S&K Label and Their Afinia Label DLP-2000

“In 1977, S&K Label began in a single car garage with one employee and offered one and two spot-color print and one-color hot stamping. Now the company offers foil embossing and a digital four-color process within its 5,000 square foot facility. S&K Label serves the U.S. and Canada. The company produces short-run, custom labels for several industries including food and beverage, cosmetic, giftware, and promotional markets.

In July 2016, S&K purchased the Afinia [Label] DLP-2000 digital label system after using the HP Indigo ws2000 that handled its digital labels for the past 12 years. Mike Harvanek, VP, S&K Label, says it chose the Afinia [Label] DLP-2000 because of the cost, print quality, and maintenance requirements.

The company keeps its digital press in a clean room along with prepress computers. ‘This reduces the chance of dust and dirt affecting the digital press and allows us to quickly send, or resend, production files to the press,’ comments Harvanek.

S&K Label made the switch to digital printing to remain relevant as demands rose for full-color and picture-quality labels. Harvanek says that the move was necessary for retaining current, and acquiring new, customers. ‘Before we purchased our first digital press 12 years ago, our production was limited to spot-color prints,’ he adds.

The real difference the company sees between digital and analog printing is label design. ‘We stick with analog for any simple, spot-color printing designs and all others get sent to the digital press. It all comes down to the method that will product the best label for the customer,’ he concludes.”

This article originally appeared in Industrial Print Magazine 01/2017

Another reason that S&K Label chose the Afinia Label DLP-2000 to replace their ws2000 is that the DLP-2000 does not require a click-charge. It is common for click charges to run in the neighborhood of $0.03 – $0.06/label. At high production volumes, not having a click-charge means substantial savings.