No one can accuse the managers of Custom Poly Bag, Alliance, OH, of hasty decision-making. It took 10 years for the Prather and Carlile families, co-owners, to research their 2004 decision to purchase a 50-in. Infiniti II CI-flexo press from Paper Converting Machinery Co. (www.pcmc.com). However, once the press was bought and installed, it gave Custom Poly Bag such a boost to its printing capabilities that management now welcomes customers to what they call the bagmaker's "Wonderful World of Color."

The reasoning for the new press was simple: selling into the retail food environment, with newspaper promotion bags also one of their specialties, Custom Poly Bag needed 8- and 9-color printing capability. Three older Hudson-Sharp (www.hudson sharp.com) 4-, 5- and 6-color presses, although well-maintained and in excellent shape, couldn't be asked to provide the kind of line color reproduction that the company needed to go after new business. With high-end retail, bread bags, snack food in their present or future product mix—and an expansion south and west of their traditional Columbus-area and greater Ohio base—a 10-color press with state-of-the-art print quality was a must.

"We knew that our facility had to be competitive not only in pricing, but in the products we offered," says sales manager Doug Prather, during a recent visit by Converting. "The print and color limitation our older presses imposed on us forced some of our customers to go outside the state, or even outside the country, to meet their printing demands." According to Prather, Canadian printers and bagmakers have been aggressively soliciting business in the state of Ohio.

Still, CPB managers took their time assessing their available press choices. An important attribute to president Donald Prather, his son Doug, and plant manager Phil Carlile, whose father Lloyd co-founded the company with Donald in 1969, was that the press be made in the U.S. if possible.

"We'd bought some converting equipment in the past from overseas companies, and it was not always easy to get service or parts. So we were glad that, in the end, PCMC was able to meet our needs with a machine built in Green Bay, WI," says Donald Prather.

Custom Poly Bag placed the order for the Infiniti in March 2004, and managers were able to see the machine run at PCMC's plant in August last year before accepting delivery the week of Thanksgiving. "We had production from the new press on December 23rd," says Doug Prather, proudly.

Custom Poly Bag bought the Infiniti for its print quality and color capabilities, and it did not disappoint. "Most of our process runs have been at 133 line screen," says Doug Prather. "But we have printed at 157 line screen in fingerprint trials, successfully." Line color reproduction is also superior, according to the company.

However, other press attributes were a pleasant surprise. "We couldn't believe how quiet this press is, even at full production speed," says Donald Prather. "Compared to our older press models, you walk out to the new plant addition where the new press is, and the noise level goes way down."

Changeover on the new press also ushered in a new era. Accustomed to extended changeover time for setup and anilox changes on the older presses, Custom Poly Bag managers were particularly impressed with the Infiniti's sleeve-exchange system and other features that speed up job changes.

A walk through the plant reveals that CPB has the full spectrum of polybag production capability in-house—from the extrusion of blown-PE film to converting the last features of the finished bags.

Extrusion capabilities range from 6- to 58-in.-wide film in layflat or gusseted tubing, j-sheeting, single- and double-wound, centerfold sheeting and bags-on-rolls. Film (see "Specifics" for film varieties) is extruded in gauges from 0.001 to 0.010, and opaque and tinted colors are also available. Bag machines can convert sizes from 2- to 54-in. wide and 2- to 150-in. long. Bag varieties include individual sheets of sleeves, tubular, gusseted tubular, side-weld, wicketed pack, staple pack, tamper-resistant, and grout bags. Converted options include vents, handholds, doorknob holes, thumb-notch holes, serrations, bottom gussets, and sealed reinforced and non-reinforced headers.

Slitting capability is down to 1 in. for a variety of materials.

According to Phil Carlile, CPB's 52 employees are also due a large measure of credit for the company's success. "They have a combined total experience of 875 years in the industry," he says, proudly. "All of that expertise translates into the skill to operate our new and older machines and get the best possible quality out of them."

What's next for this aggressive small converter? While a number of converters are outsourcing operations that lay outside their "core competencies," CPB appears intent on becoming more vertically integrated.

"We're looking at laminating in-house, which would allow us to print for the demanding standup pouch market," says Doug Prather. "Currently we have to outsource laminating."

After serving Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan area for more than a quarter of a century, Custom Poly Bag is now ready to broaden its horizons as it develops an Internet presence. It possesses the updated equipment and facilities to compete nationwide, and the experienced personnel and quality-control techniques to keep print quality high as it goes after new businesses, new markets and new operations.