Secura Labels

Direction of Lead / Orientation

2012-01-30T03:33:00.000-08:00

Which Way Lead?

A question we start many enquiries with and one which seams to give us many issues and lead to confusion.

Orientation -

Firstly, Orientation and Lead should not be mixed up or confused, but often do. For the orientation question we have an easy way of describing this, referring to "art". Most Portrait pictures are "tall" and "narrow", whilst most Landscapes are "short" and "wide", so if we use this simple method to describe how the label should "look" most people would be able to understand and be able to confirm which way the artwork should be set out within the label.

Portrait Style

Landscape Style

Direction of Lead -

The direction of lead is a little less easy to describe. We have two options for direction of lead,

WIDE or NARROW.

Wide is where the widest edge of the label comes off the roll first, as shown with the "English Honey" labels, these would be described as Wide Edge Leading / Foot First, the "foot" of the label leading / leaving the roll first.

Wide Edge Leading / Foot First (so Landscape)

The "Action Medical Research" labels, again Wide Edge Lead, but "Head Leading" as the Head of the label is leaving the roll first.

Wide Edge Leading / Head First (again Landscape)

The "ZV" labels as shown below would be described as Narrow Edge Leading... Right Hand Lead, the narrowest edge of the label leaving the roll first.

Narrow Edge Leading / Right Hand Lead (but still Landscape!)

To add to all of the questions, we will also need to know what size cores you need, if Outside / Inside wind, and how many labels you need on a roll, or what is your maximum O/D of the roll. (Outside Dia.)

Whilst for most of our labels the information above is of little importance... for some jobs, those that are Machine Applied or Thermal Printed, it can be critical and a costly error if we produce to an incorrect spec., so if you have any doubt here please ensure that have the correct information, sending a part roll can be of great help if you are in doubt as to what you need....... if you need advice on this please feel free to call us - 01530 515170.

The plague of Friday 13th

2012-01-13T04:53:00.000-08:00

2012..... December 2011 saw a rush of orders for delivery in early January and, being honest, we had a lot more work in than we had thought, which meant we started 2012 somewhat on the back foot. This was not helped when 5 days in we had a breakdown on our Turret rewind unit. This piece of equipment speeds up our process and removes the need for a secondary rewind operation.... without it we would struggle to produce the volume we currently do . The issue was the control screen..... no screen, no control. A B Graphics did a great job and managed to get to new part away, and at 8.00am we had it here... all £1600.00 worth.

Fitting it was not too challenging, but the machine still would not work..... contacting A B Graphic we found some extra programming was required and although we tried to programme a card here, after sending Mark on a "shopping" mission for readers, "Flash" cards etc, well, we would have to await a new "card".

Whilst this was going on we also "lost" the heaters on our Focus 4 colour press, no heat no drying, no drying no printing. A quick juggle and we could at least be producing some plain labels. This means we would be sending some jobs early, whilst some orders will be running over a week behind as the two issues cost us in the region 3 1/2 working days!

Bright and early on Wednesday a new card arrived from A B Graphics, as did an electrician from Focus Label Machinery, and by midday we were again up and running.... phew!

On a positive note, we have seen an increase in our (Thermal Transfer) Bureau work, one customer set to double their requirement, and so have purchased a further Zebra Machine to assist here, so bringing our total of Thermal Transfer machines to four... and one busy operator!

Faulty Part

Simon and Ian take care fitting the new £1600.00 part!

and were away!

A new Thermal Transfer Machine

Logos

2012-01-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

Brand Identity, Image........ its everything, recognising your favourites by simple Logos, the big yellow "M" for instance, and whilst we are proud of our Logo we cannot claim that its as well know as some!

As we celebrate our 30th, we have taken a look back at some of the Logos we may have ended up using, drawn out freehand and we feel that our original Logo was pretty good, and stood the test of time up until around 10 years ago when we changed to the current variant.

Our Original Logo as above - 1982 - 2002 (approx)

Ideas for the Original Logo - circa 1982

1982 Quiz - The Answers

2011-12-20T08:20:00.000-08:00

The wait is over -

Please find the answers as below -

1) Which member of our Staff got married? Jane
2) Which TV Channel launched this year? 4
3) Who won the (Football) World Cup? Italy
4) Beating? West Germany
5) What was special about the winners route to the final? Didnt win a 1st Round Game
6) The highest grossing film? ET
7) Academy Awards "Best Picture" Gandhi
8) Academy Awards "Best Actor"? Ben Kingsley (Gandhi)
9) Academy Awards "Best Actress"? Meryl Streep (Sophie`s Choice)
- Random fact - the first "Test Tube" Twins are born
10) (to date) the Lowest Temperature in the UK? -27.2c
11) Where was this recorded? Braemar Aberdeenshire
12) Who went missing during the Paris-Dakar Rally? Mark Thatcher
13) Which UK based motor company went under? DeLorean
14) 2nd April. which war begins? Falklands
14) Which English (Football) Club wins the European Cup? Aston Villa
15) in the Beaconsfield by-election who did Tim Smith (Con) Beat? Tony Blair
16) June 21st - Who was born today? Prince William
17) August 17th - what was first released / Sold today? (in Germany) CD`s
18) Which ship was "raised" after being sunk in 1545? Mary Rose
- Random Fact the Commodore 64 Computer released - 20,000,000 sold by 1994!
19) How many women link arms around Greenham Common? 30,000
20) Which Michael Jackson LP released? Thriller
21) Who bites the head off a bat? Ozzy Osbourne
22) Which musical begins an 18 year run on Broadway? CATS
23) Which female singer released their first single? Mandonna
24) Which Band released their final single? ABBA
- Random Fact "The Tube" is first broadcast on Channel 4
25) Which was the biggest selling single? Come on Eileen
26) The Average price of a house? £23,644
27) 12th February - Which highstreet chain opens its first store? Next
28) 7th October - Whos Dairy published? Adrian Mole
29) Ford Motor Co. launch which model? Sierra
30) Who spent 10 minutes talking to the Queen after breaking into Buckingham Palace? Michael Fagen
31) Who retires as England Manager after they are eliminated from the World Cup? Ron Greenwood
32) How many Elm Trees lost to Dutch Elm? 20,000,000
- Random Fact - A gallon of petrol cost £1.59
33) In Which Leicestershire village did Secura Labels Start life? Packington
34) Unemployment reaches what level for the first time? 3,000,000
35) The Prime Minster of Great Briton? Margaret Thatcher
36) In which town is the Eurovision Song Contest held? Harrogate
37) 26th May The largest artificial lake in the UK opens, named? Kielder Water
38) Which US President Address Parliament? Ronald Reagan
39) The Pope visits Britain, his name? John Paul 2nd
40) 7th November, what is first demonstrated on the River Thames? Flood Barrier



With thanks to the many, many websites we have visited for these questions!

1982 Quiz - to Celebrate our 30th Birthday

2011-12-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

In 2012, we celebrate our 30th "Birthday", so we thought we would offer a little light relief for you and set a quiz based on 1982, the answers will follow in 2012! Best of Luck! (oh, no prizes!)

1) Which member of our Staff got married?
2) Which TV Channel launched this year?
3) Who won the (Football) World Cup?
4) Beating?
5) What was special about the winners route to the final?
6) The highest grossing film?
7) Academy Awards "Best Picture"
8) Academy Awards "Best Actor"?
9) Academy Awards "Best Actress"?
- Random fact - the first "Test Tube" Twins are born
10) (to date) the Lowest Temperature in the UK?
11) Where was this recorded?
12) Who went missing during the Paris-Dakar Rally?
13) Which UK based motor company went under?
14) 2nd April. which war begins?
14) Which English (Football) Club wins the European Cup?
15) in the Beaconsfield by-election who did Tim Smith (Con) Beat?
16) June 21st - Who was born today?
17) August 17th - what was first released / Sold today? (in Germany)
18) Which ship was "raised" after being sunk in 1545?
- Random Fact the Commodore 64 Computer released - 20,000,000 sold by 1994!
19) How many women link arms around Greenham Common?
20) Which Michael Jackson LP released?
21) Who bites the head off a bat?
22) Which musical begins an 18 year run on Broadway?
23) Which female singer released their first single?
24) Which Band released their final single?
- Random Fact "The Tube" is first broadcast on Channel 4
25) Which was the biggest selling single?
26) The Average price of a house?
27) 12th February - Which highstreet chain opens its first store?
28) 7th October - Whos Diary published?
29) Ford Motor Co. launch which model?
30) Who spent 10 minutes talking to the Queen after breaking into Buckingham Palace?
31) Who retires as England Manager after they are eliminated from the World Cup?
32) How many Elm Trees lost to Dutch Elm?
- Random Fact - A gallon of petrol cost £1.59
33) In Which Leicestershire village did Secura Labels Start life?
34) Unemployment reaches what level for the first time?
35) The Prime Minster of Great Britain?
36) In which town is the Eurovision Song Contest held?
37) 26th May The largest artificial lake in the UK opens, named?
38) Which US President Address Parliament?
39) The Pope visits Britain, his name?
40) 7th November, what is first demonstrated on the River Thames?

With thanks to the many, many websites we have visited for these questions!

2011

2011-12-14T08:46:00.001-08:00

So as we draw to the end of the year its time to take stock, and what a year it has been. Back in January we returned to a newly painted floor (it still is not bad!!) and the realisation that we had to put back into place all of the Machinery we had removed prior to Christmas. This took a little longer than we had envisaged but the hard work was worth it and we looked "fit for purpose". We were still battling with Raw Material cost rises in the early part of the year, thankfully these seam to have settled and we hope for a period of some stability.

Factory ready for new coating December 2010

Spring, and the arrival of our new 13" Press. Like the machinery move this was not the smooth delivery we had hoped for and we required Focus to return and give some help on several occasions. We now felt better prepared for vast amount of "longer" run jobs we have been successful in winning. It was during Spring we also had a change of accounting procedure and so our "fiscal year" changed from April - March to January - December. This forced a re-budget, not as easy as you would think, even being a full quarter into it! We have found the budget we set a little tough and will come up short, although we will again exceed the previous years sales, a 6th straight year we have achieved this. In November we did achieve our "best ever" sales figure, testament again to the hard work of the staff, especially as we are running a man "light".

New 13" Focus Proflex Spring 2011

April and still the most talked about event of the year, the uncovering of the next door unit as a Cannabis factory! We still find it hard to believe that for around 6 months 3 or 4 people had been "living" (if you could call it that after looking around) next door to us, not seeing the light of day .

Our neighbours have been busy!

