Innovate!

Staying on top of emerging technology has helped Innovative Labeling Solutions to expand its business.

July 2008 by Chris Mc Loone

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There are businesses that wait until technology becomes fine-tuned before they change the way they operate and update their product offerings. Then there are those businesses that help drive changes in their respective industries by ­being innovators, by jumping on board when a technology is new. According to Jay Dollries, president and CEO of Innovative Labeling Solutions (ILS), this is the way to go. “Be an innovator,” he says. “It is an ever-changing marketplace, and the ability to adapt and change definitely enhances the prospect for future success.” It is with this in mind that back in 2005, ILS became an early adopter of digital printing technology for labels and flexible packaging.

It’s all in the name

Innovative Labeling Solutions has been in business since 1996, starting out as a narrow-web flexographic label conversion business that operated in an industrial office park. Today, the company has grown into a full-service labeling and packaging company operating out of a 65,000-sq.-ft. facility.

Headquartered in Hamilton, Ohio, the company employs more than 40 people, including six customer managers, a full service graphic design department, and a team of certified HP digital press operators and flexographic pressmen. The company operates nine presses, three of which are HP Indigo digital presses. It prints on paper and film and uses water-based and UV inks.

The company’s operating philosophy, according to Dollries, is quite simple: to provide innovative label and packaging solutions for its customers. “A large part of our growth strategy, as is indicated by our name, has been through innovation,” he says. “Ultimately what makes us distinctive is our approach to new challenges and opportunities.” He adds that being strategic and forward-thinking, rather than trying to match the market, has been one of ILS’s greatest assets. “We stay abreast of cutting-edge technology and have formed alliances with some of the leading suppliers in the industry,” he says.

ILS works with its suppliers and its customers as strategic partners to not only deliver a high-quality product at a competitive price, but also to maximize all that technology has to offer. “Very typically, we collaborate with our customers at the initial stages of trial, all the way through production,” adds Dollries.

The company continues to expand its capabilities. This summer it will add seaming for shrink sleeves, laminating for flexible packaging, and finishing (cut-and-stack, embossing, screen printing) to its arsenal. “As well, we have been named as a beta test site for the HP Indigo WS6000 digital press, which is not available to the market until 2009,” says Dollries. This press reportedly will be able to handle larger runs, wider widths, and has an improved white ink system.

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