Service Up Front
One thing is for sure about gravure—the basic technology remains the same, and the quality has also been second to none. What has been different for gravure in recent years is competitive pressure in terms of improved quality from various sources and printing processes. First, flexographic printing has made, and continues to make, inroads in markets that traditionally have been served by gravure. Second, foreign competition—whether it be outsourcing print jobs overseas, or presses that are cheaper to build and buy, but lack comparative print quality—continues to impact gravure printers as they work to compete in a global environment.
The Achilles heel for gravure always seems to be the price. Flexo’s quality is approaching that of gravure, and it’s less expensive. But again, basic gravure technology has not changed: you take an engraved roll, you mount it, you print. The rolls are expensive. So, alternatives must be sought. One alternative is to decrease your costs on the front end, an alternative espoused by Michelle Fontaine, manager of continual improvement, Amgraph Packaging, Inc., Versailes, Conn., and daughter of founder Ken Fontaine.
Want service? Amgraph delivers.
Ken Fontaine founded the company 23 years ago when he bought Amstar’s flexible packaging plant through a leveraged buyout. Today, his three children operate Amgraph along with its 130 employees.
It employs various printing processes including rotogravure, lithography, flexography, and in-house graphics and prepress capabilities to engineer quality into its customers’ products. It plans to employ combination printing in the future. “We spend a great deal of time [before and after] production to learn how we can do things better each and every time we convert, whether it’s the first time at the press or the 100th time,” says Michelle Fontaine.
Amgraph prints on paper, foils, and films using water-based and EB inks. The company uses seven presses (with a new one on the way during 2008), one extruder, and multiple finishing machines, which help meet customers’ custom finishing needs.
Amgraph’s first priority is its customers. According to Fontaine, “We are nimble and proactive. This is how we hold on to our customers and attract new ones,” she says. “Everyone out there has a product. We are different because of the level of service we provide, and as everyone knows, it’s all about the service.” In Amgraph’s case, its customers appreciate its level of service enough to pay for that value. Amgraph delivers this value via relationships with its suppliers. “Our customers are willing to pay for that because we truly deliver it,” Fontaine continues. “We are very innovative, and partner with our suppliers who we value like our customers. We rely on our suppliers to ensure we deliver materials of the highest quality that meet or exceed [customers’] expectations.”
Front-end cost reduction strategy
The 10th annual PLGA operational conference focused on operating profitably in a global market. Part of operating profitably comes from reducing costs. One way to reduce the cost of a gravure-printed job, according to Fontaine, is to reduce the front-end costs of the print job. In fact, Fontaine asserts that such price reductions are already underway. “There is a concerted effort taking place as we speak,” she says. “I believe there will be new materials coming up on the horizon, and there is new tooling available today from hollow aluminum bridge bases, carbon fiber carriers, to image sleeves.”
She also contends that the gravure process must meet the customer demand for shorter runs. “The presses being manufactured today are ready. All we need is quick turnaround image carriers, hopefully chromeless,” she says.
Fontaine suggests that streamlining current processes through automation, lean efforts, and parallel designing for print, and specifying gravure to mirror SWOP (specifications web offset publications) for offset are ways gravure printers can begin to improve front-end costs of the print job.
Amgraph’s own efforts have led to substantial improvements in front-end costs. For example, since 1991, the company has had a fully integrated electronic prepress department on site. Ten years later, the company switched to sleeves, further reducing its costs. Purchasing steel air mandrels for each repeat size has reduced its inventory from more than 500 cylinders to 80. “This has opened up a lot of real estate on the manufacturing floor,” says Fontaine. “It’s no longer necessary to use a forklift to prepare the press, and we avoid the boxing and crating of cylinders for de-chroming and re-engraving. We print with fresh sleeves when the mileage is up. We reduced the safety risk and made the quality of life much better in the printing department.”
Measure your results
Front-end cost decreases have helped Amgraph compete globally by increasing turnaround and controlling costs. “To stay competitive, it’s the only way,” Fontaine explains. “We are all buying from the same suppliers. If you can’t keep your internal costs in control, you can’t compete.” A critical component of the process is to constantly evaluate where you are and how you can improve. “Measure! If you can’t measure, you can’t improve,” asserts Fontaine. “Value-stream map your processes. Identify your non-value-added steps and work to remove or reduce them. Then do it again—it’s amazing what you’ll be able to improve the next time around.”
Global competition
Foreign competition is the biggest issue for Amgraph in the markets in which it competes. It is not alone, and neither are gravure printers. Offshoring has affected all aspects of the package-printing industry, whether it be packaging produced overseas, knock-off presses that don’t produce the quality of the name-brand presses, or economic conditions in general. Reducing front-end costs associated with a print job at the converter level is one way to be more competitive in a global marketplace. Converters can’t do it alone, however. “To all the chemists and engineers out there, come up with a copperless, chromeless image carrier,” Fontaine concludes. pP
- People:
- Michelle Fontaine