During the past 12 years, Valdese Packaging & Label, Inc. (Valdese, NC), has worked hard to achieve steady annual growth, expanding from a small, family-run startup to a 50-employee, full-service operation. The pressure-sensitive label/carton converter believes its newly installed Mitsubishi (Lincolnshire, IL) Diamond 1000LS sheetfed-offset press is the key to a new round of growth.

"The past year's print volume was phenomenal," says Darren Little, president. "We ran around the clock, so it was inevitable that we would have to increase our production capacity. Our customers look for only the highest-quality packaging. We wanted a press that would enhance production, ensure additional quality and enable us not only to attract new clientele but to satisfy the current and expanding needs of our existing customers."

Established in 1993, Valdese Packaging & Label specializes in textile packaging, p-s labels and consumer boxes for the retail, food and pharmaceutical industries. A modern, well-equipped graphics department provides both design work and prepress capabilities.

To serve more than 400 customers, Valdese Packaging uses sheetfed-offset and narrow-web flexo equipment. The Diamond 1000LS, a six-color, 28-in. model equipped with an aqueous coater, is the printer's second Mitsubishi press. A similarly configured Model 1F-15 was installed in 2001.

Little says the new press continues Valdese Packaging's efforts to provide quality, speed and efficiency. "We chose the Mitsubishi for a number of reasons," Little recalls. "I don't recognize a more highly automated press on the market. The automation and dependability of the press ensure that turnaround times for jobs can happen very fast. We'll be able to make ready a six-color job in just under 30 mins. The central console allows an operator to set up one job and store the specifications while another job is running."

Valdese Packaging previously operated from two locations in Valdese. The company is in the process of bringing all of its production and administrative functions under one roof in a 40,000-sq-ft facility.