Labelisten scales with automation-first production model

Walking around Labelisten's production facilities in Bavaria, it quickly becomes apparent that this is not a conventional label converter.

HP Indigo presses, laser finishing systems and pouch converting equipment are present, but the real engine behind the business is its software. Every stage of production, from customer order and artwork approval through to scheduling, printing, invoicing and payment tracking, is digitally connected. Rather than adapting analog workflows to accommodate digital printing, Labelisten has built its entire operation around automation.

That philosophy is reflected in the way founder and CEO Frank Plechschmidt describes the company.

'Many people say we're a software company with a printing company attached,' he says. 'For a long time, the software company just consisted of me.'

Operating from two facilities in Bavaria, one dedicated to labels and the other to flexible packaging, the company has become one of Europe's fastest-growing digital converters, recording annual growth of around 40 percent while investing heavily in both production capacity and software development.

The latest step in that journey is the installation of the HP Indigo V12, a press designed to move digital printing beyond its traditional short-run niche into industrial-scale production.

Building a business around digital

Plechschmidt originally trained as a media designer, then developed programming skills as a hobby before recognizing a gap in the market for short-run label production.

Many of his earliest customers operated in the dietary supplements and sports nutrition sectors characterized by large numbers of stock-keeping units (SKUs), frequent artwork changes and unpredictable ordering patterns.

'They needed 5,000 labels of one product and maybe only 500 of another,' he recalls. 'Finding somebody who could deliver those quantities quickly was difficult.'

After investing in its first HP Indigo press in 2017, Labelisten gradually developed an automated workflow capable of processing orders with minimal manual intervention.

'I was only printing for about two hours a day,' says Plechschmidt. 'We had to find the volume.'

The growth came steadily before accelerating dramatically during the pandemic, as manufacturers sought shorter supply chains and more responsive production partners.

That expansion has continued ever since, and today, Labelisten employs over 100 people across its operations and is supported by a growing software development team that continually refines the company's digital infrastructure.

Scaling with the V12

Production capacity has effectively tripled in recent years, culminating in the installation of the HP Indigo V12. Unlike earlier generations of digital presses that focused primarily on short-run work, the V12 has been developed to compete in higher-volume production without sacrificing digital flexibility.

For Labelisten, however, the investment is about preparing for future growth rather than solving today's production constraints.

'I expected the V12 to run for three or four hours a day,' says Plechschmidt. 'That's exactly what it's doing today.'

Rather than seeing that as under-utilization, he views it as evidence that the company has invested ahead of demand.

'Now our sales team has to sell the bigger volumes,' he added.

Even so, the nature of Labelisten's production remains very different from that of conventional converters. On one recent production day, the company produced around 45km of labels across approximately 400 separate jobs.

'Normally converters produce 40 or 80 kilometers with one job,' Plechschmidt says. 'We produced 45 kilometers with 400 jobs.'

Managing hundreds of short runs every day is precisely what the company's workflow is designed to handle. Unlike conventional production environments, where lengthy setup times encourage larger print runs, Labelisten continuously switches between jobs, keeping presses productive while producing only the quantities customers require.

The result is a business capable of responding to customer demand in days rather than weeks.

When asked whether customers prefer labels from a certain machine, Frank said: 'Our customers don't ask what print technology we use; they ask: "Can I have it tomorrow?"'

A broader shift

For HP, Labelisten represents more than simply another successful customer. It illustrates how digital printing is evolving across the wider label industry.

'We're moving into what I call industrial digital printing,' explains Mark Dempsey, HP's European V12 sales director.

'We knew we had to reinvent the technology if we wanted to win bigger volumes and longer run lengths,' Dempsey says.

'We've now got the fastest digital print system for labels on the market,' he added.

Despite rapid technological development, HP estimates that only around six to seven percent of global label production is digital.

'Packaging is probably one of the last industries still hanging on to its analog background,' he says.

'The volume is still there,' he explains. 'It's just divided into many more jobs.'

However, for businesses such as Labelisten, that shift is creating significant opportunities.

