The Digital Demand

Published: December 31, 2005, By Edited by Claudia Hine, Managing Editor

Digital Printing

The Label Printers has expanded its manufacturing capabilities into color plateless technology with the purchase of a seven-color HP Indigo ws4050 digital press.

“Our customers’ requirements for small- to medium-volume, variable images continues to grow, and The Label Printers needs to grow to meet this demand,” says Bill Kane, chief executive of the privately held company.

Moving Forward
The Label Printers opened in 1967 with one press in a small room in downtown Chicago. By 1974 space and logistic concerns prompted the company to move west to its current location in suburban Aurora, IL.

Today its operations cover more than 75,000 sq ft in two facilities and include state-of-the-art printing, platemaking, and production capabilities. The label/product identification supplier is a registered ISO 9001 manufacturer operating its facilities in a Six Sigma environment.

“We added single-color black digital technology to our capabilities four years ago but decided not to add color capability at that time,” says Kane. “However, we feel now that the combination of customer demand and improvements in the technology dictate that we move forward with this expansion.”

The versioning capability of the HP Indigo digital press enables The Label Printers to produce branded labels or packages with variations in images, color, or text. Regional needs, an address, even specific events such as weddings, anniversaries, or civic and corporate events can be incorporated.

The company can produce bar codes to control stock, track distribution, or change size and content information without having to stop the press.

The ws4050 press prints on a range of substrates, paper or filmic, pressure-sensitive or non-supported. Compatible materials include self-adhesive papers, synthetic (including polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, oriented polypropylene, vinyl, and polyvinyl chloride) and specialized substrates including metallized PET.

“The pace of product introductions and private labeling is increasing at a rapid rate, and The Label Printers wants to stay in step with this trend,” says general manager Lori Campbell.

“We need to be able to give our customers solutions to their product identification issues, as well as the ability to take advantage of opportunities presented to them in their markets. And we wanted a way to help them do this cost-effectively. Eliminating the traditional plate costs makes a huge difference in the total cost of labeling for small- and medium-volume requirements.”

CONVERTER INFO:
The Label Printers
1710 N. Landmark Rd.
Aurora, IL 60506
630/897-6970; thelabelprinters.com

SUPPLIER INFO:
HP Indigo—hp.com