Wms Label Printing[1]

Label Printing Strategies

An Oracle White Paper December 2006

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 PRINT SERVER SOLUTIONS................................................................................... 2 XML DIRECT PRINTER............................................................................................. 4 XML PUBLISHER......................................................................................................... 5 PARTNERS..................................................................................................................... 5 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 6 APPENDIX A – LIST OF LABEL PRINTING PARTNERS ................................ 7

Loftware....................................................................................................................... 7 Optio............................................................................................................................ 7 NiceLabel..................................................................................................................... 7 Unibar .......................................................................................................................... 7 Zebra............................................................................................................................ 7 Intermec....................................................................................................................... 8 Cognitive Solutions..................................................................................................... 8 Datamax....................................................................................................................... 8 Printronix..................................................................................................................... 8 SATO........................................................................................................................... 8 Toshiba TEC............................................................................................................... 8

Figure 1 – Asynchronous label printing ........................................................................ 3 Figure 2 – Synchronous label printing........................................................................... 4

Label Printing Page 1


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Oracle WMS and MSCA have robust label printing capabilities built into the

product to easily produce compliance labels at any point in the business process

and with any data. Oracle works with two types of label printing partners – direct-

to-printer, and print server – to provide the full end-to-end solution, and each of

these partners have different strengths. This white paper discusses the advantages

of each of the partners, as well as the inherent pros and cons of each of the two

overarching architectures.

INTRODUCTION

Oracle WMS produces label XML files as part of a transaction or event, such as a

purchase order receipt, pick confirmation, work order completion, or license plate

generation.

To print the Oracle generated label XML, you will always need the actual label

printers, as well as a label design application (LDA) to define the graphical layout of

the variable and boilerplate data. These solutions differ, however, on whether the

marriage of the XML to that format occurs within the printer firmware with no

other middleware, or in a separate print server application. Direct-to-print label

printers that natively understand Oracle’s XML allow you to directly print the

Oracle generated label XML without any middleware or print server. The print

servers, on other hand, add an intermediary layer between Oracle Applications and

actual label printer. Although the print servers introduce an additional partner and

added implementation cost, they also provides significant value in the areas of print

management, label configuration and manipulation, error management and Internet

printing.

Oracle supports two types of label printing configurations:

1. Printing using a third party label software and a print server

2. Printing using XML enabled Direct Label Printers.

The printing strategy selection depends on several factors – ROI, real time latency,

need for compliance labeling, printer models in current use, volume of labels to be

printed, network infrastructure et al. To reiterate, each additional layer between

Oracle WMS and the printer gives you additional flexibility, while also generally

also meaning additional complexity and cost.


It is worthwhile to note that with each subsequent release of Oracle, as well with

continuous improvements made by our partners, the lines between these two

approaches blur in their current capabilities, while the print server partners

typically add additional advanced capabilities. For instance, a subsequent release of

Oracle may include “customizable label fields” or standardized printer support,

while a subsequent release of firmware from an XML Direct partner may include

capabilities of the printer to directly make an ODBC call to pull in additional data.

As the footprint of the solution and the partners capabilities – as well as your

requirements – evolve, be sure to evaluate the latest offering from each partner.

PRINT SERVER SOLUTIONS

This strategy requires you to have a configuration of Oracle WMS, third party label

printing software, print server and a network of printers. The LDA allows you to

define the different label formats that need to be printed, as well as manage the

library of formats for an enterprise printing solution. The print server manages the

print queue, comes with necessary printer drivers and the printer parameters

associated with them. Finally, the label printer actually prints the label. The label

printer can be from any vendor supported by the print server. Typically, the LDA

and print server come same the vendor.

This strategy is recommended when you have a high volume of labels to print from

each printer, and also is often simpler to maintain when the label formats change

frequently. The LDA or related application sometimes enables you to configure the

label with the content being derived from many sources, where the Oracle XML

forms just one such source. A print server partner is usually recommended when

the Oracle XML needs to be manipulated beyond the capabilities of standard

Oracle functionality prior to printing, such as to pull in additional data elements,

split an individual label request into multiple labels, or control the destination

printer beyond Oracle’s basic rules. Many of the third party label software will allow

you to custom program a label in these – and other – ways. Third party label print

software will use Oracle XML as the primary data sources for the label fields,

executing additional logic or ODBC calls as required.

