Thinking Big!

While many smaller printers tend to focus on one or two areas of specialization, Burlington, N.C.-based Labels Tags & Inserts Inc. (LTI, labelstagsandinserts.com) produces a wide range of products that one would expect to find coming out of shops several times its size. LTI prints consumer products: food and beverage, health and beauty, lottery, apparel, promotional direct mail, RFID, and security products, just to name a few. In fact, LTI doesn't think of itself as a small family-owned print shop. Instead, the company is managed like a big shop—constantly investing in new equipment to help it surpass its already high standard of quality, while reducing costs.

Leroy Baker, president and founder of LTI, put it this way, "If you want to stay in business today, you've got to get your quality up, because the benchmark for quality keeps getting higher and higher."

Baker has been in the printing business for 50 years. For 25 of them, he owned and operated a successful platemaking business. In the 1990s, he noted the rapid advancements being made in flexo technology and the resulting improvements in print quality. In 1995, he decided to move into flexographic printing, founding LTI as a small flexo shop with big ideas.

"Flexo quality kept getting better and better and we made it our job to keep up with the latest and greatest technologies so that we could offer our customers as good as, or better quality than any of the larger printers—and do it for less cost," he notes. "You just can't deliver the best quality for the lowest price if you don't invest in good equipment and keep after your production costs."

LTI operates four Mark Andy (www.markandy.com) flexographic printing presses, including both water-based and UV capability. "We have an in-house ink mixing machine for our water-based inks," reports Baker. "Pressure-sensitive used to be the biggest part of our make up, but in the past year we have produced an equal amount of various films. We don't print over 14 pt. tag stock."

Efficiency gains

The quest for a more efficient operation prompted LTI to install a Martin Automatic (www.martinautomatic.com) automatic splicer and automatic transfer rewind on its newest line, a Mark Andy XP5000 servo press. The benefits have been everything the company was looking for, and more.

"Since we added the Martin equipment, we're able to accomplish in a day what would have otherwise taken us a day and a half to do," says Baker. "It's like adding extra hours of production capacity to every shift."

According to Baker, every stop of the press for a roll change results in waste of about 300 feet of material, representing an average cost of about $30 per roll change. In addition, Baker points out this $30 of cost is based on a newer press, which is easier to bring up on impression. An older press could cost LTI as much as $50 per roll change.

For a typical job using 100,000 feet of substrate, Baker estimates the Martin Automatic equipment saves the company at least $300 in materials and $100 in ink waste. He also notes that the anilox rollers stay cleaner and last longer running nonstop, and there is less wear on the presses from constant starting and stopping.

"Our press operators love the automatic roll changing," reports Baker. "It frees them up to pay closer attention to the press run, which results in a higher level of consistent quality. They can run the press faster with confidence, and that means more throughput on every shift."

Baker adds, "Our people like to see new equipment on the floor because they know that it makes us more competitive. They receive performance bonuses when we're doing well, and that helps keep everyone motivated to produce the highest quality product possible."

Jim Baker, Leroy's grandson and LTI's facilities manager, notes, "We wouldn't be able to take the [new] business we have without the splicer and rewinder. While other converters are struggling, the Martins have enabled us to grow our business."

According to Jim, the company works to constantly reinvent itself by moving into new technologies and industries. "By decreasing our waste levels and associated costs, the Martin Automatic splicers have helped us expand into new machinery in other areas," he says.

For example, LTI recently purchased a Kodak Flexcel Trendsetter digital platemaking system. With this new equipment, the company can print up to 200 line halftone screens giving its process color work a near photographic appearance, says Jim.

"We've built our business printing the hard jobs—challenging jobs that other printers were either unable to do or wouldn't do," he says. "We ended up buying a lot of equipment to produce all those demanding jobs, but in the long run, that has brought greater diversity to our portfolio of capabilities and products. And when the economy gets slow, it's really good to be diversified."

This diversity has certainly paid dividends this past year. "We have seen the economy curtail some of our promotional customers but increase in other areas of our mix," reports Jim. "We have seen an increase in our sales and profits this year."

What's in store

The current LTI facility is 15,000 square feet and there are plans to add to the plant in the future. In the meantime, Leroy Baker—with his wife, daughter, and grandson—runs his small printing operation as if it were many times its actual size. The family pays attention to detail, constantly tracks operating costs, and continues to invest in top-quality equipment and processes. They compete for and win new business based upon a simple business principle—produce the best quality product and sell it for less.

"We have gained a reputation as a premier flexographic print shop because of our commitment to using the latest technology, as well as the company's emphasis on quality and rapid response to evolving customer needs," says Jim. "As for our future, we will continue to be on the forefront of new technology. We only want the best, and that is what we will pass along to our customers." pP