Expanding Optimism

For some end users, shrink sleeve label production has become the stuff of "nightmare stories," says Jim Dwyer, president and CEO of The R.B. Dwyer Group, an Anaheim, Calif.-based manufacturer and distributor of tamper-evident bands and shrink sleeves. Dwyer typically hears the most hair-raising tales about complication-plagued conversions of existing label designs to a shrink sleeve format, or thorny transitions to a new shrink sleeve label supplier—experiences that have, at times, been scary enough to strip away much of the shrink sleeve label's appeal. He's even got one end-user contact "who doesn't even want to talk about shrink." But Dwyer doesn't shy away from what he describes as the potentially "problematic" nature of shrink sleeve applications. To the contrary, a deep understanding of those challenges has been a central factor in the steady growth of The Dwyer Group's operations. "Our goal," emphasizes Dwyer, "is to remove those obstacles." Specifically, he explains, "We can compress the timeline of bringing products to market."

And "can" is the operative word here. It could be said, in fact, that an eye for possibilities was behind The Dwyer Group's beginnings in 1988. Dwyer and his father, Ray, who both had previous long-term shrink sleeve market experience, took note of the product's strong demand, relative lack of domestic suppliers, and prohibitively long lead times for delivery and founded the company in Anaheim as a nationwide tamper-evident band and shrink sleeve sales organization focused on quick response and turnaround. The fundamental delivery goal that still governs the company today is a 48-hour turnaround for stocked products, which include preformed shrink bands, flat bands/printed flat bands, roll stock tubing, and seamed roll stock.

After gradually gaining a foothold in importing (The Dwyer Group currently operates four distribution facilities—in Austin, Texas; Des Plains, Ill.; Orlando, Fla.; and Ontario, Can.), the company turned its attention to another area of growth possibilities in the shrink sleeve market—domestic converting. Initially, The Dwyer Group's converting capabilities were housed solely in its 125,000-sq. ft. facility in Anaheim, and sleeve printing needs were outsourced. However, quality gaps led Dwyer to believe that the challenges of printing sleeves could be more effectively surmounted in-house. "It's difficult to trust others with your printing work," he relates.

In light of the headaches that can come with California's stringent manufacturing requirements, Dwyer opted to pursue the setup of a printing operation on the opposite coast with the 2003 acquisition of Ideal Sleeves, which operates out of an 80,000-sq. ft. facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Today, The Dwyer Group offers offset, flexo, and digital sleeve printing (common substrates include PETG, PET, and PVC). The company's four presses include an HP Indigo digital press and a Comco flexo press. Inks of choice are UV offset, along with UV and water-based flexo.

Trying, trying again

The same "we can" mentality that has guided The Dwyer Group's evolution has helped it build strong relationships with customers in highly competitive markets (including the beverage, produce, and dairy industries) who must also keep a keen eye on opportunities to gain an edge on store shelves. And when those possibilities arise, the critical factor is achieving speed-to-market. Dwyer notes that this challenge is particularly daunting in the tight beverage market. "Many [beverage product launches] fail," he observes. "[Companies] must continue to try things and try them quickly."

It's a given that shrink sleeve end users prioritize—and their converter of choice should deliver—superior print quality and minimal lead times. But The Dwyer Group has also invested heavily in technology and infrastructure to address other areas critical to speedy launches of new labeling. The first such area is in-house label design creation and prepress support—the production phase that Dwyer contends "makes or breaks" the successful use of shrink sleeves. He estimates that at least 50 percent of customers approach the company for label concept and creation support. Pivotal issues to manage include appropriate font choice, optimal placement and straightness of images, and mitigation of graphical distortion.

"The top trouble spot in shrink sleeve production has always been distortion," Dwyer clarifies. "When the film shrinks, the printed dot shrinks, and colors change as a result." Though distortion challenges rendered shrink sleeve production a manual process for many years, Dwyer maintains that the issue can and should be managed during the prepress process—a process that is now a standard element of the company's converting capabilities. "It is incumbent on us to make sure the product looks good on the shelf," he states.

Another production area critical to helping customers achieve speed-to-market is flexible job repeatability. "In the sleeve business, [order] size is all over the place, from national accounts to boutique and promotional products," Dwyer explains. Individual jobs might be run just once or twice, and new label designs might be launched once per week. The Dwyer Group's 2009 investment in digital printing technology allows more effective management of the shortest runs and quickest turnaround requirements, whether a national produce account needs new label samples ASAP or a niche beverage company needs a dozen different label designs to simultaneously debut on the shelves.

Saying "yes" to innovation

The Dwyer Group's sole focus on the tamper-evident band and shrink sleeve product line, says Dwyer, is a pivotal factor in its ability to pursue other differentiating production innovations—and in effect, help customers find new and better ways to operate as little engines that can. "Overall, the shrink sleeve market has been stale for a decade because of the lack of technical innovation," Dwyer observes.

In contrast to this claim, The Dwyer Group's recent technological investments include not only prepress and digital printing capabilities, but also the 2008 installation of an infinitely variable cylinder web offset (IVCO) press, a "very wide, very fast" capabilities addition for the company. Dwyer believes it will eventually surpass flexo in its frequency of use, and ultimately serve as a significant factor in the company's growth within both new and existing customer bases. Again, the can-do mentality is at the heart of this technology's appeal; Dwyer contends IVCO will effectively "resolve frustration" on the part of customers who currently use the flexo and gravure processes. On the flexo side, he expects IVCO to take label graphics "up a notch in terms of quality," and essentially breathe new life into long-term label designs whose appeal has flattened. For gravure jobs, Dwyer says IVCO minimizes environmental issues, eliminates cylinder investments, and achieves gravure-level quality on shorter runs. For the near-term, a key marketing focus at The Dwyer Group will be to enhance prospects' and customers' awareness of the potential advantages of transitioning a job to IVCO.

Looking longer-term, Dwyer concedes that the shrink sleeve market could significantly tighten if roll-on, shrink-on production gains traction. "The art to shrink now is making a good roll," he explains. "If you take this out of the equation, you open the market up to many more competitors."

However, any potentially negative impact of this development could be balanced by a continued growth in the overall demand for shrink sleeve labels, which Dwyer believes will largely occur in digitally printed applications across all end-user markets. Specifically, he sees a strong push to adopt the shrink sleeve format in household product categories such as laundry detergent, cleaners, handsoaps, and hardware—on product bottles that formerly hosted adhesive labels. Dwyer explains the shrink sleeve design not only "gives you a bigger billboard for information and graphics," but also allows a generic bottle or other container to be used, which improves inventory efficiencies. As these and other new end users adopt an "I think I can" attitude toward shrink sleeve labels, Dwyer has positioned his company to pull the production process over any mountains that may stand in the way. n