Advantage through automation

While the V12 may be the headline investment, Plechschmidt is quick to point out that the press itself is only part of Labelisten's competitive advantage. The real differentiator lies in the software that controls almost every aspect of the business, which is developed in-house.

 

Orders flow automatically from customer inquiry through artwork approval, prepress, scheduling and production before invoices are generated and payments tracked. What would traditionally involve multiple systems and manual input has been consolidated into a single in-house digital workflow.

'Everything is automated,' says Plechschmidt. 'Even my bank account is connected to the system. Every 10 minutes it checks whether invoices have been paid.'

Before entering the printing industry, he trained as a media designer and taught himself programming, initially developing systems to solve problems within his own business. Over time, that hobby evolved into one of Labelisten's defining strengths.

'I started programming myself because I needed the software,' he explains. 'Now we have a dedicated software team, but everything started from trying to make production easier.'

Plechschmidt began using AI-assisted coding in 2023 and believes it has transformed the speed at which new functions can be developed.

'It accelerated development by maybe a factor of 10,' he says. 'We can build and improve systems much faster than before.'

The result is a production environment where software has become just as important as the machinery itself.

What began as a supplier-customer relationship has evolved into a close partnership, with Plechschmidt presenting the company's production model at HP customer events worldwide.

'They realized it wasn't just about the press,' he says. 'It was about the digital ecosystem around the press.'

Removing the bottlenecks

Rather than relying exclusively on conventional rotary die-cutting, Labelisten has invested in laser die-cutting systems from German manufacturer ALS, eliminating the need for physical tooling on many jobs.

For customers ordering hundreds of different SKUs in relatively small quantities, removing tooling requirements dramatically reduces both setup time and cost.

'With the lasers we can produce immediately,' says Plechschmidt.

The approach is particularly valuable in markets such as dietary supplements, sports nutrition and pet food, where products are regularly updated and artwork changes frequently.

Instead of manufacturing tooling before production can begin, digital files are simply loaded into the finishing system, allowing jobs to move straight into production.

Labor shortages

According to HP, automation is becoming increasingly important for another reason: the lack of labor. Across Europe, converters are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit experienced flexographic press operators, while fewer young people are entering traditional printing apprenticeships.

'Our customers are struggling to hire operators,' says Dempsey. Historically, becoming a skilled flexographic printer required years of experience.

'With analog technology, it can take two or three years before somebody reaches full competency.

'The V12 is a relatively deskilled operation. If somebody is technology-savvy, you can train them to a good competency in two or three months.'

That reduction in training time has become an increasingly important part of the investment case. Rather than competing for a shrinking pool of experienced flexographic operators, converters can recruit from a much wider labor market while reducing dependence on specialist skills.

'You can now run a V12 with one operator,' says Dempsey. 'In the past you would typically have needed two.'

For converters facing labor shortages alongside increasing production demands, that combination of higher productivity and simplified recruitment has become almost as important as print speed itself.

Hybrid or digital?

As digital presses become faster, comparisons with hybrid flexographic presses have inevitably intensified. HP is careful not to present the V12 as a replacement for every conventional workflow.

Instead, each customer is assessed individually.

'We always start with the business case,' says Dempsey. 'We look at their job basket, their run lengths, their applications and where they're making money.'

That analysis determines whether digital, hybrid or conventional flexo represents the most appropriate equipment.

Finishing

While hybrid presses complete printing and embellishment in a single pass, overall production speed is often dictated by the slowest finishing process.

'I've visited converters with presses capable of 150m/min running at only 15m/min because screen printing was the limiting factor,' says Dempsey.

HP instead advocates printing at the V12's full production speed before transferring reels to multiple near-line finishing lines.

'We say: "Print at 120m/min, then finish on two Digicons running at 60m each."'

This approach allows converters to maximize print productivity by separating printing from finishing, providing greater flexibility in scheduling production.

However, Dempsey says: 'One workflow isn't necessarily the answer for everybody.'

Expanding into flexible packaging

Although labels remain the largest part of the business, flexible packaging represents Labelisten's next major growth opportunity.

The company's second production facility, opened in October and has dramatically increased capacity while creating room for further expansion.

'We increased production capability by three or four times,' says Plechschmidt. 'We're producing around 50 percent more than before, but we can still double production again with almost the same headcount.'

