At a time when many converters are seeking to diversify product offerings, Mason, OH-based Spear maintains its focus on clear, pressure-sensitive labels for the beverage, food and personal-care industries.

“We don't try to be everything to everybody,” says Dan Muenzer, Spear vice president of marketing. Muenzer believes it's this sustained focus that has helped Spear earn business from some of the largest beverage manufacturers in the world—an impressive achievement considering that Spear doesn't advertise or participate in trade shows.

Spear vice president of marketing Dan Muenzer poses with a combination-platform press from in-house provider GMC that is equipped with a Martin Automatic LR automatic transfer rewind.

Founded in 1982, the company began as a flatbed, screen printer. By 2007, Spear had three facilities in North America and one in Europe. Late last year, it opened a new 59,000-sq-ft facility in Johannesburg, South Africa, starting operations there with its second, new Cerutti gravure press. Processes now include rotary-screen, UV-flexo, gravure, hot-stamping and combination printing.

Spear's expansion has been primarily driven by the beverage industry's continuing use of clear, pressure-sensitive labels. Realizing that these labels offered better color, more creative designs and the flexibility to use clear, opaque and metallized films, the industry increasingly has adopted p-s labels as a standard.

Anheuser-Busch and Bacardi are only two of Spear's high-profile, pressure-sensitive, beverage-label customers. 

Spear understands that a long-term supplier needs to be close to the market for more than financial reasons. Long-distance shipping extends delivery times, while proximity to customers makes press approvals easier and timely. When working for companies such as Coca-Cola, Bacardi, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo, just to name a few, it's imperative to insure production is always on target. Consequently, Spear has duplicated many of the processes within its five facilities. “Our process redundancy assures our customers of critical production capacity and underscores our ability to deliver on time,” says Muenzer.

That duplication includes incorporating Martin Automatic (www.martinautomatic.com) splicers and rewinds. Spear now has a total of 31 pieces of Martin roll-changing equipment—including MBS and MBSF butt splicers and LR automatic-transfer rewinds.

Initially, Spear looked to Martin's non-stop splicing technology to reduce downtime however, automatic splicing has also delivered significant waste reduction. “Our splice-related downtime was dramatically reduced, and our materials waste was reduced by 3-4 percent,” reports Muenzer. The Martin equipment supports a variety of printing platforms including Mark Andy/Comco, Gallus, MPS, Chesnut and Spear's own make—GMC. (Spear purchased the New Hampshire-based manufacturer in part to build special presses for its expanding operations.) The converter runs 31 printing presses worldwide.

With a long list of high-profile CPG customers, Spear is well aware of their sustainability concerns. “Our customers are under increasing pressure to minimize their packaging waste and be more environmentally responsible,” explains Muenzer. “We're staying on the forefront of waste-reduction efforts by providing a liner- and matrix-recycling program (See sidebar). Plus, using efficient equipment like our Martin splicers and winders is helping us make great strides in waste reduction and energy efficiency.”

At a time when other converters are chanting the diversification mantra, Spear has chosen to explore its proven niche and expand it into a global enterprise. “Today, printing high-quality labels is not enough,” says Muenzer. “We take a more holistic approach and get very involved in our customers' entire labeling process.”