July, and we welcome Susan to the team, in a Sales Admin. role. Thus far Susan as been a great asset and goes from strength to strength. But no sooner had the dust settled from Susan`s welcome we were to say "goodbye" to John. John had been with with us for nearly 20 years but had decided for a change of direction, we again thank him for all of his help over the years. During October we were pleased to promote Richard to the position of Supervisor, along with the "team" - Ian, Steve, Chris and Steve, Richard has an ability to juggle the work load, spot issues and smooth many a rough patch. Also during October Ian celebrated 20 years service at Secura, we again thank him for all of his efforts.

Our Thermal Transfer "Bureau" work has seen further growth and now "Chet" is kept at this, running 3 machines, for most of the working week.

Sales remained strong and we had success in winning and retaining some large contracts. During the year we will have seen nearly 40 new customers... and whilst we thank the Sales Team of Steve and Susan, we are also pleased that a lot of these new customers are "organic" / Word of Mouth. Although our new customers number 40, new jobs are daily and Sue is never short of artwork to produce, from the simplest of "box end" labels to "Full Colour" labels we can help you from your scribbled idea to working with "press ready" supplied artwork.

Thanks to the diligent work of Gill and Jane our "bad" debts have been negligible, our Works Instructions, Delivery Notes, Invoices etc..... all checked and double checked.

During the year we have tried our best through Twitter, Facebook, this Blog and our Website to keep you all up-dated, although following the results of our Survey, communication is still something we need to work on.

The "Board" and Directors, as always, have backed us fully and continue to offer their support, our suppliers are to be thanked for their help and assistance during the year, and as ever we thank our customers for their growing support and understanding.

We hope that 2012 is another successful year for us all, thank you.

Security Products

2011-12-06T00:30:00.001-08:00

Although you may think it by our name, "Secura Labels" don't just produce Security labels, they in fact make up a small amount of our product range.

We can supply Void, Self Destruct / Tamper Evident labels and also bespoke cutter outlines to "add" to the "Fragile" nature of the materials, or to turn a standard product into a "Tamper Evident" lablel.

"Soft Tags" / "Anti Theft Tags" These 8.2MHz Tags can be supplied on a choice of several sizes, 40 x 40mm our most common, and are compatible with all 8.2MHz systems and de-activators. Most of these are supplied as "plain" but we can print on these if you need. At a time when "Shrinkage" and retail theft amount to £1,000,000`s each year, these easy to apply and use labels can be a cost effective way of reducing some of this.

Also, working with our "sister" company Talisman Security Products, we can supply a range of Tags, Ties and other Security Products.

In short, whatever your Security Label / Tag requirement we can offer you a solution.

8.2MHz Label Tag

Surface Mounted Security Seals - by Talisman

Clinical Waste Bag Ties - by Talisman

Plastic Security Seals - by Talisman

Thermal Transfer Ribbons

2011-12-02T05:01:00.001-08:00

We know we may have told you before, but we can supply you with Thermal Transfer Ribbons for all makes of machine. We can also supply spares, heads etc...... offer a full range of Service Packages and can get you started, supply a Machine, Ribbons and Labels and even installing for you.

We can very often offer help and solutions over the phone, our Staff here have many years experience in both running and repairing machines. So if you need help and advice on where to start, supplies or service we have the knowledge and stock to get you going.

We also offer a full "Bureau" Printing Service, from the simplest of "box" labels to the most complex "ConSec" Barcode, printed on various substrates, from "vellum" paper to the most demanding of synthetic materials.

Call us on 01530 515170 for more details.....................................

Survey Results

2011-11-28T03:19:00.001-08:00

May we thank all who took the time to answer our survey, we do appreciate the time. We tried to keep it as short as we could but also to give us enough feed back. In question 6, "what one change could we adopt to make our service better to you?", we have had some interesting answers and we will be responding to some of these individually. It maybe / is hoped, we can adopt some suggestions into our processes and we are grateful for these.

So, the results -

Question 1
"How are we at getting your enquiries back to you?"
Very Fast 20.93%
Fast 48.51%
Neutral 23.26%
Slow 9.3%
Very Slow 0%

Question 2
"Do our quotations give you enough information?"
Excellent 32.56%
Good 67.44%
Neutral 0%
Fair 0%
Poor 0%

Question 3
"In general are our "lead" times acceptable?"
Yes 83.72%
No 16.28%

Question 4
"Are you satisfied with our product?"
Very Satisfied 48.84%
Satisfied 51.16%
Neutral 0%
Dissatisfied 0%
Very Dissatisfied 0%

Question 5
"How important is the price, compared to "service" to you?"
Very Significant 27.91%
Significant 58.14%
Neutral 13.95%
Insignificant 0%
Very Insignificant 0%

We guess that lead time is still a major issue, although above 80% see them as "acceptable", the comments in question 6 do give some indication that this an area that, with a least some customers, we need to improve... or at least improve our communication regarding them.

We again thank you for you time in helping us.

Christmas.......

2011-11-25T04:22:00.001-08:00

Just a quick line regarding our Christmas and New Year break. We will be "closing" on Friday 23rd December at around 12.30ish, however our last "full" production day is likely to be Wednesday 21st December, this is too allow us some time for some maintenance work.

We have seen an increase in volume during December in the last couple of years, closing our "books" on around the 10th / 11th!, so if you have a requirement.... please do not leave it too late!

We are set to return on Tuesday 3rd January, which will be a "stocktake" day for us... but unlike last year when had to return all of our machines to place after having our floor re-painted, we should be straight into it!

Q R Code

2011-11-17T05:56:00.001-08:00

The QR Code, these codes are appearing everywhere now, and can be used to launch to a website, Blog, Twitter... etc.... or as "business cards" which will populate the address book in a mobile phone.

We can add these to any label and will "offer" them in proofs when we think they maybe of use.

We can also supply as a "Jpeg" or "PDF" for you to use elsewhere.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Drawing to a close.......

2011-11-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

So, as the nights "draw in" and the chill of Winter starts to bite, we take a little time over a nice cup of hot chocolate to have a look over the year so far. As we have mentioned before, our financial year changed from fiscal to calender during the Spring, and this gave us a couple of interesting Months Budgets figures, being "actuals", but things have settled and although we are behind the budget set for the year, we are running around 4% up on last year.

In 2010 we produced around 4,350 orders, to date in 2011, we have produced just shy of 4,000 to 226 different customers, whilst we have welcomed 32 "new" customers, who have been around 5.6% of our "turnover".

In our new "Sales Admin" role, Susan is settling in and is helping on various fronts, we have more for her and hope to progress her role in the New Year to giving, where needed, better information on deliveries, especially where we look like running late. Susan "won" her first customer in the last few days of October, the first of many we hope!

Within the Factory Richard is developing in his new role of Supervisor, and again with the New Year this position should deepen. We are still looking for a "printer" to replace John who left us during the Summer.

We will supply a "deeper" review in December, but until then, as ever thanks to all of our Customers, Suppliers and Staff.

Long Service Award.....

2011-10-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

We are pleased today to present Ian Dennis with his "long service" award. Ian has been with Secura Labels now for 20 years, joining the then team of 8 at Paceprint Works. Ian joined from the National Coal Board and joined 2 other "ex" miners already at Secura.

He started on the Hot Foil Presses (at the time we had 5) and this is still his primary role..... but not his only one!
Never happy to take a "back seat" Ian can competently run any Press in the factory, is able to run the Thermal Transfer machines and is our "key" Plate Maker. One of Ian`s "other" roles though, has become that of our maintenance man, he has a very methodical approach to machine problems and has saved Secura countless amounts (not only in Service costs, but "downtime") in being able to not only diagnose issues, but also to fit new parts. Along side this Ian can usually find a "keep us going" solution until we get the new part! (Heath Robinson would be proud!)

Over the years Ian has also been a conscientious teacher to many who have passed through Secura, and many that are still here, and his thoughts on jobs are often sought.

Ian is one of the hardest working people we know, never frightened to get up a sweat, and he rarely gives up on a problem... either a difficult job, a tight deadline or breakdown - he can often have diagnosed a problem and return the next morning with a list of places to obtain this or that after spending the previous evening searching the "web"! Along with this, his time keeping is second to none - if Ian`s off sick you know he is ill!

So, Ian, thank you for all of you efforts over the past 20 years.......... and here`s to the next 20!

The Plain Label

2011-09-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

The humble "plain label", we produce millions every month, from 12mm dia to A4, and every size in between from our list of over 2,000 stock cutters, on rolls, sheets and fanfolded, on a variety of core sizes and from 50 per roll to 50,000.

They can be on Vellum / Semi Gloss paper for Thermal Transfer, Economy Direct Thermal or a full Top Coated Thermal Grade, and all of these on a wide choice of adhesive, from our Standard Permanent, Deep Freeze, Water Removable through to "Specials" for Tyres, Glass etc........

"How do I know which label I need?" let our sales team help you, we can send you samples, very often a "trial" roll, or we can visit you on site, just let us know if you need some help, please feel free to contact us -

01530 515170

elvis@securalabels.co.uk

susan@securalabels.co.uk

2011 - 1/2 time Review

2011-08-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

2011 has been a bit of a mixed year so far. We returned after Christmas to a new floor and a (partial) new Factory layout, this was mainly due to the immanent arrival of our new Press, a 2nd 13" Focus Proflex. We hoped that the Press would quickly be "up & running", but was not to be the case. As a "Full UV" Press the extraction ducting we had had fitted was (apparently) not fit for purpose, so this had to be replaced. The power supply also had some issues, luckly this was quickly resolved.
The Press its self has also proved to have some issues, and it is unfortunate that we have required several "after sales" visits from Focus, who have without question given thier time and advice.

Our Financial Year was changed to bring us in line with other "group" companies, and so our whilst we were planning a 2011/2012 Budget, we where actually part way through 2011`s Budget! With just over half of the year gone, we find ourselves a little behind the Budget figure and a little behind last years sales, but have just had the second best sales figure in our 25 years, so we may yet pull it back.

Our Customers again cover a wide range, from Retail to Research, Festivals to Flowers, Tyres to Tiles and beyond. We have gained some new customers and also retained some important contracts, one of which is for 3 years, and we would take this opportunity to thank them all.
We understand that we have become a little reactive rather than proactive, and to help us here we have created a "Sales Admin" posistion, as we write this is still a new role but we see it as a positive move.

Along with our customers, our suppliers are key to us and our thanks go out to them for the understanding they continue to show and the effort they make to allow us to meet the deadlines required.
Both our Staff and the "Board" have again given great support. The Press Operators / Factory Staff have worked some (very) long weeks, , the "Board" backing us fully on the purchase of the Press, we know we have said it before, but Thank You.

In with the new and out with the .........................

2011-07-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to welcome Susan Barton to the "team". Susan will fill a roll of Sales Admin. covering Works Instruction, Estimating, Order Updates etc.........

