SMART DESIGN

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PROLABEL owner Ramon Fernandez with the Xeikon 3030
ProLabel chooses Digital
NEW TOOLS enable label converters to properly evaluate the place of digital printing in a conventional print
operation. Danielle Jerschefske reports
ProLabel, located in Miami Gardens,
Florida, opened its doors in July 1995.
Cuban-born ProLabel owner Ramon
Fernandez guided the small business
to specialize in quick response label
production for the food and beverage,
nutraceutical, cosmetics, durable
and industrial markets of the region.
Initially business grew with flexographic
technology using a seven-inch Mark
Andy, eventually expanding to a
servo-driven Aquaflex ELS machine –
and more recently supported by a Xeikon
3030 digital dry toner press.
Like many of North America’s label
converters, ProLabel has been studying
the advance of digital print technology.
The ProLabel team attended Labelexpo
Americas 2010 to study the various
digital technologies, walking the
show floor, reviewing the Technology
Workshops and quickly eliminating
many of the desktop options since the
converter’s ‘short runs’ are far longer
than what these machines are designed
to viably produce.
Last year Fernandez solicited the
assistance of Karstedt Partners, a digital
print consultancy firm that released
a digital print Commercialization
Assessment Report (CAR) for the narrow
web label sector in May 2011 (see L&L’s
exclusive report http://www.labelsandlabeling.com/news/features/exclusivefirst-review-of-karstedt-digital-report).
The report is unbiased to any single
printing technology, digital or analog,
and offers an objective view on the value
of digital printing in a converters’ own
environment.
‘Eventually we decided on a Xeikon
3030 because the company and staff
communicated well, and the technology
matches with our business model and
strategy,’ says Ramon Fernandez.
‘The quality coming off the machine is
phenomenal and we liked that we don’t
need to pre- treat substrates.’
This is the second time the converter
has gone down the digital printing road
and Fernandez was determined to make
it a success.
OPPORTUNITY TO DIVERSIFY
The electrophotographic dry toner-based
Xeikon 3030 is the entry level digital
press within the supplier’s 3000 series
for the label and packaging markets. It’s
capable of running up to 13 inch material
with a 12.7 inch image area at 30ft/
min with up to five colors including an
opaque white.
ProLabel took on a computer savvy
employee from outside the company and
trained him to run the machine. Finishing
is completed on a Grafisk Machinfabrik
DC 330.
ProLabel has found its customer
base to be highly receptive when given
up-to-date details of how digital print
technology has progressed in recent
years and what it can offer a brand. In
some cases clients have opted for digital
printing because they preferred the way
it looks. Marketers are also finding the
cost benefits realized with less inventory,
combined with the personalization
and on-demand capability to be highly
valuable.
The Xeikon press also offers ProLabel
the opportunity to diversify into cartons to
offer a one-stop shop.
IVAT
Karstedt Partners’ digital print CAR for
the narrow web label sector comes with
a proprietary spreadsheet called the
Investment Value Assessment Tool (iVAT)
which provides interactive calculation
of a particular digital technology when
evaluated with and against conventional
operating parameters such as cost, price
sensitivity, product mix, equipment and
more. This tool allows the converter to
formulate multiple ‘what if’ scenarios with
their own operating values and volumes
to see what impact a digital asset
plugged into their business would have.
The iVAT comes preloaded with
industry averages of the various
processes – flexo, offset, gravure –
and has the ability to compare across
multiple digital technologies. It also has
a forecasting tool to allow plug and play
adjustment of sales revenues and an ROI
action model.
Fernandez says, ‘Working with Karstedt
Partners and going through the iVat
with our own figures was valuable in
reinforcing our ideas and assumptions.
The spreadsheets gave us accurate
data to work from, helping us better
understand our business and how digital
could best fit – or not. You don’t know
what you don’t know.’
ProLabel realigned its workflow with
the support of the LabelTraxx MIS, which
allows the integration of conventional
and digital workflows. With both flexo
and digital technology the converter is
able to take on any run size and has the
opportunity to diversify into the short run
carton market as it picks up pace. It has
proved to be a wise investment.
JULY 2012 | L&L