Case Sharing | A label material manufacturer's transformation path: How a ribbon slitting machine helped its customer satisfaction increase by 30%

Abstract:In the face of fierce market competition and homogeneous products, a well-known label material supplier has realized the strategic transformation from single sales to providing high value-added services by introducing high-performance ribbon slitting machines. This move not only achieved near-zero defects in product delivery quality and increased customer satisfaction by 30%, but also reshaped its industry competitiveness and established a deeply bound strategic partnership with customers.

1. Enterprise background and challenges: the bottleneck of growth

The company is a leading supplier of label materials in China, providing various types of thermal transfer ribbons (barcode printing consumables) for printing plants, brand owners and end users. Over the years, with reliable product quality and channel network, the company has established a stable customer base.

However, as the market evolved, corporate leadership was acutely aware of growth bottlenecks and potential crises:

1. Serious product homogenization: basic ribbon products (such as some general resin-based and wax-based ribbons) are easily imitated, and market competition has gradually become a brutal "price war", and profit margins are constantly compressed.

2. Increasingly personalized customer needs: The application scenarios of downstream customers (especially high-end brands, electronics, medical and other industries) are becoming more and more complex. They are no longer satisfied with standard-sized ribbons, and frequently put forward customized requirements for small batches, multiple specifications, and special slitting (such as ultra-narrow widths and special large coil diameters).

3. Unstable delivery quality: In the past, slitting processes relied on external foundries. This is not only uncontrollable delivery time, but also uneven slitting quality, common problems include: uneven end faces, burrs on the edges, overflow on the cut surface, too many joints, etc. This often results in broken tapes, blurred prints, and even damaged printheads on customer production lines, leading to frequent complaints and claims.

4. Slow response speed: Customers' urgent order needs cannot be responded to quickly, and the long cycle from order placement to delivery is long, missing many business opportunities.

The company's management realized that if these pain points were not solved, the company would stay at the bottom of the value chain forever and fall into a vicious circle. Transformation is imminent.

2. Solution: Strategic investment - introduce high-performance ribbon slitting machine

After in-depth market research and technical evaluation, the company made a key strategic decision: invest in the introduction of a high-performance, high-precision automatic ribbon slitting machine, and use this as the core to reshape the production and service process.

The core advantages of this slitting machine are:

• High-precision tension control: ensure that the tension of the coil is constant during the slitting process, which is the core of ensuring that the slitting end face is neat, free of glue spillage and no wrinkles.

• Intelligent Correction System: High-precision photoelectric sensors are used to monitor the edge of the material in real time, ensuring that the width error of each roll of slitting product is controlled within ±0.1mm, meeting the stringent requirements of high-end applications.

• Non-destructive cutting technology: Uses finely sharpened blades and special tool holder design to achieve a clean cut, eliminate edge burrs and toner layer damage, and effectively protect the print head.

• Fully automated operation: From automatic loading and slitting to labeling and unloading, manual intervention is greatly reduced, which not only improves efficiency but also ensures product quality consistency.

• Flexibility and customization capabilities: Easily cope with the needs of ultra-narrow label tapes ranging from millimeters to large sizes of hundreds of millimeters, supporting various cores and roll diameters to perfectly meet customers' personalized orders.

3. Implementation results: the secret of improving customer satisfaction by 30%

Investing in a slitting machine is not just about buying a piece of equipment, it's about initiating a profound internal change. The results were rapid within a few months:

1. Leap in product quality to achieve "zero defect" delivery:

The slitted ribbon has a perfect roll, a mirror-like end, and smooth and burr-free edges. When used by customers on the production line, the tape break rate was reduced by more than 95%, and the printhead loss was significantly reduced. The stability of product quality has led to a high level of customer trust.

2. Extremely fast response speed to seize market opportunities:

After mastering the slitting capabilities internally, the realization cycle of urgent orders and sample orders has been shortened from the past "weeks" to "hours". Salesmen can confidently promise delivery to customers and win a large number of temporary, high-value-added orders.

3. Service model upgrade, from "selling products" to "selling solutions":

Businesses are no longer simply providing standards. Now, they can take the initiative to provide customers with a one-stop solution of "ribbon + slitting customization".

• Scenario 1: A customer prints a very small UL certification label for a new electronic product and requires an ultra-narrow ribbon of 0.6mm. In the past, this was an almost impossible task. Now, the company can easily undertake and become the exclusive supplier to that customer.

• Scenario 2: A large supermarket has an old printing system and special requirements for ribbon roll diameter. The company customized the slitting for it, which solved the pain points of customers and had a high level of customer loyalty.

4. Cost Optimization and Profit Enhancement:

• Reduced Waste: Precise slitting reduces material waste.

• Reduced after-sales costs: Quality complaints and claims are almost zero, saving a lot of after-sales manpower and material resources.

• Premium Capabilities: Customized services and high-quality products bring reasonable premiums, and gross profit margins have significantly increased, successfully breaking free from price wars.

[Quantitative embodiment of a 30% increase in customer satisfaction]

• Repeat purchase rate: The repeat purchase rate of core customers increased from 68% to 92%.

• Customer complaint rate: Product quality-related complaints dropped by more than 90%.

• NPS (Net Promoter Score): In the follow-up customer satisfaction survey, the customer's score in "product quality", "service flexibility", "delivery timeliness" and other dimensions has been significantly improved, and the overall satisfaction comprehensive measurement has increased by 30%. Customers have changed from "users" to "referrers".

4. Conclusions and enlightenment

This ribbon slitting machine is far more than just a production equipment for the company. It is:

• A weapon to break the homogeneous competition: it gives products differentiated advantages that are difficult to replicate.

• A bridge connecting customers: By addressing their deepest pain points, we upgrade the transaction relationship into a win-win and symbiotic partnership.

• A transformation-driven engine: It drives the successful transformation of enterprises from traditional "material manufacturers" to "label printing solution service providers".

This case tells us that in today's increasingly fierce competition in the manufacturing industry, empowering traditional products through technological innovation and lean production, deeply excavating and meeting the personalized needs of customers, is the key path to building a core moat of enterprises and achieving high-quality development. Sometimes, a key strategic investment can leverage the upgrading and transformation of the entire enterprise.