THE DATA FRONT

Labels&Labeling |71
serves as an authentication tool to both the brand owner and the store owner. With the
added security details, our customer can confirm that the product is what it says. We
have also used this advanced technology coupled with foiling to produce game tickets
for the local football team.’
Digital
The personalization and corresponding coding that digital printing offers works great
for anti-counterfeiting purposes, and has proven to be of significant value to label printers
around the world. Getting its start in pharmaceutical labels in 1994, Flexoprint has used
digital technology to supply value added packaging to its clients for the last four years.
One of Mexico’s largest label converters, Flexoprint offers an array of printing
technologies including flexo, offset, screen and digital printing. Pharmaceutical labels
make up around 30 percent of the converter’s business with a portion of these produced
on an HP Indigo ws4500 digital machine or else in combination with it. ‘We saw what
digital technology could do for us as a supplier to pharmaceutical companies and felt
that it was necessary to add it to our portfolio,’ Fernando Aranguren, Flexoprint’s founder,
explains. ‘The ability to print related sequential data and codes had been priceless.’
All of Flexoprint’s pharmaceutical labels are inspected 100 percent throughout the
printing process, both during and after production, using Eye-C or AVT video proofing
equipment and software. ‘Not only must we be able to assure authenticity, our customers
expect a perfect label,’ Aranguren continues. ‘Digital technology has given us the ability
to offer clients a full combination of technologies to execute these demands.’
Another large converter, Impresos Uyeda began producing milk labels for its parent
company Lechera Sello Rojo twelve years ago. Uyeda has since moved into prime label
production with twenty percent of its sales from L’Oreal. Now, it is looking to expand in
new markets. Digital technology will catalyze this expansion: ‘You can expect to see that
we have invested in digital printing equipment by the end of the year,’ general director
Ruben Masayi Gonzalez says. Masayi believes digital technology is the key to penetrating
the pharmaceutical market and wants to explore the opportunities personalization holds.
Besides digital printing, a number of Mexican printers have invested in digital software
and workflow solutions to improve their manufacturing speeds and streamline workflow.
Etiquetas Electronicas recently completed the switch from its old MIS system to a
topnotch SAP system. Owner José Casillas Sanchez comments, ‘We invested in SAP
software last year because it is the best. We wanted to modernize our workflow, improve
communication with customers, and improve data organization so we have figures at our
fingertips. We must be modern in order to succeed in a globalized world.’
While Mexican converters have invested a lot of money into press machinery, most have
not taken the step into digital plate manufacturing. One of the key decisions both Uyeda
and Electronicas have made, for the time being, was not to invest in CTP plate production
equipment. While both currently have analog production capabilities, it out-sources any
work that requires CTP.
‘We would rather invest more money into printing equipment,’ Luis Javier Briseño
Gonzalez of Uyeda says. ‘And the service and support by the major suppliers is not
sufficient yet in Mexico. Service is difficult here.’ Depending on the complication of the
label, or if it will be a long-term, high-volume order, Uyeda chooses CTP. About 60
percent of its plates are digital.
One converter that has made the investment in digital plate technology is Flexoprint. It
produces all of its offset plates digitally and most flexo plates with a brand new DuPont
Cyrel Fast.
Certification and standardization
Global
The call for global manufacturing standards has given a big boost to the quality of
labels that Mexican converters produce. Certifications were necessary in order for
Uyeda to earn its contract with L’Oreal. It is both SA 8000, an important benchmark
specifically requested by the brand, and ISO 9000 certified.
Briseno explains that certifications have made the converter more competitive.
‘Earning these certifications has pushed us to chase more of the multinational
companies,’ he says. ‘It has forced us to automate processes and invest in new
technologies. These investments are important and costly which is why we search out
customers that value our certifications.’
External graphic arts consultant, Mario Flores of Flexuministros, has provided his
services to Promographics from its beginning. Helping the business to focus on its quality
systems, Flores says: ‘By the end of the year, Promographics will be ISO 9000 certified.
Its customers value this benchmark and use it as a tool of measurement between
suppliers. It will be critical to the company’s expansion plans for the coming years.'
Promographics’ Villar adds, ‘We keep our printing shop as clean as customers
keep their laboratories. ‘The plant is considered our ‘printing laboratory’. It’s what our
customers want to see.’
Above top: Ricardo Villar of Promographics
and Mario Flores from Flexouministros
Above middle: Fernando Aranguren at
Flexoprint
Above bottom: Alejandro Hernandez at Todo
en Etiquetas
may 2009 | L&L