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16. Case: Nordvalls Etikett
16.
P A T R I K J E N E M A R K , N O R D V A L L S E T I K E T T
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Case: Nordvalls Etikett
Nordvalls Etikett digitized their machine park, got up to speed, and turned bad results into good ones. The company knows the importance of internal commitment during a transformation and has worked hard at improving workflows. New levels of flexibility, quality, and production speed have been achieved and created steady profitability. – This gives our customers many options, and it gives us a strong belief in the future, says Patrik Jenemark, CEO.
TELL US ABOUT NORDVALLS ETIKETT, WHAT DO YOU DO? – We make all kinds of self-adhesive labels printed digitally or flexo. We work a lot toward the pharmaceutical industry and also with shipping labels, which increases hand in hand with online trade. Furthermore, we sell leaflets and tickets of all kinds, says Patrik Jenemark.
HOW’S THE COMPANY DOING? – Today, we’re fine. But it has been a tough ride from 2012 when the effect of the changed customer structure and increased cost affected us. Now we’ve been through a transformation that makes us well equipped for the future. I see an effective organization with the right tools and a belief in the future.
HOW HAS THE EVERYDAY WORKING LIFE CHANGED? – With digital values, we’ve taken several steps forward. Take Felix Ketchup as an example. Ten years ago, the press was launched with their labels on Sunday evening and kept going until Friday lunch. Then, the press was restarted on
Sunday evening. Same ketchup all week. Now it’s completely different. It is variations with less sugar, eco, chili, Easter special, name special, so on. There are many more and smaller series and being able to produce that is a key to success. Here’s the digital revolution. If we do 50,000 runs, an hour’s setup time doesn’t matter. But if we run the series in five hours, then one hour’s setup is 20% of the total runtime. The more series and campaigns, the more we notice the digital benefits.
WHEN DID YOU START THE DIGITAL JOURNEY? – Early, but it didn’t take off. We were too traditional. The first digital press never became a serious alternative to flexo. I came here in 2012 and, since then, we have made a journey back to profitability. We went from 160 employees to 100, closed one factory, outsourced commercial print and found a good mix between short and long jobs. We bought two HP 6800 and were able to transfer unprofitable short jobs from flexo to digital and made the job profitable. You can turn it around. We spent a lot of time finding the break-even point to save setup time and clichés. Everything below the breakpoint goes to digital.
WHICH LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED? – Employees need to understand the benefits of the process. It’s not just about educating operators but also bringing in the rest of the organization. Make them realize that we don’t suddenly sell “digital labels” to customers; we still sell “labels”. Whether it is flexo or digital, we choose the best print-tech according to customer needs. If we sell it as “new digital labels”, the customer feels like they should get a lower price. What we see is that they can get a good price even though they order fewer labels at a time. It is possible to create a win-win situation where it is not necessarily the price that is the most important thing. In addition, we don’t sell printing technology. We sell labels.
ANYTHING ELSE? – We must use the digital benefits and help developing our customers. Seize the added value of digital. Take advantage of the fact that it’s easier and faster to make changes, so you don’t need storage, and thereby that prepress is simplified. It’s a journey.
HOW DO YOU GET THE EMPLOYEES ON BOARD? – By building a commitment. Study visits are good, Visutech Digital Academy is good and HP is good. They provide training, encouragement, and pep talks. Jan-Olof Jungersten has been a good sparring partner for us at Nordvalls; he knows the trade and has been around for a long time. The support of the supplier is important.
IN WHAT WAY DID VISUTECH SUPPORT YOU? – Jan-Olof is a man of vision and I used him as a sounding board. He initiates ideas and I’ve had a big exchange with him and his experience and foresight. Visutech has a good and local service when you purchase HP presses. It’s reassuring. I read Jan-Olof’s book “Visions & Transmissions” and benefited from it, it was interesting while thinking along those lines. I was a little frustrated when we didn’t get started earlier with the process at Nordvalls and had many sound discussions with Jan-Olof who helped us achieve this.
HOW DID YOU USE VISUTECH ACADEMY? – We sent employees from all over the organization for inspiration and to bring something useful back home. Salespeople, production managers, calculators, and finance staff, which means there are many of us who can help to get the message through to the organization. It has been an energy boost but also provided us with everyday tools. Then, of course, we have trained our prepress operators and printers, hands-on stuff. That combination has been successful.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE SUPPLIER’S ROLE WHEN YOU GO FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL? – For us medium-sized companies, the supplier is important. A security. They broaden the market range, which is good so that more people and companies tag along for the whole entity. The more converting to digital that occurs the better. In addition, they support with education and ideas on how to change and sharpen the workflow.
WHAT IS REQUIRED TO BECOME A WINNER IN YOUR SEGMENT IN THE FUTURE? – Up until 2010, Nordvalls was a constant winner and was earning money. We then experienced some pretty rough years. Now we’re back as winners. There are several reasons, but a big part is the digital journey that we have been on. The modernization. Now isn’t the time to settle down, instead we must keep moving forward with the digital development. There will certainly be more digital presses, but also by further digitizing the workflow. Look deep into what we can give back to our customers. Does the customer have to send repeat orders by mail to a salesperson who puts it in our system? Could the customer put the order directly into our system? There is more to gain.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
– If you are in the printing industry, you should probably be in label printing. The future will come with increasingly more information on labels. More languages, more warning texts, more information, more of everything. RFID tags have been tried a lot over the years; maybe there is a breakthrough around the corner. Or, we’ll see completely different labels. We the printers must be ready for techchanges and embark on digital journeys together with our customers, as our customers increasingly digitize toward their own customers.
YOU ARRIVED HERE IN 2012. DID THE DIGITALIZATION AND TRANSFORMATION FEEL OBVIOUS TO YOU BACK THEN? – When I came to Nordvalls, I thought the problem was in sales. That was naive. Sales are a piece of the puzzle, but it was more about switching to an efficient production. We reviewed the production workflow and when we compiled everything, the conversion time for short series appeared as an important factor. We then looked at the economy and a lot of jobs didn’t make a profit. Could we raise the price by 30%? Not every customer would love that. So we looked at digital presses to streamline the conversions and after only a few months I was convinced. This was the only way forward. We couldn’t do the label itself that much cheaper, but we could cut other costs. We managed to deliver everything with fewer resources. That helped us to turn the ship around. Perhaps me coming from another industry was a good thing in the process.
WHAT IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS WITH THIS TRANSFORMATION? – Preparations are important, do the mental journey where you decide wholeheartedly to do this. And create commitment and understanding internally within your company.
••• SHORT FACTS
Company name: Nordvalls Etikett AB Employees: 100 CEO: Patrik Jenemark Owner: Possehl Group Revenue: Circa SEK 240 million a year Production: Sjöbo (8,000 square meters) and Kungälv (5,000 square meters) Digital presses: Two HP Indigo WS6800
