02.27.23
Label King has announced its entry into the digital label printing market. The San Diego, CA-based label converter, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, has turned to Domino to continue growing its business. With over 3.5 billion labels sold, Label King has grown every year for the past two decades. Underpinned by a dedicated team of employees, many of whom have been with the company for over 15 years, Label King has added its first digital printing asset: the Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press.
The new digital printing press will serve as a complementary technology to Label King's existing fleet of flexo presses. Robert Parker, owner and president, explains, “My role is to oversee the business and make sure that we do our best to service our customers. We knew that digital printing would be important and a key part of our future, but the only way we could add a digital press was to build an extension to our building. It took over a year from the city to get the necessary approval and permit for the expansion, plus an additional six months or so to build it. In parallel to that, I knew that we would need to bring in an individual that would be able to wear many hats, from spearheading digital and managing our prepress, to redoing our website, changing our logo, and modernizing the company.”
In August 2020, Label King recruited Turi Fiske, digital production and marketing manager, to fill that role. She says, “I do all of the production management, scheduling, making sure we have material and inventory on hand. I also take care of the art management, making sure all of the files look good, all the colors are good, all the profiles are good, making us more efficient, updating our website, really working on a wide variety of things."
“Thanks to Turi, we now look like a company that you’d want to work with, versus a company where everyone has mullets and is stuck in the 80’s," Parker jokes.
As a prime label printer, Label King prides itself on being an integral part of its customers’ business. Parker says, “I like to think that we are a service company that makes labels. Labels are a commodity. There’s a lot of people who can make labels. But we want to give customers an excellent experience, giving them what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and ultimately helping to make their product even better, so they sell more. It’s a win-win.
Through a very thorough vetting process to determine who the best partner for its business would be, Label King reviewed multiple digital printing providers. That search led to Domino. “For me at least, I want something that's not complicated," says Fiske. "I want it to be easy; I don't want it to be difficult. We need a wide color gamut for the types of labels we print and a support team to help us.”
“We know there are a lot of good digital providers out there," adds Parker. "So one of the first things we did was a blind comparison of printed samples. We had probably 15 files we sent to six or seven digital providers. We wanted them to print the art files and send them back to us. Once we received all of them back, we wrote the name of each press manufacturer on the back of their labels. It was a completely blind test. We ranked them all on color accuracy, print quality of text, and overall image sharpness. And we narrowed it down to the top three.”
Label King would then visit those three digital providers for in-person demonstrations and have them run a multitude of jobs on various substrates from art files that Label King brought with them. “We didn’t want to give them any time in advance to prepare," Parker continues. "We wanted to show up on the day of the demo with files in hand, and see how difficult it would be, and how the labels would look.”
Through its vetting process, Domino emerged as one of the three companies. “The funny part about this is we show up at Domino, we barely even told their team what material our samples are on, and then they hit the colors the first time," comments Fiske. "And it was the easiest process. We were able to achieve more, in less time.”
Parker notes, “There was no concern from the demo room. Everyone at Domino did a fantastic job. And we tried to keep a poker face when we were there, but then Turi and I got into the car and we were both like ‘wow, that was easy!’ And at Domino there was great teamwork and great camaraderie.”
The Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press was installed and began running production in May 2022. The converter started at zero and began ramping up. By the fourth month of production, Label King's revenue from that press was over $100,000. Having the Domino has enabled Label King to increase capacity, keep existing business that otherwise it would have lost, and gain new business, as well.
“As an example, last week I received a phone call from a brand owner in the food sector, a company with big potential," states Parker. "Based on their large number of SKUs it would not be a good fit to run on flexo but a very good fit for digital. They needed 16 labels for a presentation they were having with Walmart. We received their art on Monday, we produced the labels the same day on the Domino, and they had their presentation on Tuesday. Walmart told the president of the food manufacturer that the labels looked amazing. We would not have been able to do this test run on flexo. From what started with 16 labels, the potential is millions.”
According to Fiske, the Domino digital press has created greater efficiency at Label King. "There’s been multiple times where we get an order and we’re able to get it out the same day," she says. "Once the file is ready, we can get a rerun order printed within 15 minutes. From a production standpoint, it’s just been so easy. There’s so much less setup, and the files are already on the press. As long as the right materials are ready to go, we can print immediately. It just takes all of the administrative work out of it.”
