Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Rochester, NY, USA, TLF Graphics is a technologically-diverse printing company specializing in product decoration for the food, beverage, cannabis, health and beauty markets. Providing short to medium runs and e-commerce ordering, the company’s mission is to deliver exceptional speed and service.

To support its mission and better serve customers, TLF has invested in an SEI Laser Labelmaster from North American distributor Matik, Inc.

Bob McJury, president of TLF Graphics, first met a representative from Matik at the Digital Packaging Summit a few years ago. Searching for new equipment to replace their existing laser system TLF visited the SEI Laser and Matik booth at Labelexpo. SEI’s Labelmaster was being demonstrated live at the show.

“Integrated on the backend of a digital press, our old laser was no longer being supported by the manufacturer,” says Adam Jarjourahill, VP of operations for TLF Graphics. “When we first purchased the machine, it had a 1,000-watt laser. Shortly thereafter we had to change to a 400-watt laser to cut all of our materials. Over just eight years, the laser control power was replaced twice. Many of the components are now worn or damaged and cannot be replaced. In addition to the ongoing repair costs, the laser performance and productivity had dropped by 30% to 35%, resulting in delayed shipments and lost profits.”

In addition to SEI, TLF evaluated another laser brand during their buying process. They performed the same field tests on the SEI Labelmaster and the competitive machine, which both had a dual-laser configuration. TLF tested the competitive laser system first, which performed slower than the laser they were replacing.

The testing for the Labelmaster was conducted at Enterprise Print Group. The team from TLF was impressed by Labelmaster’s ability to switch jobs and adjust settings on-the-fly. Labelmaster has a simulator that provides run speed information. Based on simulator data, a job can be altered, such as running with one versus two lasers to deliver even faster cutting speeds. The dual laser is inherently redundant, which avoids downtime if one laser requires service.

“We chose to go with SEI, because the Labelmaster cutting speeds significantly outperformed the competitor’s laser in a side-by-side comparison,” says Jarjourahill. “One of the field test cuts included a basic 17-inch rectangle. The Labelmaster ran at 295 feet per minute, while the competitive laser ran it at 87 feet per minute. Additionally, Labelmaster can cut a wider range of materials, including reflective substrates that were not compatible with our old laser cutting system.”

Labelmaster delivers true digital finishing, including rapid setup and on-the-fly changeovers and cutting without the need for tooling and die inventory. In addition, because there are no dies, Labelmaster greatly reduces finishing make-ready time. Other advantages of the Labelmaster include:

• Quick delivery of short- to large-run orders
• Maximum design flexibility
• Increased accuracy
• Expanded materials processing capabilities, such as PET, PP/BOPP and paper
• Roll-to-roll, roll-to-sheet and roll-to-sticker capabilities
• Maximum web speed of 330 feet per minute (100 meters per minute)
• Web widths up to 14 inches (350 mm)
• Roll diameters up to 24 inches (610 mm) or 40 inches (1,000 mm)
• Modular design for expanding future capabilities

Once TLF made the decision to purchase the Labelmaster, Enterprise invited their operators to visit for a training session. “Both operators said it was intuitive to operate,” says Jarjourahill. “It’s going to deliver ten times the productivity of our old laser system.”

“We have a substantial fleet of digital presses that can print very fast,” says McJury. “The bottleneck in finishing required a lot of overtime. Margins in the printing business are thin. We can’t afford to lose a shift due to downtime for equipment repairs. We had to come up to speed with our finishing equipment. The Labelmaster is an important tool to deliver speed and service. Eliminating overtime for finishing will be a big savings with improved productivity and cost reduction.”

The new SEI laser will open new opportunities to TLF. For example, a recent quote request came in for 25 different labels in small quantities. Finishing that job without the Labelmaster would require $4,000 in dies. TLF can now promise no films, no plates and no dies with a complete digital process from the order entry through shipping.