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New York Label & Box Works unites labels, carton production

Adyasha Sinha — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:38:33 +0000

Folding cartons 10 August 2026

New York Label & Box Works unites labels, carton production

Third-generation family-owned company brings together labels and in-line folding carton production, offering customers faster time‑to‑market.

New York Label & Box Works is redefining what it means to be a modern packaging converter. The 148-year-old company, based in New York’s Long Island, has been steadily expanding into folding carton, bringing both label and carton capabilities under one roof.

The company is unique in offering both labels and folding cartons. New York Label & Box Works can streamline its production, match labels and cartons, reduce complexity and offer customers a faster time-to-market at a lower cost.

Equipment

New York Label & Box Works offers both sheet-fed and in-line carton production and pressure-sensitive labels. The labels are produced on twin 10in, 10-color legacy Mark Andy presses, while in-line carton production is done on a pair of Edale FL5 presses, first installed in 2021. New York Label & Box Works was the first converter in the US to invest in the 20in, 8-color Edale in-line folding carton press.

With the Edale press, the converter can print on both sides of 700-micron board material and offer its customers other value-added features, such as coating, laminating, cast-and-cure, varnishes, foil stamping and embossing and in-line die-cutting, all in a single pass. But what brands really love, the company says, is its ability to match color between label and folding carton jobs.

New York Label & Box Works president Steven Haedrich explains that this process allows its customers to achieve brand and color consistency across formats, a quicker time-to-market and reduced costs. Offering those same value-adds and embellishments on a sheet-fed production line would mean higher operational costs and longer lead times.

“I looked at our customers who were ordering labels and cartons, and I said, ‘well what if we could do both?’ It’s kind of a no-brainer”

‘A big factor for our investment [in Edale FL5 machines] was the ability to embellish in-line, including front and back printing, film lamination, cold foil and the use of specialty UV ink,’ Haedrich said at the time of the installation. ‘There are so many advantages to running everything in-line rather than on separate pieces of equipment as in a typical sheet-fed factory,
which takes more time, needs more people and ultimately costs more.

‘Our investment allows us to present to our clients new embellishment possibilities, a lower cost of manufacturing due to greater operational efficiency and speed of response. Traditionally, it can take between eight and 16 weeks for carton production. We aim to reduce this time by at least 50 percent.’

Deming philosophy

The agile operation at New York Label & Box Works not only reflects where the industry is headed, but it’s a philosophy
rooted in the management theories outlined by Dr W Edwards Deming.

The team at New York Label & Box Works setting up an Edale press

Deming is an American statistician and management thinker whose principles for operational performance were popularized after WWII and became widely recognized after a revealing documentary was produced in the 1980s. Deming
transformed manufacturing by focusing on quality, efficiency and continuous improvement. Haedrich not only took the Deming management principles to heart but also wove them throughout every facet of the business. Haedrich also serves as a board member in the Deming Institute, a group that honors the teachings of Dr Deming.

At its core, the Deming philosophy focuses on building a system that consistently produces quality outcomes and continuously refines processes, products and services. Businesses should reduce variation, as stability and predictability are essential for quality, Deming says.

The Deming philosophy appears well-timed for today’s label converter, many of whom are reassessing their position in the packaging value change and diversifying their product portfolios.

“You must have quality and must have innovation, and when you can do those two things, well, you’ll be on the path to success”

Reducing press variability means better print quality; process control means less waste; supplier relationships mean more
stable performance; and continuous improvement means easier expansion into new areas. For New York Label & Box Works, that meant a move into in-line folding cartons.

‘One of the key tenets of the Deming philosophy is that you’ve
got to innovate and delight your customers,’ Haedrich explains. ‘If your customer is buying a label and a carton, you’re helping them by producing both. I looked at our customers who were ordering labels and cartons from other suppliers, and I said, “What if we could do both?” It’s kind of a no-brainer.’

Haedrich became interested in Deming’s philosophy shortly
after taking over operations at New York Label & Box Works in
1996, when the company’s largest customer demanded improved quality from all its vendors. He then began reading everything he could about quality. He soon discovered that in every book he read, Deming’s name appeared. Haedrich credits the Deming philosophy for guiding the company through economic ups and downs, and shaping decisions that didn’t always look obvious at first glance.

Haedrich admits that he’s not particularly risk-averse. Especially if he’s confident it’s the right business move. This no-fear attitude led him to invest in a second Edale carton press before the first had reached full capacity. In his view, it
wasn’t a gamble, but a necessity.

The Loupe and Labels & Labeling team with Steven Haedrich from New York Label & Box Works

‘A client does not want to walk into my shop and see one press,’ Haedrich says. ‘Their immediate reaction is what if this press goes down? How will I get my cartons? So, I’m of the opinion you had to have two machines.

‘My people just looked at me and said I was crazy. But if you
look at every single innovator in the last 200 years, they’ve all
been called crazy. I’m not innovating. I’m just using innovative
technology, and to my customers, their perception is we’re ahead of the curve. And that’s everything.’

Customers

New York Label & Box Works caters to the vitamin, cosmetic and food industries. In addition to color consistency and a ‘one-stop-shop’ mentality, what customers really love is the speed-to-market it provides.

‘Our biggest competitive advantage is that we can turn around
jobs faster than any billion-dollar printer,’ Haedrich says. ‘And
that is the magic bean. Because the world changes so quickly,
people can’t accurately predict their inventory levels. When
they’re out of labels or cartons, they’re out. So, we’ve got to get to the order quickly. It’s very difficult to predict people’s buying patterns right now.’

History

New York Label & Box Works was founded in 1878 in New York City, providing labels and folding cartons to pharmacies across the city. ‘At the time, pharmacies were like Starbucks; there was one on every corner. It was a very good business back then,’ Haedrich says.

In 1930, Frederick Haedrich Sr, Steven’s grandfather, purchased the company. Steven is the third generation in his family to run the company. Today, the company has 53 employees.

Examples of jobs run at New York Label & Box Works

As New York Label & Box Works has evolved from labels to
cartons, it has maintained a focus on high-quality production
by leveraging advanced technology and maintaining strong
vendor relationships.

‘We don’t beat up vendors,’ Haedrich says. ‘We want them to
make money. We want them to stay in business. We want them to continue to be our partner. We want them to continue to help us improve our quality continuously.’

It’s exactly what New York Label & Box Works looks for in its
own customers as well.

‘It’s always messy, it’s always challenging, there’s always a
learning curve. But Dr Deming said, “You must have quality and must have innovation, and when you can do those two things, well, you’ll be on the path to success”.’

Edale on the future of folding carton

Technology alone will not define success in 2026. Workflow
intelligence and production resilience will.

Converters are no longer chasing a single perfect technology. Instead, they are building mixed fleets of digital, offset and flexo presses, and making practical decisions about which process fits each job best. It is less about tradition and more about what works.

Flexo’s role is shifting from a high-volume method to an efficient production platform, delivering automated, repeatable output, particularly where in-line finishing and process consolidation reduce complexity.

Automation will be judged less by how impressive it looks and more by what it removes: labor pressure, variability and work in progress. Stability, predictability and ease of operation will matter more than novelty.

