Pressing Quality Ever Forward

A new Mark Andy LP3000 flexo press helps Western Shield Label build on a foundation of quality work, and reach new heights in efficiency, reliability, and market presence.

By Susan Busch

Contributing Editor

IT'S NEARING THE end of another hectic business day, and Frank Connelly, president of Gardena, Calif.-based flexo converter Western Shield Label, is recharging with an afternoon cup of coffee. The challenges Connelly and his team have navigated throughout the day—rounding up vendor resources to ensure a client's printed-material needs can be met, and exploring press configurations to arrive at the best way to run a custom job—illustrate the culture of responsiveness and reliability he has worked to build since joining the company in 2001.

It's a culture—and formula for success—Western Shield has refined through both improvements in operating techniques and an upgrade in press technology. Initially, Connelly led the careful honing of production processes to ensure consistent high-quality performance. Now, this converter has further enhanced its quality standards with the purchase of a new 10˝, 10-color Mark Andy LP3000 flexo press.

For the 18-employee company, which Connelly describes as "big enough to have the right capabilities and capacity, and small enough to be flexible and responsive to the market," installation of the LP3000 press marks its transition from a converter on an empowering learning curve to a long-term player in the narrow-web arena.

Quality processes and markets

Located just 10 minutes from the Los Angeles International Airport, Western Shield offers turnkey narrow-web converting capability for labels and small-format packaging—from graphic services and platemaking, to flexo, UV flexo, and combination printing and slitting/rewinding. Its founders were early adopters of UV flexo technology, and Connelly has continued the focus on this process, estimating its use in 70 percent of their work.

While the majority of Western Shield's print jobs are prime labels, other common job types include IRCs (instantly redeemable coupons), re-sealable tabs, pouches, and expanded content labels. On any given day, materials on-press may range from pressure-sensitive paper, film, or foil, to laminated films. Run lengths can vary from 1,000 pieces up to several million.

At the time of Connelly's appointment as president in 2001, Western Shield had recently been sold to an investment group. During this new era of leadership at the company, he has spearheaded the steady achievement of operations and management milestones, including precise quality benchmarking and solid, double-digit growth.

"We've learned a lot, and made a lot of improvements," Connelly says, citing enhancements in documentation and accountability, definition and measurement of color targets, and proactive communication with clients to meet delivery deadlines.

Connelly also fine-tuned Western Shield's target customer base, pursuing business development in "markets better suited to where we want to go," he says. The converter has set its sights on the nutraceuticals and health and beauty aids markets, as well as further penetration in the specialty and gourmet foods markets.

These operational and strategic adjustments have paid healthy dividends. "We've accomplished a great deal of growth with the same number of people," Connelly states. Since 2001, Western Shield's annual sales have grown more than 40 percent. Looking ahead, Connelly expects future profitability to come from developing a deeper niche in expanded content labels, increased involvement with the health and beauty aids market, and "growing along with the markets and customers we've got."

A platform to grow on

With this strategic vision in mind, Connelly's focus has more recently turned to acquiring new printing equipment that will provide the advanced technology foundation for Western Shield to meet customers' high-quality requirements and, in turn, achieve its growth objectives.

When Connelly initially came on board, Western Shield's 11,000-sq.-ft. plant featured two 10˝ flexo presses that ran 5 and 7 colors, respectively. While operators were skilled in maximizing the capabilities of these presses, Connelly recognized that a new, next-generation press was needed to bring better reliability and efficiency to maintain—and grow—the high-quality work the company began focusing on.

"We were struggling with a new and growing customer base which stretched our existing capabilities and capacity," Connelly relates. "In order to meet these new standards, we were wasting a great deal of time and material. We decided to make the investment [in a new press] as soon as we determined that the new work would be sustained."

Western Shield needed a press that would run more reliably at high speeds, and hold better register to reduce waste—as well as a press supplier that could support custom configurations to accommodate new market opportunities. Its selection, a 10˝ Mark Andy LP3000 press featuring 10 flexo printing stations, 6 UV lamps from UVTechnology, and a rotary screen cassette, was installed in December 2004. "The LP series addresses several needs for us, including easy and rapid changeovers and adjustments, higher run speeds, and improved print quality," Connelly notes.

Though the LP3000's technological attributes were a primary factor in its selection, Connelly also favored the strong operations support that accompany the press. "Mark Andy stands behind its product with technical support, documentation, engineering, and parts," he explains. For Western Shield, this support included custom engineering and parts for special web path requirements.

Fast, dependable path to quality

The new press installation has provided healthy reinforcement for Western Shield's emphasis on reliability and responsiveness, allowing it to meet required quality standards more quickly and consistently. "The LP3000 does a better job on the high-quality work we've got," Connelly sums up.

He believes the one aspect of the LP3000 that has most significantly impacted Western Shield's operation is its ability to hold register during increases and decreases in speed. "We've cut way down on waste because registration doesn't move," Connelly reports.

All in all, Connelly estimates the investment in new press technology has brought production speed up by 30 percent and cut waste by more than half. However, the LP3000's positive impact can be quantified not only collectively, but also at the individual job level.

For a shampoo label printed 7-color UV flexo on clear film, Western Shield operators had previously encountered difficulty with register, resulting in high amounts of waste. When they transferred the plates to the new LP3000, the job came into register right away, dramatically reducing waste. Western Shield ran this job as part of the press check at Mark Andy's headquarters, "and it passed with flying colors, even at changing speeds," Connelly adds.

A produce label printed 7-color UV flexo on white semi-gloss paper was originally run on Western Shield's older equipment at 300 fpm. The job called for running 1 million, 3˝ x 4˝ labels every other month. At slower speeds, this required budgeting a day and a half to turn the job around, Connelly relates. Once the job was transferred to the LP3000, operators were able to achieve speeds of 625 fpm, and get the labels out the door in half the time. Connelly points out the press's "very robust" drying capabilities are a key factor in allowing these higher speeds.

With the LP3000, turnaround times are further reduced by quicker changeovers. Operators simply reach into the "very accommodating" print stations, and drop in the print cylinders, Connelly notes. Mark Andy's Quick Load/Quick Set technology—part of its Quick Change print drawer design—automatically lowers the cylinder to set the initial impression.

High technology, higher spirits

At Western Shield, replacing older equipment with the new press has significantly boosted company morale—in terms of both day-to-day plant floor confidence, as well as optimism for the company's long-term future in the narrow-web marketplace.

The investment sends a clear message that Western Shield is committed to pursuing better tools for quality, reliability, and responsiveness, and ultimately, seeing its growth objectives come to fruition. "Through this investment, employees recognize our company is going to be in it for the long haul," Connelly states. "It brings legitimacy and credibility to our operation, and signifies future opportunities for us as a group."

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