Category Archives: Rubber Stamping

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14 Jun 2024

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

Categories Beer and Beverage, Butter Wrap, Design, Digital Press, Flexographic Printing, ISO Certification, Labels, Marketing, packaging, Press, Printing, RFID Technology, Rollstock Film, Rubber Stamping, Small Business, Technology, Uncategorized Author Ben Waldrop

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.

27 Apr 2023

Flexo Plate Services

Categories Flexographic Printing, Graphics, Rubber Stamping Author Ben Waldrop

Over time the nature of flexographic printing has become a more refined and precise method of rubber stamping. As it’s evolved, it’s become widely popular in the consumer product and the printing and packaging industries.

Typically, flexographic printing involves a polymer image carrier that is engraved to create the design for the label. These image carriers can include, cylinders, sleeves, and plates to achieve the desired look. The beauty of this type of printing is that it allows for a continuous process with high speeds and maintained accuracy.

However, as the demand for rendering high-resolution images for specific labels has grown, Digital printing has become a great option for smaller-volume jobs that are not required to be repeated over and over again. Currently, Century Packaging & Printing utilizes both digital and flexographic printing to meet customer needs and requirements.

Over the past 25 years of being in the printing industry, CP&P has invested in making its own plates, but with the evolution of the digital press, they no longer need as many plates as they used to. At one point, CP&P was heavily involved in the newspaper business with over 60% of their annual sales coming from this portion of the business. This meant that a large majority of their resources went toward the newspaper market.

One complexity of printing advertising labels for newspapers lies in the fact that they do not often repeat. This process is fundamentally built around a “one and done” thought process and need. After the plate is run once to create the label for the advertiser, it is no longer used again.

As the majority of our society has pivoted digitally to obtain their daily news sources, the number of front pages available for advertising labels has steadily declined. CP&P has adapted to this downturn in demand for advertising labels by pivoting to the food, beverage, and other key markets. They have also leveraged the power of their hybrid press, added in 2022, which has opened up their capacity in plate making.

At this time, CP&P is in a place in their business where they are excited to share the expertise they have accumulated over the last 25 years with other printers in need of a high-quality source of plates. CP&P has put in the time and effort to become distinguished in the plate-making domain.

A significant piece of their success stems from the contract work that was done with Carol Jones– a renowned expert in plate making. Carol worked at Clemson for over 32 years and taught in their graphic communications department. She specialized in Flexography and Electronic Prepress and was devoted to testing and research associated with printing processes and products. Due to their dedication and commitment to putting forth the highest standards, Ben and Neil contracted Carol’s help to strengthen their proficiency in plate making. She came in and standardized their current plate-making process with quality checks to ensure that the quality was not only up to CP&P’s specifications but also held up to high-standard industry specifications. As CP&P’s mastery and aptitude in the world of plate-making grew, they purchased new equipment and established new procedures that would differentiate them from other printers.

Another unique hallmark of CP&P’s plate-making process is that they do not use chemicals. As part of their continued commitment to excellence, CP&P remains clean and environmentally sound with a promise to reduce waste anywhere they can.

The team at CP&P is more than ready to share their knowledge with other printers in the area and will gladly be a resource to anyone who is on the search for a new plate manufacturer. Instead of relying on contracting out to plate-making companies who may not have the same standards as CP&P, Ben and Neil are working diligently on selling their plates to those who are looking for a new plate-making partner.