Whilst Susan comes through the "in" door, through the "out" goes John. John has been with us for some 20 years, mainly running Flexo presses, for many years our trusty Ident, but also provided cover on Hot Foil, Plate Making and also the Apple Mac. We all wish John the best for the future.

Our Job Advert -
http://jobs.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/cgi-bin/vacdetails.pl?selection=939515926&src=search

Not Just Labels ................

2011-05-18T00:14:00.000-07:00

Whilst Labels are our main items, we do produce other printed items, and this year supplied the http://www.beardedtheory.co.uk/ Festival with Car Park Stickers, "Backstage" Passes and Wristbands -

Backstage / Access All Area Passes - we can add individual names

Wristbands - Printed / Plain

Sizzling April

2011-04-21T06:03:00.000-07:00

So, on the eve of a long Easter weekend, we have been reveiwing the recent price increases.

We have suffered rises on all fronts, one carton supplier has increased their price by 50% on some lines, needless to say we have re-sourced this product!, but in general all of our packaging costs have gone up.

Our "Paper" suppliers are still suffering all time high Pulp costs, Resins / Adhesives are also on the rise.
The issues in the "Middle East" are of concern, and as we have mentioned in previous up-dates, the carrier / backing for Thermal Ribbons is the same "raw material" as many mobile phones etc and suppliers are more concerned with keeping this market happy, driving up Thermal Ribbon as a result.

The earthquake in Japan was a terrible event and we can only wonder at the horror, but this too is now having effect. We have been awaiting a Sensor for a Thermal Transfer machine for above 4 weeks now.

We will do all we can to offer alternatives, and keep price rises to a minimum, but some prices will have to be adjusted.

Our "new" Press is settling in well and producing labels mainly for our customers who require some "stock holding", we have some interesting new customers on board and have enjoyed some new work from existing customers, and whilst we just dipped under our March budget figure the signs are good moving forward.

With two long weekends and three short weeks, (and the sun shining!) we hope that we can all enjoy a well earned rest!

Mark back on the Ice

2011-04-18T02:07:00.000-07:00

Just a few weeks after his knee op., our MD Mark Budz returned to Telford Ice Rink, home of the Tigers Ice Hockey Club where he had enjoyed several seasons as a player. Mark was playing as part of the Clubs Jubilee and to raise funds for Help the Heros, and was quite pleased that his signed "match" shirt made £250.00 in the Auction!

Read More - http://www.telfordtigers.co.uk/telford-tigers-jubilee-game/983-jubilee-former-star-eyes-tigers-assistant-captain.html

End of the "year" or is it?

2011-03-31T01:55:00.000-07:00

March has been the end of our Financial year since we can remember, but due to some re-organization of our "parent" Company, March 2011 is the third month of our 2011 year. However, as we set a budget for 2010 / 2011 we are all looking at March sales to see if we achieve that figure - it could be close, but if reached will see a 30% plus growth on 2009 / 2010.

Our "new" Press is up and running and so we hope that this will see us better placed to maintain our delivery targets and give the production staff some weekends back!, the last year as seen a tremendous effort on their part and they have often walked that extra mile for us - a BIG THANK YOU!

Our "Office" staff too have worked hard, we have seen no "Bad Debt", while the detailed works tickets allow the production staff to concentrate on their printing, the Delivery Note & Invoices paperwork are rarely wrong.... all of this means that our need for Reprints & Credits is nominal.

We have seen orders from 213 customers, the smallest customer turnover £67.00 the largest approching £200,000.00. The Biggest single run was 17,000,000 labels whislt the smallest was for 50 - and both are just as important to us.

We have covered just as many sectors as previous years, from the many "TRADE" customers, through our "HIGH STREET" RETAIL STORES
LOGISTICS
FOOD & DRINK
HEALTH CARE (covering Cosmetics / Vitamins / etc....)
CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIERS
PLASTICS
COMMUNICATIONS
MANUFACTURING
TOYS & GAMES
AUTOMOTIVE
SERVICE INDUSTRY
MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT
CHEMICALS
and on......

We have seen much pressure from our suppliers again in the past 12 months, with a stream of price increases and supply issues. This is showing no sign of slowing down, as we write, we have price increases from paper suppliers hitting us in April and the issues regarding oil based products could see issue with some PP, PE, Polyester type products, both in terms of supply and cost.

The terrible earthquake in Japan may effect our Thermal Transfer Service & Repairs, but as yet it is service as normal.

Sales are our "life blood" and we are re-doubling our efforts here, aiming towards our more traditonal Printed work, but introducing a Digital element.

We look forward to another successful year, after all a successful year for us is a successful year for you!

New Press Arrives

2011-03-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

And here it is!

Skillful Crane work

Please becareful - not easy with the wind

A tight squeeze

A hairs width to spare!

Soon in Situ

Finishing touches

And ready for its first job

Newfoil in action.......

2011-03-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

Our Newfoil producing Festival Car Park Passes.

Positive angle...

2011-03-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

In our last post we noted that we had been given some news from suppliers informing us of some of the issues effecting them and the increases and supply issue that they where suffering............ and it has not taken long for these to manifest themsleves in the form of price increases.

Our supplier of "Mounting Tape", used to mount our "Flexo" plates, as increased thier price by 7%. We have had two paper suppliers informing us of increase, one at 4%, the other to be confirmed. The situation in the Middle East is still uncertain and this could have major influence in terms of price and more of a concern, supply of "Filmic" stock, Thermal Ribbons and more.

We at Secura remain positive, with the support of Customers, Suppliers and our Staff we have seen several succesful years and this will be again made visible next week when we take delivery of our new press. As we speak it is under going testing at Focus, and we have been busy with outside contractors fitting out for electric supply, compressed air, extraction etc.

It is hoped that no sooner then in situ, the press will be straight into production as it will be fully inter-changable with the current Focus press we have. So while we cannot hide our "head in the sand" regarding the price inreases on the horizon, we remain positive we can keep these to a minimum, as it will not just be the press that will be new. We will be investing in new tooling to allow production of jobs currently run through our (narrower) Nilpeter presses to run with better efficiency on the wider Focus. This in turn will free up "space" on the Nilpeters for the multi colour / "high quality" work.

A mixed bag from the postman....

2011-02-18T03:18:00.000-08:00

A mixed bag from our postman today, the usual mix of invoices, payments, orders, and "other" along with our 2011 Zebra Reseller / Business Partner information.

We can provide you with all of your Thermal Printer requirements, labels and ribbons, but we can also supply all spares, offer a range of service options and Thermal Transfer machines themselves.

Although proud to carry the Zerba Reseller "tag" we can supply labels, ribbons, spares and service to a whole range of other machines.

Also in the post bag, two price increase letters. The first from our cardboard "core" supplier implementing a 9% rise from March. Our friends in China it appears cannot get enough waste paper and we in the UK provide millions of tonnes to the Far East, driving up the price for domestic users such as our "core" supplier. Added to this they, as we, are getting surcharges applied to many transport invoices as hauliers are hit with ever higher fuel costs.

"Such dramatic rises have not been seen before and we are unfortunately unable to maintain our current prices."

The second from our major paper supplier, who along with others increased prices in February 2011, is more of a warning shot. It lays out the "global shortage of key raw materials" "reduced capacity" "competition in purchasing" and goes on to offer some perspective -

acrylates - key adhesive ingredients - prices up 60%

white resins - for "filmic" material & adhesive - prices up 25%

Pulp & "PET" - prices up 20%

so, we await the next "letter"! It is however fair to say that the "Newsflash" does offer a better future (?)

by recognising the need to be less dependent on the number of raw materials in current use and stating thier commitment to developing new materials and components.

We at Secura will, as always, try to find ways to offset the price increases where we can, but there will only be so many options we can use before we too have to review our prices.

"Print continues to face materials "nightmare""

2011-02-04T02:11:00.000-08:00

So read a headline in PrintWeek, http://www.printweek.com/ the copy came the day after we had had a letter from an ink supplier stating that there is a shortage of a particular pigment (Violet 23), whilst supply is affected it is the price that is hit first with Violet inks going up by 21.5%, and further colours containing Violet in their mix up by around 11%.

"The global availability of raw materials continues to be of a major concern ........ and procurement has become a daily nightmare"

It would appear that things during 2011 are not going to get any better, the amount of PET used for Mobile phone production has affected the industry with warnings last year, 2010, of shortage / price increase on some products, this still hangs over us and has shown up more recently with the cost of Thermal Transfer Ribbons rrising, and with fuel costs as they are the cost of moving goods around must be set to escalate.

We will, as ever, do our best to find ways to avoid any "knee jerk" reaction to these rises.

6 Colour Press

2011-02-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

We thought we would show some of our Presses running.

This is a "Four Colour Process" job running on our trusted 6 Colour Nilpeter F240.

In a strange opitcal illusion, it appears that the labels are going "back-wards" through the press!

(oh, we will work on the camera skills!)

New Year - New Investment

2011-01-21T07:52:00.000-08:00

2011, and another press is on route!, in 2006 Secura Labels installed their first Focus press, after an initial search for a "plain label press" during 2005, the choice of a four colour 13" machine was a little off brief, but during the past 4 years the press has been at the heart of our growth and faces a constant battle under the weight of work placed on it. The new press, with full UV, will help to consolidate current work and provide the platform for future growth.

The team at Secura had looked at other press options, new and used, but settled on the more local Focus. The Focus factory is little more than an hour away and this has proved a great help in the past with Secura staff stripping "worn" parts, driving them to Focus in the evening, were staff have stayed late to effect repair, all of this meaning we are able to get the machine up and running with little loss of production.

New electric and air supply are to be installed and it is hoped that the press should be on site in early March, we hope that after this, for a short while anyway!, that the families of the production staff should get to see more of them - sorry!

Factory "Recon"

2011-01-11T01:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010 and time for some factory "TLC" and some re-organisation in an effort to improve the factory work flow. This would mean emptying the production half of the factory into the storage half, leaving only the 3 larger presses in situ. We did have concern that running our paper stock down to allow us some space would cause some issues, it did, and returning after the Christmas shut down, we were very short of paper, but our suppliers have done their best to get stock back in to us.

The moving back of the various pieces of machinary and shelfing for cutters, inks and plates is on-going with some thought being given to their placement, rather than just trying to get everything back as soon as possible, so this is not giving the most efficient layout at the moment, but we hope by the end of January everything will have a home.

Some bits gone, still lots to move

The "old" floor was not a pretty site

The hard working team Richard, Ian, Steve, John, Ian, Steve, Chris

Empty of all we can and ready for the contractors

A shinny new floor (for how long)

So, now we just have to move everything back!

