Coveris Burnley (formerly Learoyd Packaging Ltd) was established in 1976 as a flexo printing specialist providing solutions to a large number of blue chip clients including Marks and Spencer, Warburtons, Seabrook Crisps and Muller Wiseman Dairy. Acquired in 2014 by Coveris, a global specialist printing specialist for the packaging industry, it now operates 16 sites across the UK, supplying market-specific plastics, paper and cardboard solutions to all major retailers and brand owners. Coveris is headquartered in the United States, has more than 10,000 employees, conducts business in more than 20 countries, and has a total revenue of more than $2.5 billion.
Coveris Burnley has 190 employees in 172,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The company has always been known for its premium flexible packaging and its focus on investing in staff skills and technology, recognized throughout the UK and Europe for its premium performance.
Challenge from Asda
In early 2014, Asda, a division of Walmart Inc., approached Coveris Burnley with an invitation to participate in a pilot project aimed at improving overall color quality and consistency across Asda's supply chain.
"We have a great relationship with Asda," Coveris said, "and we are delighted to be included in this select list of businesses to participate in the pilot project. We also already have a good relationship with X-Rite, and we We use a number of X-Rite Pantone products. We have always aspired to be at the forefront of the market, and implementing ColorCert: X-Rite Edition with Asda is not the first project we have done with a retailer.”
Coveris Burnley also uses X-Rite's InkFormulation software and the PANTONE digital color library.
“We implemented ColorCert on press W+H to provide a clear vision and strategy for how companies should grow and market fixed-color palette printing (FCP),” explains Coveris. “The intent was to rationalize our color and design using only the CMYK palette as much as possible, using new press and platemaking technologies to optimize achievable gamut and positioning control.”
This fits perfectly with another Asda initiative, Coveris adds, “We spoke to the Asda print team prior to the ColorCert project about switching from traditional processes and spot colors to FCP. Shortly after implementing Color Cert, we are now A significant portion of Asda's production work has been converted to fixed palette printing. ColorCert is an important part of our toolkit, focused on achieving great spot color control."
process benefits
Further focus on process color enables greater consistency and repeatability of our production. Data captured by ColorCert has been used to help us redefine and manage our internal processes and standard operating procedures to support consistent quality output. We've also seen positive feedback from our customers in the studio, especially regarding the approach and use of technology to support print control and measurement. To the delight of designers, it also removes often unsightly artifacts and improves the quality of illustrations.
very precise
Coveris Burnley also purchased five X-Rite next-generation eXact Spectrophotometer s and used NetProfiler to ensure inter-instrument variation and proper calibration. "These replaced older X-Rite Spectrophotometer s. We wanted to keep our technology fresh and the eXact Spectrophotometer s ensured the most consistent, efficient measurements throughout the process."
Case study
structured approach
In working with Asda's print team to implement ColorCert, Coveris Burnley took the required structured approach to the project. “As noted, our initial implementation was focused on the printing press,” explains Coveris. “We built an implementation team and initially measured all of Asda’s samples in offline mode. I have to admit that from the beginning, everyone Both are very ambitious about how performance data can be measured and captured using CMYK and gray balance. We thought it was straightforward because we were already delivering high quality, but it's safe to say we learned a lot at the beginning of the project , it’s all about our production process.”
Coveris and the project team found the initial results eye-opening, and the team took the time to revisit all color processes and standard operating procedures. “It has been very useful to us. We have learned a lot and our ColorCert scores have improved significantly. We are now able to consistently achieve high scores and use the captured data to effectively analyze and demonstrate print performance.”
next steps
In addition to rolling out ColorCert to other factories, Coveris is also focused on rolling out in-press measurement and automation where possible. “In the pilot project, we initially measured off-line, but with the introduction of online measurement on the press, it puts the full responsibility on our operators. They measure the product, upload the score, and Asda can sign off in real-time in the cloud and see the live score. Press operators are starting to see the benefits of this. They are focused and feel empowered. It also creates a natural competition. If you can measure it, of course you can control it. We have everything and we measure everything. ColorCert, along with the X-Rite products we use every day, help us make this possible."