“The amount of flexibility the Domino has given us, is huge, and it has a very wide expanded color gamut," she adds. "We do a lot of spot colors on flexo, and the Domino allows us to hit a huge amount of those colors. The ink is so vibrant with really bright colors, which is important. Labels have to stand out on a shelf, so having that vibrancy is definitely helpful. And I think it makes Label King stand out, as well. Being able to print something and show our customer immediately, so they can see exactly what it will look like. Putting something tangible in their hands that they can see before they approve the production run. It’s peace of mind having press checks on the Domino. The customer can visit, we can make a change to the PDF. Just print it right away. We don't have to say, ‘OK, come back in two days when plates are ready.’ So it's just a nice tool to have, and it helps us build those relationships with the customer as well."
Parker has already seen the benefits of digital first-hand. Label King has a customer with an intricate label with a very challenging background, multiple SKUs, different sizes. The art received from the customer, which Label King bad been working with for two years, was inconsistent and very tricky to work with. The print results on flexo were inconsistent, though. "We have excellent operators, and they would adjust the colors on-press to make it look as close as they could, but sometimes the art the customer provided wasn’t the same as it was before for the background," explains Parker. "And at the end, they were looking to go elsewhere. And fortunately, we got the Domino in time. The customer came in for a press check and we brought them back to the Domino. With what would have taken days to prepare and run on flexo… 20 SKUs, 120 plates… we ran all of them on the Domino within one hour during lunch, and the customer was out of their minds with excitement. They said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing.’ We told them this is how we would run their jobs all the time moving forward. Having the Domino saved that business. What used to be difficult is now easy. I can’t wait until their next order because now it’s a piece of cake.”
Fiske adds, “This press offers us great flexibility, whether it’s helping us get into smaller businesses with shorter runs of 700 labels or longer runs of 500,000 labels at 30,000 linear feet, VDP (Variable Data Printing) jobs, consecutive barcodes. Some of the jobs we would not have been able to even consider if we were running only on flexo. And the other thing is, we are able to help give our customers a leg up on their competition because now they’re able to offer creative packaging solutions with various colors for all of their SKUs, opening the door to a world of possibilities.”
By going digital, Label King has been able to do more on its flexo presses as well, because those presses are now running only the jobs best suited for them. The appropriate jobs have been allocated to the proper presses to fit the technology, thus increasing capacity for tye converter. "For example, if you do $3 million a year on a digital press, it actually increases your capacity more than $3 million because now you can also put more work through the flexo presses as well," remarks Parker.
Fiske says, “If you think about the type of jobs that lend themselves best to digital, it's the ones that (are tough) to set up on flexo. It's the 8-color jobs. It's the ones with super short runs with a bunch of plate changes. And so I think being able to move those jobs over to the Domino, our flexo operators are happier as well. They don't want to set up and clean up an 8-color job. So it really makes it best for everyone.”
One of the key advantages that digital brings to label printing is a reduction in material waste. When compared to Label King's flexo jobs, the company is using less material running on the Domino press. "Also, our shop rule is if there is 500 feet or less of material remaining on a roll, we would generally throw it away because we can’t print a flexo job on that," she notes. "However, today we printed a 300-foot job running that material through the Domino, and we have a pile of those small rolls. So we are now able to maximize our material usage. It not only saves material but it also saves time. It’s just a quicker and more efficient process.”
In addition to the press technology, Domino has provided a host of support services to Label King. “The amount of training and wide variety of support we've gotten from Domino has been so helpful. I call people that I know and they're able to provide tailored advice for what we need, which is great," says Fiske. "Whether I call Sarah, or Glen, or Ernest, everyone has been so incredibly helpful. It’s very personal. I can’t imagine it not being Domino.
"To put it super succinctly, the Domino N610i was easy to learn and it's easy to use, and luckily, we don't need a lot of support. So that's a huge benefit. But when we do need support, we know that we'll get it," she adds.
