24 Oct A new project

How many times have we met with friends to celebrate something and ended up ordering pizza? Surely we all have, and we will do so again. If we think about what usually happens at the moment of actually ordering the pizza, most likely the following scenario comes to our minds: “mine with pineapple but without ham”, “mine with mushrooms and double cheese”, “a medium for me”, “thin crust for me”, and so on almost endlessly.

In Rieusset something very similar happens with regard to our products, since our clients call for many possibilities and combinations – type of material, number of colors, if there is to be a lacquer, type of finish on roll or pre-cut, or final conditioning of the goods.

For this reason, today I would like to roughly define the most important steps when carrying out a new project, be that labels or flexible packaging. In this case let’s take as an example an OPP roll label.

What do we have to keep in mind?

• Technical specifications
• Material
• Design
• Printing
• Conditioning

A crucial and enormously helpful element is the technical specification of our label, which is an element that is supplied by the manufacturer of the labeling machine. This will determine the dimensions of our label, its tolerances, the printing area, the dimensions of the roll, inside core diameter, maximum outside diameter of the roll, etc.

Below you can see an example of the technical specifications of a roll label.

The next step we need to deal with is defining the type of material we will use. In the case of OPP roll labels we can opt for:

• Transparent
• White
• Metallized

We then define the thickness and whether it is to have any type of lacquer.

In those cases where the labeling machine is new, trial labels made from the same material are first sent through the machine in order to carry out the necessary tests. With this trial run we can make sure that the material is compatible with the labeling machine and will allow to make adjustments.

Once the material has been defined it is time to adapt the designs to our label for printing. Presently, the most widely used programs are Artpro, Illustrator and Photoshop. After we receive the design from our client we adapt it to our printing technology and the final colors are defined in order to obtain the best possible result and quality. Before proceeding to the cylinder engraving process we send a pdf so the client may first validate the design and text. Once the pdf has been approved, a Cromalin color proof is sent so that the client may approve the color which will serve as a guide for printing on the machine.

With regard to printing, at Rieusset we always invite our clients to be present at the first productions, especially in the case of new projects. This way the final colors and shades can be defined together during printing. From thereon, whenever this job is repeated it will be done based on the approved printing.

The next step would be defining adequately the type of final conditioning of the goods, such as the type of pallet, its maximum height and weight, if the rolls are to go into cardboard containers or merely with strapping, type of traceability labels, etc. Since we have different types of conditioning available we can easily adapt to the diverse needs. It may seem irrelevant, but if it is not clearly and correctly defined we could end up making a pallet 1.5 m in height while our client’s warehouse shelves might be only 1.4 m high.

Having come to this point, the client will try the labels for the first time, which could be defined as an approval process. It is important that for new projects an approval order is made before full-scale manufacturing begins. This way we can verify that everything goes as planned, material, machinability, conditioning, etc. Furthermore, we have an amply experienced technical assistance department which can visit the client on site.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that in Rieusset we are very flexible in adapting ourselves to our clients with regard to their needs and advising them right from the beginning.

In future posts we will get into more detail of each of these steps, as for example what has to be kept in mind when designing a label.