supply Chain Archives - Cloudfy B2B Ecommerce Software

How Coding & Marking Drive Supply Chain Traceability

Singh Baba — Tue, 27 May 2025 09:15:01 +0000

Meeting Growing Traceability Needs: Why More Manufacturers and Distributors Need Industrial Coding and Marking Solutions)

Traceability is essential, especially in the pharmaceutical, automotive and food sectors, to meet strict compliance and regulatory requirements. A new market research report forecasts annual growth across the sector of almost 5%, reaching a total value of US$13.2billion by 2034.

Traceability in the B2B market

Integration, automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) have become integral parts of business to business (B2B) operations. Materials and stock visibility throughout the supply chain enhances operational efficiency and improves customer service. It also plays an important role in the fight against fraud and counterfeiting. As more companies turn to B2B ecommerce, robust labeling is essential to simplify and streamline inventory and shipping management.

Increasing online sales of packaged food and strict safety requirements make this sector one of the fastest growth areas. Pharmaceutical production also requires reliable serialized labeling so coding equipment and software need upgrading. The rise of electric vehicles and connected devices means component traceability is more important than ever.

However, there are challenges, including:

high initial investment costs
advanced training required due to complexity in many sectors
rapidly developing technology
regional differences in regulatory and compliance requirements
sustainability throughout the supply chain.

To meet demand and satisfy these wide-ranging challenges, innovative solutions will characterize the industrial marking and coding sector.

Advanced coding and marking solutions

Inkjet, laser and thermal transfer printers each account for around a third of the market. Packaging and labeling represent the largest applications, often integrated into production lines. Uses range from boxes and bags to cases and pallets. As well as branding it includes expiry dates, batch numbers and barcodes. Personalized packaging is an expanding area with, for example, variable quick response or QR codes for use in ecommerce fulfillment.

Digital coders will dominate new solutions to support networking with data systems for serialization and fast, demand-responsive reconfiguration. By 2030 advanced printers will offer Industry 4.0 capabilities. Automated coding and inspection stations linked to central control systems will streamline and simplify operations. Customers and manufacturers can both benefit from seamless interconnectivity through machine learning in the cloud.

Seamless online solutions

Purpose designed software as a service (SaaS) ecommerce solutions like Cloudfy simplify implementation of advanced marking and coding. Whether you sell perishable goods, digital downloads, or items under warranty, you can easily apply serialized license numbers to orders.

Powerful serialized inventory and order management tools simplify your B2B sales. You can use your preferred license generation software to create lists of serialized license numbers in your enterprise (ERP) system or via Cloudfy’s administration dashboard. When customers place their online orders, automatic tagging provides reliable and robust traceability. You can collaborate with supply chain partners to achieve end-to-end visibility. You can streamline operations with:

Enhanced ecommerce fulfillment

Even if you offer thousands of unique stockkeeping units (SKUs) online you can easily manage product labels and packaging markings.

Personalized packaging

Digital printing offers fast and cost-effective solutions for short runs of customized packaging or on-demand labels.

Improved regulatory compliance

The pharmaceutical and food sectors require unique coding and expiry dates on packaging. Strict international product tracking and safety standards are adding complexity to sales and fulfillment. With advanced tools in the cloud, you can simplify and automate your processes.

Supply chain transparency

Your customers want real time information about their orders. You can meet their needs with end-to-end visibility throughout your supply chain.

Example: CITB

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) provides subscription services for e-book and hard copy materials. They needed an online store to provide a seamless automated workflow. With their Cloudfy solution customers can download e-books or order hard copies with unique license keys.

Read more

Find out how to simplify, save and scale your B2B operations with Cloudfy. Book a free demonstration today.

The post How Coding & Marking Drive Supply Chain Traceability appeared first on Cloudfy B2B Ecommerce Software.

Making B2B Ecommerce Part of Your Supply Chain (Updated)

Cloudfy — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 08:42:11 +0000

A recent report from DHL highlights the importance of integrating business to business (B2B) ecommerce in your supply chain.

Adoption of B2B ecommerce accelerated during the pandemic, supported by secure encrypted payment systems. However, restricted international movement of goods clearly showed the B2B sector the risks associated with supply chain management and logistics.

In a fast-changing environment B2B companies must respond to shifting buyer behavior with an effective B2B ecommerce strategy. Customers are increasingly comfortable making high value purchases of US$500,000 or even US$1million in a single online transaction.

