CS Labels’ success story: the Xeikon/Color-Logic combo
Situated in the West Midlands area of the United Kingdom, CS Labels began as a small family-owned screen printer in 1976. Today, it still is family-owned but the company has expanded to become the largest European digital label printer to use the Xeikon technology. CS experienced a major growth spurt when it adopted the idea of digitally printing labels rather than using flexo presses back in 2011.
“Brands want to differentiate their products”
“Understanding what brands require is critical in our business,” says Simon Smith. “We find that brands wish to differentiate their products from their competition, and make their products stand out on the shelf.”
For many customers, CS Labels prints labels on metallic substrate using the Color-Logic Process Metallic Color System. Color-Logic technology automatically produces a white ink mask, permitting the Xeikon presses to not only print process color images, but create as many as 250 different metallic hues prepared for a number of brands.
White ink masks
Dubai-based manufacturer of neutracauticals and vitamin supplements, Quest Excellence, for example, depends on CS Labels to print their labels on metallic substrate. “White ink masks were a pain until we became a Color-Logic licensee, ” Smith says. “Now we can cut even complex masks in just minutes.” The Quest Excellence products are seeing 20 percent sales growth year-on-year with their colorful labels.
As brands require many more SKUs to address worldwide markets, the Xeikon digital printing solution and Color-Logic enable them to stand out from their competition on the shelf. True 1200 dpi addressability and quality, dedicated dry label toners, one-pass opaque white and full rotary printing independent of the number of colors or the repeat length of the job means Xeikon presses, together with the Color-Logic process, offer printers a virtually unlimited combination of high-quality decorative effects.
Creating striking metallic labels with Color-Logic
“Color-Logic permits us to work with graphic designers developing brand concepts to create striking metallic labels. Moreover, our ability to produce short runs economically using the Xeikon digital presses means that designers can see precisely how their labels will look, before committing to actual production. We prepare color charts showing designers the many metallic colors we can produce. By simply calling out the desired hue, designers eliminate the need for the trial and error formerly associated with metallic printing.”
Color-Logic as an alternative for foil stamping
CS Labels also applies Color-Logic as an alternative for foil stamping, which can be expensive for short runs. “Color-Logic combined with the Xeikon press often presents the opportunity to get much the same effect at a significantly lower cost,” Smith explains. “But even more important, small type and complex designs tend to fill in when foil stamping is used. With Color-Logic and our Xeikon presses, we can confidently hold virtually any kind of detail the designer wants.”
Staffordshire Brewery, for example, a brewer that also produces its own brands and sells brewing supplies to home brewers and the trade, depends on Xeikon and CS Labels’ expertise for its beer labels. They are printed on a silver-backed paper that resists the dampness that goes with beer, while the logo has a rope which Color-Logic produces exactly. With foil stamping, the rope effect was lost.
CS Labels is proof of how digital label converters can specialize in short runs and still be profitable. Embracing new technology has allowed the company to make the most of new business opportunities.
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