Colordyne Technologies has installed another 3600 Series AQ - Retrofit. New Creation Labels and Packaging (NCLPS) has acquired Colordyne's aqueous retrofit solution at its Atlanta-based headquarters to meet the expanding needs for shorter runs and customization from its customers.

NCLPS is a custom solutions provider of various labels, tickets and tags. These include prime, promotional, coupon, logistic and variable data applications for a wide variety of end users and markets.

The retrofit installation allows NCLPS to add water-based digital inkjet printing to its production offerings. With this addition, NCLPS can better serve short-run markets and produce personalized and variable data applications more efficiently.

"Not going digital wasn't an option," says Robin Houston, owner of NCLPS. "We evaluated multiple press options, including several hybrid presses, but we found the 3600 Series Retrofit met our production volume needs at an affordable price point. Plus, it allows us to use all of our current finishing assets inline by mounting to our current flexo press."

NCLPS chose the Colordyne 3600 Series AQ - Retrofit to create custom reserve seat tickets for high school football games. These tickets feature high-resolution images of the teams' players and incorporates each schools' mascot and branding. With the variable data required for individual seat and game information, no two tickets are the same. Each customized ticket becomes a keepsake for parents, friends and fans. This personalized ticket trend is growing rapidly but involves only printing around 200 tickets for each school.

The Colordyne 3600 Series AQ - Retrofit not only meets its high-quality image requirements, but NCLPS is also realizing efficiencies by chaining ticket versions back-to-back and using its current inline finishing equipment all in one pass. 

"The retrofit solution from Colordyne allows us to be a better resource for our customers," says Houston. "We want to be our customer's favorite vendor, our vendor's favorite customer and the place where everybody wants to work. The real benefit of the retrofit is that it allows us to deliver more capabilities to the existing customers we have, serve new customers requiring short runs and position ourselves for future growth."

The 3600 Series AQ - Retrofit adds water-based digital inkjet printing capabilities to an existing web handling system. This low capital cost option allows converters to take advantage of hybrid printing by producing four-color CMYK digitally and spot colors, cold foiling and finishing with their existing web handling equipment. With the ease of integration, the press can continue to be run by the existing operator, doesn't need additional space on the floor and allows converters to adapt more quickly and efficiently to digital technology advancements. 

NCLPS is successfully transitioning existing flexographic high-mix, low-volume clients by offering increased flexibility to print short-run quantities, reducing production time and eliminating the cost of plates. Additionally, the company uses the 3600 Series AQ - Retrofit to capture new short-run label customers and start-ups. Start-up businesses require short-run labels that look as good as national brands but without the costs incurred with plates and long-run quantities. NCLPS can grow with these businesses, and as its volumes increase, so does the quantity of labels they require.

"NCLPS has embraced this new technology and, in doing so, has been successful in transitioning current customers, as well as securing new clients requiring low-volume printing and customization," says Gary Falconbridge, president and CEO of Colordyne Technologies. "We have no doubts that they will continue to grow their digital business and find new ways to exceed their clients' expectations with the digital retrofit."