Printed, plain and film labels
Nine-colour flexographic printing at our own factory. Three label families, one specification record, and a supplier who will tell you when you are paying for a material you do not need.
The press
Nine stations is not nine colours. It is nine decisions.
A flexographic press is a line of print stations, and the web runs through all of them in a single pass. Each station lays down exactly one thing: an ink, a coating, or an effect.
So station count is not a bragging number, it is a budget. A premium food label might spend it like this: an opaque white base so colour printed on clear film is not tinted by the product behind it, four stations of process colour for the photography, two of your brand's own spot colours mixed in the bucket rather than built out of dots, and a varnish. Take stations away and something on that list goes - usually the second brand colour, which then gets approximated in process and drifts off-brand.
It is also why colour holds between runs. The anilox roll at each station is a ceramic cylinder engraved with millions of microscopic cells that meter a fixed, repeatable volume of ink. The cell volume decides the ink film weight, not the operator's judgement on the day.
Worked example
Nine stations, one pass
- 01Opaque white
- 02Process
- 03Process
- 04Process
- 05Process
- 06Spot colour
- 07Spot colour
- 08Varnish
- 09Spare
One way to spend the nine on a premium food label. Take a station away and a line comes off this list. The ninth is the one you still have when the job turns out to need something else.
01 / Printed
Printed labels
9-colour flexographic printing for high-quality branded packaging labels.
Nine colour stations means your brand palette does not have to be negotiated down to fit the press. Process colours, the specific spot colours your brand standards specify, an opaque white base for clear film, and a varnish or lacquer station can all run in a single pass.
That matters most on reorders. Because the same job runs the same way each time, the jar you print in March matches the jar you printed last September - which is the thing a retail technologist actually checks.
- Process and spot colour in one pass
- Opaque white base for clear and filmic stocks
- Matt, gloss and tactile varnishes
- Consistent colour across repeat runs
02 / Plain
Plain labels
Reliable labels for barcode, identification and operational applications.
Blank die-cut labels on the reel, wound and cored to suit your printer or applicator, for everything you overprint yourself: date and batch codes, weigh-price labels, barcodes, ingredient and allergen panels printed at the point of pack.
Plain stock is the least glamorous thing we make and the one that stops a line fastest when it runs out. We hold specifications and reorder patterns so a call-off is a phone call, not a fresh specification exercise.
- Thermal transfer and direct thermal stocks
- Wound to your applicator's core and direction
- Consistent die sizes across reorders
- Held specifications for fast call-off
03 / Film
Film labels
Durable, high-quality labels for demanding applications.
Where paper gives up, film carries on. Filmic labels handle moisture, condensation, oil and freezer transit, and they flex with a squeezed bottle instead of creasing or lifting at the edge.
They are also how you get the premium look: clear-on-clear so the product shows through, or a white film that holds a solid colour without the fibre showing. Chilled, frozen, wet and squeezable products are the usual reasons a customer moves to film, and we will tell you honestly when paper would do the job for less.
- Moisture, oil and condensation resistant
- Chilled and freezer-grade constructions
- Clear-on-clear for a no-label look
- Conformable for squeezable packs
Capability at a glance
Specification
| Ref | Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Print process | Flexographic, up to 9 colours |
| 02 | Label types | Printed, plain and film |
| 03 | Colour | Process and spot colour, opaque white base for filmic stocks |
| 04 | Face materials | Paper and filmic stocks, clear and white |
| 05 | Adhesives | Specified to application, including chilled and freezer grades |
| 06 | Finishing | Matt, gloss and tactile varnishes; lamination |
| 07 | Food contact | Food contact label manufacturing available - specified per job |
| 08 | Certification | Grade A BRCGS Packaging |
| 09 | Supply format | Reels wound and cored to your applicator or hand application |
| 10 | Manufacture | Printed in the UK at our own factory |
The envelope we work within. Send the application and we will confirm the right construction and the lead time for your job.
Label print & apply, engineered in South Wales.
Printing the label is half the job - applying it at line speed is the other half. We partner with ALTech UK, a South Wales manufacturer of labelling machinery, covering every automatic application requirement: from promotional flash labelling to real-time, end-of-line print and apply.
Systems we supply and support
- ALwrapSemi-automatic dispenser
A simple, low-cost semi-automated label dispenser for low-volume desktop wraparound labelling of cylindrical and flat-sided (non-tapered) containers.
- ALcodeReal-time print & apply
Prints and applies self-adhesive labels in real time, one to one - the last label printed is the label applied. Fast, efficient and reliable.
- ALcode LTCompact print & apply
A real-time print and apply system developed specifically for low to medium speed applications that need compactness and low cost.
ALTech UK is an independent manufacturer of labelling machinery. Labelneeds supplies, installs and supports their systems alongside your label programme.
Reviewing your label supplier?
Let's talk.
Tell us what you make, how it is packed and what your current labels are not doing. We will come back with a specification and a straight quote.