Weernink reports that Smyth plans to acquire one or two companies a year. Initially, the acquisitions will be limited to North American companies, but the plan is to begin international searches soon. “Our CEO, John Hickey, plans to double our size within five years, but I believe our plans could become much more ambitious than that,” he says. The company operates five facilities: a roll-fed plant in Minneapolis; one sheet-fed plant in Austin, Minnesota, and one in Bedford, Virginia; a commercial and fulfillment operation in Austin; and a fulfillment and bottle labeling operation in Golden, Colorado. In this latter facility Smyth is established within the Miller-Coors Beer grounds, where it applies labels for Coors’ short-run beers. “For example, we recently finished a large promotion for their Blue Moon product that highlighted the blue moon seen this past December 31st,” Weernink says. Smyth currently is applying labels for Coors’ new Native product, which is made from native Colorado hops. This is not a model that Smyth Companies currently plans to expand, but it illustrates Smyth’s willingness to offer and support viable solutions to customers. One of Smyth’s customers—the largest pickle producer in the country—recently changed its label formatting. “We have a relationship with them going back over 30 years,” reports Weernink. “They had been using cut-andstack glue-applied labels, but last year they decided to implement a clear pressure-sensitive label design. So we converted this business from our Bedford cut-and-stack facility and brought it here to our Minneapolis facility to print the pressure-sensitive labels. Then we worked with one of our partners, Shorewood, to provide six rotary labeling machines. Together with Shorewood and Red Rock Technologies, we installed the equipment and trained the customer’s personnel. So it was a decoration transfer project that transformed from a paper cut-and-
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stack label to a clear pressure-sensitive label.” Another customer moved from in-mold labeling to pressure-sensitive labeling to shrink labeling within a matter of just six months, with Smyth supporting them along their journey. “They were looking for designs to differentiate their products,” Weernink says. “We definitely see national brands experimenting with continuous design changes, especially if something is not working on the retail shelf. After all, the average time a consumer spends looking at a label is just a half second to one second, so the design really has to be eye-catching to be successful.” All the company’s successes would not be possible without the engaged participation of its workforce, acknowledges Weernink. “We invest in our employees and create opportunities for them to grow professionally. For instance, when we wanted to implement six sigma, rather than going out and hiring people trained in six sigma, we trained people within our own ranks to be black and green belts so they could help move our continuous improvement program along. We have employees who are trained in lean practices and who monitor 5S methodologies, changeover times and help investigate new equipment technologies. We understand that we can’t have management handing down edicts on how to do the work. Our engaged workforce on the floor understands how we can do things better.” Underscoring Smyth’s commitment to its 350 employees are recent awards it received from Printing Industries of America, who awarded the company “Best Workplace in America” in 2008 and “Best of the Best” in 2009. The company, reporting revenues of over $80 million annually, is ISO 9001 and AIB (American Institute of Baking) certified; it is audited annually by each of these organizations to demonstrate its commitment to continuous improvement. In addition, Smyth Companies