New Year - New Offerings
Sharon Keevins • August 14, 2020
New Year - New Offerings
2019 saw some progress towards a wider offering of "green" materials and adhesives. We touched on this during the year and indeed sent samples of some options. If you have any questions or would like samples then please contact us.
Grass paper, offers excellent credentials, using 97% less energy and 99% less water, while offers CO2 savings of around 25% when compared to a standard wood pulp processing, however the "colour" and "finish" of this product we would guess are hurdles to this product becoming widely used. To confirm, this product is NOT biodegradeable or compostable.
(Grape, Marble and other options are also available, however these are a route to offering products from sustainable sources rather than offering the same resource savings.)
Several manufacturers are now able to supply "compostable" adhesives on semi gloss and "Eco" Thermal papers along with some some filmic products, however, while we have supplied some labels already, these options are currently expensive, the raw material around 3 - 4 times the cost of equivalent "standard" products. We are sure, that once the demand grows we will see an improvement in pricing.
Material produced from recycled paper, PE etc, are more widely available, one offering of a semi gloss paper,is also supplied on a backing produce from 15% recycled product, these have lower MOQ and are less price sensitive, some with very little increase on a standard material.
Linerless technology / labelstocks are also coming to the market, the feeling around these is that they are aimed at the high volume runs, currently they will also need to be applied through applicators made to suit each material, so investment is also needed in applicator lines. So, these options could be expensive, but would remove the waste backing paper, which due the silicone is hard to recycle.
It is fair to say that more options are talked about and "we" need to start using and supplying labels produced from some of the above, something we are currently looking at.
Carbon Capture & FSC - For our most of our none adhesive materials, we are now offsetting carbon via the Woodland Trust carbon capture scheme, while from January 2020 we will be FSC approved / compliant.
New Arrivals -
Its a new year, and we are looking forward to some new arrivals here, firstly a new anilox cleaner, this should allow better colour consistency and less "down" time.
Next a new re-winder, which is a direct replacement for one of our old machines, and while will improve efficiency, more importantly, will make the operators life a little easier.
It does though have the capability to use 19mm I/D cores, something we have struggled with before.
Exciting news
Celebrating International Print Day 2025
New ERP system loading...
Richard Phillips’ 25 Years Service – 28 August 2025
Simon Miller’s Retirement – 8 th August 2025
Secura Labels awarded EcoVadis Silver Medal for Sustainability
2024 A little look back at 2024 and into 2025 - Further press investment, as a further Focus Label Machinery Limited Proflex arrived in February, this 4 colour machine, our first fitted with LED curing, will have automated finishing through one of our turret rewinders. Investment continues in 2025 as we are currently installing a new MIS system, which will allow shop floor data collection, improved stock control etc... We also look forward to celebrating some long service awards during the Year. With much achieved in 2024, we are looking forward to a further successful 12 Months!
Cutters / dies, we carry a vast library of cutters, 1,000`s in fact. Most of these are magnetic, thin metal sheets, attached to magnetic bases, which means that many are interchangeable across our machines. We do still use and order "solid" cutters, this can be for a range of reasons, one of our cutter suppliers, Kocher & Beck, offer a view on the Pros and Cons between Flexible and Solid cutters here . Once a cutter / die is made it is not possible to alter, a new one would be needed to change any aspect, corner radius, gap between labels etc..... It should also be noted that cutters made to cut certain materials, say direct thermal paper, may not be able to cut a PP. This is much like your kitchen knives, a butter knife would not be used for slicing bread for instance, like our cutters, cutting angles, even material, could be different. We do always try and order a cutter to cover as wide a range of material as possible, but sometimes this is not possible. Cutter setting is one of the most critical aspects of our production, getting the die "strike" just right can be the difference between a job running well and not. Too heavy a "strike", and we risk cutting through the backing paper, giving you, the user, issues. Not heavy enough and we will have issues with stripping the waste matrix and not be able to run at an acceptable press speed. Cutter care also plays a part here and we expect our operators to maintain a high standard of care. All of our operators, indeed all of our staff, have been through the Kocker & Beck Training Academy where they learned various aspects of cutter setting, care of cutters, alongside seeing how a cutter is made. We are always open to visitors, so if you wanted to find out more about cutters, give us a call and arrange to drop in. Common Questions - "I want to change the gap between the labels, I wont need a new cutter will I?" Once cutter is made, it is not possible to change any aspects, so to change a gap or corner radius would mean a new cutter. "I have just order some labels on semi gloss paper, but you are quoting a new cutter for a PP job of the same size, why? " Much like your kitchen knives, a butter knife would not be used for cutting bread, a cheese knife not used for preparing vegetables. Cutting angles and even material could be different for best cutting a PP compared to a paper. "Can I have any size label, any shape?" Within reason yes, our current smallest cutter is 5mm dia, our largest 312 x 416mm (this the largest we could produce), but you can have any size. As for shapes, we can, or at least the cutter makers can, make quite complex shapes, the biggest factor we need to consider, is can we strip the waste from a very complex shape? "How much time does a new cutter add to my order?" Usually, a new cutter would be with us in around 48 hours, so there should be no major impact on delivery times. "Why can I never get a simple gap of say 3mm, why is it 3.4mm?" Our machines, and so cutters, work based on imperial measurement, 1/8" gearing. This does mean that cutters / print cylinders need to fit into increments of 1/8", which results in the gaps it does. "How heavy are the cutters?" They can be very heavy, 25kg +, but all of our machines are equipped with lifting equipment to lift the cutters in and out.
