July 2008 Issue
75 and Counting —Polischuk
Happy Anniversary, TLMI! The Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute turned 75 last month. The trade association first known as the Tag Manufacturers Institute was born in Cleveland on June 15, 1933 when 18 companies banded together with a primary focus on how to deal with the requirements of the National Recovery Administration. To get on the path to where it is today, two significant milestones occurred in the 1960s. In 1962, the association expanded to include pressure-sensitive label manufacturers and had its first meeting as the newly formed Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute. In 1966, it added supplier companies as associate members, with 15
Eco-Friendly Inks
More than 20 years before “sustainability” became the buzz word it is today, Flower City Printing (FCP) was already rethinking the inks it was using in its pressroom. In 1985, Executive Vice President Bill Oliveri began replacing petroleum-based inks with vegetable-based inks, as well as eliminating alcohol in press fountain solutions. “Inks made from renewable resources were already in existence, but mainly used for newspaper production,” Oliveri reflects. “FCP was one of the first printers to experiment with vegetable-based inks for the offset sheetfed industry. Switching to vegetable-based inks [resulted in] a reduction in VOCs (volatile organic compounds), less ink [required] in the
Info Flow
Efficiency is the name of the game in any manufacturing environment—maximize output, minimize input. It’s a simple formula, but there’s nothing simple about implementing it. One of the more common approaches used to improve manufacturing efficiency, Lean Manufacturing, has been around for some time. It is a concept that drives companies toward efficient operations by relentlessly focusing on waste—in any form—that impacts time and materials. A key underlying requirement for implementing effective Lean Manufacturing practices is accurate and timely information. This is why there is a close association between Lean Manufacturing and business/production software systems. As one example, David Taylor, president/CEO of
Innovate!
There are businesses that wait until technology becomes fine-tuned before they change the way they operate and update their product offerings. Then there are those businesses that help drive changes in their respective industries by being innovators, by jumping on board when a technology is new. According to Jay Dollries, president and CEO of Innovative Labeling Solutions (ILS), this is the way to go. “Be an innovator,” he says. “It is an ever-changing marketplace, and the ability to adapt and change definitely enhances the prospect for future success.” It is with this in mind that back in 2005, ILS became an early adopter of
Packaging Responsibly
Since arriving on the package-printing scene two years ago, I have come to appreciate the thought that goes into designing a package. And even though I consider myself a “stick-to-the list” type of shopper, there are still those occasions where a package catches my eye, for whatever reason, and I make the impulse buy. It’s usually in the supermarket, and I’m usually hungry at the time—the perfect storm for such a purchase. It happened recently when I bought brownie mix that was on sale for 10 boxes for $10. No, I did not buy all 10, just one. Was it the image of the
Plan for Today and Tomorrow
Not many businesses are going to be successful without an overall business plan that includes where they are, where they want to go, and how they want to get there. One critical component of a business plan is a capital financing strategy. After all, a package printer isn’t going to grow its printing business without upgrading or updating equipment over time. Not every capital financing plan is the same, and each will be built based on company preferences, such as leasing over buying or whether or not to finance large expenditures. Building your plan It is difficult to pin down every component of a
The Missing Link
By now, job definition format (JDF) is part of the lexicon of commercial printing, and with good reason. The addition of JDF production language to PDF-based print workflows has been shown to dramatically reduce production time and costs while ensuring consistent, reliable output, even when last-minute changes are required. However, despite these benefits, JDF has not enjoyed the same level of adoption by package printers for a variety of reasons. Its use in the commercial realm has proven that using JDF streamlines production by enabling RIPs, imagesetters, presses, finishing, and other equipment and software to speak a common language and combine JDF-enabled products from