Making B2B ecommerce part of your supply chain management process improves planning, coordination, and effective production, sales, distribution and fulfillment. When everything works seamlessly the right products reach the right customers at the right time.

Agility is the key

All B2B ecommerce businesses must maintain adaptability, agility, and responsiveness to meet buyer expectations while remaining cost-effective. Digital transformation and supply chain management integration are essential for survival.

Cloudfy is specifically designed to meet the needs of complex B2B operations. It’s a scalable, cost-effective option for delivering a fully integrated ecommerce strategy. It includes integration options for major business systems, an application programming interface (API) for customization and interfaces with third-party systems.

Importantly, regular upgrades are automatically deployed in the cloud. It’s a ‘future-proofed’ option that allows your business to respond quickly to changing conditions.

Customer experience experts highlight that B2B buyers now look for much more from their suppliers and business partners. Seamless end to end information, security and high quality service are minimum requirements. This is only achieved when your ecommerce platform is recognized as a key part of your supply chain.

Barriers to integrating B2B ecommerce in your supply chain

Fewer than one in five businesses recently surveyed said they offered full end-to-end integration. Barriers include concern within IT departments about control of ecommerce technology and sales team resistance to automation. Many business leaders don’t yet fully understand the business benefits and risks of falling behind.

While almost two thirds of B2B companies now have ecommerce capabilities their digital strategies vary dramatically. Businesses that succeed will deliver outstanding service and achieve increased profitability.

In the next three to five years, more than half of businesses will change distribution practices. They must be ready to deal with:

evolving customer expectations
conflicting business priorities
limitations in existing infrastructure
increasing costs
modernizing technology
creating a fully developed strategy
achieving organization-wide adoption
finding the right business partners.

To attract new customers and retain existing ones, B2B supply chains must adopt new business models and service levels. This includes partnerships with third-party logistics companies (3PLs) to complement in-house resources and capabilities.

Meeting customer expectations

Same-day delivery, real-time track-and-trace, return options and flexible delivery choices are just some of your buyer’s expectations. Increasingly, customers base their purchasing decisions on how well businesses meet their demands. To meet and exceed expectations B2B ecommerce companies are in a race to balance cost and service across the whole business.

Although B2B ecommerce implementation is catching up with B2C practices, the starting points have been very different. In terms of inventory management and distribution B2B businesses currently have many different ways of handling and fulfilling ecommerce orders. Two or more distribution methods are common. Even though more than half of businesses plan changes it isn’t yet clear which approaches will best meet requirements.

We like to discuss how Cloudfy addresses barriers to full B2B ecommerce implementation with forward-thinking businesses. Please get in touch.

Frequently Asked Questions

What part does B2B ecommerce play in supply chain management?

B2B ecommerce is critical to effective supply chain management, helping you improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and increase profitability. By streamlining end to end processes you improve efficiency and inventory visibility. Your business becomes more competitive by meeting the expectations of your customers and providing around the clock self-service.

How does B2B ecommerce change supply chain management?

B2B ecommerce simplifies procurement both upstream and downstream. It allows you to improve purchasing through integration with your suppliers. Working with logistics partners you can also minimize bottlenecks. Your customers can buy from you more easily and maintain control of their own procurement processes. Data collected helps improve every step in the process and speed up resolutions if problems arise.

What parts of the supply chain improve with B2B ecommerce?

B2B ecommerce businesses can optimize their inventory levels through integration with supply chain management. This supports efficient and cost-effective order fulfillment processes and optimized logistics and delivery. Ultimately better visibility allows manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers to improve relationships with customers and negotiate favorable terms.

How do supply chain disruptions affect B2B businesses?

Supply chain disruptions can interrupt production leading to delayed deliveries, customer dissatisfaction and potential loss of trust. Out-of-stock situations due to shortages of raw materials or components mean lost sales opportunities. Important contracts could even be lost. As the costs of storage and transport increase improved visibility and efficiency can help reduce operational expenses.

Can supply chain management and B2B ecommerce integration improve customer satisfaction?

Integrating supply chain management with your B2B ecommerce operations helps to optimize inventory visibility for your customers. You can improve demand forecasting to prevent out of stock situations so customers can always find what they want. Increased efficiency improves delivery times and also shortens the order to cash process.

The post Making B2B Ecommerce Part of Your Supply Chain (Updated) appeared first on Cloudfy B2B Ecommerce Software.