Lisa Rouh10.14.21
www.mammothpackaging.com
www.mammothpackaging.com
If there’s one word that defines Mammoth Labels & Packaging, it’s “flexibility” – a relentless drive to change with the times.
Founded as Boehm Inc. in Columbus, OH, in 1952, the company was originally a family-run business that made rubber stamps and also sold office equipment, stationery, and engraving.
By the late 1990s, it had transitioned to become a producer of pressure sensitive labels, which remains roughly two-thirds of the company’s business today, and a distributor of custom industrial marking and coding equipment, which comprises the other third of sales.
In 2005, the family created an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and sold the company to the employees, so each one is personally invested in the company’s success.
Stuart Reeve came on board in 2013 as president and was soon named CEO, as well. Born in South London, England, Reeve had grown up in his family’s sheet-fed printing business, earned his business degree from the London College of Printing, worked with printing companies in England and the US, printed newspapers, and even played rugby in Santa Monica, CA, before the ESOP hired him.
“Joining Mammoth was a great opportunity to take everything that I’d learned working for large corporations,” Reeve says, “and help not only grow this business but also create a culture where everybody is truly excited about coming to work.”
Six years later, in July 2019, Boehm became Mammoth Labels & Packaging.
“We offer graphics, we print labels, we can help you apply labels, we can put a code on it, and when you put it in a box, we can label the box and push it out the door for you,” Reeve explains. “For a company our size, very few others offer everything. Our new name reflects that strength. We’re the larger-than-life packaging solution from one end to the other.”
That end-to-end process happens in Mammoth’s 12,000 square-foot facility in Columbus, OH. Mammoth’s flexographic printing department includes two Nilpeter presses – an 8-color and a 2-color – plus digital platemaking equipment. The Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press arrived in March 2020, launching the company’s digital department, which also includes a Grafotronic finishing line for hot foil stamping, diecutting, and other embellishments.
Embracing digital was an easy decision. “Customers are growing their number of SKUs, but the runs are getting shorter,” he says. “Our niche is small to medium-sized manufacturers, and their runs by nature are going to be smaller. We were starting to farm out work to a local digital supplier. It made sense for us to invest in digital equipment to bring everything back in-house. Flexo is not going away. But for the markets we serve, having our own digital capabilities and being able to maintain our fast turnaround was critical for our growth.”
Keeping the entire process in-house is a key to Mammoth’s ongoing success.
“We have a graphics department with three design experts, and we do everything from design through standard prepress and preflighting to get files ready to go to either our flexo presses or our digital press,” Reeve notes. “Customers have come in with a label idea written on a napkin. We sit down and talk it through to find out what they’re trying to create and the thought behind it, and come up with mock drawings to get what the customer wants. Then we move that into a label. It’s similar to what you might get at an outside agency, but we have somebody here who can do it for you.”
Mammoth also offers additional support throughout the labeling process. And, from start to finish, customers work with a dedicated Mammoth account manager.
“It’s not just coming in and dealing with a bank of people and you don’t know which person you’re going to deal with next,” Reeve says. “I think our core advantage is our personalized full service. We offer graphics, we can design your labels, we can help you buy an applicator, and once you put your label on, we can help you put the code on it. The label business is changing rapidly, and we’re nimble enough to be able to make the necessary changes and keep abreast with where the industry is going. We have broadened our horizon as to how we can help our label customers, and I think that helps set us apart.”
The company’s market encompasses industries that include wineries, beer, spirits, CBD, food processing, and candles, and its deliverables run the gamut from secondary packaging labels to fancy gold-foil embossed wine labels. In fact, since wineries are such an integral part of the business, Mammoth has even created the Mammoth Ohio Wine Trail, representing 47 winery partners that have tasting rooms available to the public.
Its strong base of food and beverage clients has helped Mammoth weather the storms of the Covid pandemic.
“Business has been growing for these customers, and we have benefited in growth along with them,” he says. “Our volume grew in 2020, and it’s already up 26% over last year.”
At the same time, Mammoth embarked on a more modern digital sales and marketing approach, which has attracted a new wave of customers, primarily in the beverage market.
“Before June 2020 when we started focusing on SEO optimization, enhancing our social media presence on Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram, and working more on our email campaigns, at least 95% of our customers were within Ohio,” Reeve says. “By the end of 2020, we had 128 new customers, all from outside Ohio. By having the digital press that could do short runs, and by taking a more digital electronic approach to our marketing, we’ve been able to expand nationwide.”