At the same time, brand owners are pushing for consistency
across labels and packaging, further blurring the line between
label and carton production.

The converters who outperform in 2026 will be those who
simplify and use data to orchestrate production for efficiency,
quality and resilience.

Industry ambassador

Steven Haedrich, president of New York Label & Box Works, has been selected as a Loupe Americas 2026 industry ambassador. As a Loupe ambassador, Haedrich will share his
knowledge and insights on moving into in-line folding carton production. He joins ambassadors representing other segments and key topics. Katie Harrington of Winpack will
serve as future leader ambassador, David Totten of Nosco will serve as flexible packaging ambassador, Tyler Matusevich of Brook + Whittle will be sustainability ambassador and Corey
Reardon of AWA will serve as label market intelligence ambassador.

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Five generations in print at DWS Printing & Packaging

Adyasha Sinha — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 07:30:04 +0000

Conventional printing 07 August 2026

Five generations in print at DWS Printing & Packaging

New York-based DWS Printing & Packaging has been in business for 161 years. With a legacy in offset and flexo printing, it looks toward the future.

It could be said that the modern trajectory of DWS Printing &
Packaging was changed by a horseradish sauce company.
Of course, for a 161-year-old printing business, there were many twists and turns before a fateful condiment company
changed its direction. And there certainly were peaks and valleys after, but for this story, it all begins with horseradish.

It was 2008, and brothers Andy and Tom Staib were running DWS, a successful cut-and-stack label business on New York’s Long Island, catering to food and beverage brands.

One of its top customers, the aforementioned horseradish company, changed its packaging format from glue-applied cut-and-stack labels to a pressure-sensitive format. DWS was an
offset label printer with no flexo assets at the time.

So, the Staib brothers had a choice. Turn to flexographic printing or lose one of its biggest customers. Together with the deep expertise of its COO, John Gulino, DWS bought its first flexo press, a Nilpeter FB, which is still considered the workhorse of the facility, printing some of the company’s
longest flexo runs.

‘We noticed a lot of beverage brands were also going from cut-and-stack labels to pressure-sensitive labels or even shrink sleeve,’ Gulino says. ‘We saw that evolution and said if it’s going to happen to one account, it could happen to any one of them. We need to be able to change with our customers.’

‘You have to keep in mind that we knew nothing about flexo when we started looking at it,’ Gulino recalls, comically. ‘I was literally looking at the plate, saying: “why is it rubber?” We had no experience, except that we were losing a customer from our cut-and-stack side that we wanted to keep, and it was enough work to spend the money in the press to learn about it.’

Eighteen years after that first flexo purchase, pressure-sensitive labels make up half of the company’s jobs.

A defining moment

Another turning point for the company came in 2020, when Tom Staib passed away all of a sudden, a loss that profoundly
altered the organization.

Anyone who knew Tom knew he was just as passionate about the family business as he was about his own family. He was equally as enthusiastic about music as an avowed ‘Deadhead’ and drummer.

“It’s important for us to be as efficient as we can be so we can compete against anyone”

Tom’s presence is woven into the fabric of the facility. From the Grateful Dead stained glass hanging in the front window, to the rock concert photos that line the walls of the hallway to the office he once shared with his brother, Andy. Tom’s son, TJ, was then three years with the company when his father passed, assumed the role of president.

Tom was a well-respected and engaging figure in the label industry. He frequently attended TLMI events and other industry conferences, often called upon to speak on panels and happy to swap stories of successes and setbacks with fellow label converters. Tom was not afraid to take a leap of faith on new equipment if it meant moving the company in the right direction.

‘The move into flexo opened up a whole new area and marketplace to compete in,’ says Andy Staib, owner and CEO.

DWS was an early adopter of in-house platemaking and ink mixing, as well as expanded color gamut printing. In 2017, it was the first converter to purchase a new MPS EF Symjet hybrid press with Domino, which helped the company better serve the craft beer and beverage markets.

Rounding out its PS label assets is an Omet XFlex X-6 in-line flexo press that helped the company expand into shrink sleeves and further into roll-fed labels; and an HP digital press for its short-run shrink sleeves and PSL work. DWS runs a Heidlberg XL 106 press for its cut and stack labels.

‘Flexo changed the course and the direction of our business,’ Gulino says. ‘The Heidelberg gave us the capacity, the quality and the speed that we needed to keep competing in the market we were in. The Nilpeter gave us the speed, quality and capacity to get into completely different markets.

‘If we didn’t get into flexo, we wouldn’t be doing shrink sleeves or printing on films. I think without our first flexo equipment, we wouldn’t get the hybrid press, or the Omet press, or the HP. You probably wouldn’t have seen 15-plus people that we’ve employed to work on this equipment.’

History
DWS stands for David Weil’s Sons, a company that started as a lithographic printer in 1865 in New York City. Charles Staib, the great-great-grandfather to Andy, Tom and sister, Kathy, joined the company in 1888 and worked with the Weil family for more than 50 years, later becoming principal.

“We need to automate as much as possible, if not more, to remain competitive. We automate wherever we can”

Tom joined DWS Printing in 1987, at a time when the company’s growth was fueled by large beverage customers like Coca-Cola, Yoohoo and Snapple. Andy joined later in 1991, the pair assuming the roles of president and vice president in 1996. Kathy joined in 2013 after spending more than 25 years outside the company in print advertising sales. Kathy has since retired.

‘Back when I joined the company, it was really Tom and me. Tom inherited my uncle’s shoes, which was the administrative, due diligence and procurement side. You know, all the stuff I didn’t really care for and wasn’t very good at,’ Andy says, laughing. ‘I inherited my dad’s role, which was sales, which I really enjoy. Tom and I really had that balance.’

Today, TJ sits at the desk his father once occupied, while Andy and Andy’s daughter, Hope Staib, are across the large room. Tom, Andy, Kathy, TJ and Hope formed the fourth and fifth generations of this proud and enduring family business.

TJ oversees operations, planning and R&D. A graduate of Villanova (like his father), TJ went to work for Heidelberg in
Germany after graduation, before signing on at DWS in 2017.

Hope is the newest Staib to join the family business, taking over many of Kathy’s accounts and leading new sales and
marketing initiatives.

‘I think I’m bringing a young, fresh energy to it,’ Hope says.

And like any good Gen Zer, she takes a digital-first approach to finding new business, often using Instagram, LinkedIn or even Slack channels to scout for new leads.

‘I think I am trying to embrace the digital age, but I also know how important face-to-face meetings are,’ she says.

DWS Printing & Packaging were early pioneers of expanded gamut printing

Markets

DWS continues to serve food and beverage brands, including craft beer, while expanding into pet care and cannabis markets. Much of its growth is driven by the digital side of the business.

‘The cannabis industry has really come in strong for us and leads to a lot of growth on our digital machines,’ Andy says. ‘They have all the different strains, different percentages of THC and CBD, and it’s always changing, so these customers can’t order a lot, because if the strain changes, then those labels are no good. They need quick-to-market, short-run, high-quality. It’s perfect for digital.

