Good and Getting Better

Business success can be the result of many factors. Sometimes it’s the result of an entirely unique product; other times it’s as simple as being in the right place at the right time. For most successful companies, however, it’s the result of hard work and a focus on what they do best.

This latter approach describes the success achieved by Oaks, Pa.-based Global Packaging, Inc., which focuses on flexographic printing—wide-web flexo printing to be more specific. Further, it combines its expertise in flexo printing with a focus on its customers.

“Our operating philosophy begins and ends with meeting customer expectations,” says Debbie Hobbs, sales and marketing director. “We hire the best people and offer ongoing training; we purchase the most technologically advanced equipment and deliver the highest quality product to our customers.”

Not long ago

Global Packaging was formed in 1996 by Tony Maginnis, CEO and owner, as part of an acquisition of an existing printing and converting business. It has been expanding ever since, with new equipment and more space. Today, it operates out of a 75,000-square-foot facility, with an additional 55,000-square-foot warehouse added last year.

The company’s success can be seen in its growth during the 12 years of its existence. “Global has experienced double-digit growth over many of the last 12 years,” reports Hobbs. “We have expanded our workforce, while retaining our most experienced and knowledgeable base. We operate 24/7 with 155 dedicated employees.”

The company supplies high-quality flexible packaging to a variety of markets. These include branded and private label packaging for personal hygiene, diaper products, tissue and towel, cosmetics, and food.

To complement its flexo printing capabilities, Global Packaging offers bag converting, laminating, and slitting capabilities. “Our primary markets for bags are CPCs [consumer products companies], with a focus on feminine hygiene, baby diapers, and adult ­incontinent packaging,” adds Hobbs. “Our roll stock and overwrap markets include towel and tissue, candy and baked goods, and frozen foods.”

While Global Packaging runs films, paper, and foils, Maginnis says that “about 95 percent of what we print is film, primarily LDPE and MDPE, both surface and reverse print.” Other films include LLDPE, OPP, PET, Nylon, PVC, and Tyvek. The company uses solvent-based ink systems with two catalytic oxidizers for emissions control.

Maginnis acknowledges the film price increases that have been so prevalent in the packaging sector during the past months, but says the company has weathered the storm well so far. “For the most part, we’ve been able to manage the volatility by using different strategies in our film purchasing.”

Flexo printing

Global Packaging’s focus on flexo printing began with the company’s inception in 1996 and is representative of the growth of flexo printing, not only in the narrow-web segment, but also in flexible packaging. According to Hobbs, “Our philosophy of investing in the latest technology began at our inception, with the purchase of two PCMC presses, followed by two Windmoeller & Hoelscher (W&H) gearless presses in 2004 and 2007. Our commitment to provide our customers with the highest quality print continues today with our newest press scheduled for late 2008.”

The first PCMC flexo press acquired in 1997 was a sleeve press, which Maginnis said “was a really big deal back then.” This was followed by a PCMC ProVision press in 1999, which, although not designed for sleeves, included a robotic system for changing out cylinders in just minutes.

In 2004, the company acquired its first W&H press, a 10-color, 52˝ ­NOVOFLEX® CM. This was followed in 2007 by the installation of a second W&H press, an 8-color 52˝ PRIMAFLEX® CM flexo press.

According to company President, Michael Frost, the most recent press added significantly more printing capacity to the company’s manufacturing operations. “The press is designed to print top-quality products at high line speeds, while also allowing for fast job changeovers,” he says. “This will help Global Packaging fulfill our commitment to our customers to consistently deliver high-quality printed packaging with excellent lead times.”

Although the company went through a thorough process to select the latest presses, Maginnis simplifies the reason why it settled on W&H: “They make really good machines. They [presses] are designed for quick changeovers and high speeds. W&H stands behind its products and has a real good maintenance program in the U.S., so geography is not an issue.”

Both of the W&H presses are sleeve presses and the fact that they use the same 52˝ sleeves was a motivating factor in the purchase of the second press. “It helps us minimize our sleeve inventory,” he said.

According to Maginnis, one of the main challenges Global Packaging faces is competing against the larger, vertically integrated flexible packaging companies that can bring more resources onto the playing field. Using state-of-the-art, high-speed presses is a critical element in allowing the company to compete against the larger companies. As a result, “We are competitive in our roll stock business, and we do very well in our bag business,” he says.

Its next new press scheduled for later this year will be a 10-color, 65˝ press. “We are getting a lot more calls inquiring about additional color capabilities, going beyond eight colors,” notes Maginnis. Due to this trend, Global Packaging will also be looking at running extended color (6- or 7-color) ink systems, such as Hexachrome.

Quality printing

State-of-the-art printing presses are not the only tools in Global Packaging’s competitive arsenal. The company also focuses on its process capabilities.

“We do high-end printing very well,” says Maginnis. “We run by the numbers, using densitometers, spectrophotometers, and BST camera-based systems for quality control. We are good at process control and getting better all the time. We have the right equipment, and we combine it with the right mind-set of our people to use the technology effectively to consistently deliver an excellent product to our customers.”

Hobbs expands on these efforts: “We believe our proactive approach to color management has given us a competitive edge in our field. BST video defect detection system, automatic viscosity controls, and X-Rite’s spectrophotometers assist us in ‘printing to the numbers.”

Another area that Maginnis chalks up in the advantage column is how the company manages its prepress. Global Packaging has a long-running relationship with Southern Graphics, which does all of Global’s discretionary prepress work from its facility in Philadelphia. The company also works with companies such as Schawk and Phototype when working on specific customers’ projects.

“Southern Graphics has really good technology, a really good digital prepress program,” notes Maginnis. “It was one of the first companies to use digital plates in the U.S., around 1997.”

Future endeavors

Global Packaging plans on staying the course and building on the success of the last 12 years: focus on flexo printing; use state-of-the-art, high-speed equipment; and apply highly tuned process capabilities. With a new press installed last year and a new one on the horizon, the hardware will be in place.

Maginnis will be taking care of the operational side. “We are always looking to improve our process capabilities, especially in process control,” he says. “We will be doing more SPC, using more video monitoring, and electronic spectrophotometry.” pP