Living Among Giants
P+P: What is the best type of advice you can offer to novice distributors leery of entering the label sector?
JS: My advice is to not be afraid of saying "yes" to your label customers, take the time to get educated and, most importantly, to pick the right partner. The more you know, the better a partner you'll be to your clients. It's important to fully vet your label printer. Tour the plant, ask about his or her process-are plates made in house, are they high-definition? What testing equipment and processes does your printer have, what equipment is used and what is the age of that equipment? Then ask for a formal education. We like to come in and stage various "Lunch and Learn" sessions where we bring in lunch, product samples and even plates and tooling for an interactive education session. It's amazing how much distributors learn after just one lunch.