Another use of these extended capabilities from the print server partners is to

compensate for the fact that Oracle MSCA lacks an inbuilt rules engine like Oracle

WMS to determine the label to be printed. However, some label printing software

help you to configure rules to determine the label to be printed and manipulation

of the label.

This strategy is also recommended when you have printers from multiple

manufacturers in a single site that all need to print a single format, as only some of

the printers in your facility may be able to support XML directly, and furthermore,

each of the Direct-to-Printer partners uses different LDAs that produce different

pre-compiled output that may need to be loaded to the printers in different ways

and using different tools. Additionally, the advanced queuing / print job

management capabilities make this a preferred option when more than two or three


users need to concurrently print large batches of labels from a single printer. While

the print server partners may require an additional investment in software licenses

and implementation costs, when you have characteristics such as those above that

require the features of these partners, your total cost of ownership will actually be

lower than trying to use the simpler architecture of the Direct-to-XML printers

With third party software you have two choices of integration with Oracle WMS –

asynchronous mode and synchronous mode. If supported by the partner, you can

leverage one of two synchronous printing modes.

Asynchronous mode of architecture is simplest to set up and debug, as there is a

clear external record of the label request. In asynchronous mode, Oracle WMS

generate a label XML and drops it in a specified directory. Third party label

software monitors this directory for new XML files and processes them.

Figure 1 – Asynchronous label printing

Disadvantages of asynchronous printing include latency, possible security issues to

FTP files across servers if print server running on different platform, and no

possibility for response. To set this up, you need to set the profiles - ‘WMS Label

Print Mode’ to ‘Asynchronous’ and define ‘WMS Label output directory’ and

‘WMS Label File Prefix’.

In Synchronous mode of integration, Oracle WMS generates a label XML and

sends it directly to the partner via one of two synchronous methods. In the first

method, the integration is via an API implemented by the third party application

that replaces an empty stub provided by Oracle. Third party software processes this

XML and prints the XML. You need to set the profiles - ‘WMS Label Print Mode’

to ‘Synchronous – Generic’.

Optional

Oracle WMS places the

XML file in a specified Directory.

Print Server / Other tool

monitors the specified directory and picks up the XML

Print server / Other tool modifies the XML

Print server maps the XML to the label format and generates print

stream in printers proprietary language

Printer prints the label.


Figure 2 – Synchronous label printing

Optionally, you can set ‘WMS Label Print Mode’ to ‘Synchronous – TCP/IP’ and

define the IP address and port on which the print server is listening. ‘Synchronous

TCP/IP’ is easier to implement than ‘Synchronous Generic’ as there are no

packages to load to the database, but it does not yet provide a mechanism for a

print server response, as supported by ‘Synchronous Generic’.

XML DIRECT PRINTER

In this strategy Oracle WMS sends the XML directly to the printer. The label

printer is capable of receiving XML that meets Oracle’s label specification and

merges with pre-defined label formats to print a label.

This strategy can be easily deployed when the Oracle XML does not need any

manipulation to produce the label desired. The volume of printing and the number

of users that would need to print concurrently to a single printer is also a factor.

For instance, when more than three or four users may trigger simultaneous requests

to print to a single printer, the number of available connections on some of the

printers may be exceeded, or for large jobs, the buffers may overflow. While

Oracle provides multiple mechanisms for reprinting so that the jobs are not lost,

these volume and concurrency considerations should be included in evaluating the

XML Direct printers against each other, and against a print server partner. With

some XML Direct partners, XML-enabled printers are only supported on their

flagship printer models, so that you may pay a premium for this capability. On the

other hand, all XML Direct printers to date are capable of running both modes,

whereby they can parse both XML from Oracle and the print stream in their

proprietary language, typically without any change in configuration, and typically,

also simultaneously, so the same printer can be used in multiple ways, and you can

easily change to a print server as your requirements grow.

