Albéa brings flexo art and platemaking capabilities inhouse with the help of a full-service APR team
With a flexo press that prints a wide variety of toothpaste and other tube-contained products, Albéa was heavily dependent on a third-party vendor for their artwork and platemaking. Besides the significant art and platemaking expense, this global consumer packaging company was also frequently challenged with tight timelines and shrinking deadlines.
Although they were happy with the service and plates they were receiving from their art and platemaking vendor, the logistics of outsourcing sometimes made it impossible to get plates delivered quickly. Without inhouse capabilities for speedy platemaking, and with costs adding up, Albéa looked to APR for a comprehensive solution.
"If we needed plates for a job in the middle of the night, we didn't have that capability," says Julio Lara, plant manager at Albéa. "We needed a solution that would allow us to turn around plates in literally a couple of hours, which was not logistically possible with a third-party vendor, no matter how good they were or how hard they tried. Plus, we always needed the artwork and two sets of plates created and delivered for each job, which was costing us a lot of money."
After an in-depth evaluation of the equipment, software and processes available in the flexo market, the team at Albéa chose APR, in part, because of the turnkey solution they offered.
"We looked at several solution providers that offered many kinds of products and technologies, but APR was able to offer us a true turnkey package that could do everything, which is exactly what we wanted," says Lara. "Other vendors tried to position themselves in a similar way, but it was clear APR was the only one that had the products, software, training and knowledge base to help us feel confident that we were going to get an end-to-end solution that would meet our needs."
Team Effort, Training and Workflow
APR assembled a comprehensive team with Esko, bringing a complete flexo pre-press and platemaking solution to this leading packaging provider. Once all the equipment was selected, the process of implementing and putting together the pre-press and platemaking room was underway in January of 2012. APR representative Tim Reece helped with the layout and logistical details in order to optimize the space. APR representative Catherine Haynes was charged with the pre-press workflow and implementation. And APR representative Catherine Green worked with the Albéa team on the platemaking process.
Catherine Green conducted training on platemaking for the project: "Training the staff at Albea was a great experience. It's always a pleasure to do training with a group of people who are enthusiastic about what they do, especially when implementing a completely new process."
Another major piece of the puzzle was establishing a new workflow process from graphics through plate-making. "Once they had the equipment, software and tools in place, we wanted to make sure the Albéa crew was fully equipped with a process to streamline the advancement of a job through plate-making. Ultimately this is why they invested in this equipment and workflow. The pre-press configuration and training really focused on automating the pre-press and platemaking workflow as much as possible," says Catherine Haynes.
The "X Factor"
A collaborative effort, an efficient, turnkey solution, and comprehensive training were all key factors that helped the team at Albéa decide on APR as their partner in bringing flexo pre-press and digital platemaking inhouse. But it was a nearly intangible "X factor" that helped them ultimately choose to embark on this pretty complex and challenging implementation.
"It was the level of commitment APR showed us that was the final deciding factor," say Lara. "Naturally, we were all a little nervous about a lot of new equipment and software, as well as an entire process we've never been able to do ourselves. I didn't know what we needed or wanted, so we knew we'd have to lean heavily on our partner for knowledge, training and support.
"When David Nieman, President of APR, came down here himself, it made a big impact on our decision. He was very firm about their level of commitment, and told us personally that he and his team 'would never let us fail.' I knew then and there that we had chosen the right partner."