The group completed the purchase of Los Angeles-based CB Printed Technology at the end of last month.
Reflex CEO Ian Kendall said the buy meant the business now had a presence in seven countries, which helped the group mitigate trade policy changes and environmental concerns around shipping.
“When we bought the Macfarlane Labels business we had quite a lot of export work to the US, and we thought for multiple reasons it would be good to set up in the States.”
While CB Printed Technology specialises in security labels for applications including authentication and anti-counterfeiting, it has the capacity at its 3,720sqm site to expand production into other types of labels, and Kendall said he anticipated sharing know-how from the wider group with the 20-strong business, and vice-versa.
“The beauty for us is, it’s in a building that has a lot of space for expansion. We are planning to invest quite heavily in new equipment.”
As part of Reflex’s ongoing £14m capex and reinvestment programme this year the firm has also just installed its third Screen inkjet label press, with a Truepress Label 350UV SAI-S model installed at its Grimsby site.
The new press was installed in September and was up and running last month.
“It’s a well-engineered Japanese product that’s solid and really reliable. That’s what struck me about the Screen technology,” Kendall added.
“We have the confidence to put one into a site whereas we sometimes have to double up with other technology.”
Its ability to print opaque white onto clear substrates was also key.
“It’s very reliable and the print quality is superb. We’re very pleased with it.”
The two other Screen Truepress devices are installed at its Barwell facility in Leicestershire, and at the group’s Australian operation, where Reflex first came across the Screen tech after acquiring an Aussie labels firm two years ago.
Kendall said the Reflex team had developed considerable expertise in matching jobs that shift between printing processes as run lengths change.
“That’s massive part of what we do. Our aim is to make the same beautiful label, and we have a massive army of experts to guarantee and maintain our colour management.
“Regardless of what printing method we use nothing leaves our facilities with a delta E reading of more than two, and that takes a lot of skill, dedication, and investments in the right technology.”
The Reflex Group is on track for sales of around £190m this year and employs 1,000. It has operations in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Australia and now the US.
