Hanover Park, Ill. – Utah PaperBox, established in 1914 under the name Union Label, is a 105 year old, fifth generation family-owned Salt Lake City-based packaging manufacturer. Leading in technology and innovation, Utah PaperBox recently invested in the Fujifilm J Press 720S sheetfed production inkjet press and has experienced an immediate boost in sales, in addition to furthering its commitment to long-term strategy and its customer base.

“We were in need of a press that was higher quality and could run more sheets per hour compared to what we were previously using, and the J Press was the right choice,” said Mike Salazar, vice president of operations, Utah PaperBox.

“Speed to market is imperative,” says Salazar. “We quickly print exact sample prototypes from the J Press, and are absolutely confident of the quality when we show it to the client for approvals. Not one prototype has been rejected, because the client knows exactly how their product will look. That is our competitive advantage.”

Utah PaperBox has clients that have previously asked for ‘test market’ boxes upwards of 5,000 pieces. “To run that job on an offset press, the upfront cost for our clients didn’t justify the risky investment to see if it will sell on their-end,” said Salazar. “With the J Press we are able to fulfill these types of jobs for our clients with a fair price and quick turnarounds.”

Fujifilm’s J Press 720S established an entirely new product category: the high-quality, sheetfed inkjet press. The J Press offers a half-size solution for print runs of just one or thousands, where traditional offset and digital printing are failing to perform. This provides a superior solution for the fastest-growing segment of the market where the majority of print jobs reside and where the opportunities will continue to be in the future.

Utah PaperBox customers expect speed, quality, service, and consistency. Today, clients are no longer warehousing thousands of pallets for inventory as shorter runs are the industry standard; and the J Press can quickly and cost-effectively deliver on these product expectations.

Built on an offset chassis with proven performance and incorporating the industry’s leading inks and inkjet technology, the J Press is the perfect solution for printers looking for a product that has the quality and robustness of an offset press as well as the versatility to handle even the shortest of press runs.

“The J Press allows us to offer flexibility, and as an independently-owned company, it also reinforces our reputation of innovation,” says Salazar. “With this powerful inkjet solution we are helping our clients grow their business as well. It’s a billboard message our clients are printing on their packages; not just a plain brown box.”

The J Press 720S, as well as the recently introduced third generation J Press 750S feature FUJIFILM Dimatix Samba® single-pass piezo drop-on-demand inkjet technology to achieve an impressive 1,200 x 1,200 dpi resolution with four-level grayscale; achieving unmatched repeatability from sheet to sheet.

“We wanted to do better, and we know we are doing better, especially with the FUJIFILM Dimatix printheads in the J Press,” adds Salazar. “These printheads are second to none.”

Color consistency and registration are imperative to a brand in the packaging world
“The color consistency of the J Press is huge with regard to Delta E,” said Steve Burch, digital press manager, Utah PaperBox. “One of our clients brand colors is brown, and with the J Press we output the same brown, every time, first sheet to the last sheet. And we are able to produce this time and again with absolutely no set-up or special calibrations. We simply pull-up the job and the J Press does the rest without hesitation.”

Continues Salazar, “In packaging, registration is critical, and with our previous equipment, there were certain jobs we could not manage because of the movement. With the J Press we are in a win-win situation with amazing color consistency and perfect registration.”

Utah PaperBox utilizes a variety of substrates on a daily basis, with an impressive uptime
“With the J Press we are able to trade between stocks extremely quickly, different sizes and thicknesses,” said Burch.

Around 200 employees are situated at the LEED-certified Salt Lake City location of Utah PaperBox, with an earth-friendly solar-power grid, and natural light filling their expansive 250,000 square feet of office and production spaces. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow for sweeping views of nearby mountain ranges. “We are a family-owned business, and all of our employees are treated like family as well. We hope to still be in business for another 105 years,” concludes Salazar.

Steve Burch, left, digital press manager, and Mike Salazar, vice president of operations, Utah PaperBox, alongside Fujifilm's J Press 720S at UPB's Salt Lake City, Utah facility.