www.tadbik.com
www.tadbik.com

Tadbik NJ has navigated the challenges and uncertainties of the past 18 months with flying colors. Tadbik NJ, which identifies with its Israeli-based parent company, accomplished the rare feats of purchasing and installing new equipment, integrating a new president, entering new markets, and seeing sizeable growth – all with the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tadbik NJ accounts for 30,000 square feet and 40 employees. Its parent company, Tadbik, boasts a global reach and 750 employees across five manufacturing facilities. Their majority shareholder is the Drori family, which emanates from the original founder, Ilan Drori. Drori coined the motto, “Nothing is impossible,” for his business, which Tadbik NJ proudly adheres to today.

In the past year, Derrick Radcliff took the helm as president of Tadbik NJ. He has been tasked with overseeing institutional changes, as well as assimilating new equipment into the company’s facility in Fairfield, NJ.

“We’re changing some of our procedures to become more efficient, because we know in business that if you’re not changing on a daily basis, you’re not growing,” states Karen Frisch, director of sales US, Tadbik NJ. “I tell people change is good. We’ve made some changes within our production and to our processes. We’re utilizing Lean Manufacturing and smart business practices. Our quality has always been great, but it’s always nice to see where improvements can come from.

“We’re changing the culture to really focus on making sure it’s a team effort, and I think the pandemic has brought us all quite closer,” she adds. “We’re understanding what the needs are of others, since some were working remotely and some were in the office. To be able to understand what those needs are allowed us to walk in someone else’s shoes, and I think that helped us understand what everyone else needs.”

In order to meet customer demand, Tadbik NJ has put together an arsenal of cutting-edge printing equipment. The company boasts a 12-color Mark Andy Performance Series P7 press, and most recently Tadbik turned to Prati for two new pieces of equipment: a Prati Digifast converting line and a Prati Saturn rewinder. The installations did not stop there, though. In order to serve the market for coffee pod lids for single-serve coffee makers, as well as foil lids for yogurt, Tadbik NJ added a Mendel Webmaster Cube 500. And to support its strong growth in shrink sleeve labeling, the company also installed a DCM Sleever, DCM Babycat, and Laem System slitter this year.

According to Frisch, technology is paramount at Tadbik NJ. “The Mark Andy press has been a great addition to our printing capabilities, and it has been completely booked since the day it was installed,” she notes. “The vision for this machine was to enter the shrink sleeve market and to expand the color ability to service more of our higher-end customers. The demand for 12 stations was a must, and a lot of people don’t do 12 colors.”

“The Prati people came to our facility, as well, and we’re very happy with their machines,” adds Frisch. “We’re very excited to have Prati’s equipment here because the Digifast is going to be a great complement to the equipment we already have. Prati is going to allow us to do some interesting things in the future.”

During the pandemic, Vladimir Norman, who helped open the NJ-based facility in 1993, proved vital in helping set up and install the sleeving equipment. As it was difficult for many manufacturers to travel in the early months of Covid-19, Norman, who is well versed in the company’s R&D processes, helped with the process.
“I call him MacGyver because he can figure out anything,” says Frisch. “When we were stuck in the middle of the pandemic, he’s the one who figured it out. We got through it, and for the most part we did pretty well. He’s a vital part of our company.”

The new equipment has opened up multiple avenues for Tadbik NJ. In addition to shrink sleeves, the company has been emphasizing security labeling and flexible packaging for the future, along with a foray into pharmaceutical labeling. Currently, Tadbik NJ supplies its customers with a broad range of products, which has aided in its expansion. Customers have recognized the value in streamlining their purchasing process by saving time and added buying power through bundling the products together. In NJ, Tadbik focuses on prime pressure sensitive labels in a wide range of vertical markets.

“We’re looking to move into the pharmaceutical market, so we’re preparing for that in the next few years,” says Frisch. “In our NJ facility, we already do nutraceuticals and OTC products, but we’re going to get more heavily into pharmaceutical. There are regulations and processes that must be instituted, so we’re in the process of conducting a mock audit to see where we need to grow for that move.”

Another new market for Tadbik involves flexible packaging, including stick-packs, sachets and more. The Prati Digifast will play a key role in this growth. “We’re doing jobs for a lot of companies in the cosmetic industry,” comments Frisch. “Many times, we’re just doing a small run to enter a marketplace with creams or powders. The Digifast is going to be the perfect complement to our existing equipment since we can complete the job so much faster than putting it on a conventional press. That’s really going to help us in that area, especially with being more efficient with anything we’re producing digitally.”

Tadbik NJ has also developed solutions to better accommodate the rapidly growing e-commerce market. For example, Tadbik NJ has provided Amazon transparency with labels to major brands, which feature QR coding for traceability.

“Not everyone is using these transparency labels for traceability,” explains Frisch. “Many are requesting this service because they’re seeing more and more counterfeit goods being sold on Amazon. If the label doesn’t have a unique QR code to show exactly where the product came from, you’re at risk for fraud.”

In the future, Tadbik NJ will continue to operate on a global scale. The company’s tagline is to “Support the power of one,” which promotes its vast capabilities in laminates, labels, lidding films, pouches and more. Tadbik NJ also manufactures equipment in the form of a shrink sleeve tunnel. The tunnel can feature just electric/hot air or steam, but there is also a hybrid unit that runs with steam and heat.

“We’re able to support some very large companies utilizing all of our capabilities,” says Frisch. “We are moving into the IML and BML markets to be produced here in the United States to offer blended programs, as we do will all our products. The focus is on operational excellence throughout every area of our business. Everyone takes a part, whether you’re the person sweeping the floors or the one writing the checks – everyone here is as important as the next one. I think there’s really a bright future here, with a lot of exciting things coming up.”

Tadbik NJ will also be looking to hire new employees, as the company’s growth has created a need for more people. “We made a number of new hires during the pandemic. We have positions open in all areas of our business. We’ve hired new pressmen and have found people, but we need more people with our expansion. We just recently promoted someone in our facility, and we like to promote from within here.”