Of course, Covid has also presented internal challenges. “As leaders, we have had to give a calm outlook to all our employees, even though we have no clue what’s going to happen,” he says. “Quite rightly so, people’s minds were elsewhere. And then on top of that, we were starting up our digital department with the English and Polish equipment companies, who couldn’t get their trainers to the US. But I think by open communication and support, we built good trust and even became closer as a unit, with stronger morale as everybody has gone through it.”
Morale has been a strong focus during Reeve’s tenure with Mammoth. “We’re sitting here with a five-year goal to quadruple the size of the company,” he says. “We have to be flexible and aware of what’s happening in the marketplace. But we also have to have the right culture. I want to make it a fun, enjoyable place. We’re not a Silicon Valley company where all you need is your laptop, and you can sit wherever you want. We have hard assets bolted to the floor, and people have to stand on a press for eight hours a day. How do you create an environment where they work hard and feel good about coming in and accomplishing something, and feel excited about the future? That’s the fun part of what we’re doing right now. We’re trying to make it amazing.”
His recipe for employee engagement is simple. “You treat people with respect,” he says. “You involve them, you delegate, you listen, and you allow them to make decisions. Most of the time, those decisions are the right ones. If it’s a bad decision, as long as you fix it and learn from it and don’t do it again, you move on. And the result is the company does better.”
When Reeve joined Mammoth eight years ago, there were 28 employees, and now there are 40. Some have been with the company more than 15 years, while 10 joined in just the past year.
“Our marketing director and our finance director both worked for two of our largest customers,” Reeve says. “They were attracted to join us because they saw we’re flexible, we do whatever it takes to get the job done, we do everything we can to create a level of trust, and we’re investing to be the leader in the marketplace. Now, if we do quadruple the size of our company, we’re not going to implode, because we’ve all worked for much larger companies and understand the processes. And I think we’re positioned well to do that.
“We know, especially in today’s challenging supply chain, that being nimble is one of the most valued aspects our customers look for in their suppliers, and we have not lost sight of that,” he adds. “We are committed to adapting with the packaging industry’s innovation and helping our customers’ businesses grow.”
www.mammothpackaging.com
If there’s one word that defines Mammoth Labels & Packaging, it’s “flexibility” – a relentless drive to change with the times.
Founded as Boehm Inc. in Columbus, OH, in 1952, the company was originally a family-run business that made rubber stamps and also sold office equipment, stationery, and engraving.
By the late 1990s, it had transitioned to become a producer of pressure sensitive labels, which remains roughly two-thirds of the company’s business today, and a distributor of custom industrial marking and coding equipment, which comprises the other third of sales.
In 2005, the family created an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) and sold the company to the employees, so each one is personally invested in the company’s success.
Stuart Reeve came on board in 2013 as president and was soon named CEO, as well. Born in South London, England, Reeve had grown up in his family’s sheet-fed printing business, earned his business degree from the London College of Printing, worked with printing companies in England and the US, printed newspapers, and even played rugby in Santa Monica, CA, before the ESOP hired him.
“Joining Mammoth was a great opportunity to take everything that I’d learned working for large corporations,” Reeve says, “and help not only grow this business but also create a culture where everybody is truly excited about coming to work.”
Six years later, in July 2019, Boehm became Mammoth Labels & Packaging.
“We offer graphics, we print labels, we can help you apply labels, we can put a code on it, and when you put it in a box, we can label the box and push it out the door for you,” Reeve explains. “For a company our size, very few others offer everything. Our new name reflects that strength. We’re the larger-than-life packaging solution from one end to the other.”
That end-to-end process happens in Mammoth’s 12,000 square-foot facility in Columbus, OH. Mammoth’s flexographic printing department includes two Nilpeter presses – an 8-color and a 2-color – plus digital platemaking equipment. The Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press arrived in March 2020, launching the company’s digital department, which also includes a Grafotronic finishing line for hot foil stamping, diecutting, and other embellishments.
Embracing digital was an easy decision. “Customers are growing their number of SKUs, but the runs are getting shorter,” he says. “Our niche is small to medium-sized manufacturers, and their runs by nature are going to be smaller. We were starting to farm out work to a local digital supplier. It made sense for us to invest in digital equipment to bring everything back in-house. Flexo is not going away. But for the markets we serve, having our own digital capabilities and being able to maintain our fast turnaround was critical for our growth.”