The over flowing paper store, where do we start!

Christmas..................

2010-12-14T04:07:00.000-08:00

So, Christmas is nearly upon us, and with it a deserved rest for us all!, but before we get to pull down the shutters on another year we have a mass of orders to clear, we are luckily very busy for the time of year and the factory staff are working many hours in an effort to get and stay ahead....... not easy as every call is another request for an order for delivery "before we close....."

This year, we do not only have to clear the orders, but also the factory. We have contractors in over the break to repaint the floor, something that was never done properly when we moved here. So we have lots to get done, but are looking forward to returning to a bright and clean floor - which we hope to keep that way..... Ian, John!

We have enjoyed, thanks to you all, customers, suppliers and staff, another successful year and look like we are to continue this into 2011, we know that we have not always been as prompt as we could have been and that our deliveries have somewhat strayed on occasion, but in early 2011 we will be making an announcement which we see us with extra capacity and, hopefully, improvment to our delivery times - watch this space!

Finally, as in previous years, we have made charity donations rather than send Christmas Cards. All of the staff make a suggestion and then three are drawn from the hat, this year we are pleased to be helping -

MIND
RSPCA
NSPCC

So, enjoy your Christmas and we look forward to working with you in 2011

Good Luck & GoodBye...................................

2010-11-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

Over the past few months we have been lucky to have assistance from our own "Boy Friday" Chris. Chris has been a great help, making boxes, helping on the Rewind and making not a bad cup of tea among the vast array of jobs he has been tasked with.

It is unfortunate that we are unable to offer a "Full Time" position for Chris but we are delighted that he has been able to find such a job and am sure that he will be a great asset to his new employers.

So, "good luck" and all the best for the future!

Print Specifications

2010-11-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

We often get asked questions regarding artwork, so we hope the following will go someway to answering some -

Our primary print process is Flexography, "Flexo", compared to Lithography or Gravure our inks have a lower viscosity which allows for quicker drying / running than Lithography or Gravure.

Pantone Colours - The Pantone range of colours are based for Lithography and are indeed printed this way (as we understand), our "Flexo" inks are formulated for "Flexo" printing and therefore a small colour variance can occur, although this can also be effected by substrate choice as well. ie a Box printed a specified Pantone number may look "different" to a label printed in the same colour, via a different process and onto a different substrate. Our most difficult colour matches are often a result of this combination.

Point Size, Grip & Bleed - We generally request a minimum point size of 6pt, this is an absolute if the text is "reversed out" and or the Font is a Serif type. A "Bleed" of 2.5mm is required. Lines should be no less than 0.2mm. For artwork that does not bleed off the label a 1.5mm minimum is required between edge of printed area and the cut edge of the label. In the case of a circle / shape this is best kept to 2mm if at all possible.
"Grip" - where 2 colours meet - also referred to as Spread/Choke/Trap, we require 0.2mm to ensure a good fit.

Gradients/Screens - It is not advisable to run a screen to "zero", we need at least 1% to carry on to avoid a "dirty" print where a screen finishes, it is best to run a 3% minimum if at all possible.
Dot Gain - (approx) 1% dot on our plates would print at 8%, 5% on Plate print as 24%, 25% on Plate as 50%, 50% on Plate as 77% and 75% on Plate as 90%.
Lines per 1" - We run at 133 lines per inch.

Files - We can accept many files - Adobe, Quark, Freehand - but whatever file you choose it is always a good idea to send a "hardcopy" printout.

If you have any questions or are unsure, please do not hesitate to call - 01530 515170 - we will be happy to help.

Staff Profiles -

2010-11-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

We thought we would entertain you with some "Staff Profiles", so you can find out a little more about us -

First up, Ian "D"

Ian is one of our longest serving members of staff, his primary roll is that of Hot Foil Printer, but also covers our plate making, rewinding and is not a bad Flexo press operator. Ian has a history of maintenance, he was a "fitter" at a local coal mine, and is relied on for sorting out our breakdowns. He is currently learning "Thermal Transfer" and in true Ian style was not happy just doing it at work, but at home down loaded a "trail" software package and has been honing this skills of a night time!

Age                                   40 - 50
Length of Service               19 Years
Married                             Yes
Children                             One

Choice -
1) Lager or Real Ale                     - Real Ale
2) Fish & Chips or Spag Bol         - Fish & Chips
3) Strictley or X Factor                 - X Factor
4) Cornation St. or East Enders     - East Enders
5) Slippers or Dancing Shoes        - Slippers
6) Bacon Sandwich                       - Brown Sauce

What 3 Desert Island items?
Catherine Jenkins (can we allow this?)
Lifetime supply of answer to 1) above
Fishing Rod

Second Quarter Review 2010/2011

2010-10-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Firstly a big thank you again for your support and also understanding during a very busy period. We are aware that the volume of work we have been successful in gaining is creating some issues and we have been busy "behind the scenes" and are looking to make some exciting announcements shortly.

After the success of the first quarter we were tasked by the Board to review our budget, we exceeded our original in April, May & June, and so are now working to a revised budget which, if achieved, would see a growth in Sales on last year of nearly 20%. In the previous 3 years we have managed a 12% increase each year.

It is true to say that this is a tougher Budget and is testing us........ but no one said it would be easy!, and after the second quarter find ourselves just off the YTD Budget figure set. (although October is looking "good" and should put us back on track) Following our "best" sales figure set in June, in August we managed the second best figure, but followed this by just dipping under budget in September.

The "live" customer base has risen to 169, and we produced around 1,200 orders, and although we have no major new customers Steve`s is working hard to convert some very interesting prospects. We produced 517 estimates for jobs, at a success rate of around 38%. During November we have our MIS providers coming up to provide some upgrades which should allow us to provide some better information on our estimates and although it may not speed up the actual process of producing an estimate, it should give us better reporting and monitoring.

In an effort to keep on top of the orders, the factory staff have worked a large amount of overtime and should be thanked for their efforts once again.

Our suppliers also have provided much support and we thank them for all of their efforts. It has to be said though that come January we may be once again looking at price increases, we will keep you advised.

Don't forget you can follow us on both Twitter and Facebook now -

http://twitter.com/securalabels

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Measham-United-Kingdom/Secura-Labels/135540836476766

Getting it Right....................

2010-10-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

We have recently had in a couple of enquires which remind us of the old saying "do you want it Tuesday or do you want it right?".

Both are requiring material which is not one we carry, and could be from suppliers we don't use, so we need to get samples in, assess, and then send these away to the customer. Non of this is an issue, but does add time, a couple of days to get in samples, us to "test" and than send on for end user testing and evaluation. So it could be two weeks before we are able to prepare a quotation, never mind getting to an order.

But without jobs and enquiries like these we will not learn anything new and so we do enjoy dealing with them, but please be a little understanding if we are not back to you on "Tuesday"!.

140! Happy Birthday

2010-10-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

We at Secura Labels are proud sponsors of Burton Rugby Football Club, and today - 5th Oct 2010 - the club celebrates its 140th birthday - must be one hell of a cake!

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/burton/

The Club last season gained promotion to "National League 3" and we at Secura wish them the best of luck again in this campaign - and for the next 140 years!

12 Months on..................

2010-09-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

So, this time last year Mark and Simon where gearing themselves up for a trip to Brussels and Labelexpo 2009. A year has gone by in a flash, something to do with our age we are told!, and with the next Labelexpo now just 12 months away, well was it worth it?

Doing these events on a budget, and being entertained by suppliers, is still a costly excerise and we do have to consider the value. On one hand no purchases have been made as a result of the trip nor have there been any changes, but thats not to say the ripples from the trip have fully dispersed.

On the machinery front the main target was Digital Printing, and had you asked on the plane home our thoughts they would have been very different from those today. A futher day was spent at IPEX, closer to home at the NEC, and in the time that had passed between the two exhibitions our opioions had changed dramaticaly. On our return from Belgium, and for some time after, the machine we had in our minds and indeed had recomended to the "Board" was a cheaper "Table Top" option and whilst this would have given us some "Digital" capabillity (and small CapEx) our time spent at IPEX ment that within a short time we realised that this would not be the best route for us. So without the hours spent walking the halls at LabelEx we would not have had the knowledge at IPEX to see the machines for what they where, reviewing as we where for a second time.
Since IPEX we have held several meetings with a "major" press supplier and indeed Mark is again to spread his wings and travel to spend a week reviewing a Press and gaining more information at various seminars and workshops - so watch this space!

On the material front out in Brussels we spoke to suppliers from India, China and nearer home in Europe. We are in the throws of placing an order with one of these suppliers, but with transport/exchange rates to be considered it is not as big a saving as we had hoped and not something we can make too much of a song and dance about, but having taken the time to find these suppliers out tooked in tiny corners of vast halls, we can honestly say we think we have spoken to all self adhesive paper suppliers.

Of course there is the "networking" at these events and it was good to speak to similar size companies and find that we suffer in the same areas that they do and the seamingly unique issues we battle with are the same throughout the industry.

So, on review, it was worth the cost in both money and time (Honest Mrs. Budz & Mrs. Miller!) and not too be forgotton the fact that them Belgums make damned fine chocolate!

August Review

2010-09-01T03:15:00.000-07:00

Well, dispite the good old British Summer doing its "best" those Staff that had booked Holidays in August managed to find some dry, if not sunny, weather and reported a good break, something we hope you all managed.

During August Steve, our hardworking salesman, was elected as Club Captin at his local Tennis Club. We had managed to source a photo of Steve looking rather sporting in his Tennis gear, but we cannot get it to upload! - resest assured we will keep trying!

So after such a excellent first quater, the second - working against a revised budget - could be a little tougher for us, but August`s Sales are still holding up and indeed have pushed June`s figure hard.
It is obvious that the price increases we had to pass on earlier in the year are contributing to the increase, but we have been lucky in gaining new work, from both exsiting and new customers.

During August we quoted for 150+ new jobs and to date have enjoyed a 25% success rate, of course some of these quotes may not be converted until September, even October, so we hope to see this % rise somewhat.

Ending with a smile, we had a mail sent with some interesting "signs", most a little "iffy" and not really suitable to share here (mail us if you wish to see more!) but this one made us smile!

First Quater 2010/2011

2010-08-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well, thanks to all Customers, Suppliers and Staff, the first quater of 2010/2011 has been a good one for us. Our original "budget" was acheived with some "ease", to our surprise!, and we saw our best ever sales figure, a 20% increase on the previous "best", had it not been for that figure in June, July would have been our best sales figure!

We produced near to 1,400 individual orders from 143 customers, the smallest was for 250 labels, the largest 17,600,000 (17 million!)

