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Another Gallus RCS 430 label press for Multiprint Labels Ltd

If a company has been in the highly competitive self adhesive label business for almost 50 years it must be doing something right. Multiprint Labels Ltd situated at Swords near to Dublin airport is fast approaching that landmark anniversary in 2014.

At the core of Multiprint Labels’ business ethic is customer care which extends from offering advice on meeting exacting printing and legislative requirements to supplying labels in a very short time frame when required. This is something which many Irish and UK supermarket chains appreciate. Morrisons, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencers, the Co-operative and Waitrose include Multiprint Labels on their list of approved suppliers. An impressive achievement is the high customer loyalty, in fact, the longest serving customer has been with Multiprint for more than 25 years.

 

Multiprint_Gallus_RCS_1_web The new Gallus RCS 430 label press at Multiprint Labels Ltd.

Multiprint Labels started by supplying printed products for the food industry using letterpress printing in flatbed form in 1964. The company was producing a few labels as a side job when wet glue applications were at their height. In order to keep up with the ever increasing demand for self adhesive labels it soon became evident that something would have to change. It was at this point that Multiprint made the decision to invest in a roll label press, a Kopack which was then the first in Europe. Very soon it became apparent that the current premises were not large enough to allow the company to expand. The proposed move coincided with the crash of many companies at that time and so the current modern industrial unit became available and Multiprint moved in.

In 1985 the company bought a Gallus R 250 press which was the first to be installed in Ireland followed by two Gallus R 300 presses all of which were being used to supply the food industry. The company had built its reputation in the food industry and a decision was made to enter the beers, wines and spirits arena as this was considered to be a stable yet growing market area offering many new opportunities. In 2001 Multiprint bought a Gallus EM 410 ten colour press to enter the health and beauty market and supply Proctor and Gamble.

The company, over the years, has been very successful in the wine markets especially the keenly guarded Australian wines segment. The wines would be supplied in bulk and bottled in the UK. By using only 6 colours plus foiling Multiprint were able to offer the same quality and considerable cost savings compared to the labels which were being produced in Australia using 12 colours plus foiling. In March 2010 Multiprint bought another ten colour Gallus EM 410 press to allow even more flexibility and capacity.

The demand for labels has been changing over the past few years from holding stock of regular labels to Just In Time (JIT) logistics which means label jobs must be turned round in about 3 days instead of having the luxury of calling off stock. At the same time the decision was made to expand in a more focussed way into the spirits, wine and other high value markets. For these reasons the management decided to purchase a new press. After considerable research the decision was made to buy a Gallus RCS 430 flexo press with the potential for printing ten colours. The new press was installed in March 2012.

There is potential for utilising ten flexo printing units or five offset heads or any combination plus an easy to use foiling unit. This new press immediately gave the company much more flexibility. With the option for adding screen heads and an embossing unit if required, the Gallus RCS 430 is printing high quality labels since a few days after the installation.

One of the very useful features of the new Gallus RCS 430 press is the ability to change printing heads without breaking the web which saves so much time compared to the old days of 15 minutes on the Gallus EM 410 press and up to an hour on the AFM. Bill Smyth, Technical manager adds “With our excellent pre-press department we are able to make the best use of the consistency, speed, flexibility and economics of the Gallus RCS 430. It is all about relationships with your press manufacturer. We buy quality to last and the technical support to go with it. To be competitive you have to keep up with technology.”

 

 

Multiprint_Gallus_RCS_2_web High usability on the remarkable quiet new Gallus RCS 430.

It is remarkable how quiet the new press is. In addition the Gallus RCS 430 saves valuable make ready time and material with impressive colour consistency and gear marking is a thing of the past thanks to the servo drive motors. “A really nice feature, apart from being easier to use, is the new foil separator which automatically separates the hot foiling unit when the press is stopped, this saves us so much time on the press” says Owen, a senior press operator. “The ability of having on-line help 24 hours a day gives us great confidence when running this new press” he continued.
Thanks to the comprehensive training regime at the Gallus factory and in house at Multiprint the operators have been able to get up to speed very quickly since the installation in March.

“From a Quality Assurance perspective it is important that instant decisions are made regarding quality which is a lot easier with our new Gallus RCS 430 press,” commented Ruth O’Hanlon Quality Control manager. “Consistency of quality is much more dependable, even compared to our older presses.”
Over the years Multiprint has consistently won awards for the quality of their work including TLMI (USA), EFTA (UK), FlexoTech and the Irish Print awards. ISO 9001/2000, PS 9000 and Food packaging accreditation ensures the highest standards will be met at all times.

 

Asked what milestones the company will have achieved in 3 years time for its 50th anniversary. “We will expand our wine portfolio be established in the sprits business in Ireland and Europe and be a force to be reckoned with in the health and beauty markets.” commented Bill Smyth.
With the investment in their new Gallus RCS 430 press and their absolute dedication to high level customer service, there is no doubt that Multiprint will meet those objectives with ease.

 

Source: http://www.gallus-group.com

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