Business Management - Productivity/Process Improvement

Two of the topics covered in this issue of packagePRINTING made me think back to "the good old days" when I worked in manufacturing.

Among the factors driving its acceptance are the significantly shortened product life cycle of consumer goods, coupled with a greatly accelerated rate of product development and market launch.

Burlington, N.C.-based Labels Tags & Inserts Inc. (LTI) produces a wide range of products that one would expect to find coming out of shops several times its size.

MADISON, N..J—During tough economic times it is tempting to reduce quality control to cut costs. However Dolph Beyer, an engineer with Mohawk Fine Papers, asserts doing this is actually counterproductive.

It's easy to tell when someone truly enjoys what he or she does. There's the way a person answers questions—with energy and exuberance. There's the pride that comes through when a person talks about his business and the affection with which he speaks of his employees.

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—Diamond Packaging won four awards in the 66th Annual National Paperboard Packaging Competition, sponsored by the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC). Awards were announced at the 2009 Outlook & Strategies Conference in Atlanta, GA.

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Ampac Flexibles, the flexible packaging division of Ampac Packaging LLC, announced the installation of a new Titan SR8™ Slitter Rewinder from Bobst Group at its Minneapolis, Minn., facility.

TULSA, Okla.—Dan McFarland, President, Ampac Flexibles Performance Printed Films, has been selected as CMM International’s Converter of the Year for 2009. Recognized for his accomplishments in the flexible packaging industry, specifically targeting the frozen food sector, McFarland is the 11th recipient in a list of distinguished honorees who have won this prestigious award over the last 20 years.

DPLenticular Ltd., a European supplier of lenticular plastic sheets and rolls for the graphic arts industry, reports a two-digit production increase for 2008.

Printers like to hear their presses running, because hopefully money is being made and customer demands are being met. But shorter runs can tie up a press with more frequent setups. Integrating short print runs into an overall business plan isn’t as easy as it might sound. To accommodate customer demand for these types of runs, a package printer must do its homework long before actually accepting the orders. Impact of shorter runs Print jobs that are shorter than the norm impact printers’ businesses and business operations, but not necessarily negatively as long as they are proactive. “Our short-run sales increased by 50 percent