5 Steps to Consolidating Labeling Systems After Acquisition

5 Steps to Consolidating Labeling Systems After Acquisition

BY: DOUG NIEMEYER / DATE: 03/13/2025 / TOPICS: ENTERPRISE LABEL MANAGEMENT

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are major drivers of economic activity in the global economy. In a post-COVID world, M&A has remained a key strategy for business leaders seeking efficiency, profitability, and a competitive edge. According to Deloitte’s 2025 M&A Trends Survey, "For 2025, we anticipate that macroeconomic tailwinds will likely prompt increased M&A activity."

As M&A deals play out across industries, IT leaders are faced with the challenge of consolidating technology. In this blog, we’ll explore 5 steps to consolidate labeling systems after mergers and acquisitions. These strategies can be used by any organization with disparate labeling systems, whether part of a merger or not.

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Why M&A is an opportunity to improve your labeling system

M&A can cause a lot of uncertainty for the employees of the companies involved. IT leaders have big decisions to make: which systems to keep and how to consolidate them? This can feel overwhelming, but consider the silver lining: it’s an opportunity to evaluate the bigger picture and improve systems, like labeling, for the long term.

Consider the following opportunities:

Modernize and consolidate labeling systems

For many companies, labeling systems are stuck in the past. The outdated system gets the job done, so it hasn’t been investigated in years. But just because it gets the job done doesn’t mean it’s efficient or secure. Modern labeling systems offer features that:

• Prevent labeling errors by limiting user permissions 
• Increase efficiency with automated label printing tools 
• Centralize label files and enforce version control 
• Enable a paperless label approval process
• Prepare your business for future scalability 

When separate systems are used to achieve the same goal, they should be consolidated. In an M&A situation, each company likely has its own labeling system. As the companies merge, so should the labeling systems. Consolidating labeling systems leads to:

• More effective file management as unnecessary duplicate files are purged and file types are standardized 
• Greater control over label printing as standard processes are put in place 
• Easier training for employees as they learn one simple, modern labeling system 
• The ability to easily stand up new locations with a scalable labeling system

Shift away from heavy customization

Companies often choose to build (or hire an agency to build) custom software because it promises a "perfect fit." But it doesn’t take long before the true costs of custom software surface: ongoing development, compatibility issues, integration limitations, and lost expertise when resources leave the company.

Use the consolidation of IT systems post-M&A to move away from expensive and unwieldy custom software. Commercial off-the-shelf labeling software is feature-rich and configurable to meet the vast majority of companies’ labeling needs at a much lower total cost of ownership.

Using commercial off-the-shelf labeling software across the company leads to more consistent labeling output with less manual intervention. Labeling errors can be prevented with out-of-the-box features. If issues come up, they can be solved with a quick phone call to tech support—not an enhancement request to the development team that will take weeks to implement.

Consider moving data or applications to the cloud

According to Edge Delta, 85% of organizations are expected to move to a cloud-first IT policy in 2025.  Learn about how companies are leveraging cloud-enabled labeling systems. Here are a few examples:

• Use cloud storage for your label templates
• Connect your label templates to cloud data (Excel Online, Google Sheets, or OData) 
• Host your labeling software on a private or public cloud server 
• Use SaaS cloud label printing  

Cloud-enabled labeling systems are gaining popularity but may not be right for everyone. Cloud servers may still have outages, and some industries are prevented from using cloud technology due to regulations and security concerns.

Whether your company moves everything to the cloud or maintains its on-premises technology post-merger, choose a partner that provides flexible hosting options.

How to consolidate labeling systems post-merger in 5 steps

Consolidating technology doesn’t have to be daunting if you take it step by step.

1. Evaluate the existing labeling systems

In a merger or acquisition, each company has its own solution in place to achieve its label printing goals. Don’t just assume the acquiring company’s system will be selected—evaluate each labeling system to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Here are some questions to ask:

• How is data entered on the label? Manually entered data can cause expensive labeling errors. Modern labeling systems use database and business system connections to automatically pull correct data onto the label template.
• How is the labeling software managed? Local installations of label printing software can be difficult to manage. Each PC needs the software installed, maintained, and upgraded regularly. Enterprise label management systems move software administration to the server.
• How is the labeling software licensed? Labeling software is typically licensed per user or per printer. As two companies merge, it’s important to understand how your software license costs will be calculated.

Find 7 more questions to ask about each labeling system.

