BakPac has replaced its oldest Galaxy pouchmaker with a new line, the sixth from the Indian technology provider.
This gives the Brentwood company a line up of five pouchmakers able to offer all styles of pouch that have been printed on two HP Indigo 200K digital presses. The investment enables the company to run any style of pouch on any of its lines, providing the greatest possible level of production flexibility and ensuring that the company can meet its 7-10 working day turnaround for flexible packaging.
The first Galaxy was installed in 2023 and marked the point that digitally printed pouches moved from a sideline for the trade label printer into a mainstream service aimed at the label printers who could not meet a demand for pouches from their customers or for large converters needing to outsource production of what would otherwise be highly disruptive short runs.
It did not work out quite like this. Label printers at the time did not have requests for flexible packaging, something that has now changed says marketing manager Kirsty Dailly. Nor did the large converters require the services of a discreet trade printer.
Instead the large companies were happy to recommend BakPac when their customers inquired about short runs, leading to the printer forging direct links to the brands. And now she says some key label printing accounts are placing pouch work with the trade supplier.
While not the original plan, it has been successful to the point that BakPac now represents about 50% of the group turnover. It has produced 12 million pouches across 500 jobs from quantities of 500 to hundreds of thousands at a time in the first three months of this year.
The spread of jobs is testament to the emphasis that the group places on quality. Sales and operations director for BakPac Harry Baker says: “The industry often treats scale and flexibility as a trade-off. We don’t. Installing our seventh pouchmaker is about building a system where both exist together. Delivering over 12 million pouches across 500+ jobs in just three months shows what that looks like in practice.”
Dailly adds: “Labels is still strong for us. We are installing a second Durst Tau inkjet press this year, but we are seeing that demand for pouches is there and growing. We needed to invest because we don’t want to be in the position of having to turn work away. And digital printing is still a tiny part of a huge industry.
“When labels started to go digital, people were not sure. Now that sector is huge. The same may happen with flexible packaging.”
BakPac is bringing the same emphasis on quality to the market which stimulates repeat business. She says: ”We have that reputation now,” she says, “which means that we get approaches from challenger brands and start up business. Work is there for us because the quality is there and the value is there. Customers want that.”
That value can come in provided a product that is trouble-free on filling lines, that is of consistent quality and is shipped much faster than the industry standard of 10-12 weeks for flexo printed version.
The company strategy has been to stay a step ahead of the market to be able to provide a service that will be in demand from companies that do not make a similar investment themselves because they lack the necessary volume to justify their own investment. This approach continues to work in labels and led to investment in inkjet printing alongside HP Indigo. BakPac is keeping an inkjet investment under close consideration, though nothing is imminent.
Baker says: “Our customers expect us to produce labels and packaging of excellent quality with fast turnarounds. We strive to go beyond expectations. Our aim is to never say no to an enquiry, therefore many label printers come to us when they don’t have the time, equipment or capabilities to complete a job. We solve customers’ problems for them quickly and to a very high standard.”
