K-1 Packaging Is a One-Stop Shop for Customers

The one-stop-shop—it's become a nearly standard descriptor for companies in the package-printing marketplace. As more and more converters characterize themselves as able to do it all, fresh challenges emerge in terms of differentiating their capabilities for end-user prospects. For K-1 Packaging Group, a City of Industry-based, family-owned and operated producer of folding cartons, narrow-web labels, flexible packaging, and rigid boxes, the one-stop-shop definition is said to run deep. "Our philosophy of being a provider of diversified resources is not a shallow claim," says Mike Tsai, president. "While we are the proverbial jack-of-all-trades, we are not dabblers. Our in-house staffs that specialize in each of the print processes that we offer are deeply committed to their respective crafts."

Tsai positions K-1, founded in 1993, as "still a newcomer in the U.S. packaging market"—a status which drives a rigorous attention to building and demonstrating expertise to prospects. "It does take a lot of time and effort to build your reputation and be recognized as a can-do organization, especially when you're trying to do so while standing in the shadow of giants," says Tsai. K-1 may not have the decades-long track record of other converters, but the company is built on expertise gained from the Tsai family's many years in the commercial printing market, a presence which originated in Taiwan in the late 1940s.

In the U.S., K-1 has carved out a niche largely centered in folding cartons (60 percent of its revenues) and serves customers in the CPG, processed food, personal care, and discretionary items (higher-end cosmetics, skin-care, fragrance, and electronic products) segments. K-1's growing breadth of expertise is strongly indicated by its regular coordination of multiple production processes for customers. "We frequently encounter projects that use both flexo printed labels and offset printed cartons," Tsai explains, adding, "Because both packaging components utilize the same artwork, the colors need to match." It is also common for K-1 to produce entire packaging sets for customers, such as a recent dietary supplement package that included a rigid box, three folding cartons, and flexible film stick packs—a project that not only demanded graphic design consistency but an appropriate fit between each component.

Technology's trail

On any given day, K-1's 95-employee operation turns out work produced via offset, screen, flexo, and digital printing processes. Its folding carton operation is anchored by a pair of KBA Rapida 105 sheetfed offset presses, and rounded out with a Sakurai screen press used to apply special effects coatings. K-1's narrow-web operation, which is oriented around pressure-sensitive labels and flexible packaging, runs flexo presses from Mark Andy and Nilpeter. Narrow-web production is augmented by a HP Indigo WS6000 digital press and an accompanying AB Graphics Omega Digicon converting line—an investment the company made 18 months ago.

For now, K-1 Packaging defines its one-stop-package printing shop as an operation offering four print processes and in-house converting/finishing capabilities, complemented on the front end by prepress and structural design departments. However, Tsai depicts a shifting one-stop-shop mix that in future years could include a pared-down printing repertoire and an expanded array of finishing options. He credits this potential shift to steady improvements in digital printing technology. Since installing the HP Indigo nearly two years ago, K-1 has directed more and more narrow-web jobs away from flexo printing toward digital printing.

A leading reason for the flexo-to-digital migration is the large percentage of short-run work within K-1's operation, which can be done more economically on a digital press that eliminates makereadies, Tsai states. He adds that the pull to digital printing is also powerful for jobs with numerous versions (which can simply be queued up on the HP Indigo) and packages that require extremely tight register, such as designs with small type. In the latter case, he says, digital's output exceeds even the quality of offset, producing "near-perfect" register. Moreover, Tsai observes many of the other frequently encountered flaws found in analog printing—including gear marks, roller streaks, and ghosting—"for the most part don't exist" on digitally printed material. K-1's current narrow-web mix sits at 70 percent flexo and 30 percent digital, but Tsai projects that, as digital technology continues to evolve and improve, the opposite balance will ultimately dominate: "That day will come when the majority of packaging materials produced will be printed digitally, economically," he contends.

Tsai's outlook for digital printing's rise also extends to folding carton applications, though he clarifies that aside from very specific niches, the technology as it currently stands is "not ready" for cartons. He believes digital remains limited in terms of accommodating cartons' structural requirements; fundamentally, he notes, current digital presses' format is too small to accommodate cartons with larger dimensions. In addition, Tsai has not seen digital presses consistently meet carton requirements for image durability or image compatibility with finishing processes, but he expects these issues will be resolved in the shorter term. "We would not be all that surprised if within the next five years we have digital folding carton printing presses running alongside our offset presses," he states.

Competitive consulting

Even if a collective convergence around digital technologies is ultimately in the works for packaging converters, Tsai believes there is still ample opportunity for companies to differentiate themselves through the level of assistance they provide with packaging's accompanying technical processes, such as structural design and post-press surface treatment. Already, K-1 customers frequently depend on pre-production consultations to facilitate manufacturing decisions, because designs often start with marketing departments focused primarily on how to make the package attractive, rather than how to produce the package. Once the customer comes in with a basic digital file, K-1 clarifies the package's physical requirements (e.g., product weight, assembly sequence, temperature and humidity exposure, etc.); devises a final design; and determines appropriate printing and finishing processes. The expanding array of finishing options available to end users has increased the level of consultation K-1 typically provides. "As we promote new technologies, customers ask questions about how they can be applied," Tsai notes, adding, "The processes are not always straightforward in terms of compatibility [with an application]."

At times, the one-stop-shop's ability to offer customers a wealth of production options can foster the need to more actively manage customers' expectations. For instance, when a luxury fragrance customer wanted a carton design to incorporate a high-end, pearlescent embossed paper stock with limited availability in the United States and a problematically thin stock weight, K-1 solved the issue by incorporating a more commonplace paper stock and using multiple surface treatments—embossing applied on top of foil stamping, on top of micro texture coating, on top of printing ink, on top of pearl coating—to mimic the look and feel of the luxury paper. However, the first time around, Tsai reports, K-1 went through the first five processes successfully only to encounter failure at the final diecut process where the stress generated caused ink adhesion failure. The desired end-result was finally achieved after two weeks of additional application testing and a restart of the production process. "Such qualification has to be done empirically through extensive trials," he points out, "which is often time-consuming as well as costly." Customers typically willing to go to these lengths to differentiate are those whose products must convey luxury, or those with high-end products (such as a small candle) that don't occupy a lot of physical space and are thus dependent on the package to convey value.

K-1's operational philosophies suggest that converting's most successful one-stop-shops will need to monitor customer needs and, in response, strategically tweak the range of services offered. "We pride ourselves on the ability to turn on a dime," Tsai comments. "We are a very nimble organization." pP