Parker states, “The Domino difference is Domino. It’s the personalized service, and that’s huge. We don’t feel like a number, and it’s not just one person talking to us. It’s the relationships with multiple people at Domino. The Domino employees care about what they’re doing and really want to do the best job they can. And you know, that to us as a small company is very important.”
The new digital printing press will serve as a complementary technology to Label King's existing fleet of flexo presses. Robert Parker, owner and president, explains, “My role is to oversee the business and make sure that we do our best to service our customers. We knew that digital printing would be important and a key part of our future, but the only way we could add a digital press was to build an extension to our building. It took over a year from the city to get the necessary approval and permit for the expansion, plus an additional six months or so to build it. In parallel to that, I knew that we would need to bring in an individual that would be able to wear many hats, from spearheading digital and managing our prepress, to redoing our website, changing our logo, and modernizing the company.”
In August 2020, Label King recruited Turi Fiske, digital production and marketing manager, to fill that role. She says, “I do all of the production management, scheduling, making sure we have material and inventory on hand. I also take care of the art management, making sure all of the files look good, all the colors are good, all the profiles are good, making us more efficient, updating our website, really working on a wide variety of things."
“Thanks to Turi, we now look like a company that you’d want to work with, versus a company where everyone has mullets and is stuck in the 80’s," Parker jokes.
As a prime label printer, Label King prides itself on being an integral part of its customers’ business. Parker says, “I like to think that we are a service company that makes labels. Labels are a commodity. There’s a lot of people who can make labels. But we want to give customers an excellent experience, giving them what they want, when they want it, how they want it, and ultimately helping to make their product even better, so they sell more. It’s a win-win.
Through a very thorough vetting process to determine who the best partner for its business would be, Label King reviewed multiple digital printing providers. That search led to Domino. “For me at least, I want something that's not complicated," says Fiske. "I want it to be easy; I don't want it to be difficult. We need a wide color gamut for the types of labels we print and a support team to help us.”
“We know there are a lot of good digital providers out there," adds Parker. "So one of the first things we did was a blind comparison of printed samples. We had probably 15 files we sent to six or seven digital providers. We wanted them to print the art files and send them back to us. Once we received all of them back, we wrote the name of each press manufacturer on the back of their labels. It was a completely blind test. We ranked them all on color accuracy, print quality of text, and overall image sharpness. And we narrowed it down to the top three.”
Label King would then visit those three digital providers for in-person demonstrations and have them run a multitude of jobs on various substrates from art files that Label King brought with them. “We didn’t want to give them any time in advance to prepare," Parker continues. "We wanted to show up on the day of the demo with files in hand, and see how difficult it would be, and how the labels would look.”
Through its vetting process, Domino emerged as one of the three companies. “The funny part about this is we show up at Domino, we barely even told their team what material our samples are on, and then they hit the colors the first time," comments Fiske. "And it was the easiest process. We were able to achieve more, in less time.”
Parker notes, “There was no concern from the demo room. Everyone at Domino did a fantastic job. And we tried to keep a poker face when we were there, but then Turi and I got into the car and we were both like ‘wow, that was easy!’ And at Domino there was great teamwork and great camaraderie.”
The Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press was installed and began running production in May 2022. The converter started at zero and began ramping up. By the fourth month of production, Label King's revenue from that press was over $100,000. Having the Domino has enabled Label King to increase capacity, keep existing business that otherwise it would have lost, and gain new business, as well.
“As an example, last week I received a phone call from a brand owner in the food sector, a company with big potential," states Parker. "Based on their large number of SKUs it would not be a good fit to run on flexo but a very good fit for digital. They needed 16 labels for a presentation they were having with Walmart. We received their art on Monday, we produced the labels the same day on the Domino, and they had their presentation on Tuesday. Walmart told the president of the food manufacturer that the labels looked amazing. We would not have been able to do this test run on flexo. From what started with 16 labels, the potential is millions.”
According to Fiske, the Domino digital press has created greater efficiency at Label King. "There’s been multiple times where we get an order and we’re able to get it out the same day," she says. "Once the file is ready, we can get a rerun order printed within 15 minutes. From a production standpoint, it’s just been so easy. There’s so much less setup, and the files are already on the press. As long as the right materials are ready to go, we can print immediately. It just takes all of the administrative work out of it.”