Keeping the entire process in-house is a key to Mammoth’s ongoing success.
“We have a graphics department with three design experts, and we do everything from design through standard prepress and preflighting to get files ready to go to either our flexo presses or our digital press,” Reeve notes. “Customers have come in with a label idea written on a napkin. We sit down and talk it through to find out what they’re trying to create and the thought behind it, and come up with mock drawings to get what the customer wants. Then we move that into a label. It’s similar to what you might get at an outside agency, but we have somebody here who can do it for you.”
Mammoth also offers additional support throughout the labeling process. And, from start to finish, customers work with a dedicated Mammoth account manager.
“It’s not just coming in and dealing with a bank of people and you don’t know which person you’re going to deal with next,” Reeve says. “I think our core advantage is our personalized full service. We offer graphics, we can design your labels, we can help you buy an applicator, and once you put your label on, we can help you put the code on it. The label business is changing rapidly, and we’re nimble enough to be able to make the necessary changes and keep abreast with where the industry is going. We have broadened our horizon as to how we can help our label customers, and I think that helps set us apart.”
The company’s market encompasses industries that include wineries, beer, spirits, CBD, food processing, and candles, and its deliverables run the gamut from secondary packaging labels to fancy gold-foil embossed wine labels. In fact, since wineries are such an integral part of the business, Mammoth has even created the Mammoth Ohio Wine Trail, representing 47 winery partners that have tasting rooms available to the public.
Its strong base of food and beverage clients has helped Mammoth weather the storms of the Covid pandemic.
“Business has been growing for these customers, and we have benefited in growth along with them,” he says. “Our volume grew in 2020, and it’s already up 26% over last year.”
At the same time, Mammoth embarked on a more modern digital sales and marketing approach, which has attracted a new wave of customers, primarily in the beverage market.
“Before June 2020 when we started focusing on SEO optimization, enhancing our social media presence on Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram, and working more on our email campaigns, at least 95% of our customers were within Ohio,” Reeve says. “By the end of 2020, we had 128 new customers, all from outside Ohio. By having the digital press that could do short runs, and by taking a more digital electronic approach to our marketing, we’ve been able to expand nationwide.”
Of course, Covid has also presented internal challenges. “As leaders, we have had to give a calm outlook to all our employees, even though we have no clue what’s going to happen,” he says. “Quite rightly so, people’s minds were elsewhere. And then on top of that, we were starting up our digital department with the English and Polish equipment companies, who couldn’t get their trainers to the US. But I think by open communication and support, we built good trust and even became closer as a unit, with stronger morale as everybody has gone through it.”
Morale has been a strong focus during Reeve’s tenure with Mammoth. “We’re sitting here with a five-year goal to quadruple the size of the company,” he says. “We have to be flexible and aware of what’s happening in the marketplace. But we also have to have the right culture. I want to make it a fun, enjoyable place. We’re not a Silicon Valley company where all you need is your laptop, and you can sit wherever you want. We have hard assets bolted to the floor, and people have to stand on a press for eight hours a day. How do you create an environment where they work hard and feel good about coming in and accomplishing something, and feel excited about the future? That’s the fun part of what we’re doing right now. We’re trying to make it amazing.”
His recipe for employee engagement is simple. “You treat people with respect,” he says. “You involve them, you delegate, you listen, and you allow them to make decisions. Most of the time, those decisions are the right ones. If it’s a bad decision, as long as you fix it and learn from it and don’t do it again, you move on. And the result is the company does better.”
When Reeve joined Mammoth eight years ago, there were 28 employees, and now there are 40. Some have been with the company more than 15 years, while 10 joined in just the past year.
“Our marketing director and our finance director both worked for two of our largest customers,” Reeve says. “They were attracted to join us because they saw we’re flexible, we do whatever it takes to get the job done, we do everything we can to create a level of trust, and we’re investing to be the leader in the marketplace. Now, if we do quadruple the size of our company, we’re not going to implode, because we’ve all worked for much larger companies and understand the processes. And I think we’re positioned well to do that.
“We know, especially in today’s challenging supply chain, that being nimble is one of the most valued aspects our customers look for in their suppliers, and we have not lost sight of that,” he adds. “We are committed to adapting with the packaging industry’s innovation and helping our customers’ businesses grow.”