LETTERPRESS FAITHFUL GET FEWER

Though UV flexo threatens widespread letterpress longevity, suppliers and printers insist it will survive.

by Jessica Millward, Associate Editor

JUST HOW FAR along is the industry's migration from letterpress? And will UV flexo-fondness lead to the complete disappearance of the letterpress label? In an informal poll conducted on the pP Web site, while many respondents predicted letterpress would be phased out within ten years, a majority believed the process would always be in use.

For Ko-Pack International customers, the primary letterpress investment has been additional equipment for capacity, notes Sales Director Gerry Nigg. He believes letterpress presses will benefit from incorporation of wide-web technology into narrow-web machinery, such as the integration of a water-cooled CID drum on a rotary letterpress.

Letterpress won't ever be completely abandoned, Nigg asserts, because in many cases, "It's a matter of printers asking, 'Why reinvent the wheel?'" The complete elimination of letterpress means more than just new presses, it means adopting a new mind set, and training all company employees to adopt that mind set as well.

Ko-Pack encourages printers to bring back older presses for fine-tuning; the company offers re-building of print heads with micro-adjustment capability on ink keys. Nigg adds the micro-adjustment feature reduces spoilage and set-up time.

"For high quality printing and specific color matching, letterpress is still typically faster in set-up and waste reduction time, due to fine-tuning capabilities offered by ink keys, and the ability to adjust colors quickly versus making new plates, and changing anilox rolls and ink," maintains Gallus Sales Manager Bob Yates. He is also mindful of the time/money investment required to turnover one process for another. Of additional concern in considering a print method change, Yates notes, is the need to support two different platemaking systems, numerous inventories of inks, and artwork variations required for both processes in the learning-curve interim.

However, Yates feels growth in UV flexo, rotary screen, and hot foil stamping combinations will continue at a good pace. Portability of these functions enables the printer to completely reconfigure the press to match customer needs. He summarizes, "There will be continued overlapping of the various printing processes used as applications change and improvements are made, but today, and in the future, all printing processes will be required."

Shifting mind set

Founded 25 years ago, Ontario-based Labelad has grown to become one of North America's largest pressure-sensitive label converters. Sales of Labelad prime labels are divided almost evenly between the United States and Canada, and the company's headquarters in Markham also house sister division Sandylion, a leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of novelty stickers and related products. The two divisions employ more than 23 printing presses, from the likes of Comco, Gallus, and Mark Andy.

With an ever-expanding American clientele list in mind, Labelad has made a conscious decision to move away from traditional letterpress technology and toward UV flexo, and has therefore invested its press purchase funds in new Gallus UV flexo/screen combination units.

VP/Sales and Marketing Leonard Rudner ultimately sees waterbased flexography and even rotary letterpress being replaced in the not-too-distant future by UV flexo and gravure as converters' print technologies of choice.

"We've made a decision, following worldwide trends, to go UV flexo," explains Rudner. "We feel that within five years, flexo and rotary letterpress will virtually disappear, and you'll have two pre-eminent printing technologies: UV flexo and gravure. As always, we are determined to be ahead of the curve."

That vision of the industry has prompted what Rudner expects will be the rapid replacement of the company's letterpress units with Gallus em280 UV flexo/screen combination presses. Labelad installed its first eight- and ten-color 11˝ Gallus units last May, and ordered a third in late 2001.

The Gallus UV flexo presses, says Rudner, offer greater efficiency, less waste, and faster changeovers and running speeds than even the Gallus letterpresses that helped establish Labelad in the North American market.

"We look to the Gallus UV flexo and letterpresses for the bulk of our personal care and health and beauty work that requires the no-label look," notes Rudner. "We're confident that the market will accept UV flexo quality as a replacement for letterpress. It is in its infancy, but the results have been excellent."

Rudner says Labelad began its search for a high-quality press nearly two years ago. While attending Labelexpo USA he noticed two primary trends: most of the major press suppliers were offering a full-UV press, "and there was a consistent message: if you're only going to focus on labels, you're limited in growth potential. Focus on the small markets, invest in press technology that can print a range from 0.5-mil unsupported film to 22-point board.

"Ultimately, we'd like to expand our product offering and become a packaging supplier, not just a label supplier, and the em280s will allow us to do that when the time comes."

Rudner says he has gotten a very positive response from customers who have compared the quality of the finished products that have been produced using both processes. Before transferring a job traditionally converted on letterpress over to UV flexo, Labelad requires customer approval of test runs. Clients have thus far been pleased with quality levels.

"They like what they see," Rudner explains. "The presses run faster (up to 350 fpm), changeover is a lot faster, they offer quicker make-ready, and generate less waste. It is very important that the market is assured that moving from letterpress to UV flexo is not going to affect quality, appearance, corporate colors, etc. That hasn't been a problem."

Rudner sees the company's shift toward UV flexo as a key element in Labelad's campaign to capture more of the U.S. market. He readily acknowledges that there are already more than a few large converters capable of producing the high-quality labels required by the likes of Proctor & Gamble, Kraft Foods, and other major U.S.-based suppliers. However, he believes Labelad has a distinct insight into being successful within the label market.

"If you look at the half-dozen major label companies in North America, we all buy our stock from the same sources, and we all run our presses at roughly the same speeds," states Rudner. "We feel the competitive edge goes to the company that has the greater response time, and we've structured our internal operations to maximize our service capabilities."