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34 | L&L<br />
(L-R) Giuseppe Cillario, Gianmario Cillario,<br />
Luciano Cillario, Gian Franco Cillario<br />
press is automatic and visually checked<br />
for quality using BST’s inspection system<br />
just as the presses in Italy do. Currently<br />
it is the only press of its kind in North<br />
America.<br />
Cillario fully intends to increase both<br />
PS and offset capability in 2013. He says,<br />
'This strategy gives clients options rather<br />
than our business being un-switchable.'<br />
One of the main advantages to pressure<br />
sensitive labels is the improved efficiency<br />
in bottling application. Wet-glue labels<br />
must fight for performance, but in some<br />
cases can be more cost effective. Much<br />
of the organic growth in the business<br />
has come from wet-glue opportunities<br />
while new business has typically been<br />
pressure sensitive. By offering both<br />
technologies, Eurostampa NA is able to<br />
deliver whatever a client prefers.<br />
SERVICE INNOVATION<br />
‘The first two years starting out was<br />
tough,’ admits Cillario. ‘To establish a<br />
relationship with confidence it took three<br />
years to prove that Eurostampa was in<br />
fact capable of helping big brands find<br />
solutions.’<br />
It was only a matter of time before<br />
potential clients realized that service,<br />
reliability and credibility are taken<br />
seriously within the Eurostampa culture.<br />
Cillario says, ‘It's a challenge to be a<br />
leader. Quality is a fact. You have to be<br />
able to offer service.’<br />
For this reason Eurostampa uses a<br />
proprietary system to ensure there are no<br />
mixed labels. The repercussions found<br />
with applying the incorrect label to a<br />
package, particularly bottles of alcohol,<br />
can be devastating and put the brand<br />
in serious trouble. When servicing such<br />
massive businesses with huge volumes<br />
of labels, accuracy and security on<br />
delivery and on the shelf is imperative for<br />
a brand’s equity.<br />
If a customer chooses they can<br />
include a discrete data matrix code, or<br />
QR code, on any Eurostampa printed<br />
label, which holds the part number and<br />
the job number of the label and brand.<br />
All labels are run through a specially<br />
LABELS&LABELING<br />
engineered Prati conveyer machine<br />
equipped with vision systems where<br />
the codes are automatically scanned<br />
and incorrect labels tossed aside. This<br />
highly effective process eliminates any<br />
possibility for labels to be mixed.<br />
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY<br />
Cillario explains Eurostampa’s 50<br />
percent growth last year: ‘It’s about<br />
the culture; we make sure everyone<br />
is engaged. With more machines and<br />
continued investment, we need our<br />
employees to embrace flexibility and<br />
be willing to put in the overtime – and<br />
feel good about it and the company.<br />
‘The customer is the core of our<br />
business and the mentality of our<br />
people both in Europe and the US<br />
reflects on our service. Satisfied<br />
employees are naturally customer<br />
oriented and are willing to pay attention<br />
to the little details that make a big<br />
difference.’<br />
The company regularly reinvests<br />
profits back into the business, making<br />
associates feel their importance and<br />
experience first-hand that the business<br />
is more than just a profit center.<br />
For production consistency, general<br />
quality and associate comfort, the<br />
entire plant is monitored closely<br />
for humidity and temperature. The<br />
converter recycles what it can and<br />
is powered 100 percent by wind,<br />
paying extra for this alternative energy<br />
sourcing. Any solvents are re-cleaned<br />
and used again and again.<br />
INTERNALLY GLOBAL<br />
Communication is essential. Being<br />
linked closely to headquarters in Italy,<br />
standardizing and improving quality<br />
together has allowed the US operation to<br />
produce at the same level as its European<br />
operations. The parent plant provides<br />
ample support both through modern media<br />
and by transferring employees between<br />
locations for regular training and knowledge<br />
sharing. The plants have a set weekly video<br />
conference to promote camaraderie and a<br />
sense of unity.<br />
Eurostampa NA recently transitioned to<br />
use a proprietary ERP system developed<br />
by the company’s Italian engineers. The<br />
shift has helped to further settle the lines of<br />
communication between the two locations.<br />
The changeover required seven people from<br />
Italy to install the system, staying in the city<br />
for a few weeks. Cillario says, ‘Training is<br />
extremely valuable.’<br />
Some 400 employees work at the<br />
headquarters in Cuneo, Italy, found in the<br />
northern region of the country best known<br />
for truffles and real Parmigiano cheese, in a<br />
300,000 sq ft facility. It too earned its stripes<br />
in the market through wet-glue production,<br />
eventually investing in flexographic<br />
capability. For consistency and effectiveness<br />
the R&D process and investment, and<br />
high-level training will remain in Italy, from<br />
where resources can be extended to other<br />
locations.<br />
In February 2011 Eurostampa acquired a<br />
Glasgow, Scotland-based converter, further<br />
expanding its geographic footprint. Its<br />
longer term global outlook includes Brazil,<br />
where the company has had a presence<br />
since 2004. Already the Italian company has<br />
a sales office in India and is planning to have<br />
manufacturing capability by 2013. Mexico is<br />
viewed as a possible opportunity as well.<br />
With the continued investments made in<br />
capital equipment and human resources,<br />
a double warehouse and a complex,<br />
interconnected ERP system, it’s clear that<br />
Eurostampa NA is here to stay. The double<br />
sided print process capability has already<br />
proved to be a successful strategy that<br />
brings value to the converter’s decision to<br />
enter the competitive US market and gives<br />
the geographically spread converter the<br />
global edge to service large international<br />
beverage brands.<br />
THE EUROSTAMPA building in North America