‘But for us, our bread and butter are still our longer runs,’ Gulino adds.

Looking forward

While DWS’s history provides a strong foundation, the company is firmly focused on where it’s headed. They strive to be responsive, agile and ever evolving.

Longevity like that at DWS is increasingly rare in the North American label landscape, giving the company its competitive edge. Customers choose DWS for its adaptability and ability to move quickly to solve their problems, which they say is ‘just as valuable as the label itself.’

That mentality also reshaped production operations, with a stronger focus on efficiency at every stage.

Gulino says: ‘We compete against the big guys, and we have a lot of the same technology, but on a much smaller scale, and under one roof. So, it’s important for us to be as efficient as we can be so we can compete with anyone.

‘Being out on almost the furthest part of the East Coast, in a very expensive area, can make it very difficult. So, we need
to automate as much as possible, if not more, to remain competitive. We automate wherever we can.’

That automation at DWS starts the minute a job comes through the door.

Company leaders quickly recognized during the Covid-19 pandemic that the bottlenecks had shifted from the production floor to the front end of the business. A surge in orders during
that time meant that moving jobs through estimating, pre-press and the art department began to slow down overall production.

‘As we were increasing efficiencies in the pressroom, we were able to push out more work. It gave the sales team more tools to go out and sell more, but those files and all have to be entered into our systems, and estimates need to go out, or the
artwork needs to be automated, and that’s constantly evolving,’ Gulino explains.

‘Right now, our biggest focus is automating on the front end: how are we going to get the work into the art department fast? Because you still have to write up a job ticket, you still have to estimate it and enter it into our MIS system. How can you automate all that? For us, it’s very tricky because we’re dealing with a very wide range of clients, but we’ve come a long way.’

Honoring the past

While the company’s legacy speaks to resilience and continuity, the Staibs are open-minded about the future.

‘We get solicited all the time, and you know we never say never. But this has been in our family for 161-plus years; there’s a lot of weight to that.’

That enduring legacy feels especially poignant in light of Tom’s passing.

In a tribute video produced by Domino, Tom’s own words echo what generations built before him: ‘I think our forefathers
would be proud’.

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Jet Technologies expands Vietnam operations

Piotr Wnuk — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 04:40:30 +0000

Jet Technologies has strengthened its Vietnam operations less than two years after launching in the country, growing its active customer base by more than 250 percent, nearly tripling its local workforce and relocating to a new 500 sqm office and warehouse facility in Ho Chi Minh City.

The new facility is positioned closer to customer manufacturing operations and features expanded warehouse capacity, dedicated technical support areas and a purpose-built ink laboratory for local color matching, product testing and customer training. The company has also expanded its consumables offering to include UV flexo inks, foils and specialty films alongside its existing portfolio of printing and converting technologies, enabling customers to access equipment, consumables, technical expertise, training and after-sales support from a single local partner.

Demand is being driven by continued investment across food and beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, logistics and consumer goods sectors in Vietnam, creating opportunities for suppliers combining advanced technology with responsive local service.

'Across Southeast Asia, we're seeing a clear shift towards digital, flexographic and automated production as printers look for ways to improve efficiency and remain competitive,' said Jack Malki, managing director of Jet Technologies. 'Vietnam is a key part of that story, and we've seen strong demand from customers looking for both leading technology and local support. Our investment reflects the direction the market is heading.'

'As our customer base has expanded, we've needed to expand with it,' added Loi Huynh, country manager of Jet Technologies Vietnam. 'Being closer to our customers means we can spend more time on site, respond faster when support is needed and provide the practical technical expertise that helps them get the best performance from their equipment.'

'Vietnam is an important part of our Southeast Asian business, and we see significant opportunity ahead,' noted Malki. 'We'll continue investing in our local team, technical expertise and product offering so we can support customers as the market evolves.'

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Jet Technologies expands Vietnam operations

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Ho Chi Minh City facility triples workforce and adds ink lab as customer base grows 250 percent.

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Clemson University prepares students for print careers

Adyasha Sinha — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 11:28:35 +0000

Market trends 05 August 2026

Clemson University prepares students for print careers

Amid an industry struggling to find enough qualified workers, Clemson University’s graphic communications program is developing the future workforce.

Step inside the Advanced Lab at Clemson University’s Godfrey Hall, and you will see machinery donated from suppliers in the print industry. This includes a Nilpeter FA-17 and a Comco Captain press from 1990 that allow students to get a feel for printing labels. Outside of the Advanced Lab, Clemson University has two additional label presses: a Sohn 4400 small stack press and an Omet VaryFlex 530 press, the latter of which is in the university’s Sonoco Institute of Packaging Design and Graphics.

‘We’re not teaching them to be perfect every time,’ says Michelle Fox, a senior lecturer in Clemson University’s graphic
communications department. ‘We’re teaching them to learn how to make mistakes, think critically and figure out how
to solve problems.’

Clemson University’s graphic communications program prepares students for careers in the print industry, including label manufacturing. The university, located in Clemson, South Carolina, is a state school with about 24,000 undergraduate students and 5,000 graduate students. It offers one of the country’s leading graphic communications programs, with about 400 students, who learn the steps of print production, from Adobe design tools to platemaking and
print technologies, including flexography, offset and screen printing.

Alongside its graphic communications major, Clemson also offers a packaging science program that focuses on the structural and materials science aspects of packaging.

The graphic communications program is housed at Clemson University’s Godfrey Hall, while the packaging science program is located at the Sonoco Institute.

Students go into a variety of careers, including sales, branding, marketing and flexography. Fox notes an increasing trend of students pursuing roles in flexo, sales and R&D.

Education today

Clemson’s graphic communications program starts with the fundamentals, such as the principles of design and what plates are. Throughout their time in the program, students learn how to conduct market research, create promotional and
functional labels, and provide and receive peer feedback. Alongside these technical skills, students also learn employability, or ‘soft’ skills.

Fox says that education today focuses more on employability skills, such as having difficult conversations, owning deadlines
and taking charge of the learning process, than it did in the past.

‘So many of our students are coming in strong, motivated and highly intelligent,’ Fox says. ‘It’s those small little tweaks that I believe make us more dynamic, like thinking ahead of a deadline, speaking with more confidence and handling a project with more confidence.’

Fox has taught print for 20 years, 10 years at the high-school level and 10 years at the higher-education level.

She has seen the student body become more diverse, with more women and more ethnic diversity in the program.

“I really loved how wide open this major was, the number of options it offered”

Schools are still recovering from the changes brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, Fox says. It moved many students online, and teaching hands-on content to them in a virtual setting was
challenging. Though students are no longer learning virtually, the pandemic has had a lasting impact.

‘Confidence isn’t where it used to be in students,’ Fox says of the impact of Covid-19. ‘They’re so smart that if they give themselves the chance to be a little bit more confident, they could do so much more. One of the things I hope I instill in them, is the confidence to be independent and do really great things, or to try and fail at them. Making mistakes is really scary to them, and I think the fear of mistakes is one of the biggest changes I’ve seen. But I’ve also seen over the past year or two that with some gentle nudging, they’re really growing and having a lot more confidence.’