The XML Direct strategy calls for pre-loading the printers with label formats. Since

there is no centralized print server, every time you add a printer to the network, you

need to load the required label formats, and every time you add a format, you need

Optional

Oracle WMS calls Synchronous API and

pushes the XML to print server / other tool

Print Server prints the label at the specified

printer

Print server / Other

tool modifies the XML

Print server maps the XML to the label format and generates print stream in printers proprietary

language


to add it to all the printers. Some partners have printer management software to aid

in this decentralized approach.

Figure 3 – XML Direct Printer

XML direct printers work with both Synchronous TCP/IP and Synchronous

Generic mode of printing. To enable to print in TCP/IP mode, you need to set

‘WMS Label Print Mode’ to ‘Synchronous – TCP/IP’ and define the TCP/IP IP

address and port number for each printer in the network.

XML PUBLISHER

Using XML publisher, you can configure your label layout in MS Word and map

the data content to Oracle XML. You can print these labels on normal printers.

However, you cannot deploy Oracle XML publisher as a printing solution because

it does not have printer drivers for industrial label printers like Zebra, Intermec etc.,

PARTNERS

Note: Please verify content presented in this section with the partner before you

start your implementation.

Note that as Oracle has moved to a self-certification approach for new label

printing partners, it is possible for additional solutions to work with Oracle without

necessarily being listed here; please confirm with the partner that they have

completed the self-certification process.

Following table lists the possible integration modes possible for each vendor:

Oracle WMS passes XML

request through a TCP / IP socket connection to Printer

Printer merges the data in the

XML into pre-defined label format and prints the label

Synchronous

Asynchronous

Generic TCP / IP

Loftware Yes Yes Yes

Optio Yes No No

NiceLabel Yes No Yes Print Server

Unibar Yes No Yes

Zebra No Yes Yes

Intermec No No Yes

Cognitive Solutions No No Yes

Datamax No No Yes

Toshiba TEC No No Yes

Printronix Yes No Yes

Partners

XML Direct Printers

Sato No No Yes


Following is the list of label printing partners and their offerings. The list of printer models

in the following table may not be up-to-date. Please check with vendor for recent information.

See Appendix A for the capabilities of each partner.

CONCLUSION

You need to carefully evaluate your label printing needs before zeroing in a

configuration. Many customers opt to use a print server partner if you have to

customize the label or if you prefer to centrally manage your entire label formats,

while customers that have no need for XML manipulation prior to printing

typically opt for XML Direct printers. However, with each release from Oracle, and

with each update from our printing partners, the lines between these two

approaches are blurring, and should spend the time evaluating which approach is

best for your requirements.

Print Server Printer

(not a complete list of all printer models.

Check with vendor for more information)

Other Tools

( e.g.,Label Design Application, Label

Loaders etc., )

Loftware Loftware Print Server Various printer manufacturers & models Loftware Connector,

Loftware Design 32

Optio Optio Print Manager Various printer manufacturers & models Optio e.ComIntegrate

NiceLabel NiceLabel Pro Various printer manufacturers & models NiceLabel Pro

Unibar BARCODE 2000 XML Various printer manufacturers & models BARZ_OUT PRO

Zebra None Zebra Xi III ZebraNet Bridge,

BAR-ONE

Intermec None EasyCoder (3400 D, 4420e…) LabelShop Pro,

Label Loader utility

Cognitive Solutions None Advantage LX NiceLabel,

Cognitive In Control

DataMax None I-4308, I-4208, DMX ST-3210, I-4212, I-

4406, W-6208

Loftware Connector,

Loftware Design 32,

BARZ_OUT PRO

Printronix None ThermaLine Printers (T5206 / T5306..) NiceLabel Pro,

Loftware Connector,

Loftware Design 32

Toshiba TEC None Toshiba TEC Printers B-SX4T, B-SX5T…

PrintSystem for XML

Sato None Sato Thermal Printers (CL412e, CL612e…) Label Gallery Plus, WPC Plus

Ven

dors

Configurations

Print

Server

XML

Direct

Printers


APPENDIX A – LIST OF LABEL PRINTING PARTNERS

Loftware

Loftware Connector is a Java based tool that provides direct connectivity between

Oracle WMS and the Loftware Print Server. With Loftware Connector, you can

add new data elements to their labels and connect to the Loftware Print Server, as

well as manipulate the label request from Oracle in a variety of complex ways. The

improved connectivity centralizes label printing operations across the enterprise,

regardless of the number or type of printers being used, or their geographical

location around the world.

