Driving growth

Logmatix Tags & Labels has made the transition from barcode service bureau to fully fledged color labels and packaging converter with a strong VIP capability. Andy Thomas reports

Located in Marietta, Atlanta, Logmatix Labels & Tags is a great example of a converter which has continually diversified to meet the challenges of growth in a highly competitive marketplace.

A measure of Logmatix’ success is three successive record years from 2009-11, much of that during the worst economic recession on recent record. ‘This is because we always have chosen customers that are also growing well,’ says company president Phil Angevine.

Logmatix began life in 1983 as a barcode service bureau founded by Angevine and his wife, out of a spare room above their garage. Its offering soon expanded to barcode scanners and software as well as consumables including blank labels, tags and ribbons. The next step was to add a 3-color 10in Mark Andy press for flexo color printed labels.

By 1993 Logmatix had grown to a nearly two million turnover operation, specializing in servicing the barcode requirements of companies with government contracts. But although sales were high, margins were relatively low, and Angevine realized he needed to reengineer the business if it was to move to the next level of profitability. In 1994 he met experienced finance expert Craig Timony, and after working together informally for a year, the two signed an equity partnership agreement for Timony to become Logmatix's chief operating officer, a position he still holds today.

Their new strategic plan looked to target the high end of the color label printing market. Timony had plenty of experience buying and selling companies and began looking for a suitable acquisition target. Coast Graphics seemed to fit all the criteria: it had the right equipment to service the 8-color label and tag market, a completely different customer base, and with almost two and a half million dollars in revenues and 20 employees, its size fully complemented Logmatix, which by 1997 was generating something over three million dollars.

With the acquisition completed, in 1998 Logmatix moved the combined operation into its current climate controlled 20,000 sq ft facility.  Setting up in a new plant allowed Angevine to design a more efficient workflow and a LabelTraxx system was installed to handle front office and plant management duties.

In 2008, Logmatix further expanded its high end capabilities, adding a 17 inch, 8-color Mark Andy press with an additional in-line inkjet unit to handle variable data printing. As demand for short runs increased, Logmatix invested in a Degrava digital press, along with an Allen Datagraph lamination and die cutting unit. The typical cut-off point against flexo is 5,000 labels.

Quality control has been key to the success of Logmatix in the high end market. The flexo presses generally run at 175 line screen and Trucolor video monitors integrated into the press analyze and verify colors using a dedicated color mix computer.

Logmatix makes its own flexo plates, both analog and digital. Equipment includes a Kodak Thermoflex Narrow CTP unit imaging MacDermid digital plates with a Mekrom plate processor and Rip-It workflow system. The company’s pre-press equipment partner for the last five years has been JV Imaging.

Although Logmatix does not offer a service to design labels from scratch, it will help customers compose designs and make them printable.

Target markets

‘High quality print plus the ability to image variable data in one pass has been the key to our success,’ says Craig Timony. ‘We want to find applications that are project driven and difficult to do. That has helped drive what we are trying to accomplish.’

The company’s main areas of operation are in the ethnic haircare and food sectors and its key customers are located in Georgia and around the South Eastern United States, although there are some major accounts in California and the North East.

For the ethnic haircare market Logmatix produces promotional self-adhesive stickers which help salon owners promote value added products and services.

In the food market Logmatix recently branched out into laminate pouches, but finds very tough competition from printed rolls coming in from China and South Korea. ‘They can buy cheap materials and use cheap solvent inks,’ says Angevine. ‘And if you order from China it will take five to six weeks, which is going to be a major problem if your ingredients change in the meantime.’ Other flexible packaging products include shampoo samples.

The Mark Andy press has given Logmatix a strong offering in the ticketing market. A typical example is a multi-million series of highschool football tickets, now being produced for the fifth year, printed four over four and incorporating unique numbering.

Despite this successful growth into the high end flexo market, Logmatix’ original barcode service bureau business remains an important part of the company’s sales mix. Indeed, Logmatix claims to run the biggest barcode operation in the South East.

Printing on such a wide range of materials – including PS labels, unsupported film, tags and tickets – requires the use of multiple materials suppliers. But one key supplier, Avery Dennison, offers short-to-medium run supplies of a wide range of packaging substrates including laminates and board under its Rapid Roll program (so far available only in the US).

Customer service is key to making these kinds of application work. ‘Customers stay with us because we really empower our customer service reps,’ says Craig Timony. ‘As sales manager, Phil insists on a long sales cycle and deep knowledge of the end user market. Customer service reps are trained to use both their sales skills and intelligence.’

This attention to detail has seen Logmatix recognized with two major TLMI awards: a 2009 Best of Show award for the Red Rain energy drink, and a first place in 2010 in the promotional labeling category for the Soy Oyl skin conditioner. Much of this success is down to the fact that Logmatix has managed to retain its most experienced employees: at least three operators have served at the company for 20 years.

Logmatix’ success has been down to management’s willingness to adapt to changing market requirements. Indeed, the company is a model of how this process should be handled. It started with Angevine’s honest recognition that he needed to bring in outside financial expertise to move away from low margin work; led to the development of a strategy to target the high end flexo market; and was followed by a targeted acquisition and investment in facilities, machinery and skills. In the meantime, the Logmatix staff have demonstrated a willingness to learn new applications where value can be found, including flexible packaging and variable data printing. And this spirit of bold enterprise at Logmatix shows no sign of diminishing.

Pictured: (L-R) Craig Timony, COO at Logomatix and president Phil Angevine

This article was published in L&L issue 1, 2012