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With its multiple colors and coatings and foil stamping of coins in two shades of gold, the label for the Bacardi Rum bottle is a particularly challenging one to print, requiring exact control throughout the many stages of production. “The Bacardi label is one of the most difficult labels to produce in the industry because of the tight registration involved with multiple steps of the production process,” says Trey Smart, president of St. Louis Lithographing Company, St. Louis, Mo., a $20 million printer that produces labels for Bacardi Rum, one of its largest customers. “It’s very difficult to keep everything in register, and our customer tolerances are tight. The finished product has to be perfect—the customer won’t accept anything less.” After the label is printed, it leaves the pressroom to be coated and foil stamped with the gold coins in dull gold and a shiny gold border. The label then returns to the pressroom for additional printing over the foil prior to embossing and specialty cutting. Enough for An Ocean of Spirits
In order to improve overall quality and speed turnaround times for all of its customers, St. Louis Litho recently installed a new large-format press—a KBA Rapida 142, an eight-color, 56½ sheetfed machine with UV printing and inline coating capabilities. Smart says that the press also will enable the company to complement its existing metallized work with printing on plastics, styrenes, and other non-porous substrates. According to Smart, the investment promises to solidify St. Louis Litho’s position as a full-service premium packaging printer. Having printed labels for the distilled spirits industry for over 60 years, the company recently made a strategic decision to expand beyond its roots to become a full-service specialty supplier providing a broader range of premium packaging services. Smart says the company undertook about 10 months of rigorous testing with various press manufacturers before selecting the KBA press. “We gave them the most difficult work that we print on a variety of substrates, including film, metallized substrates and 60-lb. litho label stock. In order to be successful, we knew we had to complement our existing UV capabilities with today’s latest proven technology, which this press offered.” Across-the-Board Speed Increase The press is fully automated with automatic plate hanging; the digital workflow technology known to printers as “CIP3”; and a closed-loop color system for color consistency. The press is also equipped with a GRAFIX UV (ultraviolet) system to provide inter-station UV drying. “These along with many other advancements will increase our makeready, run, and wash-up speeds, allowing us to meet the continuing demands of our customers,” says Jack Vogel, St. Louis Litho’s operations manager. The large sheet size of the KBA press is consistent with St. Louis Litho’s history of high-volume production with large-format equipment. “With our ability to meet our customers’ stringent quality requirements in a large-format environment, we have a clear advantage over our competition,” says Ed Relling, vice president of sales. “Traditionally, it has been difficult for large-format presses to perform as well as 40” or smaller presses. However, technology has helped to level the playing field.” The new press also is suited to printing with new hybrid inks that can achieve the quality and runnability of conventional inks, but with the faster drying times of UV inks. Smart says that the faster drying times, combined with automatic plate changing and press presetting from the console, further reduce makeready times, enabling St. Louis Litho to offer quicker turnaround times to its customers.
Smart says that the job was successfully produced on the new press with hybrid inks over a metallized substrate. The package then was finished with registered multi-level embossing to further enhance shelf appeal. “Since our company was founded, we’ve established a solid reputation as a high end label printer,” says Smart. “Moving forward, we wanted to be in a position to offer our customers a product line beyond labels to encompass all aspects of their packaging, including point-of-purchase marketing materials for promotions and other specialty packaging products.”
Thank You, President Roosevelt St. Louis Litho opened as a small trade shop in 1921 and grew into a specialty printer in downtown St. Louis. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the company seized the opportunity to enter into the growing market for wine and spirits labels, a market that it continues to dominate today. By 1950, labels became a specialty of the house, allowing St. Louis Litho to expand and focus its business on this market segment. The company was acquired in 1969 by Pet Inc., which built a 90,000-sq.-ft. plant at the present location. Another 10,000 square feet of administrative space has since been added. In the 1970s, St. Louis Litho began printing Whitman’s Sampler candy wraps, and the company began to diversify. Over the next two decades, the company invested in new two-, six-, and eight-color KBA presses; Bobst embossing and foil stamping equipment; and a Bilholfer coater. More recently, the company upgraded its prepress department by adopting computer-to-plate technology and installing a new Kodak Approval XP proofing system. Smart says that all of these technology investments were made to help the company move towards its vision of the future. “Combined with the level of craftsmanship of St. Louis Litho employees, we are positioned better than ever to achieve our vision of being a premier packaging supplier.” |
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© 2004-2008 ST Media Group International. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without consent from publisher.
DECEMBER 4, 2008
1:00 PM EASTERN
This special 90-minute webinar will feature up-to-date insights into the market forces affecting package design and sustainability. Registration is FREE for the first 100 participants. An $89.99 fee applies for all subsequent registrants. Attendees will receive a copy of Packaging Sustainability: Tools, Systems and Strategies for Innovative Package Design (a $49.95 value) by Wendy Jedlicka.
Keynote Address by:
MINAL MISTRY
Project Manager, Sustainable
Packaging Coalition/GreenBlue
COMPASS is an online software tool for packaging designers and engineers to compare the environmental impacts of their package designs.