“The amount of flexibility the Domino has given us, is huge, and it has a very wide expanded color gamut," she adds. "We do a lot of spot colors on flexo, and the Domino allows us to hit a huge amount of those colors. The ink is so vibrant with really bright colors, which is important. Labels have to stand out on a shelf, so having that vibrancy is definitely helpful. And I think it makes Label King stand out, as well. Being able to print something and show our customer immediately, so they can see exactly what it will look like. Putting something tangible in their hands that they can see before they approve the production run. It’s peace of mind having press checks on the Domino. The customer can visit, we can make a change to the PDF. Just print it right away. We don't have to say, ‘OK, come back in two days when plates are ready.’ So it's just a nice tool to have, and it helps us build those relationships with the customer as well."
Parker has already seen the benefits of digital first-hand. Label King has a customer with an intricate label with a very challenging background, multiple SKUs, different sizes. The art received from the customer, which Label King bad been working with for two years, was inconsistent and very tricky to work with. The print results on flexo were inconsistent, though. "We have excellent operators, and they would adjust the colors on-press to make it look as close as they could, but sometimes the art the customer provided wasn’t the same as it was before for the background," explains Parker. "And at the end, they were looking to go elsewhere. And fortunately, we got the Domino in time. The customer came in for a press check and we brought them back to the Domino. With what would have taken days to prepare and run on flexo… 20 SKUs, 120 plates… we ran all of them on the Domino within one hour during lunch, and the customer was out of their minds with excitement. They said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing.’ We told them this is how we would run their jobs all the time moving forward. Having the Domino saved that business. What used to be difficult is now easy. I can’t wait until their next order because now it’s a piece of cake.”
Fiske adds, “This press offers us great flexibility, whether it’s helping us get into smaller businesses with shorter runs of 700 labels or longer runs of 500,000 labels at 30,000 linear feet, VDP (Variable Data Printing) jobs, consecutive barcodes. Some of the jobs we would not have been able to even consider if we were running only on flexo. And the other thing is, we are able to help give our customers a leg up on their competition because now they’re able to offer creative packaging solutions with various colors for all of their SKUs, opening the door to a world of possibilities.”
By going digital, Label King has been able to do more on its flexo presses as well, because those presses are now running only the jobs best suited for them. The appropriate jobs have been allocated to the proper presses to fit the technology, thus increasing capacity for tye converter. "For example, if you do $3 million a year on a digital press, it actually increases your capacity more than $3 million because now you can also put more work through the flexo presses as well," remarks Parker.
Fiske says, “If you think about the type of jobs that lend themselves best to digital, it's the ones that (are tough) to set up on flexo. It's the 8-color jobs. It's the ones with super short runs with a bunch of plate changes. And so I think being able to move those jobs over to the Domino, our flexo operators are happier as well. They don't want to set up and clean up an 8-color job. So it really makes it best for everyone.”
One of the key advantages that digital brings to label printing is a reduction in material waste. When compared to Label King's flexo jobs, the company is using less material running on the Domino press. "Also, our shop rule is if there is 500 feet or less of material remaining on a roll, we would generally throw it away because we can’t print a flexo job on that," she notes. "However, today we printed a 300-foot job running that material through the Domino, and we have a pile of those small rolls. So we are now able to maximize our material usage. It not only saves material but it also saves time. It’s just a quicker and more efficient process.”
In addition to the press technology, Domino has provided a host of support services to Label King. “The amount of training and wide variety of support we've gotten from Domino has been so helpful. I call people that I know and they're able to provide tailored advice for what we need, which is great," says Fiske. "Whether I call Sarah, or Glen, or Ernest, everyone has been so incredibly helpful. It’s very personal. I can’t imagine it not being Domino.
"To put it super succinctly, the Domino N610i was easy to learn and it's easy to use, and luckily, we don't need a lot of support. So that's a huge benefit. But when we do need support, we know that we'll get it," she adds.
Parker states, “The Domino difference is Domino. It’s the personalized service, and that’s huge. We don’t feel like a number, and it’s not just one person talking to us. It’s the relationships with multiple people at Domino. The Domino employees care about what they’re doing and really want to do the best job they can. And you know, that to us as a small company is very important.”