The customers -

46 "Trade"
14 "Food / Beverage"
8 "Retail"
12 "Logistics"
6 "Chemical"
8 "Manufacturing"
10 "Construction"
11 "Automotive"
3 "Cosmetic"
1 "Toys"
4 "Electrical"
3 "Entertainment"
2 "Education"
1 "Charity"
3 "Wholesale"
1 "Telecoms"
3 "Medical"
7 "Other"

So, going forward against a revised Budget, things are holding well, we have had a few Non Conformance's to correct and the final parts of the Factory move "jigsaw" move are being slotted in, so once again we thank you all for your custom, support and effort.

Suffering Envy - What a Great Blog!

2010-08-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

Please take a look at a Blog we have been "following" their most recent page is one we can only dream of coming up with and offers a good read with concise information, just as it should - Please take a look -

http://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2010/08/brand-protection-and-product-security.html

- a snippet -

Introduction:
Protection is one of the very basic human reflexes related phenomenon. What if you suddenly feel a hand touching your pocket where your wallet is placed.. Immediately your reflexes work & “Pat” goes your hand over your pocket in an evident effort to protect your wallet. In the middle of the night, you hear a noise and realise that someone is moving in the house or is trying to make an entry. Impulsively your hand goes to the light switch in a clear effort to protect your home from burglary. You are in the market for shopping and your child is in the back seat. Suddenly you see your child getting out into the middle of the busy road, you run and grab the child away from the traffic protecting him or her from getting hurt. Obviously people who are not quick in their reflexes end up losing their wallets or getting their houses burgled or suffering from their child getting hurt. But the more sensible and clever persons in today's world would go a step further and opt for security systems and devices. The person carrying his wallet would probably start using credit cards, a more secure form of carrying money. The home owner would probably opt for a burglar alarm, a cctv or a sensor light that would come on at the slightest of movement and the car owner would probably opt for the simple child lock in the car. In today's world protecting ones life earnings and valuables is a necessity. Similarly brands, which have much more value then a wallet, a car or a home, need protection.

Cutters / Dies

2010-08-18T06:18:00.001-07:00

Cutters / Dies, the largest single item that you are likely to be charged for from us, but we often get asked why such a vast difference, one cutter can be £30.00 whilst the next £300.00, and the next £700.00. The basic differential is the Press, and as we described in an earlier "post", there are several factors which are used to decide which press we are going to run any given job on.

We currently holding 2,000 + cutters across our various Presses, and at any one time have two or three away for re-sharpen / repair.

The cheapest cutters are going to be on our Foil Presses, simple one up "rule" dies, these however are not "hi tech" with a tolerance of around 0.5mm. These cutters are not subject to the same constraints as the Solid / Magnetic cutters and we can run "wide edge" or "narrow edge" leading and run to any given gap (to a min of 1.5mm) you need, but once a job reaches approx 10,000 labels, needs a Colour Match etc..... we need to be looking at the Flexo Press and a whole new set of rules!

A Solid Cutter/Die
£250.00 - Onwards

Once we are looking at a Flexo Job we have many considerations, not only in terms of the cutter, but the job as a whole. You may ask for a size of which we have a stock cutter, but that cutter maybe only "1" across, where your enquiry for 2,000,000 labels requires a cutter 6 / 8 / 10 across to produce as efficiently as we can, so we would need to do two prices one showing a stock cutter and high label price and a second with a cutter price but a better label costing.

All Flexo cutters/dies either "Solids" or "Flexi" (magnetic) are geared at a pitch of 3.175mm / 1/8", so when calculating the spec for a new tool, we need to take this in to account. Our first check is the gap, we work to around a 3mm gap, 1/16" or 1.5875mm is the smallest we can work to, the largest would be around 1" / 25mm, the second is can we fit the tool to a magnetic / "Flexi" die - these are cheaper!, and thirdly what print cylinders do we have to match, if the enquiry is for a 6 colour job we will need 6 print cylinders.

Print Cylinders themselves are around £250.00 each, so we sometimes find ourselves quoting a "new" cutter rather than 3 or 4 print cylinders as this is the cheapest route.

So an enquiry comes in for a 89 x 50mm, for the sake of this exercise we will assume that we have no stock cutter, the enquiry is for 100,000, so we would decide to run 2 across on the Nilpeters. (had it been 1,000,000 we would have looked at 3 across on the Focus)

We have been advised that it can be no smaller than the 50mm, so we need to work out the pitch, for ease 50mm + 3mm (the standard gap) divide by 3.175 = 16.69 teeth, we need "whole" teeth so we would round up to 17 / 53.975mm.
For the Nilpeter the smallest "repeat" we can run is 48" / 152.4mm, so with 17 z per pitch, pitch being the label + gap measurement we need to go larger than 48z

17 + 17 = 34z
17 + 17 + 17 = 51z

so we have built a cutter spec to be

2 across with the standard 3mm gap across
3 around
51z

We would then get in 2 or 3 quotes from our various cutter suppliers

The job spec is for 3 colours, and a check shows 6 51z print cylinders so ok here.

The cutter price returns at (say) £298.00, time for a recheck, could we actually run this job on "Flexi"? We have several Magnetic Cylinders, on the Nilpeters 64z, 80z, 88z and 96z.

A Flexi Die
£50.00 - Onwards

80z = 80 x 3.175mm = 254mm, divide by 5 = 50.8mm, so with a label size 50mm a gap of 0.8mm, so too small.

88z = 88 x 3.175mm = 279.4mm, divide by 5 = 55.88mm, this is getting to be on the large size for a gap, we like to keep below 6mm.

Back to the Cutter makers and a re cost of (say) £135.00, nearly half the price. A re quote on the labels as the pitch as increased the material usage will have increased, but this we be pennies compared to saving on the cutter.

It is not always possible to make the job fit a Flexi, sometimes it has to be a solid cutter, but on the whole nowadays we buy 15 Flexi`s to one Solid.

We hope that gives a little insight into the thought behind a cutter and why sometimes there is a large cost difference between the cutter on one Quote and the next.

Summer Fun.......

2010-08-10T06:54:00.001-07:00

With the holiday season in full flow, we guess like us, you are adapt at "multi tasking" at this time of year, "hot seating" from one position to the next, still at least it reminds us that each job has its quirks and that the grass is not always greener!

We saw another good month in July following our record setting June, at this stage it is a little far away to call it for August but if the order flow at the moment is anything to go by it should be another good month.

We have been updating our website - www.securalabels.co.uk - when time allows, we have added some "history" to the news page and had a "tidy up". There is lot more we are looking at doing, but we are learning as we go - which is quite fun, although we don't envisage a Website Design division any time soon!

Finally, thanks for the feed back on the bar code page we did recently.

The Barcode

2010-07-21T03:55:00.001-07:00

The barcode, now so much part of our everyday lives we hardly notice them. They must be one of the most common printed images we will see, from beans to beds, nothing is free from its own unique code.

The idea, according to a quick web search, was that of Bernard Silver in 1948, he joined the dots in a Morse Code and formed the first "barcode". It wasn't until 1974, June 26th, that a UPC barcode on a pack of Wrigley`s Juicy Fruit chewing gum was first commercially scanned. Even though by 1975, 75% of packaging carried a barcode, only around 200 stores had any way of scanning them!, although by 1980, 8,000 stores a year were adopting the idea. The real catalyst came in 1981 when the US Department of Defense took up the UPC code for marking all products sold to the US Military.

The linear barcode we are all familiar with is joined now by the 2D, or Matrix, code, these can "carry" more information than the linear types, and we guess are filling the gap that the much heralded RFID system was offering.

We often are asked to produce a barcode, and when we ask "what type?" "what is the number?" are met with a silence. If you are new to barcodes you will need to get in touch with GS1 UK - http://www.gs1uk.org/about-us/Pages/default.aspx - they can issue your unique numbers, we think that there is a cost involved with this registration.

We can produce printed labels carrying a barcode, either a simple one colour label with "just" the code, or as part of a "full" colour label, and we can also supply both plain labels and the Thermal Transfer machine for you to produce your own codes "in house".

If you should need any further information, please give us a call.

Decision Time....

2010-07-16T01:22:00.000-07:00

Decision Time...... how do we decide on which route your job is to take?

We may have covered this before but it can be useful to give a little insight into the Print Processes we have and how we make the choice of which to use to produce your order.

At the enquiry / estimate stage generally we use quantity as the first guide to machine choice, but label size and colour - in terms of number of colours and if PMS, (Pantone) need to be considered. Material is an important element of the job, the most important?, and this too can dictate which Press we choose.

A 1,000 or 2,000, simple black on white paper label with perm` adhesive would be a candidate for our Hot Foil Presses, with cheaper plate costs, £15 - £25.00, and more efficient running at lower quantities, however, should the enquiry ask for a PMS colour, or be on, say Tyre Stock, even though a small amount we would then need to be looking at a "Flexo" press for the job, as we can not "Match" colours on the Foil and due to the "flat bed" cutting, materials with high adhesive weights, ie Tyre Stock, are difficult to convert.

The biggest visible difference at the estimate / quote stage would be the plates, from a "foil" job at £15 - £25.00, we would be in the £38 - £65.00 range for Flexo Press Plates. (the difference in the cost will be covered on a future "blog" post)

Cutters too are vastly different in cost, on the "foil" press around £35.00, whilst we are £75.00 - £700.00 on the Flexo Press. (as with plates we will cover this difference in anther Blog post)

Size of label is another consideration, not only in terms of if we have a stock cutter already, (our total stock of cutters across all presses is over 2,000) which will push us towards one press or another, but physical size. On the Foil we can produce up to around a 200 x 150mm label, in practice the largest we tend to run is around 150 x 100mm, on the Flexo we can go from, at this moment our smallest die is 8 x 8mm, up to 320 x 500mm, although the largest we could produce at the moment is around 330 x 416mm.

Finishing, ie roll, sheet, fanfold, is a further option to take into account, whilst all of our Presses can produce on roll - surprise surprise and we can accommodate Fanfolded on most presses, sheets though on only two.

Quantity, though, remains the overriding consideration, a 3 x 2" (76 x 50mm) could run on any press, (but not on the same tool!) a 500 off Black on white order on the foil, 20,000 Plain White our trusted Ident 4" press, 10,000 Four Colour Process + Overlaminate run 2 across on the 6 col F240, 100,000 2 colour, 2 across on the 3 col F240, whilst 2,500,000 3 col, 4 across on the Proflex. Once rewound and packed it maybe difficult to say which job came from which press.

Supply Issues

2010-07-09T03:02:00.000-07:00

So, not content with the vast rises over past 18 months, (not just Avery) we are now warned of supply issues.