Student perspective

Caroline Yaman is going into her senior year as a graphic communications major at Clemson University. She chose to pursue this degree because she felt it would open a variety of opportunities for her.

‘I really loved how wide open this major was, the number of options it offered. Because I really don’t like being tied down
to one thing,’ Yaman says. ‘I loved how there were about 10 different tracks, which had both creative and technical aspects to it.’

Yaman is particularly interested in flexography. ‘It’s really interesting with all the complexities with it,’ she says. ‘I really enjoy platemaking and the pre-flooding process and color management. I’m a big problem solver; I really like working through things. With flexo, there are just so many things that can go wrong, and you have to figure them out. There are so many elements in it that you have to figure out to get the perfect print.’

The graphic communications program requires students to
undertake two internships. Yaman’s first was a sales internship at a commercial printing company; she intends for her second to be in flexo.

During her time as a student, Yaman has enjoyed running the Nilpeter and Comco presses and making plates. She has had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for the inks and substrates lab. Yaman has been able to attend industry events, such as the Flexo Pre-Press Platemakers Association conference and the Flexographic Technical Association’s Women of Flexo conference, with support from both Clemson University and the events themselves.

Labels produced on the Comco press in the Advanced Lab at Clemson University’s Godfrey Hall

For a future employer, Yaman wants someone who is, she says, ‘not only supportive of me and trusts me, but also has high expectations and pushes me. Learning is really important to me. So, an employer who encourages me and gives me opportunities to continue learning and not just stay stagnant.’

Challenges

Print programs in education are tackling one of the most significant issues facing the industry: the shortage of skilled labor. But these programs at both the high school and university levels are shrinking in number, as they close or get absorbed, leaving fewer funnels through which students enter the industry.

Fox believes that a longstanding myth that print is dying has
fueled closures of these programs.

‘That’s really concerning to me,’ Fox says. ‘It’s not that there is
a lack of need in the industry, because there very much is a need that’s being unmet.’

Fox wants to get the industry involved in keeping these
programs alive. She also hopes university students can help
keep them running by going to high schools themselves to teach these programs.

Fox herself has gone into elementary schools to introduce young students to basic print production concepts. She even once taught a group of girl scouts to run the Comco press.

‘If we can keep those high school programs alive and well, and feed them into the community college and college programs, that’s going to help keep the print programs stay healthy and ensure our workforce stays healthy,’ Fox says.

Additionally, Fox has seen companies in the industry pull back on offering internships in recent years due to smaller staff sizes.

‘They don’t necessarily have the bandwidth to take on interns,’
Fox says. ‘For our program that requires two internships, it makes it even more difficult to place students with meaningful experiences.’

Amanda Bridges, an assistant professor in Clemson’s graphic
communications department, has been teaching in higher
education since 2005.

She says that, like all fields in education, resources can be a
challenge, though Clemson University’s program fares well in that regard due to support from the print industry and the university. Some of the substrates, plates and machinery that students make use of are donated by industry suppliers. Finding qualified faculty who are interested in teaching can also be difficult.

“Any graphic communications educator would tell you that money, resources and just being able to get the things you need to teach can sometimes be an issue”

‘Any graphic communications educator would tell you that
money, resources and just being able to get the things you need to teach in this field can sometimes be an issue,’ Bridges says.

AI in the classroom

AI has been a complex topic in education across various fields
and levels. Fox doesn’t want students to rely on AI to do their thinking for them. Rather, she wants them to command AI and use it as an accessory.

‘I know our students are resilient. I know they’re leaders. I know that they have tons of skillsets, and they’re going to find
how to implement AI in the workplace to make things more
efficient, to make things part of a process, but not take over a
process,’ Fox says.

AI could create opportunities in the classroom. For example,
Fox would value having students provide and receive more peer feedback than they currently do, but they are limited on time. Feedback from an AI agent could potentially fill that space.

‘It’s not driving their decisions,’ Fox says. ‘It’s giving them a
litmus test opportunity to get a baseline before they take it to
their peers.’

In Bridges’ design classes, students learn to use generative AI
options in Adobe software products. Students also can use AI to generate some of the content in their designs.

‘We definitely want to be on the front end,’ Bridges says. ‘We
don’t want to be left behind in this. The industry is going to drive how we use it. It could just be a tool, or it could be something that really impacts our industry in some different ways. So, it’ll be interesting to see.’

Yaman says many of her professors support the use of AI in the classroom. In one of her classes, the students learned how to code and create personal assistants using AI.

‘You are going to go into the workplace, and you are going
to need to know how to use it,’ Yaman says. ‘I’ve been getting
opportunities to learn it a lot more and how to apply it responsibly in a design way and also in a practical production way.’

Overall, Fox is excited for the future of the industry for her
students and for how quickly it is changing.

‘The fact that there’s a press that runs off of an iPad, and now
we can add digital stations at the end – that’s something that I
never thought I’d see in my lifetime,’ Fox concludes.

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Australian paper body rebrands as APPIA

Piotr Wnuk — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 23:03:38 +0000

The Australasian Paper Industry Association has rebranded as the Australasian Paper and Packaging Industry Association, known as APPIA, reflecting the expansion of fiber-based packaging across Australia and New Zealand and the growing role of international mills and fiberboard substrate manufacturers in the regional supply chain.

Executive director Kellie Northwood said fiber-based packaging categories in Australia had grown more than 50 percent over the past decade, with APPIA's membership now spanning paper manufacturers, packaging converters, fiberboard substrate suppliers, merchants and recyclers.

'The industry we represent today is broader, more sophisticated and more strategically important than at any other point in recent history,' said Northwood. ‘Fiber-based packaging has experienced extraordinary growth across Australia and New Zealand as governments, brands and consumers seek more sustainable packaging solutions. Our Association has evolved alongside that growth, and it is critical our identity reflects the full breadth of the industries we represent.’

APPIA holds a seat on the APCO Materials Stewardship Committee and is engaged in consultations on kerbside recyclability frameworks and packaging guideline reforms. A new industry website is due to launch in the coming quarter.

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Australian paper body rebrands as APPIA

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Loupe session to explore labor market

Selah Zighelboim — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:52:16 +0000

Baby boomers are retiring, the younger generations are not large enough to fully replace them, and fewer people are choosing to enter the print industry.

This workforce dynamic is a pressing topic for many label converter business leaders, who frequently cite hiring as their greatest difficulty.

On Sept 16 at 12:15 pm at Loupe Americas 2026, Claudia St John, founder and CEO of The Workplace Advisors, and Carrie Aaron, general manager at Maryland-based converter Hub Labels, will sit down for a conversation about labor market dynamics.

‘Put simply: the labor pool is shrinking, aging and not being replenished, and this is hitting label and package printing hard,’ St John says.

Their conversation is a part of two days of educational programming at Loupe Americas. In addition to workforce development, sessions will explore RFID, packaging diversification and EPR compliance, among other topical subjects.

'We have been hearing about the “silver tsunami” for a long time,’ Aaron says. ‘The issue is not just a labels and packaging issue.’

