Six million labels are printed every hour at Tipografic’s site in Birkenhead

 

When Tipografic needed to meet the demand from its customers for reel to reel plastic labels, the Birkenhead-based litho printer spent considerable time deciding on which other process and which new press to add to its arsenal. The team’s unanimous decision was flexo and a Miraflex press from Windmöller & Hölscher. Neel Madsen  spoke to managing director Jeff Cornell.

Tipografic Ltd was established in 1989 by friends Steve Cole and Jeff Cornell, who met when they both worked at The Metal Box Company in 1976. One evening, they decided to set up their own wet glue label printing company. Their vision was to keep the business small and employ no more than 15 to 20 staff. Starting out with just one small Heidelberg GTO litho printing machine, the new company got off to a great start, but within two years, it became obvious that more investment was needed. At the time, brand owners began to favour ‘single source’ manufacturing and the new business owners quickly realised that it was sink or swim if they were to survive in the market.

From paper to film

Over the years, Tipografic has grown through continued investment in equipment and expertise to become the largest wet glue label printer in the UK. Today it has three Heidelberg Speedmaster XL presses running 24/7, which along with its new Windmöller & Hölscher Miraflex flexo press, prints up to six million labels every hour, at its site in Twelve Quays in Birkenhead.

The company moved to its current modern premises across the Mersey from Liverpool 12 years ago. The purpose-built factory covers 62,000 square feet and is fully humidified and temperature controlled. From here, labels are printed for all the major food and drinks brands, supermarkets and retailers, and shipped all over Europe, into Africa and further afield. Other products include high volume minifold pharma-type leaflets labels, and gift and phone cards.

However, in recent years, the wet glue label market has been changing, and the company realised that it once again needed to adjust its outlook. Jeff Cornell explained, ‘The traditional market for paper labels has been changing in some areas for a number of years now, and moved to reel to reel plastic labels. A number of long term customers have for some time asked us to invest in this technology, in order to keep the business with us. Very complimentary of them, and so two years ago we embarked on a lengthy exercise of researching the best way of satisfying our customers’ needs.’

A small team was tasked with investigating the different print processes and coming up with a recommendation on which way to go. The final choice was solvent-based flexo, and having visited and assessed all the relevant manufacturers, the decision was made to invest in a new eight colour Miraflex AM CI flexo press with a web width of 1300 mm. 

Mr Cornell said, ‘The team was not only impressed with the print quality, efficiency and all the bells and whistles that came with this installation, but having visited the manufacturing plant in Germany, we felt that Windmöller & Hölscher had the necessary back up and service that our first installation would require.’

First for colour control

With a web width of 1300 mm and a max repeat of 800 mm, the new Miraflex AM press at Tipografic has eight print decks and runs at a speed of up to 400 m/min.

It has been fully equipped with a whole host of Easy automation modules, including Easy-Set HD and Easy-Reg D Dynamic impression and register setting system. It was the first of its type in the UK to feature Easy-Col for automated colour management.

The Easy-Col system consists of three modules that can be combined or supplied separately for both water and solvent-based inks. The ink formulation module measures the first proof print using spectrophotometry to automatically detect any deviations from the target colour. Mr Cornell said the system cuts down considerably on set up and getting to colour, which means that customers spend less time waiting to approve new designs. 

The press was purchased through Wantzen Process Solutions, which has been the W&H UK and Ireland agent since 1904. Director Tom Wiltshire, who helped guide Tipografic through the decision and installation process, said, ‘From the very first impression, it was evident that Tipografic was serious about entering the flexo market with a quality product. They are already in a market that has great synergy with this new venture and are used to the quality expectations of their customers. The press is very highly specified to assist Tipografic in meeting high expectations of quality and repeatability. This starting philosophy has followed through to the level of detail in the installation, which is impressive to say the least. We are proud that the company selected W&H as its partner for this press, and wish Jeff and his team success in their future plans.’

Mr Cornell is enthusiastic about the new investment. ‘At the moment, we are focusing on plastic labels, but the great thing about this technology is that it allows you to produce all sorts of different things, either on film or paper! And these opportunities have already started to come our way.’ He continued, ‘The quality is fantastic! Customers and suppliers are so impressed with the illustrations that we are producing.’

Training 

Tipografic invests in the training and ongoing professional development of all of its staff members, and holds ISO certificates in both quality assurance and print colour management, plus BRC/IoP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials (category 1).

When embarking on a completely new venture, in this case taking on solvent-based flexo printing when your expertise is in litho, the facility to train staff is of course crucial. Therefore the training offered by the potential press manufacturers was part of the initial assessment. 

Mr Cornell explained, ‘We have several employees who come from flexo anyway, so we selected a team to start the project off, and they all spent some time in Germany just before the machine arrived here. Together with a few weeks of on-press training, this made all the difference!’

Market drivers

The demands from the market in terms of higher quality, lower costs and faster delivery put demands on printers. Run lengths have come down in all sectors and the sustainability factor is also a big driver. ‘At the moment we see a number of customers looking for new ideas to stand out more on shelf, and they are therefore asking for different finishes and even more expensive materials. But there are always some brands that will constantly look for cost savings by reducing the grammage and/or changing the finish,’ commented Mr Cornell.

In terms of standout shelf appeal, Tipografic offers metallic and pearlescent finishes, heat-reactive (thermo-chromatic) security inks, and colour shifting inks, along with embossing and foiling, to name but a few of the techniques used to draw the consumer’s eye to the label.

When it comes to sustainability, customers have started to ask for trial reels on paper, and the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) qualified company itself does its bit by recycling all waste. ‘We try not to let any of our material waste, either paper, plastic/film or ink go into landfill,’ said Mr Cornell. ‘We have developed a relationship with a local waste recycling company, which collects our fully segregated waste on a daily basis and has found a market for it for which we also receive a value.’

Tipografic may be the new kid on the block in terms of flexo printing, but Mr Cornell assured me that they intend to offer a quicker turnaround than what flexo customers currently enjoy. Looking at the company’s track record and determination that is no doubt a promise they will deliver on.