The 1,200dpi label printer, running at just under 24m/min, was installed at the firm's Sittingbourne factory in early July by Develop partner Officeflow.
Taking its place alongside a stable of Daco Solutions blank label converters and a mono Daco flexo line, the new printer has allowed Lemon to bring a variety of jobs in-house and slash production times, while setting the business up ready to print roll label direct from web orders.
Trevor Voisey, managing director at Lemon Labels, told Printweek: “We’ve been really impressed with the results. It’s relatively straightforward to use, the quality and speed are good.”
The machine has proved particularly useful so far in rationalising its production, taking shorter runs off the firm’s Daco DF350SR mono flexo machine.
“By the time you inked up and cleaned up a job, it could take an hour and a half per colour. We did a job the other day, with about six different colours, that would have taken us all day – eight, nine hours – and we did it on [the Label 230], finished it, and it was in a box in under two hours. We’re going to save a lot of time,” Voisey said.
“We’ll waste less, too, and it will all feed into improving our margins. Even more important, though, is that it will improve the service we’re giving our customers.
“We’re living in a world now where everyone wants [their] print yesterday. They can’t wait for plates to be made, and for us to spend all day doing the job: customers want to order it today, and get it tomorrow. It’s in the forefront of our mind that we need to be able to offer that.”
The company is currently building its own web-to-print portal, with hopes to have the facility up and running by mid-September.
“They’re not quite ready to launch, but we’ll have a full web-to-print solution in place for stickers and printed label rolls – this printer sits in the middle of that, because it’s going to feed several markets from several different websites,” Voisey explained.
Installation took a day, with half a day’s training in the afternoon.
“It was quite funny – they came in the following morning expecting to carry on training, but I’d been in early and I had been impatient, so I had gone to see if I could remember how to use it. So the trainers came in and I was already there printing!”
The new printer has already taken up a significant amount of the firm’s finishing capacity, with Lemon Labels looking to buy a new Daco converter with print registration and die-cutting to free up production.
“Our existing semi-rotary line is now quite busy. We’re not at capacity yet, but bringing that extra finishing route in will definitely aid us,” Voisey said.
Tom McCarthy, director of Officeflow, told Printweek: "It has been a real pleasure to work with Trevor and the team at Lemon Labels. This opportunity has allowed Officeflow to further elevate our offering to clients and expand our portfolio into the industrial digital print market.
"This fantastic piece of equipment allows Lemon Labels to bring more printed label work in house, giving them greater control and flexibility in there offering to clients.
"We very much look forwards to working with the team and seeing some of the creative ways they put the Ineo Label 230 to use."
Lemon Labels turns over around £1.8m annually, employing nine.
