Diecutting: Window of Opportunity

One of the keys to long-lasting success in any manufacturing business is the ability to recognize the changing needs of the market early enough to acquire the shop-floor equipment to address the needs of clients.

One might say that "evolve or perish" is the unofficial mantra adhered to by Printed Specialties Inc. (PSI) of Carrollton, Ga., a folding carton manufacturer for industries ranging from hardware and software to cosmetics, horticulture, and gourmet foods. The company was founded in 1911 by the great-grandfather of current President, Greg Smith. At its onset, the company specialized in the printing and mechanical numbering of trading stamps, a process patented by the founder.

As time passed, PSI recognized the need to turn the page as well. It manufactured jigsaw puzzles during the Depression, then switched to jackets, sleeves, and labels for record albums. It's easy to see the technological progression, as PSI followed the trend into packaging for cassette tapes and CDs, along with VHS tapes. The path veered into specialized packaging and PSI's current vertical clientele.

Diecutting quality

Suffice to say, any company that reinvents itself over the long haul also needs to have a watchful eye on quality. Diecutting can be a make or break factor when it comes to quality enhancement, and Smith has seen and heard his share of nightmare stories from clients who have had less-than-ideal experiences with other suppliers.

Smith views diecutting on a par with printing in the overall manufacturing process. And as is the case with printing, there is a heavy premium placed on diecutting quality. It's a philosophy that has enabled PSI to approach $10 million in annual sales with an average growth rate of 15 percent in each of the last two years.

"Where we find customers have most issues is in the quality of the diecutting from other vendors," Smith remarks. "Either cracking on the scores or busted scores on heavyweight materials. We find we can eliminate most of these issues with careful planning and adherence to our standards.

"For us, speed is a huge issue as our turn time is 7 to 10 working days, sometimes a lot less than that. So we need machines that can run at their rated speeds all day long."

A wide range of products keep those machines humming day and night. PSI offers media packaging, such as products for the gaming industry; retail products from golf balls to auto parts; promotional products (static clings, counter displays); and custom packaging that covers the full gamut of CAD services.

Diecutting gets the short end of the stick when it comes to cosmetic appeal; in order to make a product "pop", it takes specialized capabilities such as inline embossing or debossing. PSI embosses/debosses on its diecutters, and the results can be stunning. Smith cited a recent job that called for sculpted embossing that brought out the detail of the hair on a woman adorning the cover of a carton. The embossing provided depth and texture, not to mention it was a real attention grabber.

Hot foil stamping also provides shelf appeal, Smith notes, in adding "glitz and shine." He cited another job where PSI printed on top of the foil, creating a mirror-like effect for the printing. "It adds the sparkle and that 'wow' factor," Smith adds.

Still, a poorly diecut carton can hamper a client's ability to fill the cartons at maximum speed on its equipment. "If we don't score the carton correctly for instance, it may run at very low speeds or worse, not at all, on automatic equipment," he says. "Which means they don't get enough done on a shift, and they don't hit their ship date to the store."

Key investments

PSI recently invested in some Bobst equipment—a 103ER diecutter and Expertfold folder/gluer—to answer that requirement. Smith had a soft place in his heart for the Bobst after fully leveraging a Bobst 76E half-size press for the VHS packaging work (then reselling it 15 years later for 50 percent of purchase price). He says the Bobst gear is built to endure the rigors of 24/7 operation, and places great importance on the machines' reliability.

Previously, PSI saw a lot of work that was suited to a half-size press (6-color Komori Lithrone 628), with numerous die forms. But more and more jobs shifted to PSI's 40˝ presses (6-color Lithrone 640 and Mitsubishi 3000LX), and Smith wanted a diecutter that could handle the task. There was also an opportunity for PSI to accept work that was well suited for blanking, which spoke to the 103ER's capabilities.

On the folder/gluer end, PSI was able to whisk away business from another vendor by offering the new client more assurance in the quality of glued wallets. The Expertfold includes an 11-gun HHS extrusion system and boasts single-pass efficiency and full detection/ejection capabilities. "While we agreed that this was a very tricky carton to get right, we believed it could be done at a high speed with certainty of quality if the process is controlled and if the equipment is capable," Smith added.

With the new gear in tow, Smith reports increased production speeds and the elimination of air hammers, which can result in damage to the blanks. The new acquisitions have augmented its full range of offerings, including embossing and foil stamping, specialty coatings (UV, soft touch, and pearlescent), stitching, inserting, assembly, and fulfillment.

In terms of future capital expenditures, the company is likely to pick up another diecutter with blanking capabilities. Another press acquisition is probably two years away, Smith notes.

Favorable forecast

Fortunately for PSI, Smith sees solid growth opportunities across all of the markets the company serves. Relationships and keen insight into the needs of clients go a long way toward fostering that growth.

"We like our place in the software/hardware business, and our customers are extremely focused on service, which is what we want to provide as well," Smith says."Food is also great for us, as we are very focused on processes, and food packaging is a tough business.

"We have been an ISO-registered company for nearly 10 years now and we understand the compliance side of things," he adds. "But the only way we can compete with the large guys is to love our customers, and I hope that it shows every day. We do all we can to try to make it easy for them to do business with us, and understand it is our role to complement their brands, no matter how that is achieved. Any market where quality is critical and timelines are challenging, it seems those are the opportunities for us."

But it is customer service that will serve Smith and company well in the future. Four elements—quality, security, speed-to-market, and cost leadership—enable PSI to differentiate itself from the rest of the pack. And Smith is quick to point out the value that comes with flexibility.

"We know orders and specs and details will constantly change, and that is just a fact our customers deal with," Smith remarks. "We must be flexible and always remember that the ultimate goal is to deliver a fantastic result on time and at the right price. How we get there can be messy; orders change, art isn't right, a customer doesn't send the PO on time. But we always try to be cognizant that the customer is working within the constraints of its own systems and we must control what we can control, and deliver the product to the best of our abilities."

As PSI continues its growth path well beyond its suburban Atlanta home, Smith is able to gauge his company's success by the gut feeling he has at the end of the day. More often than not, Smith can extinguish his office light knowing that he has positioned PSI for success.

"We need to create an environment where everyone can feel that they are doing or can do great things every day," Smith says. "It's a matter of our employees knowing that what they do, from entering an order to taking out the trash, they are fully accountable and attributable to the success and growth of both PSI and our customers." n