Gravure quality in the short run

The market for sheetfed gravure carton printing is a niche market for high-margin products in which color is critical admits Watson. The relatively high up-front cylinder costs involved with gravure printing requires the right job to justify the expense. Key markets include hair care and cosmetics. In these markets, consumers rely on the fact that the color shown on the package is a true representation of the color resulting from use of the product. And the package color has to be consistent every time the consumer purchases the product, week in and week out. Martin says that the Englewood plant is the only hair-color packaging supplier to be certified by Clairol (a business recently purchased by Proctor & Gamble) in the last five to six years. Along with cosmetics, Watson also adds high-end confectionary and golf ball packaging to the list of customers. The selling point for a contract for Pinnacle golf ball packaging was the consistency of color, combined with holographic capabilities.