LRS Meets Pressing Printing Needs of Modern Digital Supply Chains

⇨ Reliable printing solutions are critical to supply chain and asset management operations, with failure to produce essential documents potentially halting these processes.

⇨ Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. (LRS) provides certified document delivery solutions for SAP applications, focusing on optimising printing operations and ensuring timely delivery of business-critical documents.

⇨ Despite the push for digitisation, physical documents remain essential in various industries for compliance, operational efficiency, and as a backup method during technological failures.

Reliable printing solutions are often overlooked. However, they are mission-critical elements of supply chain and asset management operations that involve documents like labels for manufacturing processes and picking slips in warehouses. Failure to produce such documents in a reliable, timely manner can bring supply chains to a grinding halt.

One of the SAP partners at the recent Mastering SAP Connect event in Gold Coast, Australia, Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. (LRS), has been in business for over 40 years, specialising in managing document delivery from SAP applications to printers and other destinations. Headquartered in Springfield, Illinois, LRS offers certified solutions for SAP S/4HANA and Business Technology Platform (BTP) and delivers secure, highly-available printing solutions aimed at cost reduction, complexity management, and control.

“Business-critical documents, such as labels and barcodes, are still essential despite discussions about digitisation and automation,” said Daniel Gash-Jones, APAC Sales Manager at LRS. “It’s very important to ensure that automated systems can scan QR codes or barcodes consistently. To do so, those labels absolutely must be printed and delivered on time, every time, and in the right order.”

LRS focuses on verticals like logistics, retail, defense, oil and gas, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals, where it positions its enterprise output management solution to de-risk SAP S/4HANA transition projects. In these transitions, it is important to address printing issues early in the project to avoid delays and costs. The LRS solution is fully certified by SAP and is one of very few providers to achieve this high level of certification. Gash-Jones emphasises the importance of a consistent end-user experience for printing from various systems like SAP as well as mainframe, mobile, and Windows applications. He notes that the LRS solution allows users to print and collect jobs in the same way across different platforms, similar to how it works with Windows.

“Intuitive technology in our personal lives should also be present in the workplace to improve productivity and reduce help desk calls,” added Gash-Jones. “We need to simplify printing processes to avoid frustration and increase efficiency.”

LRS collaborates with multiple decision-makers within the enterprise when positioning and deploying its output management solutions. There are multiple stakeholders involved, including the Basis team, enterprise architecture, and business users who are experiencing problems with existing printing systems.

Gash-Jones notes the emerging trend of companies looking to shrink their corporate networks due to the rise of cloud identity and technologies like Microsoft Intune. As a result, the LRS solution is designed to work in a public internet environment, managing both SAP print and workplace print. Gash-Jones anticipates that within 5 to 10 years, there may be little concept of a corporate network if everything can be secure and managed without one.

What this means for Mastering SAP insiders

Leverage LRS experience to help with security and compliance. SAP customers can implement LRS secure pull printing to ensure that sensitive SAP documents (e.g., payroll, legal contracts) are printed only when authorised personnel are present. LRS solutions can also create detailed logs of document activity for compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX. Moreover, companies can protect SAP-generated documents during transmission using LRS’s robust encryption technologies.

Get your arms around overall printing costs and lean on partners like LRS to lessen printing expenses. SAP customers operating complex supply chain and enterprise asset management organisations can use output management solutions from providers like LRS to eliminate redundancies in their printing operations. Organisations can optimise printer usage and consolidate devices by using LRS software and similar solutions to monitor and manage printing volumes. In many cases, they can even replace physical printers with virtual printers to reduce hardware and maintenance costs. Similarly, these companies can promote paperless workflows by using output management solutions to route SAP documents to electronic archives instead of physical printing.

Paper and printing remain mission-critical ingredients in modern supply chains. It is not a popular topic in IT circles, but many industries and countries still mandate physical documents for customs, taxes, and legal purposes. Examples include bills of lading, certificates of origin, and export/import compliance forms. Physical records are sometimes required for internal or external audits, ensuring traceability and accountability. Paper documents also serve as a backup during system failures, power outages, or cybersecurity incidents. In regions with limited digital infrastructure, paper provides a fail-safe method of documentation and communication. In rural or underdeveloped areas, limited access to reliable internet or power makes paper a practical alternative.  Not all suppliers, partners, or customers have adopted digital systems, necessitating printed materials to bridge technological gaps. Wet-ink signatures on paper are still required for certain contracts and approvals, especially in countries where digital signatures are not widely accepted. Printed checklists, schedules, and instructions are often used on the shop floor or in warehouses for convenience and speed. Paper is still commonly used for labeling, packing slips, and delivery notes, especially when integrated with goods. Some businesses prefer physical copies for highly sensitive or confidential information to reduce the risk of data breaches in digital formats.