Zebra and Barcoding Reform DHL's Shipping Processes with a Strategic Label Initiative

Prior to DHL’s partnership with Zebra and Barcoding, their labels were of poor quality and were often unscannable. This would incur excessive shipping costs and chargebacks, putting DHL back a step in the shipping process. These labels were not only unreadable, but also counterproductive to DHL’s line of business.

DHL offers services in retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and consumer electronics industries. As the world’s largest logistics specialist, they needed to make a change with their labels in order to reform their shipping process in a cost-effective manner. With over 400 distribution centers across the US and Canada, DHL deemed their low-quality labels as unacceptable and inefficient across the board due to fiscal losses.

Sally Miller, CIO of DHL, explained that their company’s research uncovered that “several locations were purchasing products from across the country and spending excessive dollars in shipping.” Without a corporate purchasing contract, each of the 400+ locations were utilizing multiple suppliers. DHL struggled to maintain consistency without streamlined expectations for all locations.

Without direction and guidance from DHL (or Zebra and Barcoding), these locations worked to keep costs down in the short run, which often compromised quality—labels were being sourced from manufacturers or online discounters. DHL suffered from these losses, as many large retailers may refuse shipment altogether if a carton’s shipping label is unreadable or does not comply with their requirements. Cutting corners to save in the short-term was simply not worth it to DHL. One of their distribution centers was charged nearly $100,000 in chargebacks from a single receiving company.