Flexible Focus

Unique capabilities underpin Associated Labels’ standing as a top prime label printer in Western Canada.

April 2009 by Tom Polischuk

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Surviving and growing in a tough competitive environment requires the capability to focus on a core business mission, while having the flexibility to respond to ever-changing market trends. Associated Labels (www.associated-labels.com), a Vancouver, Canada-based printing and packaging enterprise, is one company that has found much success adapting its core business (flexo-printed prime labels) with changing market demands (capabilities for flexible packaging and digital printing).

If at first…

Associated Labels opened its doors in 1981 as an offset printing house with three full-time employees, says Rusty Ashworth, president of the company. It printed flat sheets and paper fish can labels in a market that required very competitive pricing. After two years of little-to-no growth, the company decided to take a new direction and moved into the pressure-sensitive prime label market. 

To get started, Associated Labels purchased a 3-color Mark Andy flexo press. The move into the prime label market proved to be a successful endeavor, as today, Ashworth says the company is one of the largest suppliers of labels in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. It operates around the clock in a facility of more than 50,000 sq. ft., with 120 employees, and 11 printing presses. With the growth of the company, it is now organized around four distinct production divisions: labels, flexible packaging, packaging equipment, and digital printing.

The company’s success stems from a core philosophy built upon its PEQ triangle: People, Ethics, and Quality. “These three elements work together in every aspect of our business, and without all three sides, we do not have a complete triangle,” says Ashworth. “Our commitment to quality includes an innovated application of Six Sigma principles and values. We always strive to provide the best, while surpassing our customers’ expectations in each and every element of our business.”

Markets in Western Canada are very limited, notes Ashworth, so Associated Labels’ focus is very general and not set on any particular industry. “We must have a wide scope for any pressure-sensitive prime label opportunity,” he says. To that end, the company has customers throughout Canada and the U.S. in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical food, personal care, and household cleaning product industries.

Printing capabilities

Associated Labels’ printing capabilities have expanded over the years and now include a variety of combination printing processes on Mark Andy (www.markandy.com) flexographic printing platforms, along with an HP Indigo (www.hp.com) press to support its Digital Printing Division. With the digital printing capability, Ashworth says the company can provide virtually instant proofs and prototypes that are identical to the final products—with print runs from one or up to 50,000 labels.

The lineup of narrow-web Mark Andy presses includes 7˝, 10˝, 16˝, and 17˝ presses, from six to 10 colors and with a total of 39 UV stations for enhanced operating flexibility. Ashworth says the company has benefitted from the choice of Mark Andy as its primary press supplier due to standardization and better utilization of equipment.

Associated Labels most recent press acquisition was also from Mark Andy—a 26˝ Comco ProGlide press with 11 flexo/gravure/laminating stations. According to Ashworth, the company acquired this press to support the continuing growth of its Flexible Packaging Division and its increasing variety of facestocks. These include printed films for horizontal and vertical form fillers, inline bar wrappers (clear and metalized), powder and liquid pouches, and shrink film applications.

Ashworth believes that eye-catching print quality is one of flexible packaging’s many appeals. “In addition, many of our customers are discovering just how functional, affordable, and innovative flexible packaging can be. This appeal goes further into the consumer markets where trends such as environmental impact and convenience are deal breakers that flexible packaging can provide.” 

The flexo/gravure combination of the Comco ProGlide allows Associated Labels to use gravure stations for quality-critical laydowns, like vignettes, metallics, heavy opaque solids, and coatings and adhesives, while using water-based stations for the less-demanding laydowns. In addition, with the inline dry-bond lamination process, the company can print and laminate films for pouches, wraparound labels, and food packaging using decorative, barrier, and sealant films as the market requires.

None too soon

Having enhanced capability and flexibility could not have come at a better time for Associated Labels. Today’s economic environment has package printers yearning for the days when a tough competitive environment was the biggest challenge. 

“We are dealing with the current conditions as well as can be expected,” says Ashworth. “We are very concerned with the competitive conditions and the directions [in which] the banking institutions are going. It is a serious time for all manufacturers. Our sales have increased slightly. However, our margins have eroded due to predatory competitive actions.”

To get through these difficult times, Associated Labels intends to apply its distinct capabilities along with a focus on its PEQ triangle. pP

• MORE ON
• DIGITAL PRINTING
• FLEXO PRINTING
• GRAVURE PRINTING