EAN Label embraces digital

The label and packaging industry in Malaysia has seen a shift towards digital printing in recent years due to the growing demand for personalization and shorter printing lengths.

EAN Label Industry is a prime example of a company that has taken advantage of this trend by adding an HP Indigo 25K digital press to provide digital printing services to customers in the region.

EAN Label Industry was founded in 2007. Bryan Lim, managing director says: ‘We started small—with only three staff members and two letterpress machines, one with printable functionality, and the other with die-cut capabilities and providing labels printing services to local businesses.’

A decade later, the company has grown with over 110 employees to provide digital flexible packaging and label printing for the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, toiletries and electronics industries in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Brunei and the Philippines.

EAN Label Industry also provides services from design to delivery to the market. ‘Before I started EAN Label, I was a marketing manager for a cleaning equipment company, I struggled with low service quality, low printing quality and long turnaround time for the labels I ordered. I knew there had to be a better way to order labels—and that’s why EAN Label was created to fill the gap in the printing services market,’ he says.

EAN comes from a Chinese word meaning ‘continuous long-term business relationship’. The company’s owner is known for being passionate about getting on the floor and leading his team to achieve their company goals. The team is made up of young, talented and energetic individuals with a growth mindset and known for creating and innovating for their clients.

The company has adapted to the changing market trends in recent years by adding digital printing to its range of services. In 2014, the company ventured into digital printing with a used HP Indigo 4500 and upgraded to a new HP Indigo 6600 model in 2016. In 2020, it added another HP Indigo 6800 press to keep up with the growing demand for high-quality printing services. EAN Label Industry has also started servicing the flexible packaging market with its latest addition HP Indigo 25K Press in 2022.

The press can print several products including shrink sleeves, roll-form sachets, three-side seals and stand-up pouches. EAN Label Industry can ship within seven to 14 days or less with its new machine.

The digital label printing industry is growing rapidly in Malaysia. The need for fast turnaround time, last-minute orders, low minimum order quantities, and high printing quality are in high demand in this region. Interactive features on packaging and labels with a personal touch are popular among brand owners, who also expect brand protection and other features in labels such as anti-counterfeit, contest, warranty and tracking ability to manage data collection.

After the pandemic, the local market is recovering at a slower pace. Labor shortages, unstable supply chains and inflation issues have slowed market growth. Naturally, the digital transformation activities within the region have accelerated, causing buying behavior to shift toward an online-to-offline model.

Brand owners are looking for better services to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their products and marketing campaigns. This has created an opportunity for EAN Label Industry to provide high-quality labels at a faster turnaround.

The converter has also been recognized in the market for providing short-run flexible packaging. Arnon Goldman, general manager, of Asia Pacific at HP Indigo, says: ‘As you witnessed, the owner of the company is passionate and believes in getting his hands on the floor, also leading his team to achieve their company goals. They have a pool of young, talented and equally energetic employees who have a growth mindset to create and innovate for their customers.’

The installation of the HP Indigo 25K digital press was completed by HP Indigo and HP Indigo Channel Partners. ‘It is a process that can take time for perfection, and we ensured we had the press ready to meet and perform to the expectations of EAN for the sign-off on. Additionally, the operators are now well trained with HP Indigo trainers on-site,’ Goldman adds.

Open house

EAN Label hosted an open house event in collaboration with HP Indigo in Malaysia. During the event, EAN Label Industry was able to publicize its services and capabilities to provide short-run flexible packaging. The company was also able to capture partnership or business opportunities with other flexible packaging companies to address their short-run requirements. It was also able to attract and nurture its current and prospective customer brands by showcasing innovative and creative opportunities for packaging.

‘In Malaysia, digital flexible packaging is very new. A lot of people still are not aware of it. We wanted to spread awareness about it,’ Lim adds. ‘We discussed with HP Indigo Malaysia and organized an open house event. And I can say the event was very effective. We got a very good response from our brand owners.’

The converter plans to add finishing and pouch-making machines to its technology line-up. It also plans to set up a new production facility for pouch making. EAN Label Industry is focused on developing its IT to reduce transaction costs.

‘IT will play a major role in our future development, we understand the importance of having a strong digital presence, and we’ve made it one of our priorities to allocate more funds towards technology than ever before,’ Lim explains. ‘Besides IT, we will allocate 80 percent of our facilities investment budget towards digital printing equipment instead of conventional. We are confident that this move will be beneficial in the long run given the market conditions,’ Lim explains.