By Jim Bureau, CEO, Loftware

Today’s supply chains are under pressure to be faster, smarter, and more connected. Companies are investing heavily in automation, cloud platforms, and data analytics to drive that transformation. Product identification, despite being foundational to compliance, traceability, and operational efficiency, often lags behind – fragmented, outdated, and disconnected from the broader tech stack. This creates a weak link and results in vulnerabilities that ripple across global operations.

Why Product Identification Falls Behind 

Product identification typically sits in a gray zone between IT, operations, and supply chain teams. Historically, sites built their own label templates and processes, which worked in a slower world but now create risk and inconsistency – especially when regulations shift with little warning.

Decentralized systems make it nearly impossible to update templates uniformly or ensure every facility is using the correct data. Even small discrepancies can trigger fines, rework, or shipment holds.

A Strategic Shift: Standardizing in the Cloud 

Leading enterprises are reelevating their product identification processes and treating this as a strategic function by moving to centralized, cloud-based platforms. Within today’s cloud-enabled collaborative ecosystems – where manufacturers, suppliers, logistics partners, and customers exchange data in real time – this becomes a critical connective layer that ensures product information stays aligned across every stakeholder. This unified approach enables:

• • Consistent, compliant labeling across all trading partners, including regions, suppliers, and plants
  • Faster updates when regulations or customer requirements change
  • Real-time visibility into traceability
  • A single source of truth for label data, design, and governance

Customers adopting this model are seeing meaningful impact – from major reductions in delays to multimillion-dollar savings tied to avoided recalls and fines.

Consider Lubrizol, a specialty chemicals manufacturer, who achieved a 30% improvement in compliance and efficiency by integrating its labeling with SAP, ensuring consistent data flow and faster market delivery. Similarly, Varian, a global medical device manufacturer, reduced product identification errors by 80% and accelerated product approvals by seamlessly integrating this process across suppliers.

Turning Compliance into Advantage 

Regulatory pressure is increasing, and transparency expectations are rising. Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and similar initiatives make product identification the entry point to a product’s verified data.

As supply chains operate more fully within cloud-enabled collaborative ecosystems – where information flows continuously between manufacturers, suppliers, logistics partners, and customers – accurate, centralized labeling ensures that the data tied to each product remains consistent and trusted as it moves through that network. Rather than serving as a static compliance requirement, it becomes an enabler of transparency, helping organizations meet evolving regulations while strengthening confidence across the entire value chain.

Why Standardization Strengthens Resilience 

Global operations depend on speed, clarity, and coordination. In a connected network where data moves fluidly between multiple stakeholders, standardized cloud labeling ensures every party is working from the same verified information, eliminating confusion and reducing the risk of misalignment.

Companies can pivot quickly in response to supply chain disruptions, regulatory changes, or shifts in manufacturing footprint, without risking compliance or slowing production.

Empowering People, Not Replacing Them 

Modern product identification platforms reduce manual work and complexity, freeing teams from repetitive updates and disconnected processes. When this function is embedded within a cloud-enabled collaborative ecosystem, employees across operations, supply chain, and partner networks gain shared visibility into the same data and templates.

This helps them spot issues earlier, coordinate more effectively, and maintain compliance without constant back-and-forth. Instead of replacing human expertise, it’s strengthened – allowing people to focus on innovation, sustainability initiatives, and continuous improvement across the value chain.

Looking Forward 

Product identification modernization is no longer optional. It’s a foundational step toward building a smarter, more agile, and more transparent supply chain. Companies that treat it as a strategic pillar – not a back-office task – will be best positioned to navigate uncertainty, meet rising customer expectations, and strengthen collaboration across their network of suppliers, partners, and internal teams.

In the end, product identification isn’t the weakest link. Embedded within a cloud-enabled collaborative ecosystem, it becomes a hidden strength; ensuring data consistency, enabling real-time visibility, and turning compliance into confidence and collaboration into opportunity.

Jim Bureau is the CEO of Loftware, a global leader in product identification and supply chain transparency. Jim is responsible for the overall vision, strategy, and leadership of the company. He has been in enterprise software for over 30 years, with the last two decades focused on helping organizations transition to the cloud.