Cleveland – Andrew Boyd isn’t a typical Vice President of a printing company. He’s young, energetic, and clearly enjoys his work. He’s excited about the business he runs and excited about the technology he’s invested in. His right hand man, Joe Schorr, who stewarded Blue Label Digital from an idea to a reality, is a busy Operations Manager, with a constant flow of people coming to ask him questions or to get approval or signoff on jobs.

Blue Label Digital Printing started as an offshoot of One Write Company, an offering envelope company chartered in 1957. They started a division producing short run, digitally printed labels in 2003 for a private label water bottle customer. The management team realized that there was a much larger market for digitally printed labels. “As far as we could see, there was a need for a short run, high quality label printer to serve the needs of many small brands that have been sprouting up across the US. We thought great service and high quality should be accessible for every business, regardless of size,” says Andrew Boyd.

Since the beginning of Blue Label Digital Printing in 2012, Boyd, Schorr and the 30 employed there have relied entirely on digital printing equipment. The line-up of presses is steadily growing and is anchored by HP technology with additional capabilities, including hot foil stamping and embossing.

The vast array of label jobs produced in-house at Blue Label Digital Printing require not only diverse print solutions to manage the work, but also effective and versatile finishing equipment to complement those presses, including a variety of roll and sheeting technologies. Atop Boyd’s wish list for augmenting existing finishing processes after visiting a few industry events in 2015, was a Standard Horizon RD- 4055 Rotary Die Cutter.

In Andrew’s words, “We needed a reliable, precision die-cutting option for sheets to match the high quality our customers demand from our roll products. After a lot of research, we decided that the RD-4055 offered the perfect combination of versatility, speed, and reliability we needed. Our customers are constantly pushing new products, so we need equipment that lets us stay one step ahead of their needs. After seeing the RD-4055 at Graph Expo and Dscoop, we knew it was the right fit for our company.” The Kompac Kwik Finish 20 also caught Joe Schorr’s eye about a year ago, after seeing it in action. The UV coating/varnish line was installed shortly after the RD-4055 came in and is used for a number of specialty varnish and coating applications.

The local dealer Graphco and Account Manager, Allison Foerster, helped Boyd and Schorr finalize the decision to purchase the RD-4055 and shortly thereafter, the rotary die-cutting solution was installed.
Boyd has his eye on the packaging market with this new technology, as a lot of Blue Label’s work, whether labels or small-format cartons, goes hand-in-hand with the ability to die-cut short- to medium-sized runs with increasingly faster turnaround times.