Some shops are always on the cutting-edge of whatever new technology is on the horizon. Others, however, take the time to watch the space, see what works and what doesn’t, and ensure every investment is a strategic move in the right direction.

The second path is the one that Precision Tape & Label, based in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, has always taken. The 44-year-old narrow web label printer has been woman-owned for 20 of those year — and has been watching the CTP space for the past 10 years.

“We had been investigating CTP equipment for the last decade,” said Nicolle Voellings, president, Precision Tape & Label. “We are a small printer, and we needed a machine that was affordable, but that would also give us the longevity we needed. This is going to propel us into something new — we can print at higher qualities, with faster output of plates, at a price point that didn’t deter us from the upgrade.”

The unit the shop ultimately decided on was the CRON-ECRM HDI 600 flexo CTP device, which is a compact unit specifically designed for the small format and narrow web market. It pairs perfectly with the Mark Andy narrow web flexo presses the shop relies on.

But while the presses themselves could keep up with the increasing demands of their client base, the old platesetter could not.

“We do a lot of work in the retail space,” said Voellings. “We also do a lot of grocery stores, and some chemical labeling. The retail space has driven the changes we’ve had to make in our prepress department, specifically.”

The shop was looking for equipment that would give them the quality and speed upgrades they needed, but at a price that was affordable for the small shop. “We needed equipment that would propel us into something new,” noted Voellings.

The previous CTP equipment was all analog, but Voellings didn’t see the need to upgrade to digital just for the sake of having digital equipment. “We didn’t have the burning desire to go digital,” she said. However, as the need for higher quality plates at faster speeds put increasing pressure on the shop, it was ultimately decided that upgrading the platesetter was no longer something they could afford to put off.

Not a Painless Process
That said, it wasn’t a plug-and-play solution, said Voellings. “Growing pains are so difficult,” she said. Knowing there would be some issues with a change was one of the reasons the shop held off for as long as it did, but in the end, said Voellings, “we knew that going digital was the route we were going to take. We had to upgrade.”

But even knowing it was time, Precision Tape & Label still took three years to fully evaluate all of the digital solutions on the market. “They are not all created the same,” said Voellings. She noted that while there are many great solutions on the market today, they waited to find the one that would not only serve their needs right now, but would have the technology to serve them for another 10-plus years.

Deborah Secord, owner, spent countless hours researching, pricing and meeting with vendors to discuss options. But she didn’t make that decision alone; finding a solid solution was very much a team effort. Precision Tape’s art director was deeply involved in the selection process. His recommendations, suggestions and research results were a major consideration when making the final decision.

One of the issues, Voellings noted, was that when the shop started this process, it was with the idea that going digital would make everything easier. However, she said, it was quickly apparent that wasn’t the case across the board.

“Not all digital is created the same,” said Voellings. “We were aware of that, but it wasn’t until we started investigating that we had a good gauge of what equipment would and wouldn’t get us there. The fact is, going ‘all things digital’ won’t get you there. You need a solution that will get you there, and CRON-ECRM was that solution for us, at a price point that worked for us.”

Part of the appeal, noted Voellings, was that the new equipment wasn’t just a box installed in the shop. “It came with a whole package,” she said. “Software that will run it, great prepress that will get us where we need to be with trapping, etc. It is a full, comprehensive solution that is quite seamless for us. It took a while to implement, but as a package it’s a great fit for us.”

In addition to learning new equipment and integrating it into the operations, other challenges that Precision Tape & Label faced included the need to build a new room for the platesetter, complete with upgraded electrical and plumbing. “A lot of front end work just to get it in, never mind implementing it,” said Voellings.

There were a lot of details that had to be worked out ahead of time, which was a massive undertaking for a small shop. But the headaches of the upgrade process were worth it in the end.
“The end result is that it is cutting down plate time significantly,” said Voellings. “And our estimates are showing that it is also going to cut back on waste — we have fewer bad plates coming out; they are almost dead on every time.”

Precision Tape & Label is the perfect example of how a narrow web flexo shop can see great returns simply by investing in the platesetter. Higher quality plates, less waste, and faster speeds have allowed the shop to already see returns. Voellings noted that the shop is making a point of letting its customers know about the upgrade, and is showing off what it is now capable of.

“The new plates and equipment have given us the ability to print a much higher quality product for [our customers],” said Voellings. “We are excited to do some before and afters for them, to show them we’ve made the investment, and that we hope we have exceeded what we’ve done in the past.

She anticipates that some of the higher quality work the shop couldn’t produce previously will now start to come their way, especially in the four-color process space, which is an area of the market Voellings noted they plan to go after fairly hard as the shop continues to evolve and grow to meet the changing needs of its customers — both today and tomorrow.