2. Select a labeling system

Using the information gathered in the evaluations, determine whether you will keep an existing system in place or replace them both with something new. If one company has a more efficient and standardized labeling system, it makes sense to make that system the default. But don’t limit your options to only the existing systems if they won’t serve the needs of the new combined organization. Remember, this is your chance to move away from the status quo and implement a more efficient and secure labeling system that can scale up to meet future needs.

After an M&A, the newly formed company likely faces the following labeling challenges:

• Printing labels in multiple locations: Standardize labeling software for efficient labeling and scalability
• Complex labeling rules: Use a centralized label management system that supports business logic and automation
• Label data is stored in disparate systems: Integrate your labeling system with existing business tools

Choose a labeling system that meets your company’s needs and a vendor that works with you to find the best solutions to your challenges.

3. Migrate your labeling data

Each company has its own data and its own systems, rules, and processes around that data. Migrating business data is more complex than simply importing one database into another. Consider the following:

• Standardize data formats: Determine the best format to store each type of data and transform non-compliant data to meet the standard requirements 
• Clean up legacy data: Use the migration as an opportunity to purge, deduplicate, correct, or complete old data  
• Define standard processes: Once the data is cleaned up and migrated, put processes in place to ensure new data meets the new standards, and existing data can’t be edited without permission 

Migrating business data is a significant task with impacts far beyond labeling. Work with stakeholders across both merging companies to achieve a successful migration.

4. Standardize your labeling files and process

Whether you choose to keep an existing labeling system or implement a new one, chances are high that you’ll have to convert some label files. If the labeling systems are developed by different vendors, label templates typically have to be recreated due to proprietary file types. Choose a vendor that offers label conversion services to help you create the new templates—and do so efficiently.

When converting label files between vendors, take advantage of the opportunity to audit your label creation process.  

• How many templates do you have? Consolidate your templates by using variable data from connected data sources 
• How, when, and why are label templates created and edited? Implement a label approval process that prevents unauthorized users from making changes 
• Can you easily identify the cause of labeling mistakes? Create a label audit trail that documents changes made to labels and actions taken with those labels

5. Change management

When it’s time to roll out the new labeling system, change management principles will help prepare your teams to work successfully.

• Communicate early and often: Let everyone, from CEO to production workers, know ahead of time about the planned change. Communicate clearly and concisely in writing and provide reminders as the transition date approaches. 
• Provide training: Plan and execute training sessions that include everyone who needs to interact with the system. From product management to quality assurance to printer operators, ensure each employee has time to learn the new system and ask questions. 
• Ask for (and listen to!) feedback: Seek out feedback from the teams that interact with the labeling system. What’s working well? What needs improvement? The weeks following a rollout inevitably involve tweaks to make processes run smoothly. 
• Lean on a reliable software vendor: Partner with a software company that is known for excellent customer support. When you work with a software company that supports its own product, you’ll receive fast, expert support to help you through any implementation hiccups.

How one US manufacturer standardized labeling during an acquisition

When a medium-sized manufacturing company in the United States suddenly grew from 6 locations to 10 through acquisition, they knew it was time to find a centralized, yet flexible, label management solution. Previously, they had been manually creating ZPL (Zebra Programming Language) printer code files, a laborious and skill-intensive process. They wanted to move to a user-friendly label printing solution that could be quickly implemented at the new locations.

The manufacturing company selected TEKLYNX CENTRAL to manage labeling at all its locations. TEKLYNX CENTRAL combines best-in-class label design, label traceability, print automation, and centralized management into one flexible solution. It provides a browser-based printing interface that allows facilities to securely print labels from the web without locally installing label design software. The browser-based label printing interface is highly configurable to meet the need for complex business logic, allowing users to enter a single piece of data (such as scanning a barcode on a work order) to print all the correct labels.

With TEKLYNX CENTRAL, the manufacturer was able to set up secure and accurate labeling processes at its existing and new locations. The low-code implementation process made it simple and cost effective to roll out, and the browser-based printing interface made change management easy.

Consolidate your labeling systems to TEKLYNX CENTRAL

Whether your company is part of M&A today, might be in the future, or just wants to standardize its labeling process, choose TEKLYNX CENTRAL for centralized label management.

"The TEKLYNX Enterprise Team promptly answered any question I had and was always willing to set up a call to help walk me through the entire setup process. When you're doing something that's new and technology-focused, it's nice to have that level of support."  - Jessica Burns, All Seasoning Ingredients, Inc.

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