When organizations embark on a digital transformation journey, it’s natural to zero in on the big levers like modernizing core platforms, shifting to the cloud, unlocking data and analytics, and reengineering customer-touch workflows. You’ll hear leadership talk about “moving from legacy to ledgers”, “digital-first workflows”, “cloud-native architecture” and “agile operating models”.
Whats more, research confirms that such areas dominate the agenda: for example, a recent survey found that nine in ten senior executives say their organizations have pursued at least one large-scale digital transformation in the past two years. And cloud adoption itself has become foundational: in 2025, 94% of enterprises are reported to be using some form of cloud service.
As you map your transformation programme, you will likely set out three or four key pillars:
- Platform modernization: migrating from on-prem to cloud, rationalizing applications, aligning data architecture
- Process digitization: automating manual workflows, reducing silos, breaking down legacy hand-offs
- Data & analytics enablement: building a single source of truth, leveraging analytics, enabling real-time insights and decisioning
- Experience & supply-chain agility: enabling faster product-to-market, regional responsiveness, improved customer/partner interfaces
These are all sound, critical foundations, but take a moment and ask: what about the asset that spans these pillars but often lives behind the scenes as a “back-office” process? We’re talking about labeling and artwork management. That includes master content, product labels, packaging artwork, versioning, regulatory updates, and global variants. And the mindblowing part is that in most digital transformation roadmaps, labeling is still treated as an operational afterthought: “It’s just label printing and approvals, we’ll digitize it later.” That mindset needs to change.
Why labeling is not just an operational task, but a strategic enabler
When companies treat labeling merely as a warehouse or factory asset, they miss the opportunity to treat it as an enterprise-wide asset. As Pete Jenny recently said in a Kallik and Cardinal Health webinar in partnership with MedTech Intelligence: “All those things combined really started us on a path that said we need to do something different. We need to really start treating this as an enterprise asset rather than a warehouse or factory asset. So it’s really moving from a factory warehouse asset to an enterprise asset.”
And as Gurdip Singh, CEO of Kallik, emphasized in the webinar: “Often people think it’s just part of the back office and it should work. Actually, it’s an asset.” He went on to explain how, when treated in that way, labeling becomes an enabler for speed, agility, consistency, compliance, and reuse.
This reframing is key: labeling isn’t simply an operational rinse-and-repeat task. When you bring it into your digital transformation vision, you unlock multiple strategic benefits:
Faster time-to-market / agility: In the session we hosted in partnership with Kenvue at the Gartner event, the example given was stunning: by structuring content reuse and automating label/ artwork changes, Kenvue achieved packaging changes 95% faster — “just by re-using existing content: ‘Now it’s as simple as copy-paste.’” If you’re pursuing agility as a pillar of your digital strategy, labeling is a direct lever.
Risk reduction / compliance assurance: Legacy, manual, spreadsheet-based labeling workflows are high-risk: regulatory changes, regional variants, translation errors, version control problems. Gartner has warned that mis-managed labeling & artwork processes can lead to costly recalls, fines and market-access delays. When you digitise labeling with a centralised platform, you improve traceability, audit-ability, reduce errors — and reduce risk to your brand and supply chain.
Cost savings and ROI (yes – real ROI): If you build labeling as an enterprise asset you’ll find the cost savings stack up: fewer manual hand-offs, less redesign/rework, fewer delays, less inventory waste, fewer compliance penalties, fewer corrections after launch. General digital transformation research shows organisations that measure well are far more likely to show value: for example, a Deloitte survey found that those businesses which took a holistic view of value were up to 20 % more likely to assign medium-to-high enterprise value to their digital transformation. And one summary of transformation statistics notes that only about one-third of organisations meet their digital transformation objectives. Translating that to labeling: the opportunity is to move from cost centre to value creator.
Data leverage and reuse: Think of every label and artwork variant as content. If you are able to structure, version, reuse and distribute it digitally you create a content-library asset. You create re-usable templates, consistent brand messaging, faster regional adaptation. In the Kenvue session: “And so we started to ask, ‘Well, what if it wasn't that way? Could you make more changes? Could we be more dynamic? Could we be more agile?’” That’s a mindset shift: from doing labels to enabling brand and product agility.