Edited "Highlights" -

"Due to the economic crisis (lets talk ourselves into double dip - ed) many raw materials suppliers have decreased their capacity........................." ".... we are working on a global level to ensure continued supply of materials" "However, we expect this situation to continue for several weeks and if the current market demand continues to increase, it could take several months to resolve." "We therefore advise you to place orders for our specialty products as far ahead as possible"

We will try to gain more information on which products are affected and advise individual customers as appropriate. However, we can foresee a "knock on" effect, so please be aware that some deliveries may be getting longer than we would like.

With our increased sales, we are carrying more stock now than ever, and this across more suppliers, so we are placed, hopefully, to see as little effect as possible.

Summer of Sport

2010-07-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

So the Summer is here..... it must there`s a hosepipe ban, although we understand that in the area under "ban" its now raining! It is a little cooler though, which is certainly easier for working in, when we have all of the heaters on, ie running 6, 3 & 4 colours, it creates a lot of heat, great for the "management" in Winter with lower heating bills, but not so good in the Summer for the Factory staff, actually not so good for any off us....... the shorts, the legs!

As our hopes raised with the thought of World Cup Glory and Wimbledon success, so Mr. Rooney & Murry let us down (again!), but fear not its the Tour de France.
With lots of English (British) hope. Team Sky flying the "Team" flag, with Mark Cavendish (HTC) and Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) carrying the heavy weight of expectation, although after last years performance it is sure that they will be marked men, but as of yesterday, 6th July fresh from his victory in the British National Road Race, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) took second on the stage, second overall and wears the white jersey as Best Young Rider.

So keep the flags flying high for the next few weeks, and keep an eye on Le Tour for some British success.

June Review.........................

2010-07-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

A blisteringly hot month, printers in shorts in not a good sight!, but with an excellent sales figure we guess we could forgive them most things. June was not without its challenges a breakdown on our 3 colour press quickly sorted by the Nilpeter guys followed by almost a complete "down day" due to a blown fuse in our consumer board, giving us extra juggling to perform.

The latest round of price increases from our suppliers are now in place, but we appeared to have been able to do our best to keep the impact of these to a minimum and an additional supplier has been an help here.

Our latest "team member" Steve, yeap that's now 3 with have!, is settling in nicely, taking on most of the goods in/out jobs and helping in the print finish area. This is working nicely with the printers being able to get paper etc.... brought to them easing their downtime and letting them concentrate on what they do best.

June and July were looking tough in terms of budget, taking into account holidays etc............. but reviewing the sales for June we are positioned nicely for another good month.

Again we need to thank you, Customers, Suppliers and Staff for your support (and understanding) and hope that the success we are seeing continues and grows - Thank You.

May Update and Simon`s at it again

2010-06-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Another month gone and Blog update has been poor, we will try to do better!

Following where April left off May has been another good month, although at the start it didn't appear it would be. With a brace of people away on leave the start of the month looked tough, but with a couple of days lost to illness we found ourselves battling a mountain of orders whilst slipping steadily behind due dates, and although we did our utmost to keep most customers abreast we did unfortunately omit to contact some causing some last minute juggling. We also had to battle with some late material deliveries into us which didn't help our cause, and it is surprising when only losing a couple of days the tidal wave this can produce.............. nearly a month on and we are just about back on track.

As you may be aware it looks like most of our suppliers have deemed it necessary to put up prices, from cores and boxes to most papers and films. According to the "Dear Johns........" Pulp prices have increased by 63% over the last year, whilst "outages" by polymer producers, who have "imposed multiple price increases", are offering a "real threat of supply shortages", whilst the earthquake in Chile, where 7% of global pulp production occurs "made matters worse".

It all sounds realistic (?) and although we have managed to delay a few increases by a week or two, by the end of June we will have seen around an 8% increase on most items we order.

On a different note Simon is off again, this time just to Wales, if you have time do take a look at the links -

http://www.actionforcharity.co.uk/eventdetailsnew.asp/urlsearch/Snowdonia-Charity-Challenge

http://www.justgiving.com/susanmckeagafc

General Update

2010-05-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

Well, April turned out to be another successful month, both in terms of sales figure and also new order / customer prospects. The taking on of the adjoining unit for "warehouse" usage is in full swing and should see us in by June, doubling our sq mts floor space. This will give us much better storage for raw material and finished goods and allow us to move some production to improve our "flow".

In line with the move, we currently have a new staff member on a trail period, this will help with our goods in and out and also finishing, along with freeing time for more training.

The above points are very positive, but we have seen a massive influx of orders, this combined with holidays has put us somewhat behind, we are working hard to catch up, but are having to juggle hard at the moment................. so forgive us if we slip a little!

Sessions of York... end of an era or a wake up call?

2010-04-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

21st April 2010, the possible end of a (nearly) 200 year history for one of York`s oldest businesses and a leading company within the world of Label Printing . Sessions of York has gone into administration with around 100 jobs at risk, and according to the York Press, ".... a big deficit in the company`s pension scheme"

Whilst we are being informed of further paper price increases, Session`s MD was reporting the blame lay upon....... "the fall of the pound against the euro", "the worldwide recession" and "being unable to pass the enormous cost increase to their customers" ".... the consequence has been that our margins have been squeezed to a level which makes it impossible to continue".

We at Secura have done our utmost over the past 12 months to try and offset the 30% plus rise in prices we too have suffered, investing in new tooling and cutters to run wider and "common" web widths, setting jobs to be able to run on various presses, depending on what quantity the order is, but we have still had to increase prices, but hand in hand with this we have offered, where possible, alternative materials, higher quantity runs, explored a smaller label, aware that simply increasing prices is not an option and that we need to work with our customers to help us all through what has been a tough time.

Although it is very sad such a long standing and leading company faces the "end", it may be that a "victim" of this size awakens some people who appear to be "taking" work at any cost and driving margins to a unworkable level. Let us hope that Mark Sessions and all involved see a happy outcome to the issue and that the Sessions name manages to continue, however if you have been effected and need some help, please do not hesitate to call us and we will do what we can to assist.

http://www.printweek.com/news/998815/Sessions-York-verge-closure-administrators-called/

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8112511.Sessions_of_York_goes_into_administration/

Fastyre Spec Sheet

2010-04-16T01:21:00.000-07:00

Spec Sheet for Fassons Fastyre

http://www.europe.fasson.com/__C12567D10037A275.nsf/0/F2A376207E2E2F64C12575F70042EB2C?Open&Highlight=0,domainsearchflag,English,afu475&UCN=B5C5F4D736F3D21CC12576FD0036472C

REACH

2010-04-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

REACH, European Chemicals Regulation REACH (Regulation (EC)) No. 1907/2006 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals, we are sure that the REACH document is one you are familiar with. (!)

January 13th 2010, fourteen chemical substances were added to the "candidate list of Substances of Very High Concern. (SVHC)

Please see the latest statement from our "key" supplier, note this does cover all materials we use, but does a very high percentage.

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/simon.SECURALABELS/Desktop/REACH.htm

If the link should not work for you, please call, 01530 515170, and we can mail or fax you a copy.

A Big Ask?

2010-04-08T03:41:00.000-07:00

So, without much breathing space we jump from our best sales month, into a "new" year, and some large orders. Not so long ago we would class a job of 5,000mts plus as large, currently we are running one job of 18,000mts, another of 60,000mts and a giant 80,000mts. Combinning these three jobs would see us nearly half way to the moon! (382,500kms)

In them selves, they are not overly demanding jobs, until we look at the "small print". The job for 60,000mts is for a "High Street" chain and split across 150 sorts, and we have a week to complete. To achieve this, we are having to get paper in, ................our supplier re-organising their production to get us paper within 48 hours. Both ink and core suppliers sending us delivery again within 48 hours. The major factor though, is the plates, co-ordinating with the guys at Brownetts, not only for a speedy delivery, but ensuring that with so many plates we have covered the right spec. for each... nothing worse than getting plates to find we have given the wrong cutter details! We could have made the plates here, but with so many it is more efficient to "sub".

The 80,000mts order, again for a "High Street" chain, is difficult in terms of packing. The order, which is on going, is for 9,900,000, yes, just short of ten million labels, but the very fact that the order is on rolls of 275 and has to be packed 24 rolls per box is quite a tall order, and could see us looking for additional staff.

But, we wouldn't have it any other way, and whilst orders of this size can give us some issues, they also help out in other ways, the volume ensures we can get the best rates for our paper, ink, cores etc....... which means if your order is no where near this volume, you are reaping the cost benefit of volume by default.

So, if 100 labels, or 10,000,000 on, you will still get the same level of service, we need "you" both, we have a press to suit and an operator keen to get "your" job through.

End of the "Year"

2010-03-31T02:35:00.000-07:00

So, 2009 / 2010 draws to a close. This time last year, I think it is safe to say, times where uncertain, the economy in seaming "freefall", redundancy a fear for many if not all. Whilst our "market" has seen some casualties here at Secura we have seen almost unprecedented growth.

We are up in all areas of our 2009/10 budget, and have seen our best sales month beaten, then topped, and will end up with March being our best ever sales month, whilst it will be one of our lowest "overtime" months - great testament to the hard working team without which we would achieve nothing.

We are not without fault, and recognise we need to better with our communication and we could be a little more realistic with our delivery estimates on occasion!, but on the whole, and we guess gaining ISO9001 during 2009 bears this out, we do not do too badly.

Without you, customer, supplier, employee, none of the success we have had would be possible, so to customers, thank you for your custom and patience, suppliers, thank you for your support and for pulling many rabbits out of many hats for us! and last but not least the staff who make life easy - to a man (women) the tireless effort is much appreciated.

So, for us all, here's to a successful 2010 / 2011.

Green, the "New" Black?

2010-03-12T03:56:00.000-08:00

We have just had the latest issue of Labels and Labeling drop through the letterbox, an event that we look forward too. (ie chance to sit down with a cuppa and not feel guilty that your flicking though a magazine!)

With a green cover, including a tree image, advert on page 3, for a chemical, trees, wind farm, flowers, turn to page 5, a press advert, with wind farm image, it does seam the enviroment issue is coming our way.

By its nature, the product we produce, produces as much waste as product, more?, we cut the label whilst the waste, well becomes waste. The backing / carrier once the label is used also is waste, makes us feel a bit uneasy. At a recent "Trade Show", one material supplier was showing chairs, block flooring...... all made from recycled backing material, when we try and find people to take our waste for recycling we are told we don't produce enough for such "bespoke" recycling, we have tried, honest.

On a brighter note, we have been offer a limited range on a clear recycled backing, so although it would still be waste, at least it is a recycled waste, but this is something we will need to trail. From a production viewpoint, will it require new cutters?, from the end user, will it run through Thermal machines and applicators?

