck in the country for three years in a row, the recently constructed interchange saw rush hour truck speeds improve by nearly 25% after construction was completed, according to the report.
“Delays inflicted on truckers by congestion are the equivalent of 436,000 drivers sitting idle for an entire year,” ATRI President and COO Rebecca Brewster said in a statement announcing the findings. “These metrics are getting worse, but the good news is that states do not need to accept the status quo. Illinois was once home to the top bottleneck in the country, but following a sustained effort to expand capacity, the Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago no longer ranks in the top 10. This data gives policymakers a road map to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth.”