St John says that the print workforce tends to skew older, and a retiring operator’s knowledge and skills can take years to replace. Underscoring this, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the US in 2030 will see more deaths than births for the first time.

Aaron notes that the labels industry hasn’t adopted as much automation as other manufacturing sectors, which can help alleviate labor shortages.

St John recommends that employers prioritize retaining their staff and ensure that their compensation rates are competitive. They should identify who might be retiring soon and look to hire earlier than they would have in the past to allow more time for training.

In addition to discussing the labor market, St John and Aaron will also explore practical strategies for navigating workforce challenges during their session.

'Effective hiring alone isn’t enough if retention and engagement are poor,’ St John says.

To hear more from St John and Aaron, visitors to Loupe Americas can purchase an all-access Education Pass, which includes admission to all keynotes, conference sessions and workshops. Education Pass holders will also receive recaps of each session so they can review takeaways and insights on presentations they may have missed.

To learn more and view the full two-day program, click here.

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Mark Andy, Talkin’ Things host RFID workshop in Poland

Adyasha Sinha — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:59:33 +0000

Interactive technology 31 July 2026

Mark Andy, Talkin’ Things host RFID workshop in Poland

Industry experts explore how smart labels are gaining momentum, as RFID continues to be incorporated across labeling and packaging.

RFID is shifting from an underused technology into a practical
tool, now being deployed at scale across packaging, retail
and logistics. As costs fall and regulatory pressure intensifies,
the industry is increasingly embedding smart labels into production lines to improve traceability, speed up operations and link physical products to digital data.

A recent RFID workshop by Mark Andy and Talkin’ Things in
Warsaw demonstrated how RFID can now be integrated directly into label production and move from specialist adoption to mainstream industrial use.

Talkin’ Things, based in Warsaw, Poland, is a technology
company that develops connected packaging technology using NFC and RFID chips that then enable interaction between physical products and supply chains.

During the workshop, the companies said that the adoption
of smart labels was slow between 2019 and 2022, but in 2023, the number of tags rose to 44.8 billion from 28.1 billion. This is predicted to climb to 171.8 billion by 2032 according to the most recent statistics from the graph on the right, with the retail sector accounting for more than half.

One of the constraints for investing in RFID labels has been cost, which, as the materials and technology become cheaper, will soon be less of an issue.

The workshop wasn’t just a high-level discussion around RFID
as a technology; it was centered around real-world applications. The focus of the workshop was to demonstrate how RFID can be integrated into label production environments, as shown in a live production demo on a Mark Andy Evolution Series E5 press at the Mark Andy demonstration center in Warsaw, followed by a visit to the Talkin Things RFID factory.

RFID inlays were applied in a single, streamlined workflow. This production-ready approach is becoming increasingly important as converters shift their attention from merely understanding RFID to actively exploring its implementation on the press floor.

Speaking at the RFID smart label workshop, Jacek Terski, sales and business development director at Talkin’ Things, explains how RFID is moving beyond a specialist technology and becoming a central tool for brands seeking traceability, efficiency and consumer engagement, using the graph to show how adoption has increased and how it is predicted to grow.

‘Each corporation wants to connect packaging with digital
identity,’ he says, adding, ‘RFID is currently the most practical
technology to achieve that.’

As the day progressed, it became clear that Mark Andy and
Talkin’ Things believed RFID could become one of the most
transformative developments in the labeling and packaging
industry, enabling brands to connect physical products to digital information and unlock new levels of supply chain visibility.

How RFID works
Unlike barcodes, RFID tags do not require line-of-sight to scan, allowing multiple items to be identified simultaneously.

This simultaneous identification was demonstrated during
Terski’s presentation. Bags were handed out upon entry, each fitted with an RFID label, bearing the guest’s name. Terski then walked up and down the room, and within seconds, every RFID label had been scanned and identified, proving how much time can be saved on a warehouse stock take, for example.

Terski says: ‘On one hand, you have the RFID label, which
contains a chip that stores information and an antenna that allows the tag to communicate with a reader.

‘The reader collects the data, but that’s only the beginning. You need a system to process and use that information; otherwise, the technology has no real value.’

Talkin’ Things provides software systems for its customers that
can be fully integrated into the current management systems,
which are then linked to the Talkin’ Things internal systems.

When discussing how the label performs in extreme conditions, such as extreme heat or cold, Terski notes that this is not a problem if the right components are used, including the adhesive.

“Each corporation wants to connect packaging with digital identity, and RFID is currently the most practical technology to achieve that”

However, he did say that a problem for the apparel sector is that RFID labels can lose effectiveness when close to the human body because the water in the body affects the radio frequency emitted by the microscopic chip. This problem still needs to be solved.

Regulations driving adoption

One reason RFID labels could be gaining traction in Europe is due in part to sustainability regulations. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) are forcing companies to take accountability by introducing measures to ensure transparency throughout the lifecycle of product packaging.

A key part of this will be tracking the materials used, their
composition, recyclability and carbon footprint. Terski shares that the materials used to create RFID labels are so small that they do not qualify for tracking under the regulations.

DPP will be rolled out gradually from 2026 across sectors
such as textiles, electronics and construction products, and each physical product will require a data carrier, such as a QR code, NFC chip or RFID tag.

As regulators demand more detailed sustainability reports and
lifecycle transparency, Terski believes that technologies like RFID could move from optional add-ons to essential components of the supply chain, as tracking material sustainability is not the only benefit.

Retail, the largest adopter

The technology has seen its fastest adoption in retail, particularly in clothing, where brands use RFID to improve inventory accuracy and automate stock management.

Major retailers, such as Walmart and Decathlon, are already
using RFID at scale to improve overall supply chain efficiency.
Decathlon has integrated the technology into its inventory
management and checkouts, which has resulted in an 11 percent increase in sales, holding onto inventory for 23 percent less time and reducing the time a customer spends at the checkout by two minutes on average.

However, Terski believes RFID adoption in retail is only just
beginning. Other sectors, including logistics, pharmaceuticals and food, are exploring the technology to enhance traceability and product authentication.

Terski says: ‘Retail started the adoption, but other industries are following. It’s the same technology used in contactless credit cards. With NFC-enabled RFID, a consumer can interact with a product using their phone.’

In simple terms, RFID is designed for speed and automation in industrial systems, while NFC is a short-range, consumer‑focused form of RFID, designed for controlled, one-to-one communication.

While the hardware is essential, Terski emphasizes that the
broader ecosystem around RFID, including software, data
management and system integration, is what delivers value.

‘The label generates data, but the real benefit comes from how that data is used,’ he says.

RFID in logistics

UPS is expanding its use of RFID package sensing technology across its US network. A key part of this rollout is the installation of RFID sensors across major hubs, alongside plans to introduce RFID label printing capabilities for customers between 2026 and 2027.

UPS is targeting a future where almost every package in its
network is RFID-enabled, supported by more than 100 million
USD already invested in the technology. Lower tag costs are a key enabler here, helping move RFID from specialized use cases, such as healthcare and retail, into a vast array of sectors.

