Expanding Optimism

For some end users, shrink sleeve label production has become the stuff of "nightmare stories," says Jim Dwyer, president and CEO of The R.B. Dwyer Group, an Anaheim, Calif.-based manufacturer and distributor of tamper-evident bands and shrink sleeves. Dwyer typically hears the most hair-raising tales about complication-plagued conversions of existing label designs to a shrink sleeve format, or thorny transitions to a new shrink sleeve label supplier—experiences that have, at times, been scary enough to strip away much of the shrink sleeve label's appeal. He's even got one end-user contact "who doesn't even want to talk about shrink." But Dwyer doesn't shy away from what he describes as the potentially "problematic" nature of shrink sleeve applications. To the contrary, a deep understanding of those challenges has been a central factor in the steady growth of The Dwyer Group's operations. "Our goal," emphasizes Dwyer, "is to remove those obstacles." Specifically, he explains, "We can compress the timeline of bringing products to market."