Excellence Awards — Yes They Did!

When presented with a challenge, MPI Label Systems stepped up to the plate, impressing its customer, as well as the judges of this year’s packagePRINTING Excellence Awards.

When the judges of this year’s Excellence Awards began examining the more than 200 entries, it was like watching kids in a candy store. And, the judges were excited for good reason. packagePRINTING received a great collection of entries this year.

But, the entry that took front and center was a wine label submitted by MPI Label Systems of California (MPI, Calif.). The label, produced for Lodi Vineyards’ Windmill Estates Chardonnay, part of the Michael-David Winery’s family of wines, impressed judges with its complexity, aesthetics, embossing, tight tolerances, and small type.

“I think it’s a combination of technical difficulty and overall aesthetics,” said Joe Hamway, northeast regional sales representative for Mark Andy, about why the judges collectively chose the Windmill label for Best of Show. “That’s a very difficult job,” he continued. “The die had to be dead on.” And, Bob Waddington, general manager of UVitec Printing Ink, said, “Their registration is right on the money.” Given the difficult task that MPI completed, the finished product earned the nod from the judges.

The Windmill brand had been around for several years, previously featuring a photo of the Windmill in use at the winery. Michael-David Winery asked the designer to give the brand a new identity, something that would make the bottle jump off the shelf.

“For this brand we were looking for a warm and inviting feel that would make the consumer feel comfortable,” said David Phillips, co-owner of Michael-David Winery. “We also wanted to deliver a great product at a reasonable price that shows the consumer they are getting great value for the product.”

“Our customer’s previous vendor said that the design could not be reproduced on a flexo press,” says MPI Label Systems General Manager Doug Lingo. “The question was then posed to MPI, can this design be pulled off on a flexo press? MPI California proudly displays two banners in our manufacturing area. One that reads ‘Yes We Can’ and another that reads ‘Whatever It Takes.’ These two values that run through our blood are the reason we took this project on, and the reason we succeeded. Our answer was simple, ‘Yes we can.’”

The winery wanted the Windmill to be the focus of the label. The Windmill had to be smooth and glossy with the rest of the label showing off the surface of the labelstock. “The most difficult part of this design was the paper [that was] specified. It required the use of 70# felt which has got to be the roughest, most porous stock that a flexo press has ever printed,” says Lingo. “The Windmill request was what concerned us the most. We printed several tests to help us determine the proper technology that would make this project successful.”

MPI used its 12-color Mark Andy 4150 press to print the label with UV flexography. “First, we had to print an image of the Windmill using a rotary screen station. Screen selection was paramount for proper coverage and ink cure,” explains Lingo. “The ink used in the screen was formulated on site to give the optimal printing surface for the process inks. After the 4-color process was printed we hot stamped, then applied the final varnishes. Finally the embossing to accentuate the Windmill was performed, along with the diecut.”

The winery was quite pleased with MPI’s work, especially after another printer claimed that its flexo-printed label could not be achieved. And, because MPI was so successful in producing this particular label, it earned all of Michael-David Winery’s label business.

“When the wine was released with the new Windmill design, restaurants and stores requested that the previous vintage with the old label design be returned to the winery,” says Lingo. “The new design began flying off of the shelves; nobody would purchase the old label. Though we knew the label was beautiful, [winning Best of Show] told us that it really was something special.

“After the initial jumping up and down, cheering my team on, I thought of my mentor, Bert Wijfjes. Bert was the GM of our plant in 1993 when we last won Best of Show honors in the packagePRINTING Excellence Awards, and that issue is proudly displayed in my office. My first thought was of his legacy, and of what he was able to achieve with MPI Label Systems of California. Our ‘Yes We Can’ and ‘Whatever it Takes’ values were instilled [in us] by Bert, and I am proud to be leading a group of people that continues to exhibit these values.” pP

Best of Show Honorable Mentions

Because there were so many strong first place winners this year, the judges had a difficult task of naming the Best of Show winner. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think you could go wrong with any entry on the table. They’re all superb,” said Dean Gilbert, assistant professor at North Carolina A&T State University. The following entries made the judges’ Best of Show decision a bit more difficult.

Diamond Packaging’s Coty Stetson Holiday 2007 folding carton

“It’s just a great overall job. I’m really impressed. The [quality of the] folding carton samples were much higher than I expected.” —Joe Hamway

G3 Enterprises’ Blackstone Merlot Face wine label

“There is just about every process imaginable on that one. It has a lot of hot stamping, screen, registration, and embossing.”—Jim Flynn, print technician, Gallus

“You’ve got [a lot] more margin for error.”—Bob Waddington, about the difficulty of the job