The facility centers on HP Indigo 200K presses producing stand-up pouches, with plans already underway to expand into flat-bottom pouch production.

For Plechschmidt, the move into flexible packaging was a natural progression rather than a diversification. Increasingly, he believes converters need to think beyond labels altogether.

'In many cases it's more efficient to print directly onto the packaging instead of putting a label on it,' he says.

That convergence between labels and flexible packaging is becoming increasingly apparent across the industry, with many converters investing in both technologies to meet changing customer requirements.

Customers are no longer simply looking for labels or pouches. They are looking for the fastest, most efficient and most sustainable way to package their products.

Sustainability through efficiency

Sustainability is often discussed in terms of recyclable materials, recycled content and compliance with new legislation. Plechschmidt believes the industry's biggest environmental gains can be made long before a package reaches the recycling bin.

Instead, he points to overproduction as one of packaging's greatest inefficiencies.

'Around 25 percent of all packaging is thrown away before it ever sees a product,' he says. 'Nobody knows the exact figure, but everyone agrees it's around a quarter.'

Many brands continue to order large quantities of labels or flexible packaging to reduce unit costs, only for products to be redesigned, reformulated or updated before the packaging is used. In sectors such as dietary supplements, where regulations and formulations frequently change, obsolete packaging can quickly become an expensive source of waste.

Digital production allows Labelisten to manufacture exactly the quantity required, reducing inventory while giving customers greater flexibility to respond to changing market demands.

'The customer shouldn't have to buy 10,000 labels if they only need 1,000,' says Plechschmidt.

The company has also invested heavily in traceability, allowing every substrate used in production to be tracked back through the supply chain.

'If we produce a label today, I know exactly which roll came from Avery or UPM,' he explains. 'We can trace it all the way back.'

That capability has helped prepare the business for evolving sustainability legislation, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), while providing customers with greater transparency over the materials used in their packaging.

For HP, reducing waste is one of the most compelling sustainability arguments for digital printing.

'The first law of sustainability is avoiding use in the first place,' says HP's Dempsey. 'If you never needed to produce it, that's the best form of sustainability.'

Planning for growth

Despite growing by about 40 percent annually, Plechschmidt believes Labelisten is still in the early stages of its expansion.

The investment in the HP Indigo V12 and the new flexible packaging facility has created significantly more production capacity than the business currently requires, allowing future growth without immediate further investment.

'It's a luxury problem,' he says.

Looking further ahead, however, plans are already taking shape. The company has purchased land adjacent to its existing facilities where it intends to build another production site as demand increases, with a particular focus on expanding flexible packaging production and flat-bottom pouch manufacturing.

'If the V12 is full one day, we need another place,' says Plechschmidt.

Beyond Europe, the US represents the company's next major opportunity. Labelisten has already begun supplying short-run flexible packaging into the US and recently opened a sales office in New York as it looks to establish a stronger presence in the market.

Initially, production will continue in Germany, but longer-term ambitions are considerably bigger.

'In five years, maybe we have a plant there,' he says.

The future of digital converting

For HP, businesses such as Labelisten provide a glimpse of where the wider label industry is heading. Although digital printing still accounts for only a small share of global label production, the company expects adoption to continue to increase.

'Digital will continue to capture more of the market,' says Dempsey, 'but it won't happen overnight.'

Rather than replacing conventional technologies entirely, digital is expected to take an increasing share of applications where flexibility, responsiveness and productivity outweigh the benefits of long-run analog production.

Continued advances in automation and artificial intelligence will also support that evolution, and HP is already developing AI-powered tools capable of monitoring press performance, identifying maintenance requirements before failures occur and helping operators optimize production.

'At some point I can see lights-out production becoming reality,' he says. 'Not tomorrow, but it's certainly where the industry is moving.'

Ultimately, however, both HP and Labelisten argue that digital transformation is about much more than faster presses; it is about reducing complexity throughout the production process.

For HP, that means lowering the overall cost of manufacturing labels by reducing labor requirements, minimizing waste and increasing productivity.

For Labelisten, it means building an entire business around responsiveness.