Reflecting on 2024 So Far: Century Printing and Packaging’s Milestones and Observed Market Trends

As we stand at the midpoint of the year, Century Printing and Packaging takes a moment to reflect on the milestones achieved, strides made, and advancements moving our industry. CP&P has seen great progress and has established strategic initiatives that set the stage for the next six months to improve and innovate for every client.

Century Printing and Packaging has achieved remarkable success this year, having sold over 85 million labels and fulfilled over 3,000 orders. This substantial volume highlights CP&P’s ability and dedication to meeting high demand while maintaining top-notch execution. The presence of a well-organized team working in unison has been instrumental in reaching these impressive milestones.

Let’s uncover some direct impacts to better understand what led to Century Printing and Packaging’s success in the year’s first half.

According to an article on LinkedIn, the Chemical Resistant Labels Market is projected to grow by 13.6% from 2024 to 2031. CP&P has focused on the chemical segment, which has led to their growth and expertise in providing specialized labeling solutions for this industry. Keeping up with this rapidly growing market shows their ability to meet the specific needs of chemical manufacturers, ensuring safety and compliance through durable and long-lasting labeling solutions.

Another reason for the remarkable success witnessed in 2024 is the sale of RFID labels. Century Printing and Packaging has taken the necessary steps to integrate itself into the new world of RFID labeling, not only to understand the industry’s changes but also to position the team as experts in the space. CP&P also intends to invest in encoding equipment for RFID labels within the year, bolstering its capability to stay current with future RFID trend needs.

In line with technological advancements, CP&P is exploring the purchase of a second digital press by the end of the year. This investment will empower the team to proactively assess and respond to customers’ evolving needs. By incorporating additional production bandwidth through introducing new presses, CP&P will have the capacity to accommodate a broader range of customer requirements.

Next, let’s examine market dynamics and customer trends that are significantly contributing to CP&P’s 2024 growth.

We are all experiencing the impact of inflation in one way or another, but one positive effect is the growing favor for store brands over name brands. A significant number of CP&P’s customers produce store brands, and this change in consumer preference has directly boosted sales. You may have already observed the trend of store brands occupying more space in shopping carts as consumers actively seek budget-friendly alternatives to name brands. Read more about this trend in the Wall Street Journal.

In contrast to last year, when supply chain disruptions presented significant challenges, 2024 has witnessed more stable supply chains. Century Printing and Packaging has taken proactive measures by expanding its pool of materials suppliers. This move ensures cost competitiveness and swift production timelines without any delays. The newfound stability has enabled CP&P to prioritize delivering consistent quality and reliability to their customers, even amid ongoing uncertainties in global supply chains.

Lastly, let’s dive into some strategic initiatives that CP&P has taken that will lead them into a flourishing 2025.

Century Printing and Packaging has conducted extensive studies on setup costs in response to customers’ heightened price sensitivity. This research has allowed them to refine existing pricing models, ensuring competitive quotes while maintaining profitability. By understanding the detailed costs of each production run, CP&P can provide customers with the best possible pricing without compromising quality.

Century’s workforce remains a cornerstone of their yearly success. CP&P takes pride in having a stable and dedicated team with the right people in the right positions, driving operations forward without interruption. A unified team, all pushing in the same direction, will fortify CP&P against any challenges that come their way in the second half of the year.

Looking ahead to the second half of 2024, Century Printing and Packaging is confident in its ability to continue providing high-value labels at every price point to its customers. The strategic investments mentioned above, strong production capabilities, and stable supply chains position CP&P well for future growth.

Century Printing and Packaging wouldn’t be here today without the support of its customers, partners, and team members for their continued collaboration and dedication. Together, CP&P is looking forward to achieving even greater milestones in the coming months and years.

Thank you for being a part of the journey.

CP&P ISO Recertification

Century Printing and Packaging has always centered around customer satisfaction and label quality. This high commitment to detail has contributed to the success of their 25 years of business. As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, CP&P has obtained and maintained ISO 901:2015 certification since 2017. The latest audit was completed in January, and their certification was renewed in March. This certification will be effective until 2026, with annual audits to ensure continued compliance.

ISO is an internationally recognized quality management standard. It is a set of quality levels that provide a framework for companies to manage and exceed expectations. ISO standards ensure company products, services, and processes are consistent and cohesive with customer and market needs.

ISO recertification includes stringent audits, detailed procedure run-throughs, and itemized logs. Quality processes follow specific customer service, production, and internal assessment standards. Having ISO auditor approval proves that CP&P can maintain high-level standards and requirements. It puts CP&P on a national playing field with larger companies.

The executive team at CP&P also engages with an independent auditor to ensure the standards are met during the interim of the 3-year ISO 9001 recertifications. These yearly audits are smaller and take about a day.

Ensuring the adoption of exceptional benchmarks allows CP&P to become a better company and improve its internal processes and products. This rigorous audit system can attest that CP&P can meet a well-regarded international standard and compete on any level to meet customer needs.

Because of the importance of a customer-facing product like a label, many clients have stringent quality requirements. Proving that CP&P can maintain the 9001:2015 standard yearly is a minimum baseline requirement before partnering. This focuses on ensuring that CP&P is continuously putting out the best product. Not only does this create long-lasting partnerships, but it also separates CP&P from companies not as serious about quality systems.

Is Your Vendor ISO Certified?

When you are vetting vendors in your manufacturing process ask if they are ISO certified. ISO certification is the centerpiece for global proprietary, commercial and industrial standards. An ISO certified company has gone through a rigorous and extensive process involving applications, documentation, inventory, and on-site audits for standards in their specific area of expertise. This quality management system is the largest in the world. ISO companies have raised their standards to another level of accountability in relation to their products and services.

Corporate Accountability & Responsibility

ISO certified companies have taken their company to the next level because they want to make sure their products meet customer requirements in a global market. ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization which sets standards for global proprietary, industrial and commercial standards. Founded in 1947 the governing body is made up of representatives from a diverse platform of national standards organizations.

U.S. companies must apply and meet the qualifications of the National Institute of Standards and Technology a non-regulatory agency of the Department of Commerce. It promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness. ISO 9001:2015 is the standard for quality control and documentation.

Why Should I Care If a Vendor is ISO Certified?

ISO is a quality control system that adheres to global standards and helps customers as well as suppliers and vendors. Let’s say your company manufactures widgets. One day your quality control team notices the ink on a batch of packaged widgets is smearing, or fading. You contact your packaging supplier and they can walk back the packaging printing process through a series of controls and documentation until they locate the source of the issue. It could be an ink supplier, a machine that is worn and needs repair, or a bad batch of paper from the vendor supplying the packaging to be printed. ISO ensures customer satisfaction and protects vendors’ costly mistakes, breakdowns, or supplier failures. This enables the vendor to quickly identify any issue, correct the problem for the customer, and resume production with confidence. Without ISO it’s a crapshoot and everything can come to a grinding halt while the vendor plays Sherlock Holmes trying to figure out the source of the problem.

Meeting ISO standards in industry and manufacturing is an important certification that lets customers know you have passed rigorous audits by independent contractors licensed by ISO to audit and issue certifications. The certification opens the door if companies require it for their suppliers and it demonstrates a vendor’s ability to operate at the same level as larger ones.

At Century Printing and Packaging we recently passed a two-day audit and our ISO certification has been renewed for another 3 years. We have been answering the call for high-quality and high-performance labels across a diverse platform of industries like craft breweries, Nutraceuticals, CBD products, and newspapers. We can accommodate flexo, digital, flexible packaging, and many other product applications.

Ben Waldrop
President
Century Printing & Packaging
Greer, SC 29651
800.344.7509