Strategic alignment with digital transformation objectives: If your digital strategy speaks about agility, customer/partner experience, global scalability, cloud-first, data-driven operations — labeling fits into each of these. For instance: cloud platforms (e.g., our Veraciti™ solution), global content libraries, analytics on label changes and time-to-market, monitoring regional compliance metrics. A recent blog from Kallik summarised: “By 2028, the label and artwork management market will be dominated by a small handful of vendors who have mastered cloud, machine-learning and AI capabilities.”
So how to embed labeling into your digital transformation roadmap?
Here are practical steps for Digital Transformation Directors to ensure labeling is elevated from backlog to board-visible asset:
1. Include labeling/artwork in your transformation pillars
- When you map platform and process modernisation, explicitly include “labeling & artwork management” as a domain.
- Define it in your operating model: what workflows sit where, how content—even the label—is treated as a data-asset.
- Bring in vendors or internal teams to assess maturity: where are you today versus “Connected, Cloud-enabled, Intelligence-driven”?
2. Define labeling metrics as part of your value-story
- Time-to-market for packaging changes
- Number of label variants managed centrally
- Number of manual hand-offs/errors/recalls avoided
- Content reuse rates (e.g., % of labels created from template)
- Cost per variant/region
These metrics can feed into your ROI model for transformation.
3. Build the business case: operational cost savings + strategic enablement
- Use digital transformation statistics to reinforce the bigger picture: for instance, research shows 81 % of organisations use productivity as the prime measure for digital transformation ROI.
- For labeling, map out potential cost of errors/recalls, delays, rework and show how improved governance drives value.
- Leverage case studies: e.g., Kenvue’s 95 % faster packaging changes.
- Frame labeling not just as saving cost, but enabling speed, compliance, brand reliability, agility.
4. Adopt a cloud-native, scalable platform mindset
- Legacy on-prem silos won’t deliver the agility you need. Gartner’s trend-analysis points to cloud, AI, composability as table stakes.
- Evaluate platforms that manage labels/artwork end-to-end: content creation, variant management, approvals, distribution, audit trail.
- Ensure integration with your enterprise stack (PLM, ERP, MDM, DAM) so labeling content truly becomes an enterprise asset.
5. Drive change-management and mindset shift
- People often balk at the idea of “we just print labels” – pushing the change that this is in fact a strategic asset requires leadership, sponsorship, cross-functional collaboration.
- As Gurdip Singh put it in the session: “My last message to everyone here is, do think about labeling very differently to it just being a back-end process that underpins the business. It's an absolutely invaluable asset to accelerate your business.”
- Build internal communications to shift perception: labeling from “factory asset” to “enterprise content asset”.
Upskill teams: labeling teams become content-managers, not just print-ops; they will use analytics, variant libraries, reuse strategies.
In summary
If you’re leading digital transformation, you’ve rightly focussed on the big strategic levers. But don’t forget the asset that sits at the intersection of product, brand, compliance, supply chain and content: labeling and artwork management. By reframing labeling from an operational task to a strategic enabler, you unlock real ROI, enable agility, reduce risk, and build an asset for the whole enterprise.
To echo the wisdom from the Kenvue-Kallik session: “My last message to everyone here is, do think about labeling very differently to it just being a back-end process that underpins the business. It's an absolutely invaluable asset to accelerate your business.”
Ready to unlock labeling as a strategic enabler?
Consider our cloud-native, AI-powered labeling and artwork management platform, Veraciti™, designed with highly regulated industries in mind. With Veraciti™, labels shift from reactive to proactive, from cost centre to growth enabler. And if you’re considering making the change but aren’t sure where to start or feel unprepared, you can download our latest ebook: “Digital Transformation Mindset: From Change Management to Change Leadership”. Alternatively, speak to one of our labeling and artwork experts to learn more about what Veraciti™ can do for your business, by calling +44 (0) 1827 318100 or emailing enquiries@kallik.com.