Bemis Company, Inc. (Minneapolis, Minnesota USA)

Exact Color Matching and Working Remotely are Essential for Bemis

Bemis Company, Inc., the largest flexible packaging company in the United States, has been increasing its capabilities for nearly 150 years for a countless array of in-house functions and processes. Meeting the needs of consumer product manufacturers worldwide, Bemis, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, supplies flexible packaging and pressure-sensitive label materials for the food, medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural, engineering and communications industries.

Bemis: Providing Consistent High-Quality Labeling to Top Brands for More Than a Century

Every step taken at this flexible packaging company is a skilled in-house step

"We've always had many good engineers here at Bemis," explained Jeff Ross, color systems manager at Bemis. "For decades we have been working with plastics for packaging, handling everything from development to manufacturing to delivery. It was only a matter of time before we realized it would be even more efficient and 'fully service-oriented' if we offered all of the prepress and printing that our packaging products require." With this, a separate graphics unit was born, and with so many products with which to deal, it's a unit that runs non-stop virtually every day of the year.

First Impressions

Clearly, a company the size and scope of Bemis knows that the quality and consistency of its printing is as much a reflection on its overall reputation as anything else it does as a packaging manufacturer. That's one reason why they choose their digital proofing and printing technology very carefully. "Pretty much everything you see in a supermarket has been packaged by Bemis-and the printing on the package is, of course, one of the first and most important things all consumers notice when they're shopping," Ross said. "So the printing and graphics on the package have to be superb. There are no two ways about it."

To that end, Bemis chose digital printing and integrated workflow systems from Agfa.
As Ross acknowledges, Agfa, very much like Bemis itself, has a long and successful history of meeting customer needs on a global basis.

Founded in 1858 by Judson Moss Bemis in St. Louis, the company first manufactured seamless cotton bags for milled food products. Through the years, other products and processes were added to the portfolio, and today, Bemis is a conglomerate of 13 companies operating in 62 locations in 11 countries, with a worldwide employee base of about 15,500 and annual combined net sales nearing $3 billion. Among its recent new package products are those that feature easy-open mechanisms, windows and other advances. Bemis also has generic product brands and its own direct merchandise in various consumer product categories.

Taking the Lead

In addition to its strong presence in the industry, Bemis is also noted for business practices that help the company to maintain its formidable lead. The company dedicates production lines, and in some cases entire facilities, to products for certain markets, such as plastic containers for large grocery items or peel-back package inserts for small pharmaceutical products. This allows Bemis to service customers with market-specific needs using the most advanced technology available.

Bemis also takes the lead when it comes to dedicating resources to the communities in which it operates. The company funds many local programs and institutions that encourage the development of education, social welfare, culture and civic pride.

Both internally and externally, Bemis goes the distance in all endeavors, technically and otherwise. Its scientists and engineers are acknowledged experts in such areas as polymer chemistry, film extrusion, coating and lamination-and now, prepress, proofing and digital printing.

Ross, together with general manager Matt Elliott, relies on Bemis' skilled technical team to review, implement, and run all of the digital printing equipment throughout the Bemis organization. This could be a daunting task, as digital systems are in place in Omaha (Nebraska), New London (Wisconsin), Centerville (Iowa), Terre Haute (Indiana), Mexico and Denmark. But the technical team manages to maintain efficient and effective uptime across the board, and keys to that success are several :Sherpa digital proofing and :ApogeeX workflow systems.

Across the Board

"We installed our first :Sherpa in 2004," Ross said, "and we can see why it's become the industry standard. We did our own studies and found the :Sherpa to have the widest color gamut. It consistently matches the color on the press. Product packaging is all about spot color, and with the :Sherpa we are able to hit the spot colors dead on. Working remotely from one building to the next is also no problem for the :Sherpa Remote. It gives us what we need every time, at every facility."

One of the features that attracted Ross to the :SherpaProof system in the first place was its automated architecture. This automation allows unattended operation for hours at a time, while providing consistent image quality on a wide a range of media, required throughout the Bemis enterprise. Similarly, :ApogeeX has proven invaluable for reproducing PMS colors. "We love it," Ross reported. "It is extremely consistent because it gets us within the color tolerances we need on each and every job. It also gives us the ability to connect and control many functions at once, including job management, trapping, web connectivity and more."

While all Bemis facilities are workhorse operations that rarely shut down, Ross identifies the New London plant, which manufactures food, candy and pharmaceutical packaging products, as an example of the kind of reliability that the entire team truly appreciates. "I remember at one point, the :Sherpa had to run 24/7 for quite a while, without stopping, going through more paper each day than you could possibly imagine. Bottom line? It never stopped, it never slowed down. And it never once missed a beat."

Importance of Teamwork

As color systems manager, Ross is most concerned with the digital workflow and direct-to-press processes that utilize the art and color already chosen for a particular product. But he also works closely with Bemis professionals at the front-end of the creative process, namely the many highly skilled graphic designers and digital photographers who are also part of the corporate family. Bemis is as full-service as a graphics organization gets; rarely must it go outside the company to get the images or anything else required for any individual job or customer. Everything the company needs is right there within the Bemis universe, including, of course, the kind of digital proofing and printing systems that can work around the clock. With Agfa's :SherpaProof system meeting the quality and consistency demands of their customers, the graphics team enjoys a high-standard, reliable workflow that effectively helps them build a Bemis brand awareness that is as durable and valued as many of the brands they package and the :Sherpa itself.