You may have seen our behind the scenes pictures on Instagram showcasing the creation of a mysterious video. It wasn’t mentioned, but we were working on a video called, Meet Great Lakes Label, a biographical and company history based piece. We even had the pleasure of working with Cinerrific, also a video production company off-shooting from Fantastic Turnaround here in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Lights, Cameras, ACTION
The first step was to film interviews of our team of experts for the Meet Great Lakes Label video. They spoke on a wide range of topics from quality assurance to innovative labeling techniques, to LEAN Six Sigma practices and even the company history. So, what better way to learn about the advancements in the industry from our very own team of labeling experts? This process was particularly fantastic because we also got to highlight a few of the people who make your labels a thing of beauty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQgCS75BSg1/?taken-by=greatlakeslabel
Time For The Close Up
Next, we shot products. From customer products to even R&D samples, we show exactly what we’re capable of. This particular day was exciting because nothing highlights our innovative techniques like moving them through the light. A picture can only show so much. With this video, you can get a better understanding of what customers will see when they pick up your product and examine the packaging.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BR6VbRiA18a/?taken-by=greatlakeslabel
Aaaaaaaaannd Cut
Then came the editing. A lot of editing. As a result of the full day, we turned over ten hours of footage to only five minutes! So, we chose the best of the best for you to have a well rounded and concise viewing experience. From interviews, to behind the scenes looks at our production line, even to the final product. It’s all there.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSBg5meAdOn/?taken-by=greatlakeslabel
Well, enough talk and explanations of our process! So, if we haven’t already been formally introduced, it’s time to meet Great Lakes Label.
https://youtu.be/OPwVZKBWiSo
Meet Great Lakes Label Video Transcript
Tony Cook, CEO
“We’re kind of a cradle to grave label supplier. We do design and make labels, but we also have an applicator division as well. So, after those labels are made, we can help you apply those labels automatically in your line. We do standard equipment, and we do complete custom labeling equipment.
Great Lakes Label has grown leaps and bounds over the years, not only as a company, but in capabilities. We started out with a very simple tape press, one of the very first presses made by Mark Andy, and behind me is a brand new press. One of Mark Andy’s latest P Series performance presses.”
Todd Staskiewicz, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
“Our entire company is dedicated to taking care of our customers.”
Macarena Gonnella, International Business Customer Service
“We actually have a sales office, and technicians, in Mexico City and we take care of our customers or prospects that want to become customers for us in Latin America and Mexico, we are bilingual. We speak Spanish in the technical support and customer service, sales, and myself.”
Tony Cook, CEO
“We offer about everything available today in the labeling market. [Great Lakes Label] can do Cold Foil, Hot Stamp foil, MiraFoil, Tactile Coating and Rotary Screen inline on the label press. We can laminate multiple webs together to do couponing labeling. [Great Lakes Label] can do up to 14 colors in one pass on one press. There’s a constant brainstorming of ways to use new techniques today with the equipment that we have. Our supply chain agrees with us in that and so they bring a lot of their new innovations to our facility to be a beta site and help design for the flexographic industry.”
Todd Staskiewicz, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
“Many of our customers have complicated label constructions and we understand the options needed to deliver the solutions that work.”
Ed Jaroszewicz, Vice President & Managing Director
“LEAN is incredibly important for us as we try to grow our business to the next level. It’s really about trying to create the most value for our customers while minimizing as much as we can in resources. Whether it’s raw materials coming into the building, how much area we’re storing that raw material in, to how much time we’re taking for the presses to get ready to run this product, storing finished goods, minimizing waste everywhere throughout the process and delivering product to our customers that they expect. Both from a quality standpoint and a delivery expectations standpoint.”
Tony Cook, CEO
“The high definition plate technology has given us higher resolution. On the plate change side, with LEAN manufacturing practices, along with the design of the performance series presses, we’ve been able to reduce our changeover times equivelant to that of digital. As an end result, our quality has been able to equal or pass digital press labels. We even have some customers that have switched from digital to our high definition plate technology, just because of quality, not because of the speed of the press.”
Kandi Devos, Quality Control
“An important part of my job is running audits to ensure that we follow our processes and that we can improve on our processes. And, we want to ensure the customer a quality product. AIB, SQF, and NSF are all for non-packaging food labels. The GMI is for color management. ISO 9001 is for saying that we are all in the same quality as everybody else. We all follow the same set of standards, so if a customer orders something they know that we check our suppliers because we’re ISO 9001.”
Tony Cook, CEO
“We start off with color matching the ink prior to sending to press. Then, at the end of the press, we also use a digital tool called a spectrophotometer that we measure the hue and balance of that ink. And, we make sure that is within industry standard specified by the customer.”
Manuel Cavasos, Receiving
“I like the people at Great Lakes Label. I’ve had a great experience, a lot of help, a lot of training.”
Lorri McDaniel, Scheduling
“I’ve been here 7 years and with every situation and problem, we always get together as a team and try to problem solve to meet the customers’ needs and do the best that we can do.”
Todd Staskiewicz, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
“I’m very proud of our customer service team who handles day-to-day customer communication. They are passionate about delivering a great customer experience.”
Sally O’Donnel, Human Resources/Accounting
“It’s exciting to see all the growth that’s going on in the company.”
Tony Cook, CEO
“The people here are very hard working people, very innovative people, not only in techniques that can be done, but in LEAN concepts, Kaizen events, and better ways to do those techniques.”
Learn even more about how our labeling solutions. Or, instead, see how you can create a sensory connection with customers and increase sales. So, download our e-book, The Complete Guide to Innovative Labeling Techniques.
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