In order to keep providing its customers with the best final product, Abbott Label acquired three Rotoflex finishing solutions in 2021: a DLI-440 diecutting platform and two VSI horizontal slitter and rewinder machines.

The DLI was placed in the Atlanta facility along with one VSI dedicated to reinforcing the new volume created by the cutter, while the second VSI will support production in California that has grown from $1 million to $1.7 million a month.

These machines join a family of approximately 20 Mark Andy units throughout Abbott Label's production facilities, starting with a Rotoflex finisher purchased over 25 years ago, still running strong in Chicago today. “We’re definitely, by far, a Mark Andy house,” says John Abbott, president, Abbott Label. “Our relationship with Mark Andy and Rotoflex was a major decision factor. I’ve got a 16", 8-color 4150 coming in, I just added two print stations. I’m looking at adding two print stations to the 2200s in my other three locations. We are adding an Esko platemaking system through Mark Andy Print Products too.

“To know that I could call Bob, Kevin or Steve Schulte and get responses right away is important. When these guys walk in the door, it’s not a handshake – it’s hugs, and that’s how special this relationship is. And it’s so special in this industry to have such great relationships and friendships,” he adds.

According to Abbott, the DLI has made an immediate impact. “The finisher came in and outperformed anything we’ve been running. I didn’t feel like we had a choice but to buy another machine because of the efficiencies we were gaining off that – the speeds, the roll chain, everything that has to do with the finisher, quality-wise and service-wise, influenced us to purchase the next two VSIs. The results coming off the DLI just swung the door wide open for us to start purchasing more," he says.

The DLI-440 has been running non-stop at 750 fpm (229 m/m) since it hit the production floor. Daniel Campbell, production manager, Abbott Label, explains that the company takes pride in speed. “Speed equals throughput, throughput equals money. You know, fast setups, fast tear downs and fast run speeds. That’s how I was trained. That’s how I train these guys. And we run these machines as fast as they go. And that’s probably the favorite my favorite part.”

Abbott adds, “Daniel only knows how to run one speed, and that’s fast.”

The DLI-440 acquired by Abbott Label is a standard model with one diecut station, one perf station, one-inch capability. “We run four by twos, four by fours, four by six, three inch and one inch wide open at 750 fpm," Campbell describes.

The company has been evaluating adding a couple of print stations in the future, one of the options available for the DLI model. In addition to speed, Campbell describes how user-friendly the machine is and how little training was required to get the team up to speed. “It’s foolproof, everything is very simple. Irwin from Rotoflex came out and spent a couple days with each operator we wanted to promote within the company. There was really no learning curve. The team jumped in, rolled up their sleeves, asked the right questions. And they’ve been running great ever since.”

“We’re definitely up a quarter-million dollars a month since the cutter has hit the floor," says Abbott. "It’s hard to say how much can be attributed to the DLI itself because we’ve made changes in personnel and moved people around a bit, but it certainly made a big difference. The finisher we had there was going ‘kaput,’ and we were not getting the volume that we used to.

“I know every business says you should have a one-year plan, a five-year plan, a 10-year plan. But we’ve just consistently grown month after month, year after year," Abbott concludes. "The latest investments made were towards incorporating new digital solutions to the pressroom with two new digital presses. We continue to focus on service, because we believe good service brings growth and people are looking for service right now more than ever.”