Gallus

Super-sizing products and production capabilities is hugely successful for some manufacturers With regard to size, bigger is definitely better, according to both Xpanded Label Technology, Appleton, Wis., and Hub Labels, Hagerstown, Md., In the case of the former, it is the super-sized dimensions of its label products that set the company apart, while the latter boasts a large, 110,000-sq.-ft. plant housing extremely diversified printing methodologies to leverage multiple production capabilities. Here, Jim Volkman, executive vice president of Xpanded Label Technology, and Jonathan Freed, director, southeast, for Hub Labels, discussed their companies' unique operations and how they help distributors add value. Volkman explained

A long-established printing technique, silkscreen reigns supreme over the durable label market. Ancient Egyptians were using papyrus stencils and pigments to duplicate images as early as 2300 B.C. However, modern screenprinting likely stems from patents applied for in the early 1900s. And except for the introduction of photographic stencils around that time, and the impact of computer technology in the '80s, the process remains relatively unchanged. So does the fact that a screenprinted label is the most durable product on the market. "The key," explained Mike Evans, marketing manager for Omaha, Nebraska-based Lancer Label, "is that compared to other printing techniques, screenprinting lays down

Hub Labels, Hagerstown, Md., recently announced that it has selected The Gallus Group, St. Gallen, Switzerland, to be its high-end label-print partner. Hub Label cemented this announcement with the purchase of the Gallus RCS 330 and the EM 410 combination U.V. flexo/rotary screen presses. The Gallus presses can manufacture top-quality decals, forms up to 16" wide, and membership cards in any combination of U.V. flexo and rotary screen up to eight colors, with hot-foil stamping, lamination or varnish, and die-cutting. One of the most technologically advanced flex presses in the world, the RCS 330 press will be the first such press in the United States. Hub

Meeting rough applications is as smooth as silk for screenprinted labels By Maggie DeWitt A rubber squeegee pushes UV-cured ink through a fine mesh screen mounted onto a steel frame, laying down thick layers of color. The result is the toughest label on the market. And while some newer printing processes are starting to encroach on traditional silkscreen territory, none of the contenders can take a licking and keep on sticking quite like screenprinted labels. "Flexo and digitally-printed labels look and feel almost exactly like screenprinted labels," said Mike Evans, marketing manager for Lancer Label, Omaha, Neb. The difference, he added, is in screenprinted labels' incredible