For many businesses, accurately managing products with variable weights – often referred to as “catch weight” items – has always presented a unique challenge. From fresh produce to certain cuts of meat, the exact weight of each individual unit can fluctuate, making consistent labeling and inventory management a complex task.

We’re excited to announce a significant enhancement to CompuTec Labels that directly addresses this need: native support for Catch Weight Management!

This new functionality brings unparalleled flexibility and precision to your labelling processes.

 

What is Catch Weight?

Catch weight is a term used primarily in the food and beverage industry, especially for products that vary in weight from unit to unit. These are typically items sold by weight (e.g., meat, fish, cheese), but packaged and shipped in variable quantities, rather than standardized units.

Catch weight refers to the actual weight of a single unit of a product, as opposed to a fixed or average weight. It is important because some products cannot be precisely portioned to a fixed weight, e.g., you can’t slice every steak to weigh exactly 500g.

Example: A box of beef steaks labelled as 5–6 kg will have an exact weight (catch weight) printed — say 5.38 kg — for pricing and inventory purposes.

 

Challenges with Catch Weight

• Labeling Errors
  Incorrect catch weight labels can lead to customer complaints, pricing discrepancies, or regulatory fines.
• Compliance & Traceability
  For regulated products (like meat or fish), accurate labelling is essential for traceability, recalls, and food safety compliance.

 

Importance of Accurate Labelling

• Consumer Trust
  Accurate labelling ensures fair pricing and builds trust with customers.
• Regulatory Compliance
  Many countries have strict laws around weight declaration, especially for food products.
• Profitability
  Inaccurate labels can mean giving away product for free (underweighing) or charging too much (overweighing and risking penalties).

 

Catch Weight Objects

We’ve introduced dedicated Catch Weight objects within CompuTec Labels. These aren’t just static fields; they behave like other dynamic objects you’re already familiar with. This means they can be easily placed on your labels, allowing for the precise printing of actual product weights.

CompuTec Labels – Catch Weight Objects
 

Powerful Printing Rules

To further enhance your control, Catch Weight objects can now be seamlessly integrated into your printing rules. This allows for highly sophisticated and automated label generation. For example, you could set up rules to print different label formats or include specific information only when a product falls within a certain weight range.

CompuTec Labels – Printing Rules
 

Event Triggers

These new Catch Weight objects can also be utilized as event triggers. Subsequent actions or workflows can be based on a specific product’s weight, opening up new possibilities for automation and efficiency in your operations.

CompuTec Labels – Event Triggers

 

With these advancements, CompuTec Labels makes managing catch weight items more accurate, efficient, and automated than ever before. You can find out more about CompuTec Labels in our documentation.

We also support Catch Weight Management in CompuTec WMS. You can learn how it works in our previous blog post, which includes a video demonstration.