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Solutions July 2005
Case
Study
Labels
Overcoming
a Label Alarm
Two
years ago, Kevin Ferraschi O’Malley
received a call no distributor
wants to hear from a customer.
“Your manufacturer has a
big problem,” said the contact
from a security alarm company.
The company orders yard signs
and door labels that alert would-be
prowlers that a property is protected
with an alarm system. The security
firm didn’t receive its
latest label shipment, and four
boxes of signs arrived in poor
condition.
“Someone
at the manufacturer literally
slammed the signs in a box and
out the door,” says O’Malley,
owner of Proforma All-Source,
a distributorship in Tualatin,
Ore. The outside of the boxes
were covered with tire tracks.
The signs were damaged because
the company neglected to add packing
popcorn to protect them. O’Malley
contacted the manufacturer and
discovered it had been bought
and the plant was going to be
shut down and moved.
“At
that point you scramble to recover
quickly and get the customer identical
products,” says O’Malley.
To supply the labels, he turned
to Gill Studios Inc., a manufacturer
in Shawnee Mission, Kan., from
whom he’d ordered screenprinted
labels since starting his business
in 1991. Gill Studios was able
to provide the 2-way custom labels,
which normally require a 4-week
turnaround, in two weeks.
“Every
manufacturer talks about being
responsive,” O’Malley
says. “But when the rubber
meets the road, can they do it?”
Gill Studios did. Proforma All-Source
provided the manufacturer with
a sample of the label, a 4 x 41Ú2-inch
Mylar label custom die cut in
the shape of a shield. The 2-way
label adheres to windows on residential
and commercial doors so its security
warning can be read by people
approaching the door from the
outside and leaving the building.
The
printing of the label is complex:
The security alarm company’s
name and warning are printed in
three colors on a clear Mylar
label with permanent adhesive
on the face. Then the manufacturer
adds a barrier, either made of
a distinctive material or using
a special printing technique,
that ensures the image on the
reverse side isn’t visible.
Next the manufacturer prints the
mirror image of the company name
and warning in three colors on
the opposite side. Users peel
off the liners and place the labels
on door windows.
The
security alarm company had strict
requirements for the labels, which
serve as prime advertising pieces
for the firm. For instance, it
insisted the three ink colors
exactly match its specifications
and they don’t fade over
time in the sun. Gill Studios
met all requirements and delivered
the labels on short notice.
The
security alarm company orders
approximately 10,000 labels annually.
It’s just one of many security
firms that O’Malley serves.
When the former manufacturer closed,
several of O’Malley’s
customers were affected and the
distributor got a wake-up call.
“We all rely on a prime
supplier and some back-ups,”
he says. “But when a prime
supplier fails in a niche market
with custom orders, it can be
a disaster.” Fortunately,
Gill Studios helped Proforma All-Source
recover, and the two companies
maintain a close partnership today.
—Susan
Keen Flynn
When
Kevin Ferraschi O’Malley
owned a security alarm company,
the labels he provided customers
to place on doors indicating that
the property was protected consistently
faded. When O’Malley sold
the company, he researched methods
for printing durable labels. That
led to the formation of Proforma
All-Source, his Tualatin, Ore.-based
distributorship that specializes
in labels for security alarm firms,
manufacturers and a handful of
other niches. O’Malley shares
this advice for marketing labels:
1.
Think in reverse.
Most distributors find a market
with a need for labels, such as
medical or manufacturing, then
scramble to find a solution. Instead,
O’Malley recommends learning
about printing methods, then finding
a company with a label problem
that you can solve. “You
can develop an expertise in the
niche by understanding all the
printing technologies,”
he says.
2.
Understand that application is
king.
“The most important thing
is having an intimate understanding
of the application and matching
that to the right print technology—screenprinting,
flexo, hot stamping, digital and
so on,” he says. “Understand
where that label is going to live.”
Will it be inside or outside?
Applied to glass, wood, metal,
etc.? Applied permanently or be
removed?” O’Malley
encourages distributors to ask
about the application even if
companies place reorders with
exact specifications: Sometimes
label usage changes, and clients
neglect to mention that when reordering.
3.
Pick a niche and save nickels.
O’Malley forges relationships
and gains more business by understanding
market conditions in the niches
he serves. But specialization
has an added benefit: It saves
money for his company and clients.
For example, creating steel rule
dies for custom labels can be
costly. He owns dies for six different
size octagons commonly used by
security companies for their door
labels.
