Ambitious Lebanese printer El Yaman Group has its sights set on raising its international profile and expects investment in a PRATI Jupiter 450 servo-slitter-rewinding-inspection machine to help it do just that.

For PRATI this is the third machine sold in Lebanon and with over 30 machines sold in the Middle East area, PRATI confirms its leader position as supplier of label finishing machines in the region.

With the ever since vision of prosperity and differentiation; El Yaman Group is a family printing company founded in 1987 with the target of providing distinguished pre-press services in the south of Lebanon. With the vision of the owner, Ali El Yaman, the business grew steadily and moved into full colour offset printing along with the post press finishing which enabled it to become the biggest in the south. Other services were incrementally added to offer digital and silkscreen services as well as security printing. With an eye on expanding the service deliverable, his son, Mohamad Yaman, CEO, acquires a full fledge line of flexo printing. Serving a varied customer base including big names in the food and cosmetics industries, its diverse product range spans brochures and books to labels - self adhesive, wet paper and in-mould and packaging.

Mr. Mohamad El Yaman comments: “We have always upgraded and purchased our machines with the intention of continuous improvement to our quality of service. We want to put us and Lebanon on the international printing map and we believe adding solutions like this will enable us to do that.”

To better understand the packaging market he carried out his own study and discovered great demand for labels and a wide difference in quality between locally produced and imported goods.  As a result he invested in Lebanon’s first Gallus EM280 and the Middle East’s first KODAK FLEXCEL NX and Schober die-cutter. “We add investments step by step. Over the last four years we have made four different investments for full turn key solutions in different departments from digital printing to security printing and packaging,” says El Yaman.

To deliver the required quality control and ensure that all delivered goods are consistent and approved to be used, El Yaman invested in the region’s firstPRATI Jupiter 450 servo-slitter-rewinding-inspection machine with Nikka Alis L2 video camera. Running at 318mpm, the system features a graphic touch-screen interface and PROXIMA, the advanced detecting system for improved operator usability and job integrity. As well as a fast setup, it can detect opaque and clear labels, inspect reflective golden printed labels or those with a variation of surface thickness and detect broken labels and other faults at maximum speed. 

“Every label is viewed by a different user and as such will have a key influence on the success of our customer’s brand,” states El Yaman. “This is why we chose the PRATI Jupiter fully equipped with camera verification. I expect it will help with faster job turnaround, increased customer orders, the ability to complete different kinds of jobs, improved quality and consistency. But more importantly it will help us differentiate our business and increase growth. Otherwise we would have a weaker proposition and we would not be able to deliver goods up to the standards that our clients expect.”

El Yaman thoroughly researched the market before making his decision. He says: “We saw the machine on live demonstration at Labelexpo and reviewed how it would integrate with our existing solutions. With this sophisticated well equipped PRATI machine every order is digitally proved to be a conforming product and orders are automated and error free. The aim is to create reliability and consistency for our customers. The machine is really impressive but what had a big impact on my decision was the people behind PRATI - the family business, the experienced people supporting it. I felt I was not buying a slitter but instead I was joining another family.”

He concludes: “The labeling industry is booming. Our versatility differentiates us drastically from the competition since it allows us to serve a big span of customers regardless of size or industry.”