Digital Labelling as Part of Modern Logistics: The Experience of Balton Trading Asia
Digital transformation is changing not only the way products are sold, but their entire journey — from manufacturers and importers to warehouses, retail outlets and, ultimately, consumers. In Uzbekistan, digital labelling has become one of the key tools driving this transformation.
For Balton Trading Asia, handling digitally labelled products is already part of everyday logistics. The company began working independently with digital labelling at the early stages of its introduction in the FMCG sector and today continues to integrate these processes into its own 3PL infrastructure.
What is digital labelling?
In Uzbekistan, digital labelling uses a unique two-dimensional Data Matrix code applied to each individual product unit. It enables a product to be identified and its movement to be traced throughout the supply chain — from production or import to sale to the end consumer.
For businesses, however, digital labelling goes far beyond applying a code to packaging. It affects receiving, inventory management, storage, order picking, dispatch and the exchange of information between participants across the supply chain. This makes digital labelling particularly important at the warehouse logistics level.
From pilot batches to systematic operations
Balton’s first publicly documented experience with digital labelling dates back to 2022. At that time, the company imported a pilot batch of Dole juices and independently organised the issuance and application of Data Matrix codes in Uzbekistan.
Since then, digital labelling has become part of the company’s warehouse operations. As part of its 3PL services, Balton provides product receiving and storage, sorting, order picking, labelling, cross-docking and delivery. The use of a WMS allows code-related operations to be integrated directly into the movement of goods within the warehouse.
Balton uses the AXELOT warehouse management system. According to ASL BELGISI, AXELOT solutions support Data Matrix code scanning, handling of unique product identifiers, recording codes during receiving and dispatch, processing returns and write-offs, as well as aggregation and disaggregation operations. Balton Trading Asia is among the companies in Uzbekistan using this system.
2026: Balton joins the vegetable oil digital labelling pilot
In 2026, Balton Trading Asia, together with CRPT TURON, the operator of the ASL BELGISI system, joined a pilot project for the digital labelling of vegetable oils.
The pilot covers a broad range of products, including sunflower, cottonseed, soybean, olive, palm, coconut and rapeseed oils, as well as other vegetable oils under HS codes 1507–1515. The testing phase will continue until 31 December 2026, while mandatory digital labelling for this product category is scheduled to begin on 1 July 2027.
For us, it is particularly important that the system is being tested not in theory, but within an active product supply chain. At Balton, digital labelling is being integrated into the process from receiving incoming goods and placing them in the warehouse through to preparing and dispatching them to customers. The company’s participation in the pilot and the process itself were also featured in a report by O‘zbekiston 24.
As Mansur Yuldashev, Supply Chain Director at Balton Trading Asia, noted, participation in the project enables the company to master new procedures in advance and prepare employees to work with digitally labelled products before the requirements become mandatory.
Why should businesses participate in a pilot in advance?
The purpose of the pilot phase is not limited to testing the application of a Data Matrix code itself.
This stage makes it possible to assess in advance whether the entire infrastructure — warehouse processes, software, equipment and teams — is ready. One of the official objectives of the project is to enable manufacturers and importers to identify technical and organisational issues before the mandatory launch and adapt their internal business processes accordingly.
For Balton, this is a natural continuation of its approach: rather than waiting for a new requirement to become mandatory, the company tests it in a real operational environment in advance.
More than a code on the package
Digital labelling increases transparency in product circulation, helps confirm the legal status of products and improves control over their movement throughout the supply chain.
For Balton, developing this area is a natural extension of the company’s approach to 3PL: not simply storing and delivering products, but ensuring that their movement across the Uzbek market is technology-driven and transparent.
From independently applying Data Matrix codes in 2022 to participating in the vegetable oil pilot project in 2026, Balton has been consistently building practical expertise in digital labelling and preparing its logistics infrastructure for the evolving requirements of the market.