The equation of how printers win: packaging and labeling business integration, customer profits double harvest
In the field of commercial printing, if you stay on a certain "track" all the time, it will definitely lead to the enterprise falling behind in all aspects. The most successful print service providers (PSPs) have expanded from commercial printing to new markets such as packaging, labels, wide format, apparel, fulfillment, promotional products, etc. This process is now called "convergence". One of the main reasons they do this is to retain customers. Because once they can serve all the content their customers need, it is more difficult for customers to choose new suppliers.
"Our customers like a one-stop solution for all their problems," explains Alex Holmes, chief estimator at Allied Printing Services, a 74-year-old commercial printer based in Manchester, Conn., that has been making huge profits in packaging for years. Today, packaging accounts for 15 percent of the company's annual sales. Most of the company's packaging products are lock-bottom boxes and straight-line boxes, and the company has expanded into some markets in pharmaceuticals, Mr. Holmes said.
To enhance this business, Allied installed a new Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 X earlier this year, the first of its kind in the United States. The fully automated press runs at 18,000 sph and uses conventional and UV inks. The fully automated press is designed with four printing units, plus a coating machine, two drying units, an additional four units, and another 12-foot delivery unit with coating.
"The new press has been very helpful to our packaging business," explains Mr. Holmes. "With the double coating unit in the middle, we can add a lot of embellishment to the packaging, which helps the packaging products stand out on the shelf." For example, he points out that soft touch coatings and textures can appeal to consumers and help them make purchasing decisions, and being able to provide this service is key to the growth of Allied's packaging business.
For a company like Allied that aims to provide everything its customers need, it is natural to expand into packaging and other services. "We pride ourselves on not saying'no 'to any type of assignment, and we like to have our customers come to us and say,' We have a problem, can you help me? '"
Allied's Structural Engineering department works with these customers to understand what type of packaging they need and come up with a way to provide that packaging. "We really like being able to do everything under one roof," Holmes adds, "which helps the company bring in new business. For example, if a customer is running a direct marketing campaign and wants to support that campaign with a packaging project, Allied is ready to help."
Invest in education
However, entering new markets such as packaging does not guarantee immediate success for PSPs. Businesses need not only the right equipment, but also the necessary education.
"We run some really good in-house workshops to teach different departments about the differences, nuances and engineering perspectives of developing and assembling retail packaging," noted Charlie Cox, chief operating officer and partner at Wallace Carlson, a $18 million Minnesota-based commercial printer that started offering packaging several years ago. "Packaging printing is very complex and requires a deep understanding of the process, which is why it's important to invest in training."
The 70-employee company does a lot of business in specialty security packaging with gift card carriers and produces packaging using special effects and unique coatings. Because such specialty packaging printing requires heavier paper, special substrates, special colors, and different types of post-press processing, Wallace Carlson last year invested in a six-color Komori's Lithrone GX40 (GLX640) advanced UV press as well as a Vinfoil Optima cold ironing unit. The press can print up to 40 pounds of substrates, including cardboard, cardboard, synthetics, plastics, polyurethane, and polyethylene, and can produce a number of special effects, such as glitter.
In order to expand the company's professional applications, post-press processing improvements are also important, Cox noted. The company uses the Brausse Tornado 106CE for high-speed die-cutting and embossing, as well as the Brausse TA900 box gluer. Cox acknowledged that expenses may increase, but the payoff from the new business could be significant. Expansion into packaging also helps PSP stay out of the way when market changes cripple its traditional printing business.
Learning and growing in label business development
BP Solutions Group's commercial printing business dates back to 1925, and its successful commercial printing business is well aware of the impact of fluctuating market conditions on PSPs. Over the years, the Asheville, North Carolina-based family business saw fewer print orders as customers slashed marketing budgets.https://www.risedongsheng.com/
In search of new business, the company's president, Scott Cotton, began exploring the packaging space in 2005. The company faced some hurdles. In a 2017 article, Scott Cotton noted that one of the biggest challenges was finding packaging expertise and bringing it in-house. "Die-cutting, folding, and bonding requires a lot of knowledge and experience that commercial printers don't immediately grasp when they enter the industry," he said at the time.
But BP Solutions has honed its skills over the past 18 years and has successfully grown its labeling and packaging business with the support of Asheville, N.C. 's booming craft beer industry - a significant source of new labeling business. "The folding carton and labeling jobs are more consistent throughout the process," Cotton said. "It's a real differentiator for us. There really isn't a packaging company of our size in our area that has the breadth of capabilities we have."
Scott Cotton said his interest in the label business grew even stronger after attending the Digital Packaging Summit, an annual event hosted by the Printing United Alliance that provides attendees with three days of content and networking focused entirely on digital label and packaging production.
After speaking with peers in the industry, Cotton felt that the opportunity for digital labeling was too good to pass up. BP Solutions invested in MacAndy's Digital Pro 3, a toner-based press with integrated in-line flexo printing and processing units. Scott Cotton explained that since the company's background is in commercial printing, the in-line processing process on the Digital Pro 3 was very beneficial as the company did not need to invest in printing and post-press equipment immediately.
"We were trying to find the best combination of affordability and functionality, and the Digital Pro 3 made sense, especially since we didn't have any label processing equipment," says Scott Cotton. "With stand-alone digital printing, you have to buy a press, and then you have to buy processing equipment. So we paid $450,000 for the D Pro 3 and got all the processes we needed, which would be closer to $1 million."https://www.risedongsheng.com/
MacAndy was able to connect the company to a similar business in eastern North Carolina that also added the Digital Pro 3 to its commercial print offerings. Scott Cotton said having a nearby peer company willing to help BP Solutions speed up equipment use and share best practices was a significant advantage early on in BP Solutions' digital labeling journey.
Now, years after the merger decision, the company's labeling and packaging business is thriving. "Every day there's a new brand customer," he says. "We're finding them left and right. We've also done some marketing to try to let people know that there are businesses in the Asheville area that do folding cartons and labels."https://www.risedongsheng.com/
Beyond packaging
Back in Manchester, Conn., Mr. Holmes points out that packaging is not the only new business Allied Printing Services has ventured into. A few years ago, the 500-employee company greatly expanded its wireless binding business by adding a Muller Martini KM610C (Kolbus) wireless binding machine. This allowed the company to do a large number of bookbinding jobs in-house, not only for books that are 2 inches thick, but also for slim, perfectly bound books as small as 1/16 of an inch thick. "It's almost twice as fast as we were before, and the quality is much better."
In addition, Allied recently added the W + D 320 envelope production system and started producing its own envelopes. Now, it can create custom envelopes with embellishments that make them stand out. "Outsourcing the envelope business makes it vulnerable to being pushed around by outside vendors," he noted. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Allied sometimes took 16 weeks to receive orders for envelopes, and the quality often fell short of expectations. "Being able to control every aspect of the direct mail business is very important to us," he said. It allows Allied to ensure the quality and timeliness of its services, thus increasing customer loyalty. "https://www.risedongsheng.com/