RFID allows parcels to be automatically detected as they
move through the network, reducing manual scanning
processes, with UPS aiming to eliminate nearly 20 million
manual scans per day.

This could be a strong indicator that RFID is no longer an
emerging technology, but one that is increasingly being embedded into everyday logistics workflows at scale.

Inside the RFID factory

The Talkin’ Things workshop also gave attendees insight into the production capabilities of the company that operates an RFID manufacturing facility in Warsaw, Poland, through a tour of the factory. The company designs and manufactures RFID and NFC tags used across sectors, including retail and logistics.

“The label generates data, but the real benefit comes from how the data is used”

At the site, the company combines product design, prototyping and manufacturing under one roof, allowing engineers to develop and test RFID tags before moving them into production. R&D laboratories simulate the conditions labels would encounter in the real world, enabling engineers to develop the correct antenna designs and ensure tags perform reliably when embedded in various packaging types.

The production floor is equipped with bonding and converting
lines that attach microchips to antennas and transform inlays into RFID products such as labels and hang tags.

These lines can produce tens of thousands of smart labels per
hour while maintaining high-quality standards.

Quality assurance plays a central role in the process, as the chip must fit within a space of 120 microns, Terski shares. Advanced testing systems verify tag performance throughout both the design and production stages.

The company produces hundreds of millions of tags per year at the facility, highlighting how RFID manufacturing is growing to meet demand from global brands looking to digitize their products and supply chains.

Moving to necessity

As the workshop in Warsaw demonstrated, RFID is no longer
considered a niche technology. The technology is improving; chip prices are dropping, and more rules are being implemented. As a result, smart labels are becoming more common in the labeling and packaging industry.

While new skills pose as constraints in handling inlays, adhesives and testing systems, the benefits of adding RFID to labels outweigh the constraints. Brands want to see what’s happening in their supply chains, and regulators want more information on materials and sustainability, which could mean RFID labels could soon be a standard part of modern packaging.

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Avery Dennison inaugurates new distribution center in India

Akanksha Meena — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:07:19 +0000

Avery Dennison South Asia has inaugurated its new distribution center in Bengaluru, a significant step in the company's ongoing commitment to being closer to its customers.

The new facility is more than double than its earlier facility and is designed to support growing demand across labels, intelligent labels, tapes, graphics and reflective products.

The expanded facility reflects Avery Dennison's strategy of scaling its infrastructure ahead of demand, enabling the company to improve delivery speed and reliability as its business continues to grow. The facility is also home to a dedicated customer experience center, which provides brand owners with an opportunity to explore Avery Dennison's latest products and innovations first-hand.

Saurabh Agarwal, vice president and general manager, South Asia, Avery Dennison, said: ‘India remains one of our fastest-growing and most strategic markets globally. This investment goes beyond expanding warehousing capacity, it reinforces our long-term commitment to the region. As customer demand for speed and reliability accelerates, Avery Dennison is ensuring we do not just deliver world-class solutions, but stand right beside our customers where they need us most.’

Adding to this, Hemant Tewari, operations and supply chain director, South Asia, said: ‘Across the materials and labeling industry, agile supply chain has become as important as product quality itself, customers today expect consistency and reliability at a pace. This new facility is a direct response to that shift. It's not just about adding capacity, it's about rethinking how we could serve our customers better”.

The new facility is strategically located with excellent connectivity via peripheral roads, enabling faster, more efficient movement of goods across India. Being situated outside city limits also frees operations from city timing restrictions that typically constrain last-mile logistics, a key enabler for the company's goal of achieving one-day delivery within Bangalore.’

With this inauguration, Avery Dennison reinforces its long-term commitment to the Indian market, building infrastructure that supports both current operations and future growth across its key business verticals.

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Gallus completes ‘digital-first’ strategic transformation

Adyasha Sinha — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 02:42:54 +0000

Digital printing 29 July 2026

Gallus completes ‘digital-first’ strategic transformation

With the launch of the Gallus Five at Labelexpo Europe 2025, Gallus completed its transition to a ‘digital first’ strategy.

The launch of the Gallus One (G1) digital press in 2022 marked a major strategic shift toward digital from a company best known for its high-end conventional presses.

The Gallus One was not Gallus’ first venture into digital, of course. The LabelFire hybrid press, built on the ECS flexo press platform, was launched in 2015. But the LabelFire was very much subsidiary to Gallus’ conventional flexo and offset
press programs.

The development of the Gallus One marked the start of the company’s move to a true ‘digital first’ strategy, a change conceptualized and driven by Dario Urbinati, CEO of Gallus Group. Urbinati became CEO in December 2022 at a defining moment for Gallus, with the conclusion of the proposed Benpac transaction and a renewed focus on strengthening Gallus’ role within the Heidelberg Group.

‘When I returned, we had to figure out how to move forward,’ recalls Urbinati. ‘Gallus was quite simply not functioning sufficiently, and not because the people were wrong, but because the system was not working anymore. My biggest concern was that Gallus had somehow become irrelevant as a company.

'The first thing that needed to change was the internal culture. ‘Gallus was very hierarchical. Today, it is a flatter structure. I do not feel like an “outside” CEO with a closed-off office. In the early days, I moved my desk to different departments to
engage with our employees.’

A key priority for Urbinati was strengthening strategic alignment within the Heidelberg Group, fostering even closer collaboration and a shared momentum. Gallus benefited from extensive support across Heidelberg, particularly in digital technologies, as the group advanced its broader digital transformation strategy.

“At a high level, I no longer want to talk about machines, but about modules, about different building blocks which can be combined”

Urbinati put together a VIP sounding board, including both large and small customers, and asked what was important to them. ‘This gave us the baseline for thinking about what technologies we needed to develop.’

Inkjet first

Urbinati saw inkjet as the ‘technology of the future’, with the greatest potential for development.

‘By 2021, inkjet was on the same point along the technology S curve as flexo in terms of productivity, print quality and speed. Now digital has surpassed flexo in terms of total cost of ownership (TCO), makeready and “coolness”.’

Urbinati points out that 80 percent of label jobs are under 10,000 linear meters, benefiting the TCO case for inkjet technology.

‘Having made the decision for inkjet, I had to reset the company, and this was at the center of the development of our new product range. We needed to become a primarily digital company. The most important thing was to explain to our employees and stakeholders why we are doing this, and to formulate it into a strategy. It has changed the whole culture of the company. People now understand the new direction and why it’s necessary, and their part within it. This alone creates its own energy.’

System to Compose

Urbinati sees inkjet as one module in a wider hybrid ecosystem, which the company calls System to Compose.

‘Digital does not solve every problem, and not everything can be, or should be, digital. There will always be a place for flexo, where there are certain color gamut requirements or where certain substrates are specified. But for most applications, a hybrid configuration between flexo and inkjet provides the most flexibility and lowest TCO.’

The System to Compose is built around the Gallus Labelmaster platform. The Gallus One was the first digital building block and was designed in compatible widths of 330mm and 430mm (13in and 17in).