So I will now get my cuppa a have a read to see if Vol. 32 Issue 1 can offer any new information, or is a green cover as far as it gets?

Thermal Transfer Ribbons

2010-02-09T07:49:00.001-08:00

Plain labels, we produce millions and millions. Some Direct Thermal in Uncoated "Eco", Semi Top and Top Coated grades, but most are for Thermal Transfer machines. We have built up a wealth of knowledge and are able to assist in advising the best printers for your requirements if starting out in Thermal Transfer or if an existing "user" can supply Ribbon and also look after your maintenance and offer repalcement machines as required.

We generally have Ribbons for the most common printers, we are an Approved Zebra Reseller, and through our extensive supplier list are able to supply even the more unusual requests.

So, if you need -
RIBBON, THERMAL TRANSFER MACHINES, SPARES OR SERVICE CONTRACTS
- don't forget to give us the chance to quote for your requirements, if you are unsure or need any advice Steve or Mark can arrange to call and see you at your convenience.

Valentines Day

2010-01-27T00:37:00.000-08:00

So January nearly gone and after the excellent sales we have enjoyed during the previous months, we find ourselves scrapping to reach budget, February is looking good already though, so lets hope we can look back at January as a New Year hangover.

As its the end of the month we find ourselves using up our stock paper and to this end the poor rewind / finishing boys find themselves amongst a mountain of paper to be slit to suitable sizes. Its amazing with all the widths of materials we carry, at this time of the month we never have the right width!

Valentines is nearly upon us and to help you put the finishing touch to your loved ones gift we have produced some gift seal labels which we will be sending out during the next week or so, if you miss out or need more - give us a call.

Breakdown - 6 Colour

2010-01-15T03:50:00.000-08:00

Well, after battling through the ice and snow for two weeks we thought we were doing well, that is until Thursday and our 6 Col. press not wanting to move. A little while spent pushing, twisting turning buttons & knobs, and a prolonged telephone call to the "experts" yielded a big fat "zero", so engineer booked.

A wet morning suited the atomsphere as the scale of the problem became apprent, no quick fix. To repair, 4 - 5 weeks, we could pay extra and speed it up to 10 - 14 days!

A new part, well into 4 figures, of which non in the Country, will hopefully be in on Monday after making the trip from Germany, along with the engineer, from Hull, to fit.

So a total of 4 lost production days, we think that we should be able to catch up by the end of week, so we hope this does not give anyone a too great an issue.

Service Levels / Material Supply

2010-01-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

Its is looking more likely that the recent weather is to effect us going forward, we are having several statements from our suppliers and carriers. Many are issuing warnings of longer lead times over the next week or so.

Several of our paper suppliers have accumulated backlogs due to both planning and production staff being unable to get to their place of work, this is combined with the backlog for carriers due to the road / weather conditions.

Our "main" suppliers are based in the North East and Suffolk, two areas which appear to be worse effected than ourselves, and where we could, we have arrived early / stopped late to allow delivery, however we are not always getting our stock in, in line with our production schedule and so find ourselves rerunning jobs "out of order" which is meaning some jobs are going early, BUT adding time to others.

We assure you that we are doing our up most to get orders away on time and hope for your understanding at this time.

Price Increase

2010-01-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

Not the best news for a New Year, however we are facing a 4% (max) rise from one of our "key" suppliers. The supplier is one of, mainly, (customer) specified materials and we may find it difficult to offer any alternative for these and so we will need to pass these increases on.

We will be advising any changes as orders arise, and in the case of regularly ordered products as soon as we have the cost changes confirmed.

We have, as yet, had no indecation of changes from elsewhere.

Tis the Season....... Not to be at work!

2010-01-06T02:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, whilst most of you may not need skis to get to work, more importantly home from work!, the Country seams gripped (crippled?) by more snow than we are used too.

We are still managing to get parcels & pallets collected, of course when they leave us, it is in the hands of the drivers and so lets spare a little thought as we sit in our nice warm offices for the brave soles trying to get your labels (and other deliveries) to you, and lets be a little less hard on them if they happen to turn up a little late...................... we are sure a "cuppa" would go a long way at the moment!

Safe journeys to you all

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T03:38:00.000-08:00

So a new decade is upon us,

Not everything for the coming year is certain on January the 1st , well apart from the fact we will all break our resolutions!, but we are of some things for 2010, VAT is to rise and we will be voting at some point before May 6th, do either actually count towards our day to day lives, will we actually notice any difference fro the results of either?, only time will tell we guess.

It is nice to see that although scrapping ice from the car at the moment, the "MET" office are predicting a hot Summer, didn't they do this last year only to disappoint?

Can we take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the coming year and hope that it may bring all you wish for.

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well its nearly here, and its as busy as ever with deliveries to be made right up to and on Christmas Eve, we feel a bit like the "man" himself!, (although we have no more slots!). The carry over to 2010 is very good and we will need to "hit the ground running" on the 4th, with some promising prospects to come as well.

2009 has been mixed for us, as everyone we guess, the earlier part of the year looking a little uncertain, leading to a much reduced Budget, but as the year progressed we find our selves ahead of the Budget set and also 2008/2009.

We are working hard to improve things here, gaining "ISO" during the year a big step, and we hope to use this a platform for further improvments during 2010 - watch this space.

Many thanks to all Customers and Suppliers through 2009, and let us hope together we can make 2010 as sucessfull as the past year.

Busy Times..........................

2009-12-14T03:44:00.000-08:00

As seams to be the pattern, things are getting busy............... so much so that we are now quoting January for delivery!, lets hope the weather forecasters are not right and that the cold snap does not create too many issues with so much to get away.

With 8 and a bit "working" days until the Christmas shut down we do not have many, if any, production slots available, a large amount of orders combined with several "leave" days to balance means, like last year, we will be ending the year with plenty of orders to carry to the New Year, so if you needed to place an order, please contact us NOW.

We trust that with the orders we have that you are all busy too, we hope that you manage to get your orders out and take that well earned break.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-08T02:23:00.000-08:00

May we take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

2009 has been a good year for us here, with the "doom & gloom" of the downturn we, after a slow start, have been very busy, a record sales month in September with July and November close behind, lets hope, for you and us!, this continues into 2010.

Instead of Christmas Cards, we will be making donations to 3 charities chosen by a draw of suggestions from all the staff -

ISO 9001

2009-09-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to have been awarded BS EN ISO 9001 : 2008, working with QMS over the past few months we have had to make little ajustment to our systems, with the certifcate being awarded on 21st September 2009.

The small amendments to our current systems refect the effort that has been put in over the years and really amounted to a tidying of files!, of course we wont be resting on our laurels, and hope to improve and update during the period between now and our first audit.

General Update and Happy News

2009-09-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

So the Summers all but been and gone, we hope you managed to find some Sunshine!

The past few weeks here at Secura Towers have been busy, as Ian one of our Press Operators has been on "leave" after the arrival of his daughter Emily-Lily, Mother & Baby doing well, and so far Ian appears to be getting plenty of sleep!

On the subject of arrivals, Steve in our Finishing Dept. has been suffering with Kidney Stones, and was pleased as punch last week showing off his recently passed stone!, luckly Richards First Aid skills where not required.

Product Data Sheets for AA1682 FASSON Gloss / S2000N / BG40 brown

2009-09-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

Product Data Sheets for AA1682 FASSON Gloss / S2000N / BG40 brown

now you see it...now you dont.............

2009-06-12T08:22:00.001-07:00

We are lucky at the moment to be very busy which is great, overtime for the lads and were on "budget", but its been a "funny old week".

As they say you never know what is round the corner, yesterday, Thursday, proved this totally. We are having to produce some samples on a paper we have never used before, always a bit nervy as you are worried about cutters cutting, machines striping and multitude of other factors which can cause the easiest of jobs on paper to become, well a real mare. The material in question is a water soluble, now we thought "yeah", but it is, get it wet and "now you see it - now you don't" it is a little "off white" in colour and with a limited shelf life of 12 months, but it is very good stuff.

Whilst waxing lyrical about water soluble, a tap on the shoulder informed me we had a problem. "Never ask anyone to do what you would not do your self", I had to get my hands dirty, the drains where blocked, not just blocked, well and truly blocked - thank fully (?) we have, had, some elbow length gloves, pegs we where short of!, I really hope that's the last time we have that problem for a while!

Product Data Sheets for AA1179 FASSON MC Primecoat / R5000 / BG40 Brown

2009-06-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Product Data Sheets for AA1179 FASSON MC Primecoat / R5000 / BG40 Brown

Killed a Robin? / Bad day at the office.........

2009-06-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Great, 1st of the month is stock take for us, never the most enjoyable task in the world!, but this month was somewhat overshadowed by a double breakdown.

An issue with a slitter unit caused damage to a support roller gear on our six colour press, not an overly stressful situation, "we can "borrow" from the three colour press and replace". A great plan, until we find out the support roller is in fact different!

After checking we have not taken the wrong bits off etc..... we admit defeat, but manage to leave the press in a runnable state whilst we wait for our friends at Nilpeter to send a new roller. As if that was not enough we ran straight into an compressed air issue on the 3 colour press!, just as we had cleaned our hands back to the grease and grim of the inside of a printing press.

Luckly, Ian has managed to bypass the fault short term whilst we again await a part. They say a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, luckly for us Ian has once again proved this saying incorrect!

Product Data Sheets for AA1682 FASSON Gloss / S2000N / BG40 brown

2009-05-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

Product Data Sheets for AA1682 FASSON Gloss / S2000N / BG40 brown

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-05-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Well, after a little while of "having enough to do" the gates would appear to have opened up well and truly, with requirement for some overtime, first time for a while we have needed to call on the production staff for this, but as usual, even at short notice, they have been eager to help.

We have had the misfortune of a small breakdown during last week, but have been able to get the press running until a new part can be fitted during June, hopefully not too much extra downtime as being done with the annual Press service for our Nilpeters.

Whilst the phones have been quite quiet, we have still had a large amount of quotes to do, to be honest falling quite a way behind at one stage, but now catching up so "sorry" if you have been effected by this.

Several customers have asked for some "fresh" sample packs, should you require an updated pack or simply more!, please pick up the phone, and we will do our best to get you a good selection of example labels away the same day, so back to the quotes.................

Product Data Sheets for BA1946 FASSON TUFF

2009-05-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Product Data Sheets for BA1946 FASSON TUFF

Over the Worst?

2009-05-14T08:37:00.001-07:00

Are we seeing the "Green Shoots" of a recovery?

The past week has seen orders placed by two of our automotive sector customers, along with large order from an end user in the construction industry, all three have been well below their "usual" order pattern for some months now so is this a sign that things are on the up?

