Versatile UV Inkjet Label Press Positions 50-year Label Leader for Future Growth
SCREEN announced the recent installation of the graphic arts equipment leader’s Truepress Jet L350UV inkjet label press at Ample Industries, Inc., a full service label converter located in the Springfield, Missouri metropolitan area. Ample, is celebrating its 50th year in business and serves national, international and regional customers providing custom and specialty labels for food, beverage, wine, pharmaceuticals and supplements along with non-prime label applications.
Ample, which converts a wide range of labels and packaging for all sizes of customers across the US, recognized over the past several years the increasing need for a quality digital label printing solution with the versatility and speed to meet the fast turnaround and quality needs of its growing customer base.
“We know that the future is inkjet,” Natalie Spradlin, Ample Label’s vice president said. The company integrated digital into their production scheme over the past 10 years with the purchase of several devices which at the time were very good, but Spradlin readily admits the robust innovations in quality and speed innovations evident in its new Truepress JetL350UV press have moved the bar higher for inkjet technology.
“The SCREEN technology is impressive. It’s fast. The print quality is above and beyond our previous digital experience. And it’s easy to use,” she added. “We needed a solution that could hit our quality targets, meet the short-to-medium run job needs and get them done quickly.
Ample investigated several manufacturers in their pursuit of new label inkjet equipment and confessed SCREEN, as an inkjet label press maker, was fairly new to the company. However, after providing difficult-to-print test files she calls “ringers” to the several candidates for her business and seeing the results the Truepress JetL350UV achieved, she proclaimed, “SCREEN is pretty great! We looked at all options in inkjet. Although many were very good, SCREEN’s quality of print is superior.”
One particular “ringer” file included a process-color, neutral gray gradient that caused color shifts for other manufacturers conducting their press tests. “SCREEN passed all our tests, including the problem gradient file with flying colors! Not so with the other press manufacturers,” Spradlin said. “SCREEN’s test results were a definite stand-out!”
Ample Label’s visit soon thereafter to SCREEN’s Demonstration Center in Rolling Meadows, outside of Chicago, to see the Truepress JetL350UV in action was the piece de resistance, according to Spradlin. “The quality was too good to be true. But seeing was believing.”
Another plus that affirmed Ample’s decision to adopt the Truepress technology was SCREEN’s conviction and commitment to its performance. “One of the managers staked his reputation on the equipment. He was genuinely proud of the machine… and that told us what we needed to know about doing business with SCREEN,” Spradlin said.
From the moment Ample flipped the switch on its own Truepress L350UV press installed earlier this year, its quality and efficiency were stellar. “We pride ourselves on meeting and exceeding customer expectations, and the L350 helps us do just that,” she said.
Spradlin’s father David Menzies founded Ample Industries in 1968, and retains the title of president. “His goal has always been that Ample combines cutting edge technology and outstanding print quality with personalized service,” Spradlin said. The company likes to tell its customers, whether they need a hundred labels or a million, Ample can provide a label printing solution. Ample employs 60 people over two shifts per day.
The label converter’s customers are impressed by Ample’s ability to print with the opaque white that is a distinct advantage of the L350UV. “It is truly excellent and makes many of the label designs we print very exciting,” said Spradlin. The press’s swiftness also is key to meeting the short turnaround demands of Ample’s customers. Its peak printing speed of 164 feet per minute (or 173.2 square feet of printed labels per minute) helps the company live up to its rally cry, “Labels by three or they’re free,’” she said. Also, the company finds they are pushing the run lengths on the L350UV out longer than they originally thought feasible or efficient. “However, our general manager saw that it is much easier to make changes to an art file rather making new plates for Flexo to meet long run requirements.”
Spradlin summed up her thoughts about SCREEN and their Truepress Jet L350UV: “Because SCREEN sticks to its promises, we can stick to ours. We look forward to continuing our association with SCREEN.”
www.screenamericas.com
