Nordic Label invests in Xeikon’s Track and Trace

Nordic Label is one of the leading label manufacturers in Finland, with a turnover of above EUR 20 million and a team of nearly 100 printing industry professionals. Since investing in digital printing machines five years ago, the over 100-year-old company also became one of the leaders in cutting-edge digital label production in the Nordic regions.  

‘As a leading label manufacturer in Finland with many years of experience in all kinds of printing methods, digital printing is fairly new to us, and we have been on a learning curve,’ commented Marko Rintanen, production director at Nordic Label. ‘However, since we partnered with Xeikon, we have seen our business leap forward in new and very exciting ways. 

‘Xeikon’s smart label solution is groundbreaking and so easy to install and utilize. Our customers, the brand owners, are now as excited as we are at the potential that smart label production offers. With the cooperation of one of our key customers, Vellamo, we were proud to participate in a recent Xeikon Café project working together with UPM Raflatac, Magic Add, and Xeikon to demonstrate the powerful and multiple advantages for brands using smart labels.’

With Xeikon’s Track and Trace, every package and label are given its own digital identity utilizing a unique image, text, number, or bar code. The latest version of Xeikon’s X-800 workflow enables integrating unique information and printing high security, variable code. The Xeikon press automatically prints the code, which can be scanned with any standard application. Xeikon has developed a cloud-based application that puts the ‘smart’ into label design and helps brand owners bring packaging and labels online to measure their campaigns' success and protect brand image.

Jeroen Van Bauwel, director of product management at Xeikon, added: ‘Globally there is increasing demand from brand owners for smart labels. Fighting to stand out from the competition, enlightened brand owners use smart labels to differentiate themselves and protect their brand. There is a specific need for security applications like our Track and Trace in the supply chain to help battle counterfeiting, which is a big business globally and poses a huge threat to brands. 

‘With Xeikon’s smart label solution, brands can track their products at every step from production to the consumer. Brands can also initiate direct marketing communications using the data behind the smart label to measure success and engage and build relationships with consumers who are looking for authenticity and trust in the brand.’

‘Our industry is quite conservative, but new things excite us, so challenging ourselves to think in new ways was a big step forward. Xeikon took care of everything, the automation, the installation of the software, the digital label press, and the training, it was all very smooth, added Rintanen. ‘Now, with Xeikon’s smart label application up and running, we can download the variable data straight from the cloud. It’s all automatic. All the codes are set up for us. 

‘The key to our successful operation has always been the customer relationship and customer satisfaction, so the truly exciting part of all this has been talking with our customers about the possibilities and opportunities for them – sharing ideas and trying to find value together. Xeikon’s smart label solution is helping us position ourselves at the cutting edge of technology. I would highly recommend to any label printer to look at Xeikon’s smart label solution as an exciting new venture which can only build value into their business.’