Set up multiple label printers for different prep stations

Overview

If your kitchen is split across multiple prep stations — for example a Pizza station and a Burger station — the POS can now print food‑item labels to a dedicated Zebra ZD230D at each station. Each label printer is restricted to a set of Kitchen Categories, so items only print at the station that prepares them.

Note: This builds on the single label printer setup. If you haven't yet got one label printer working end‑to‑end, complete Set up your Zebra ZD230D label printer for allergen labels first.

What changes vs a single label printer

	Single label printer	Multiple label printers
Routing	Every item label prints to one printer	Each item prints only to the printer(s) assigned its Kitchen Category
Setup location	POS Settings only (one IP)	Back Office (printer + categories) + POS Settings (per‑printer IP)
Bag header (delivery)	Once, to the single printer	Once at each printer that prints any item for that order
Fallback	n/a	If no printers are configured in Back Office, the POS uses the legacy single‑printer setting

Before you start

You will need:

• Two or more Zebra ZD230D printers already on the network — see Set up your Zebra ZD230D label printer for allergen labels for hardware setup
• Access to the Back Office at the store level (the Store Selector in the header should show your store, not "All stores")
• Your Kitchen Categories already defined in Back Office under Setup > Kitchen > Kitchen Categories
• The static IP for each label printer (hold the FEED button for ~5 seconds on each printer to print a configuration label showing its IP)

1. Create the label printers in Back Office

1. Sign in to Back Office and switch to the relevant store.
2. Go to Setup > In‑Store > Label Printers.
3. Click New label printer.
4. Fill in:
   • Name — a label staff will recognise, e.g. Pizza Station or Burger Station. This is what shows up in POS Settings.
   • Print duplicate copies — leave unchecked unless this printer should produce two copies of every label.
   • Kitchen Categories — tick every category whose items should land at this printer. Items with no Kitchen Category, or with a category that isn't ticked here, won't print to this printer.
5. Click Save.
6. Repeat for each station's printer.

Tip: A single Kitchen Category can be assigned to multiple label printers — useful if you want, say, every order's "Drinks" labels to print at both stations.

2. Map a local IP to each printer in POS Settings

The Back Office step tells the POS which printers exist and what should print on each. The local IP per printer is set on each terminal, because different terminals may sit on different network segments.

1. On the POS terminal, open Settings > Printers.
2. Under Label Printers (Zebra ZD230D) you'll now see one row per Back Office printer.
3. For each printer:
   • Click Discover if the list of network printers is empty.
   • Select the IP that matches that station's Zebra.
   • Click Print test label – to confirm the right printer wakes up.
4. Repeat on every terminal that should be printing labels.

Note: If a printer in Back Office has no IP mapped on this terminal, items routed to it are silently skipped — the order still completes, the labels just don't print until you map the IP.

3. Verify routing with a mixed order

The fastest way to verify the setup:

1. Place a test order that contains one item from each station's category — for example a pizza and a burger.
2. Send the order to kitchen.
3. The pizza label should print only on the Pizza station printer; the burger label should print only on the Burger station printer.
4. If the order is for delivery, you'll also see the customer/address "header" label print once at each station that gets any items — this is intentional so each station has the order context.

If everything's wired up correctly you'll never see a "wrong" label at a station again.

Fallback behaviour

The new multi‑printer setup is fully backwards compatible:

• If you haven't created any label printers in Back Office: the POS falls back to the legacy single label‑printer IP set under Settings > Printers > Label Printer. Behaviour is identical to before.
• If you've created printers in Back Office but haven't mapped IPs on this terminal: items destined for those printers don't print on this terminal. Map the IPs to enable them.
• If an item belongs to a Kitchen Category not assigned to any label printer: that item's label falls through to the legacy single label‑printer IP, if set. Otherwise it doesn't print.

Troubleshooting

The new "Label Printers" section doesn't appear in POS Settings. The terminal needs to reload its details from the server. Sign out and back in on the POS, or restart the app. If it still doesn't appear, check that Back Office shows at least one printer for the current store.

An item printed at the wrong station. Check the product's Kitchen Category in Back Office > Products, and check which label printers in Setup > In‑Store > Label Printers have that category ticked. The POS only routes by category — there's no per‑product override.

Nothing prints at one station even though items match. Open Settings > Printers on the POS terminal and confirm the IP is selected for that label printer. The Print test label button is the fastest way to confirm the IP is reachable.

A delivery header keeps printing at a station even when I only want it on the bag printer. The header prints at every station that gets any items for that order. If you want only one station to receive it, restrict that station's Kitchen Categories so it doesn't catch other items, or leave a "bag" Kitchen Category assigned only to the printer near the collection counter.

Related

• Set up your Zebra ZD230D label printer for allergen labels
• Set up kitchen printers and category routing