California-based Label King has seen a quick return on investment after its decision to install a Domino N610i UV inkjet digital label press.
Operating out of San Diego, the business celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. This landmark coincided with the addition of digital to the printer’s previously flexo-centric production floor. Installed in the first half of last year and in production by May 2022, Robert Parker, owner and president at Label King, said, ‘We started at zero and began ramping up. By our fourth month of production, our revenue from that press was over $100,000. Having the Domino has enabled us to increase capacity, keep existing business that otherwise we would have lost, as well as gain new business. As an example, last week I received a phone call from a brand owner in the food sector, a company with big potential. Based on the large number of SKUs, it would not be a good fit to run on flexo, but a very good fit for digital.’
He continued, ‘They needed 16 labels for a presentation they were having with Walmart. We received their art on Monday, we produced the labels the same day on the Domino and they had their presentation on Tuesday. Walmart told the president of the food manufacturer that the labels looked amazing. We would not have been able to do this test run on flexo. From what started with 16 labels, the potential is millions.’
Turi Fiske, digital production and marketing manager at Label King, said, ‘There’s been multiple times where we get an order and we’re able to get it out the same day. Once the file is ready, we can get a rerun order printed within 15 minutes. From a production standpoint, it’s just been so easy. There’s so much less set-up. The files are already on the press. As long as the right materials are ready to go, we can print immediately. It just takes all of the administrative work out of it.
‘The amount of flexibility the Domino has given us is huge and it has a very wide expanded colour gamut. We do a lot of spot colours on flexo, and the Domino allows us to hit a huge amount of those colours. The ink is so vibrant with really bright colours, which is important. Labels have to stand out on a shelf. And so having that vibrancy is definitely helpful.
‘I think it makes Label King stand out, as well. Being able to print something and show our customer immediately, so they can see exactly what it will look like. Putting something tangible in their hands that they can see before they approve the production run. It’s peace of mind having press checks on the Domino. The customer can visit, we can make a change to the PDF. Just print it right away. We don’t have to say, “OK, come back in two days when plates are ready.” It’s a nice tool to have. And it helps us build those relationships with the customer as well.’
Mr Parker further noted, ‘We have a customer with an intricate label with a very challenging background, multiple SKUs, different sizes. The art received from the customer was inconsistent and very tricky to work with. We had been working with them for two years, and they got to the end of their rope because our printing was inconsistent on the flexo press. We have excellent operators, and they would adjust the colours on press to make it look as close as they could, but sometimes the art the customer provided wasn’t the same as it was before, for the background. And at the end, they were looking to go elsewhere. Fortunately, we got the Domino in time. The customer came in for a press check and we brought them back to the Domino. With what would have taken days to prepare and run on flexo – 20 SKUs, 120 plates – we ran all of them on the Domino within one hour during lunch, and the customer was out of their minds with excitement. They said, “Oh my gosh, this is amazing.” And we told them this is how we would run their jobs all the time moving forward. Having the Domino saved that business. What used to be difficult is now easy. I can’t wait until their next order because now it’s a piece of cake.’