Our MD, Simon, turns 60 in August, and to mark the occasion, he is on a fundraising effort. He aims to raise funds for the Charity " Children with Cancer ", via the Le Jog Sisters Spin on the Square event, but with other "challenges" throughout 2024. "My five Grandchildren are, luckily, fit and healthy and so I wanted to do something to help those not as fortunate as we are." As many of you will be aware, Simon is no stranger to charity fundraising, his previous "challenges" include - Trekking in Nepal, Trekking to Machu Picchu in Peru, Climbing the High Atlas in Morocco, Cycling across the Sinai Desert and around Europe on the Three Cities Ride, to highlight just a few! Please, if you are able, consider donating to this great cause - https://www.justgiving.com/page/spin-on-the-square-2024 - any amount, large or small, will be gratefully received! Simon`s list of "challenges" 9th March - Loggerheads 10k - Off road trail run - "A tough run, big "climbs", "technical" downhills, but fun, especially the second lap when the route was familiar " 17th March - Fradley 10k Road Race - "My aim was sub 60mins, its four years plus since I ran 10k, so at sub 55mins, just, a success! A busy run with many more people than I had guessed, the sunshine a welcome addition!" 7th April - Cathedral to Castle - 10 mile run - "A much longer distance than I have run for many years, the challenging multi terrain route, not made any easier by storm Kathleen, with the gusting wind making going hard. I didn't know what to expect time wise, but thought 1 hour 45 minutes a good target, with a harder route than I had guessed, my 1 hour 38 minutes felt a good time, finishing 458 out of 1027 runners" 20th April - Dirty Reiver - 130km / 2100mts Climbing - Off road / gravel cycle around Kielder Forest - "Picking up a cough & cold where not part of the Reiver plan, nor was a very frosty start after a night camping, but wow, what an event. Described by some as the UK`s toughest gravel ride, it did not disappoint. Despite the cough, I did manage to finish in 6 hours 57 minutes, so under my 7 hours target, coming home in around 400th place out of some 800 finishers (130k route). Some fast downhill on gravel forest tracks, topping out at 33mph, had the heart racing, as did the 7,000+ ft of climbing..... a great day in the saddle" To get a feel of the event you can watch one of the many YouTube videos Here . 1st May - Spin on the Square May - The Hodge - 100 mile "reliability trial" 25th / 26th May - Headstock 200 - 200km / 4500mts Climbing - 2 Day "bike packing" " adventure " 7th - 8th June - ? 14th June - Brooksie"s Bash - 10 mile trial run 6th October - Dovedale Dash - Trail run + Keep an eye on our "Social Media" for updates on Simon`s progress! (Links in bold)
Further investment as 4th Focus Proflex arrives at Secura Labels. This 4 colour, 13", LED curing equipped printing press joins the other 3 Proflex machines in use. Richard Phillips, Secura`s Production Manager stated "The need for a further press has been driven by an increase in longer running multi colour label work, seeing our existing 6 colour Proflex often over capacity. This new machine will relieve this problem while also allowing us to run our current 4 colour Proflex as a dedicated machine for our fanfolded and sheeted label production" Simon Miller, Secura MD, added "While we looked at other press manufacturers for this latest investment round, our long standing relationship with the Focus management team, technicians and staff, made the final decision an easy one. The press will be a welcome addition and will help ease production bottle necks while adding some welcome capacity" The new press will be predominately running 2 - 4 colour work, with direct finishing through an A B Graphic turret rewind unit. Read what Focus said here
