Hine labels partners with GMG color

Rotherham-based Hine labels have been innovating in the label printing industry, starting with the purchase of a hot foil printing machine in 1980 and moving from strength to strength. It was one of the UK’s first adopters of digital printing in 2007, and 2014 saw the company achieving BRC global standards for packaging, a globally recognized standard for product safety and quality. In 2020, it did a huge factory expansion and 2022 brought further advancements in its digital print technology.

Hine’s first foray into color management began 14 years ago. As the company expanded its team and range of services, its colour management systems became widely accessible to various staff members, allowing for tweaks and changes to be made downstream. Over time this became unmanageable and time consuming, so the new leadership team had a decision to make – should the company untangle this or find a new solution?

A clean slate was decided upon, so the company chose to replace the whole color management system and streamline the workflow.

Hine had heard of GMG color and knew what color management solutions it needed, so quickly decided to get in touch. It wanted a partner who could not only supply effective software, but also support through a big system change, putting its minds at ease.

‘With GMG we could get local support instantly. This was a big perk for us, as we were nervous of the large-scale changes we wanted to make to our systems,’ acknowledged Anita Hine, managing director at Hine labels.

‘We had the option of having experts on hand, so we didn’t need to become experts ourselves overnight. Since then, we have appointed a color champion internally, with the help of the GMG team. They’ve really helped us level up our attention to color management processes, inspect everything and work to robust standards. Our customers are loving it.’

Rob Lucas is the marketing manager at Hine labels, but he had experienced the previous color system when he worked in prepress. He added: ‘I understood the issues so at the top of the agenda with GMG was to have a system where color was checked for quality at key stages in the production process but was fundamentally controlled and set by a core team – at prepress. It had to be locked down.’

Having various digital print technologies in their factory means presses previously weren’t always all in the same color space but, with GMG software, that was no longer an issue. It was a big selling point for Hine to have the ability to tell customers just how accurate everything was going to be.

GMG ColorServer was installed in the autumn of 2022 and GMG attended the Hine offices and production facilities for a full week to assist and support this transition period, as well as helping with some last minute IT upgrades which Hine noticed were needed.

Jasmine Smythe is the new color champion at Hine labels. She threw herself into the new training: ‘GMG provided good technical support – they had a great understanding of what needed to be done, and we soon realised our issues weren’t exclusive to Hine. I shadowed GMG’s installation rep Martyn Atkinson and picked up the technical bits quickly. We have their support desk on call if needed but we’re pretty self-sufficient now.’

Studio supervisor Manuel Ducoing recalled the transition from old to new: ‘It was going to be a lot of work, but we were structured in our approach. With a little bit of overtime in the launch week, we kickstarted the project of converting live jobs for the FOGRA39 standard via GMG ColorServer. Confidence grew when jobs repeated the following month – and they printed the exact same colour and tone.’

Anita reflected: ‘They gave robust training to our staff in partnership with our press engineers at Screen and HP; the whole team being knowledgeable is really useful to us.’

Paul Williams, GMG’s UK sales manager, said: ‘Hine labels are the ideal partner for GMG, with multiple digital and conventional devices GMG’s ColorServer multi-color & color proofing solution allows them to have single source automation and streamlined colour management.’

‘From the initial conversations with Bill and Anita it was clear that they would really benefit from implementing GMG’s color management. We had an initial fact-finding meeting with their production team, where we were able to discuss and understand further what their challenges were. From this we suggested moving forward with a proof of concept and by offering this GMG were able to show them exactly how they could improve their colour, quality and repeatability.

The fact that this service was provided free of charge gave them full confidence that we believe in our products. From this point on they were so enthused about our software, a full installation quickly followed.

Anita and the rest of the Hine team have made a huge difference to their business since the GMG solution was implemented. They use Esko Automation Engine for their production workflow and as we work very closely with Esko, the whole integration was seamless. The new set up is really working for them – with so many production improvements, it’s great to see how we have been able to help!’

From the prepress studio to production and across line management positions, all of Hine’s staff are onboard. Color management is no longer a ‘dark art’, it is now a process everybody talks about, because it offers so many benefits to Hine and their customers: ink savings, time savings and accurate colour proofing.

Even if there is a problem, fault finding is now much simpler, so issues are ironed out quickly. What could take up to 45 minutes of tweaking files to compensate for color drifts, is now 10 minutes of make-ready time; proof to print check and sign off.

Lucas not only summarized the need for reliable software, but also the importance of investing in people: ‘Color management is the backbone of Hine labels' commitment to delivering exceptional quality. We understand that accurate and consistent colors not only enhance visual appeal but also instil confidence in our customers, ensuring that labels stand out and make a lasting impression.

Once blockages were cleared, we saw a team who can carry this and own it. By investing in the whole team, we can support each other and our customers, and truly live up to our reputation as the label experts.’