Looking at our material ordering we have already this month (May) ordered more than our total for last (April) so another sign of an up-turn maybe. We are not getting to excited yet, but against some tough competition we have maintained a large, two year contract with a large "national", and look to have converted a long standing prospect, of course its not all good, a long standing "trade" job looks lost, solely on price with our supplier unable to offer a better rate, but it is also more difficult in these areas.

Lets hope these are some good signs and we can all look forward to the promised long hot summer and some well earned holidays!

Tamper Evident Labels

2009-05-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Tamper Evident Labels have been available for some while now, but we are now able to supply you with a very low residue (none in our tests) alternative.

As the pictures show, and you may be aware, the more traditional material had some issues, the "self destruct" vinyl is a great product, but should you need to gain access for servicing etc.... your engineer will have to spend time cleaning away the remains of the old label.
Voids are some what better, but as the second picture shows you are left with a void message, which again would need removing.

The "new" product, whilst showing the void message and so rendering the label useless, leaves little or no residue or message, so if you need service access, the old label can be removed with ease and a new old placed when required.

The old label has no adhesive left and is clearly showing the void message so cannot be reused.

We can supply you of course with any of the three materials, plain, printed in upto six colours, with "consec" numbering or barcodes.

Should you need samples or a quote please do not hesitate to call us, samples are available for you to try the products for yourself. The Low Residue is also available as a packing tape which we can also supply should you wish.

Football..............Is it over yet?

2009-04-27T08:13:00.001-07:00

So, we understand the Football Season is about to end, (I much prefer the "oval ball") "about time too" we hear half of you cry, whilst the rest we guess will be counting the days until "kick off"!

Ian, one of our printers, was having a sort out at home and found a Arsenal V Notts. Forest programme from the 66/67 season and brought in for Steve "The Sales", him being a "Gooner". (its ok, we've checked ebay and to be honest they pay you to take it off your hands!)

"6d" for the programme, and with just a few games of the season left, Manchester United were at the top (!!!!), whilst Newcastle were facing the "drop". Nottingham Forest were in second, while firmly in last place, 10 points adrift, Blackpool. History is great, even when it is football, included in the programme, is the half time musical entertainment song list, provided by the Metropolitan Police Band, which included the "Arsenal Song" to the tune of "Beer Barrel Polka""

It appears we have several customers who have sons in Cup Finals and "crunch" league fixtures, Best of Luck to them all and we hope your team has a successful end of season and you manage to enjoy the break.

Oh, why football, 28th April marks the opening of the "British Empire Stadium" (Wembley to me and you) in 1923, cost £750,000. Closed in 2000 to make way for the "new" Wembley, oh cost -£798,000,000 (yeap nearly £800 million). The "new" stadium is the second largest in Europe and the largest in the world with every seat being "covered".

The Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wembley_Stadium has more facts and figures if you need!

When is a Label not a Label?

2009-04-15T04:18:00.001-07:00

When its a Tag!

Alongside our ROLL and SHEET labels, we are able to provide you with your TAG and SWING TICKET requirements.

Paper, Board, durable outdoor grade PP and Tyvek, either Notched or with "Tied Hole", supplied as Singles or on Roll or Fanfolded. We are able to print one or both sides. From 1,000 Boutique Swing Tickets, short run Charity "Flag Day" lapel tags through to 1,000,000 "Sale" tags we can produce and supply a wide variety, so please do not hesitate to contact us for a quotation / samples.

"Calm down dear............. it`s only a label"

2009-04-08T01:24:00.000-07:00

................... Panic Jobs, we appear to having a rash of urgent jobs at the moment. It would seem that the "credit crunch" is making one or two people a little nervous and holding back on ordering until they "really need it" and in the process giving us some, well lets say, interesting lead times and with the clock clicking to Easter we are sure this will only get a little more entertaining!

Keep them coming though, we like a challenge and will do our utmost to get out your orders.

Have a good Easter weekend, but dont eat too many eggs!

Year End

2009-03-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

31st of March sees our "year end". What a year it has turned out to be, we set ourselves a tough budget, (2007/08 saw a 13% growth for us) which the first three quarters had us on target for, but post Christmas the "credit crunch" visited us and we are going to be falling just short. (but with a 14% growth on 2007/08) In all though a good performance with "non conformance" down, and delivery times maintained, both areas that we have worked on and intend to continue look at with some new measures coming in.

One of the biggest issues for us was the continued rise of paper costs, year on year a 55% increase, this saw us talking to some far flung places and discussions are still on going with some "Far East" suppliers, both direct and through a 3rd party. We strove to maintain our prices where possible but with such pressure we had no choice but to pass these on, let us hope for a "flatter" year in terms of costs.

A major success was the introduction of the Turret Rewind unit, an investment of some £50,000, but one which has without doubt helped us maintain and "win" business. One job which was in excess of 15,000,000 labels, which would have taken us two weeks to manually rewind alone, was done and delivered in under a week!

Our partnership with suppliers has been working well with the Thermal Ribbon / Machine / Service end going well and looking like a growth area for us, remember Mark and Steve have a wealth of experience in this area and are available to visit you to discuss any requirements. Although Ribbon, Machine, Tag, Sheets are important areas for us, remember the bulk of our turnover is via SELF ADHESIVE LABELS.

There is no doubt that 2009/10 is not going to be the easiest of years, but we feel with our dedicated staff, supportive suppliers and understanding customers, we can help contribute to a successful year for all three.

Infinity and beyond!

2009-03-25T09:51:00.001-07:00

Whilst musing over paper stocks the other day, deciding if we needed to order more material for a certain order, we were working out the amount of labels we had produced for the particular customer over the past 12 months, quite a few - 716,870km worth! Thats enough to, well nearly, get to the moon and back or wrap the earth 18 times, as the operator answered, "I am glad we have the Turret Rewinder!"

Thermal Transfer

2009-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Here at Secura, plain labels are produced in their millions, both for Direct Thermal and Thermal Transfer use, so its not surprising that we are able to help you with your Machine, Ribbon, Software and Service requirements.

Both Mark & Steve have a wealth of experience and are able to offer advice and solutions across a wide range of usage, from cheese to cornflakes, hosepipes to handwash, meaning we can offer you a "one stop" service for Labels, Ribbons, Machines and Service.

(Trade Customer - not a problem, we are regularly visiting "end-users" with our Trade Customers to offer guidance and support in an area that they may not be confident in, please feel free to call us if you wish us to help with any issues you may have.)

One door.....

2009-03-12T03:50:00.000-07:00

It is with regret that we find ourselves wishing all the best of luck to Lynne Evans.

Lynne joined us in 2005 and has been at the helm of our telesales, whilst more generally assisting with all aspects of sales, preparing quotations, ordering material and assisting with customer enquiries, but she has decided that the time has come for a new challenge and we wish Lynne all the best.

In the short term, Gill, Jane, Mark, Steve and Simon will be splitting Lynne`s work load, so if you have any questions or enquires please do not hesitate to contact us.

Plant

2009-03-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

Plant: what we have to produce your labels

Origination -

Apple Macs

Image Setter / Processor / Plate Maker

Thermal Transfer -

2 x TEC Printers

1 x Zebra Printer

Hot Foil -

Newfoil 3000 - Overlaminate, Sheet, Re-register

Flexographic -

Nilpeter 3 colour - 8" print width / 9" paper width

Nilpeter 6 colour - 8" Print width / 9" paper width / Overlaminate / Turnbar

Focus 4 colour - 13" Print width / 13" 1/4" paper width / Turnbar

Flexographic Ancillaries -

Fanfold Unit

Sheeter

Turret Rewind ("in-line" automatic)

2 x Rewind "off-line"

2009-03-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

A common question for us is that of the plate cost. As it would appear with most of our answers, it depends on which Press we are to use. Plates for our Hot Foil machines can be as little as £12.00, whilst a plate for an A4 label can come in at £75.00.

The complexity of design has a part to play, but the complexity of the chosen cutter has a bigger part. Our 150 x 150mm cutter is a simple "1 up" so little, or no Stepping and a simple "Dispro" factor, compare this to our 16 x 22mm which is "100 up" with a lot of Stepping to account for.

Gripping and Bleed in a close register design will add some variance to cost as does a Process Image (photographic image). Plates at Secura have always been quoted at cost and we avoid adding "part plate" into the label cost (except where a customer requests such) as this distorts the cost of printing and repeats.

Colour

2009-02-27T08:21:00.001-08:00

Colour can be one of the most critical components of a label, but one of the easiest to get wrong.

Whilst we take all steps possible to attain and maintain a given colour, many factors can affect the this going forward. We regularly deep clean our Anilux rollers in a purpose made cleaner to try and ensure a consistant cell depth, we rarely change ink supplier and try to ensure paper is brought from a common source, but a change in any of the three elements touched on above can lead to a change in colour.

The intial colour of a job is usually a Pantone reference, eg "PMS272", but this in itself is no guarantee that the colour you or your designer choose is like ours. We change our Pantone books yearly, so if we are looking at 272 in a new book whilst the colour chosen is from a three year old book, we could be heading for error.

As with the Pantone book, the light in which the label is viewed can affect the colour. We will match in our lightbox, but if the customer / enduser views in standard household bulbs the colour may well be different, so it is always worth letting us know, with a critical colour under what conditions it will be viewed / approved.

Cutter Lesson 1 "to cut or too cut"

2009-02-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

One of the first steps in the preparation of either a quotation or a job is the cutter specification. Firstly is the size required a stock cutter? With a library of 1,500 plus cutters you would think we would have something close, but if not, several questions need to answered -

The "run" (quantity) size / The label size / Plain, Printed - how many colours? - at this stage, a choice of Press is required, after an initial choice we can fine tune depending on the Material and/or compexlity of print.

Once we have decided upon which press to use we can look at the cutter options -

Flat Bed

Magnetic (Flexi)

Solid

the difference - cost -

Flat Bed tending to be lower quantity runs with cutter costs of £30.00 upwards.

Magnetic are the favoured choice and can be as little in cost as £75.00 depending on the make up of the cutter, ie a large size 200 x 200mm 1 across / 1 around could be in the area of £70.00, more complex, 12 x 12mm 15 across / 24 around would be into the region of £300.00 +. The benefit of these cutters is cost and delivery compared to a solid cutter, but once damaged or worn are virtually much scrap. Magnetics can also be easily interchanged between Press.

Solids: unlike a Magnetic these cutters can be repaired and resharpened and so will last "a lifetime" if looked after, but they are without doubt more expensive, with the cheapest coming in in the £250.00 area. Made to a specfic press requirement these cutters are not interchangeable (without costly adaptors).