Optio

Optio e.ComIntegrate product captures Oracle information such as documents and

reports, enhances it into formats needed by various recipients, and delivers it

electronically and via print. You can configure a label like any other document in

your enterprise in Optio e.ComIntegrate. Optio is a good candidate if you want to

lower the total cost of handling and printing both documents and labels from

Oracle e-Business Suite. Currently, note that Optio only supports the

asynchronous integration mode.

NiceLabel

NiceLabel Pro is a full-featured labeling software designed for professional label

design and printing in a low cost package. With NiceLabel Pro you can directly

connect to Oracle WMS in ‘Synchronous TCP/IP’ mode to print labels in real

time. You can print the labels only on those printers which use Windows printer

drivers, though typically all label printer manufacturers have Windows printer

drivers available.

Unibar

Unibar’s BARCODE 2000 XML offers streamlined system architecture of Oracle

WMS label XML printing in a very low cost package. BARCODE 2000 XML can

optionally reside on the same machine that hosts Oracle e-Business Suite and can

print a label on any printer that communicates with the host. It can be viewed as a

print server without any queue management and error handling mechanism.

BARCODE 2000 XML comes with a native XML interface that can be used for to

design bar code labels.

Zebra

You can deploy Zebra thermal printers for printing all your labels. However, Zebra

Technologies has embedded an XML parser in its XML-enabled XiIIIPlus printers,

so that the printer without additional middleware or server hardware natively

understands the output from Oracle WMS and MSCA. ZebraNet Bridge simplifies


managing a distributed network of printers by allowing you to easily publish a new

format to all or some printers at once.

Intermec

You can deploy Intermec printers for printing labels with any of the configurations

suggested in this paper. At the time of publishing this paper, Intermec has yet to

come out with a XML enabled direct print printer. Intermec has a ‘Label Loader

Utility’, an easy-to-use wizard that guides you through loading the formats to the

printers and then testing the format with a generic XML file.

Cognitive Solutions

You can print labels directly with Advantage LX range of printers. However, you

need to have knowledge of Cognitive Programming language (CPL) to filter the

incoming data and map it the label file stored in the memory of the printer. You

can use Nicelabel for designing your label formats.

Datamax

You can print labels directly with I-Class and W-Class printers from DataMax.

However, you need to have knowledge of Macro Command Language (MCL) to

process the incoming label XML and map it to the label formats stored in the

printer memory. For label design and print server, DataMax partners with

Loftware.

Printronix

Printronix offers direct thermal industrial label printer with its T5000r range of

printers. It has a pre-installed interpreter either from Zebra, TEC, Intermec or

SATO. You can optionally install ‘Online Data Validation’ (ODV) to validate your

compliance labels. For example, a label field is compulsory and the label XML has a

NULL value, then ODV will prevent the printer from printing the label and returns

an error.

SATO

You can directly print your labels using CL408e, CL412E, CL608e and CL612e

range of printers. You can optionally install Web Based Printer Control Server

(WPC Server) to control your printers and load labels into the network of SATO

printers. You can also optionally install Label Gallery Plus to design labels.

Toshiba TEC

You can deploy Toshiba TEC printers for printing all your labels. However

Toshiba TEC printers are XML-Direct printers so that no additional middleware or

server hardware is needed for labe printing from Oracle WMS and MSCA.


Label

Label Printing Strategies: An Oracle White Paper

December 2006

Author: Aditya Agarkar

Note number: 414368.1

Oracle Corporation

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Redwood Shores, CA 94065

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Worldwide Inquiries:

Phone: +1.650.506.7000

Fax: +1.650.506.7200

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Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Various

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Copyright © 2006 Oracle Corporation

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Wms Label Printing[1]