Hub Labels, a manufacturer of pressure sensitive labels, linerless labels and direct mail pieces in the Hagerstown, MD, USA, is expanding its use of inspection and quality control solutions from AVT, a supplier of print inspection, print process control, and quality assurance systems for the label converting industry. The expansion chiefly involves AVT’s Helios, a solution for 100% inspection and quality assurance in label and narrow web printing.

For Hub Labels, the announcement not only represents trust in AVT’s inspection systems but also growth in its own overall business needs: After originally installing Helios on a pair of its labeling lines two years ago, Hub Labels is now adding the solution to three existing lines as well as two newly purchased ones. The uptick in overall output from the new lines, combined with the increased efficiency yielded by AVT’s solutions, will result in a sharp surge in production capabilities for Hub Labels, the company says.

Helios deploys dedicated, advanced algorithms designed to detect any type of defect, including color misregister, color variations, misprints, text errors, spots, splashes, diecut problems, bar code problems and missing labels. The system works seamlessly on any substrate and any application. Helios also offers integrated archiving and reporting features, as well as an innovative, built-in reporting module named PrintFlow.

For Hub Labels, the ability of Helios to immediately detect developing defects – thereby decreasing overprinting and reprinting – will reduce waste and production costs. In fact, since its original AVT Helios installation, Hub Labels has clocked material waste as low as 2% even while running 400 feet of web per minute.  The resulting boost to overall productivity and efficiency is often instant and dramatic; Hub Labels estimates its own output has risen an impressive 15%.

In addition, Hub Labels has complemented its Helios installation with AVT’s optional WorkFlow Link solution, which provides reliable connection between presses and rewinders toward the efficient removal of defective material. WorkFlow Link provides remote access to PrintFlow data from all installed AVT 100% inspection systems, and can be deployed in conjunction with the optional PrintFlow Manager, an innovative quality reporting management tool.

Additional supplemental AVT quality control solutions utilized at Hub Labels include a roll map display that virtually tags out-of-spec labels, as well as JobRef, which enables verification at the setup stage by automatically comparing a current job to the original, customer-approved digital PDF file.

“AVT’s inspection and quality control solutions increase not only our capabilities but our confidence, because its multi-tiered stopgaps reassure us that any out-of-spec labels are being recognized for potential rejection,” explains Thomas Dahbura, president of Hub Labels. “Helios and its supplemental solutions have given us valuable insight into our printing press operations that allows us to produce better labels faster and more seamlessly.”

“When a leading print manufacturer such as Hub Labels reports that by using AVT its waste went down to a 2% level, and thus expands its use of our solutions on such a large scale, it serves as validation of the effectiveness of AVT’s inspection and quality control solutions,” comments Windell McGill, president of the Americas for AVT. “It’s not only a matter of reduced waste and increased line speeds, but also the peace of mind solutions such as Helios bring to our worldwide customer base.”