The Gallus One is a 7-color UV inkjet engine (CMYK+OVW), imaging at 1,200 DPI native resolution and printing at speeds up to 70m/min (229ft/min). The Gallus One can be combined with any module from the Labelmaster range, either specified from new or retrofittable in the field.

At Labelexpo Europe 2025, Gallus extended the modular System to Compose ecosystem with the Gallus Five (G5), designed for higher-volume workflows and with a new energy-efficient LED-UV curing system.

Once again, this is built on the Labelmaster platform, allowing ‘almost limitless’ combinations of digital and analog modules.

The Gallus Five is available in 330 and 430mm (13in and 17in) widths and uses the same 1,200 DPI imaging system as the Gallus One, but increases speed to 100m/min (328ft/min) using Heidelberg’s Saphira UV05 LED-UV ink set. The 6-color configuration (CMYK+OV) covers around 95 percent of the Pantone Plus V4 color library.

Gallus One in hybrid configuration including MatteJet module

Gallus’ new SDC Pro semi-rotary die-cutter was also launched
at Labelexpo Europe 2025. It is fully compatible with System to Compose and operates at 100m/min.

The Gallus Five press at Labelexpo Europe was configured with two flexo units before and after the digital print engine, rail-mounted cold foil and lamination units and the SDC Pro die-cutting module.

Modular future

‘At a high level, I no longer want to talk about machines, but about modules, about different building blocks which can be combined,’ explains Urbinati. ‘When we asked customers about their use models, they said “we want to be able to change modules as our business changes”.’

Urbinati says most printing machines today are like ‘small
factories within a factory’, with boundaries defined by software, operator training and tooling across different machines. These ‘museums of different brands’ are complex and expensive to manage, difficult to automate and with little effective redundancy.

‘With System to Compose, the printer tells us which printing
and converting blocks they require, all with the same operating platform. If you have a digital press, you can add a compatible flexo station and go straight into production with the same operator. This is a different way to think. You then have redundancy within the plant, with the ability to move jobs between presses.

‘We have seen customers with existing Labelmaster flexo presses retrofitting digital, and customers who started with a G1 press adding Labelmaster flexo modules. In some cases, customers have used the System to Compose to build off-line processing units for standalone digital presses.’

The longest hybrid press sold by Gallus so far is 34m (111ft) long, built for special applications.

The future

In conclusion, it appears Urbinati’s vision of ‘turning round the
oil tanker’ has been a success, with around 60 percent of Gallus’ turnover now coming from inkjet-led System to Compose modular press sales, both from existing and new customers. ‘We have almost doubled turnover over the last four years,’ says Urbinati.

Urbinati says Labelexpo Europe 2025 was by far Gallus’ best show to date, despite issues with the air conditioning in Hall 3. The company sold 10 G5 presses directly off the stand.

“Digital does not solve every problem, and not everything can be, or should be, digital. And there will always be a place for flexo”

Looking to the future, Urbinati believes there are several ways
the supplier side of the industry can further reduce complexity for the label converter. For example, cutting down on the bewildering range of substrates label converters have to manage and standardizing the exchange of production data.

‘There is a lot of scope for the labels industry to agree on
standardization measures for the seamless two-way exchange of production data. As an industry, we need to sit down together and discuss standards for data exchange and open networks, so everybody uses those standards. For example, we have Bluetooth, which works as a standardized way to transfer data across multiple brands and tools. Maybe we can create a way forward for the printing industry by applying the same mindset? We also need to discuss how to transfer data in a safe and secure way to fight against cyber attacks.’

Aligned with Heidelberg’s Prinect workflow system, Gallus also supports other industry-standard MIS and workflow platforms, ensuring broad compatibility across the market.

‘Integration should be straightforward. Our aim is to make Gallus presses easy to adopt within any professional workflow environment.’

Alpha inkjet press
While System to Compose builds on long‑established in-line working models in the label-converting industry, most existing digital installations use standalone digital presses with near-line converting.

‘We believe in-line has a lot of benefits, but for those converters who want to work with off-line finishing, we developed the Alpha roll-to-roll press, which we launched in Barcelona,’ explains Urbinati.

The Gallus Alpha is only available in a 340mm-wide roll-to-roll configuration. It offers a native resolution of 1,200 DPI in five colors (CMYK+W) printing at 65m/min.

Urbinati insists this is not an ‘entry-level’ press, but rather a gateway into the wider System to Compose ecosystem. ‘It is either for a customer with an existing off-line workflow, or someone entering digital printing for the first time.’

Inkjet vs offset
One of Gallus’ most successful legacy presses was the intermittent offset TCS 250, which found a niche particularly in the short-run, high-quality wine, food and spirits sectors.

UV Inkjet has found it difficult to replace offset because of the inherent glossiness of its inks in a market that values matte design themes.

Urbinati believes that Gallus’ MatteJet technology now enables UV inkjet to compete directly in these kinds of offset applications. MatteJet changes the optical appearance of the inkjet dot, reducing direct reflections to give the appearance of a matte finish.

‘The purpose of MatteJet is to bring inkjet closer to offset in terms of print quality and perception, and we are very, very close with this module. We are now having these discussions with printers who are committed to offset.’

MatteJet is currently available only as a System to Compose module for the Gallus One.

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From niche to mainstream: Design paved the way for SkyPop

Adyasha Sinha — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 07:46:53 +0000

Brand owners & design 28 July 2026

From niche to mainstream: Design paved the way for SkyPop

Explore the before-and-after packaging transformation
story of a powerhouse protein soda, featuring twists, technical hurdles and lessons learned

Let’s be clear: Designers don’t design for design’s sake.
In the high-stakes world of consumer packaged goods
(CPG), we design to drive business growth. We design to
secure shelf space, increase sales and ultimately, impact the
bottom line.

For proof that design is a growth engine (in addition to being a problem-solver), look no further than the transformation of SkyPop.

Who’s doing protein’s PR?

You’ve probably noticed that protein is having a moment, showing up in all sorts of products from popcorn and gelato to candy and cookies. One of the newest market entrants is the world’s first protein soda, under the sports nutrition brand, Don’t Quit.

Until recently, Don’t Quit was primarily sold in health food
stores, gyms and a few national retailers. It catered almost
exclusively to fitness-focused men. But the brand had bigger
ambitions. To drive real growth and expand its footprint into more national retailers, it needed to shift from a niche fitness product to a broad-appeal lifestyle brand. To achieve this, the company needed to refine the formula, introduce new flavors and expand its target audience. The problem was that the drink’s packaging and branding were decidedly masculine and no-nonsense, creating a disconnect with its ambitious goals. So, Don’t Quit hired me to design a brand makeover that would align its branding and packaging with its sales goals.

“In the high-stakes world of consumer packaged goods, we design to drive business growth. We design to secure shelf space, increase sales and ultimately, impact the bottom line”

The strategic pivot

The Don’t Quit brand set its expansion goals by talking with a
dozen or so top retailers about what it would take to get its protein soda on their shelves. Retailers were excited right out of the gate, but said that the packaging needed to change. To reposition itself as an alternative soda rather than a protein recovery drink, the brand needed to become a lifestyle brand, one that could compete in the market with brands like Poppi and Olipop (two prebiotic soda brands).

