RW Keys and Son - Resource Bank

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8 LABEL THEM SUCCESSFUL The key to success in the fl exographic printing industry is, well . . . fl exibility. No one knows this better than Dean Hummell, founder and president of LabelTek, Inc., in Aurora. Dean entered the printing industry as a teenager and for the past 26 years has been growing and innovating his own business from a one-man/one-press operation into a national player in a highly specialized niche. Flexographic printing is a custom process that transfers images onto plastics, fi lms, and foil materials with extraordinary clarity and super-highresolution graphics. LabelTek’s particular expertise is in pressure-sensitive (peel-and-stick) labels, packaging fi lm, and foil lids for food, medical, and chemical products. “Literally, we can do just about anything,” Dean says. “If you can dream it up, we can pretty
[ This much make it happen.” And he’s not exaggerating; LabelTek prints packaging for everything from yoghurt to break fl uid. “I’ve never done anything else,” Dean explains. “When I started right out of high school, it was really just glorifi ed rubber stamping. We were using a rubber plate that you wrapped around a cylinder with double-faced tape and smashed against the paper. The registration was horrible, and the rubber plate moved all over the place. We could never do the kinds of things we do now even 15 years ago. This whole industry is nothing but constant change.” Much of that change is driven by consumers. In today’s marketplace, shoppers demand more and more information on packaging, and the FDA and USDA set very specifi c regulations for product labeling as well. The variety of packaging materials is always expanding, too, in the pursuit of shelf life, freshness, and environmental responsibility. These interests sometimes compete with the marketers’ desire to display their products in the most attractive and persuasive manner possible. “That’s quite a printing challenge,” Dean admits. “Our design department has to get nutrition information, UPC code, and maybe even a kosher symbol in a tiny space, sometimes on thin, clear plastic, and the client always wants to put more of the product qualities on the front and cram everything else on the back in 4-point type. It’s really pretty diffi cult to do.” is an example of 4-point type. ] For the handful of printers willing to take on that challenge, the rewards can be great. “The foil lids industry is huge,” Dean says. “Mott’s Apple Sauce alone takes 280 million lids a month.” With numbers like that, it’s easy to see the attraction for a lifelong entrepreneur like Dean. LabelTek is one of only six printers in the country handling the foil lids, but the company has defi ned its own niche even within this niche industry: short runs. LabelTek was the fi rst newcomer ne new to the market in 20 years because they saw sa saw an opportunity with small sm s and medium-size clients cl clie ie that the fi ve other printers pr p i in the fi eld just weren’t we w interested in. “If you yo don’t order 10 million lids li lid at a time, the other guys gu g won’t take you on as a customer, but we’ll run 50,000 5 for a client, which gives g him the ability to t do private-label products. pr It’s important for fo for our success to make our clients successful.” [ ] Dean and Kimberly Hummell H mell have have worked worked together in the company since its beginning. The strategy seems to be working. In June, Dean moved operations from Yorkville into a new, spacious facility in Aurora. The new space is three times larger, clean, and bright. “We’re not tripping over each other,” Dean adds. While it’s not easy to move a printing company, LabelTek pulled it off in less than ten days, and the temporary disarray was well worth it: “We’re more organized here, with better work fl ow. Our production went up when we moved in here without adding any new accounts.” LabelTek prides itself on lean effi ciency. The entire operation runs with 18 human employees and one bashful parrot in the front offi ce, a green-cheeked conure named Peanut. Except for the bird, everyone is always busy. “You won’t see non-productive people standing around their area waiting for work,” Dean remarks; “everyone wears several hats around here.” He attributes LabelTek’s work ethic largely to the strength of his family. “My wife, Kimberly, has been 9
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RW Keys and Son - Resource Bank

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