Canadian packaging company is growing by the day
Jet Label & Packaging produces labels and printed tape efficiently and cost-effectively for a diverse portfolio of customers, including grocery stores such as Safeway (CDN) and Sobeys; international forest product companies such as Canfor and West Fraser; consumer product companies such as Bee Maid Honey and Arctic Chiller; industrial application companies such as Acklands Grainger, Gregg Distributors, and All Weather Windows
Jet Label’s primary Edmonton, Canada facility utilises two HP Indigo Digital presses along with 12 traditional flexographic presses ranging in width from six to 19.5 inches and three to 10 colour station capabilities.
In this interview with Converter Magazine,
This past summer, Jet Label acquired United Label Company of Coquitlam. The additional space and production capacity will allow Jet Label to double in size over the next two years, during which time additional infrastructure investments will be made to the facility. Acquiring United Label Company greatly expands one of Jet Label’s key customer sectors: Mass-market retail.
The company’s facility currently operates four conventional flexographic presses ranging in width from seven to 10 inches and three to 10 station colour capabilities, as part of a fully capable manufacturing facility with a wide variety of slitters, rewinders, finishing systems, and inspection systems. Throughout 2018, Jet Label will be adding to this lineup with new machinery and, as needed, additional personnel.
Friesen comments on Jet Label’s ability to grow via acquisition: “The label industry seems to be at the outset of a potentially significant period of consolidation. Part of this is technology driven: Automation advancements seem to be setting the industry up to experience, for example, what the sheet-fed plants saw about 10 years ago. That said, we’re excited about the opportunity to grow through acquisition. In addition to acquiring United Label — a fantastic manufacturer in the Vancouver area whose facility has given us expanded capacity and assurance-providing redundancy — we’ve had the good fortune to acquire Challenge Label of Kelowna, which had been idle for more than six months and whose equipment was brought into our primary plant in Edmonton.
“Dedicated customer service arms are another rising trend. On that note, Jet Marking Systems is a sister company that was started five years ago to keep label and marking systems running at our customers’ sites. This helps our label design and manufacturing personnel stay focused on what they do best while ensuring ongoing customer satisfaction.”
Friesen has also commented on the widespread changes in the sector that have affected the company’s operations: “With customers looking to stock less inventory, realise shorter product lifespans, employ more sophisticated graphics and, to top if all off, drastically shorten delivery times, it’s no wonder that the push toward digital printing continues to build.
“Jet Label was one of the first adopters of digital printing, and the first company in Canada to have two HP Indigo 6000 Series digital presses in service. Our digital printing business has been growing at over 25 per cent per year and we are now running the two HP’s 24 hours a day, five days per week. In 2018 we will be adding two more HP Indigo Digital presses.
“Second, advancements in automation will continue to have tremendous influence in the printing industry. We recently purchased a new 17-inch ABG fully automatic turret rewinding system to complement our wide press capabilities. The system promises to significantly increase output.
So, what lies ahead for Jet Label in 2018? Friesen says: “The pressure is on our business development team. We’re on track for more than 20 per cent growth over this year and, upping the ante even further, we’ve committed to an aggressive four-day delivery window that will further differentiate us from competitors. This is a very lofty goal for an industry that typically benchmarks a two to three week delivery.
“Our new four-day delivery guarantee puts pressure on every facet of our business. In particular, it will challenge our highly skilled finishing department to further hone processes, incorporate new equipment and affect other efficiency-minded improvements.”
Jet Label recently landed a five-year contract with Walmart Canada to provide in-store labels for its 447 locations, as well as labels used at the company’s Canadian distribution centres. The deal is worth $17.5 over five years.