The brand’s creative brief was clear. The new target audience
was younger, modern, health‑conscious and fun-seeking. This
wasn’t just about recovery; it was about enjoyment and function. The brand needed a visual identity with flair, whimsy and cheer. A stark departure from its utilitarian roots. What an opportunity for a packaging designer. And that’s exactly what I created. Same name, same logo, but a completely different packaging design.

Adding personality

We moved quickly. The new design concept was built on color: variations, nuances and gradations to infuse personality, playfulness and whimsy onto the can. There are colorful fireworks exploding; there’s foam floating and fruit flying around; there are squishes and squirts of popsicles, cherries and strawberries. The identity embraced a touch of fantasy that speaks to the new flavors as well as to the broader audience: new professionals, young parents and fitness enthusiasts who want their protein with a side of joy.

My client loved it. More importantly, the retailers and buyers
loved it.

For the print nerds among us, the nuances in the colors were
intentional, designed to match the design’s new vibrancy and
movement. I knew we could achieve the look and smooth
gradations because the cans would be produced on a shrink sleeve using CMYK.

The production curveball

The design concept was approved, the buyers love it, and we were finalizing our designs, when my client says: ‘We need to change the production method.’ Why? Well, the buyers were so excited about the new design that the projected production run skyrocketed. We went from planning for hundreds of thousands of cans to millions. We’re talking Walmart, Target, Kroger, CVS and more.

In the CPG world, volume can make or break everything. When you move to that level of scale, unit costs become the primary driver. The leadership team made the call to switch from CMYK shrink sleeves to direct-to-can printing.

And why that choice? Margins. Printing direct-to-can is
significantly less expensive per unit than applying a shrink sleeve. When you’re producing millions of units, those pennies add up to massive profit margins. It was a smart business decision, so how could I be upset?

“In the CPG world, volume can change everything. When you move to that level of scale, unit costs become the primary driver”

The new product projections were a great compliment to the
design, and my client was thrilled, but I had concerns. The designs would go from printing CMYK, where I can achieve millions of colors pretty easily, to printing direct-to-can, which only allows five Pantone colors plus white.

That’s it.

If you’re not familiar with direct-to-can printing, which I was
not, it is a completely different process. So now we have a design that everyone loves, but a production method that is not conducive to it. I’m worried that we won’t be able to print the multitude of shades or achieve the new energy and vibrancy.

After my first call with the new production team (I’ll let you
imagine what that conversation was like), I say to my client: ‘We may have to change the design.’

And they say: ‘No, we’re not changing the design. We love the
design. The retailers want that design on their shelves. We’re not changing it.’

Of course, I bring up my concerns with the printer, and
surprisingly, the team leader says they can work with it. They
have expert color separators, and they will make it happen. But it’s going to take some ingenuity to achieve my vision within their production capabilities.

Identity crisis

Okay, so now you’re all caught up. Let’s go back to where I was when I turned in the artwork: the fresh, whimsical, fruit-exploding design paired with the masculine, determined Don’t Quit logo and brand name.

I’m guessing some of you may have an inkling about what
happened next. While everyone loved the new visual identity, there was now a disconnect between the name, logo and logotype and the packaging’s fresh energy.

And that’s when my client says: ‘We want to change the name.’

We had debated a name change at the start of the project, but it was not viable then. Sometimes you must go down that road with a client so they can see it. I call this a step process. They simply could not envision the need until they saw the new design. The packaging evolution forced a brand identity evolution.

We were already on a tighter-than-tight schedule: Retailers needed the product in their stores within five months. It had
been two months since I started working on the project. A renaming project typically takes months of brainstorming, trademark research, URL hunting and approvals. After just four weeks, my client lands on a name that embraces the lifestyle of their broader audience, their new flavors and the
alternative soda market: SkyPop.

Now they needed a new logo for the new name. Did I mention we were on a short timeline? The good news is, we already
had a packaging design that captured the brand’s personality: pizazz, fun and joy. Now I had to translate it to the new logo.

We questioned how to narrow the scope to meet the new deadline with the can manufacturer: Is it a hand-drawn typography or something simple and slightly customized? Is it a logo, a mark or an icon? Is it just a mark, and the type is secondary? In the interest of time, we decided on a unique logotype without a mark or icon.

Once the SkyPop logo was approved with flying colors (pun intended), I revised the label design to accommodate it. The
old logo was triangular, and the graphics on the can flowed around that shape. The new logo was horizontal and curvy. Every explosion of fruit and splash of foam had to be shifted and rebalanced.

Let’s get technical

Back in production, I worked with the separator to identify Pantone colors that best matched the CMYK nuances of my
original design. And we had to account for the substrate: Pantone colors look different on aluminum than they do in my fandeck, which is printed on white-coated paper. Additionally, we could specify some colors to be transparent, so they have a metallic sheen from the aluminum, but I wondered if they would lighten the look? Or darken it? Some colors are brighter on aluminum than others. And then we needed some colors to be ‘neck-friendly’, because aluminum bends, and the ink in those spots needs to be forgiving of that movement, so
it doesn’t crack.

Wait, there’s more. Printing on aluminum is a ‘wet-on-wet’ process. So, on a can, the inks cannot touch while wet. If you take a loupe to a direct-printed can, you will see tiny aluminum hairlines between colors. No two colors ever touch. Contrast that with CMYK printing, where we layer cyan with magenta, yellow and black to achieve millions of color nuances.

The separation phase was very time-consuming. We went through the artwork piece by piece, for seven flavors, seven
different designs and five sets of Pantone colors. That gave us 35 colors, plus white, to cover the full range of color shades,
gradations and nuances.

As I worked with the color separator, he took elements of each design and adjusted them for the production process. We used stochastic screening in the gradients for a better continuous tone. We used optical mixing to create new colors from our limited palette.

“Sometimes you must go down that road with a client so they can see it. I call this a step process. The packaging evolution can force a brand identity evolution”

For example, the fruit punch design features a pineapple, an orange and a cherry. We didn’t have a spot color for orange. But with yellow and red specified, the separator used the proximity of dots to create the illusion of orange. And we had to do that for each can design. It was a masterclass in aligning creative vision with production capabilities.

It was a wild ride, and well worth it. SkyPop Protein Soda is set to be in thousands of stores nationwide by summer 2026. That breadth is pretty much unheard of for a new brand. And,
for a designer, it’s always a thrill to see your work ‘out in the wild’.

While this appears to be the story of a product’s before-and-after design, it’s really a business case for the ROI of strategic design. I’m not overstating it when I say that the packaging sold this product to the buyers.

Sure, they loved the taste, but the retailers would not have taken it on without the new design. They needed shelf impact
in the lifestyle soda aisle.

The leadership team understood a fundamental truth in business: Design is a means to an end. It is not just about
aesthetics; it’s also about economics. The design enabled distribution. Distribution enabled volume. Volume enabled scale. Scale enables a sustainable business.

This is design as a growth engine. And the theory proved itself with SkyPop.

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Vicki Strull

Branding and design columnist

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