Sustainability in Package Printing with Makeready Efficiency is a Key Part of Environmental Stewardship

By Peter Griffin

Supply Chain Certification

Many companies are seeking chain-of-custody certification from their forest-products materials suppliers. John Glick, senior vice president of business development for Central Florida Press in Orlando, Florida, provided packagePRINTING with some background as to why his company sought out and achieved certification.

pP: What was the main reason for your company to provide sustainability certification?

We had many requests from customers and suppliers for Central Florida Press (CFP) to have the ability to deliver chain of custody products. The merchant community did a good job of educating our customers about the programs and the various certificates available.

pP: What sustainability certifications do you have?

CFP has obtained certifications from the three most recognized organizations—FSC, SFI, and PEFC.

pP: How involved/difficult was the certification process? What is required to make certification?

The certification process is quite extensive. We started with a third-party pre-audit that looked at our process and analyzed what changes would be needed to become compliant. Next, we had to train our employees on what the requirements are and then implemented procedures to accomplish them. These procedures are third-party audited each year for every project that we produce using certified paper. CFP is proud to say that every auditor who has graded us has complimented our process and attention to detail.

pP: Did achieving certification require any ongoing changes in your operation?

Yes. The process for using certified paper effects customer service, prepress, pressroom, material handling, bindery, outside purchasing, and shipping. It also requires special zones for staging paper in the various departments. I can honestly say that using certified paper requires unique procedures for every department.

pP: What does certification do for your company? Do you believe it contributes to efforts to increased business?

The certification is an extension of the efforts CFP has displayed in the past to leave the earth the same way we found it. CFP has always aggressively recycled all by-products used in our production process. These include paper waste, printing plates, metal banding, and more. The certification allows us to extend our green initiatives to the raw goods coming into our facility. I can categorically say there are projects that we would not be producing if we did not have the certifications. Besides being the right thing to do, it makes good business sense.

pP: How is it viewed by your customers or potential customers? Do any customers require some level of sustainability certification?

Some of our customers have the certification as a requirement in order to produce their work and we do get inquires based on our certifications. The fact that we are tri-certified means we can offer our customers a wider array of sustainable products. The customers themselves do not need to be certified, but they do rely on CFP to provide them with the correct logo on their printed pieces.

pP: How is the certification viewed by your employees?

Part of the process of becoming certified is employee education and training. This is necessary due to the workflow requirements of dealing with the certified paper. Our employees understand the requirements and the reasons for them. According to our auditors, CFP’s employees are well-trained, enthusiastic about the process, and have the ability to correctly provide certified paper.

Package printers are faced with rising material and energy costs, as well as global competitive pressures. Makeready waste can put an additional squeeze on profits. Printing in many market segments, including niche markets, demands shorter run lengths, which increases makereadies and compounds the problem. Automatic registration systems now enable most printers to be in register very quickly after press start-up. Waste, however, continues to pile up until color, which is essential to brand success, is set.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 All Next »

1 Comment

View Comments

Peter Griffin Author's page

Ink Presetting