Cover Label differentiates with Domino

In 2019, Cover Label selected Domino as its partner to begin adding digital printing to its business. The company installed a Domino N610i digital UV inkjet press at the end of that year, and then transitioned in 2025 to the Domino N730i.   

When Pat Wafer and Ryder Fyrwald purchased the company in 2018, it was known as Alros Label, a trusted name serving customers for over 35 years. They made the decision to keep every single employee on the team, honoring the decades of craftsmanship, experience and customer relationships they had built. While two of those original team members have since retired, their legacy still shapes their culture today. Five years ago, they changed the name to Cover Label – a name that better reflects what they do and what they stand for: covering products, and bringing labels and packaging into the 21st century. 

Domino's recent visit to Cover Label was captured in this video.

Wafer said: 'In this business, you're selling somewhat of a commodity, and so you have to stand out somewhere, and one of the ways we do that with customers is a mix of lead time and customer service.'

Fyrwald added: 'By offering this really good customer service and lead time, they give us that next order and that next order, and that's something that's really been a differentiator for us in this space.'

'Back in 2018, both of us had come from working in grueling VC-backed tech companies, and we knew we wanted to go and do something on our own,' said Ryder. 'And we ended up finding this business called Alros Label. When we got in there, we realized we didn't have the right technology to really be able to grow the business the way that we wanted it.'

That realization led to a pivotal investment decision. 'So, we actually debated: do we go get a big flexo press, or do we go get a digital press?' Wafer explained. 'And we ended up landing on the Domino, and it allowed us to comfortably step into the digital world. Immediately, we started closing multiple deals that were in our pipeline.'

'A year and a half ago or so, we still had the same Domino that we originally bought, and we were getting a little bit constrained by capacity,' said Ryder. 'And Domino came in and basically offered an option for us to trade-in our original machine for the new machine. And it's been off to the races ever since.'

Jose Casian, general manager at Cover Label, said: 'I can tell you, I was very excited with going to the N730i, because I really wanted that 1200 DPI. Everybody understands: before productivity, there's got to be quality. And this press has been able to give us both. It has been able to give us good quality and the productivity that we're looking for. The N610i was great, and it ran really well. But moving to the N730i, it actually changed everything.'

Wafer noted that coming from a technology background made the transition to digital even more compelling. 'Coming from a tech background, when we bought the first Domino, we learned that these digital presses are much easier to learn. As we're getting busier, the more jobs we can move from flexo to digital, the easier it is for us to hire and keep up with demand. And so, we see that as a huge advantage.'

On the production floor, the benefits of the new press are visible to Michael Trinidad, a press operator at Cover Label. He said of the new Domino N730i: 'It has some cool features, including a priming station, the ability to print in seven colors, a varnish station and a camera for inspecting the labels. The benefit of using this press is the 1200 DPI. It's great for labels on small products.'

With enhanced digital capabilities, Cover Label continues expanding into new markets. 'We still do a lot of cosmetics labels,' Fyrwald said. 'We've really tried to expand our offering and try to get into a lot of consumer-packaged goods. We do a lot of food and beverage. And then we're really starting to grow more in the pharmaceutical space. We are ISO compliant, working to be ISO certified, which is a really compelling thing for pharmaceutical companies that need that type of certification.'

The company is also investing in emerging smart label technology. 'We have a customer right now that wants to do smart labels, and we're investing in RFID and NFC chips,' said Wafer. 'So, customers see that we're willing to invest, and I think that goes a long way.'

At the same time, flexibility remains a core strength. 'Because we have digital and flexographic technology, we can do short-run stuff,' Fyrwald said. 'So, if you're just starting out and you need 500 labels, we can do that. As you grow, you need 1,000, 5,000, 100,000, even up to a million, 10 million. We can satisfy all of those requirements, and we can really be a partner with you as you grow.'

The investment in Domino technology has delivered measurable returns. 'From an ROI perspective, there's a lot of different areas where it helps,' Wafer said. 'Right away, you're doubling your capabilities and your production speed. We're getting twice as many labels out in one shift. I think that goes a long way.'

For Cover Label, the relationship with Domino extends beyond equipment. 'The Domino difference to us is having a partner in one of our suppliers,' Fyrwald said. 'There was a level of familiarity and comfort in working with Domino. We’ve had several years of experience with them. I cannot state enough how good their service is. Without that service, I don't really know where we'd be.'

Wafer added: 'Yeah, just to stress what Ryder said, being comfortable with the customer service is huge. Knowing that if something goes wrong, we have the Domino team behind us that we already have worked with for several years, it’s a big deal.'

In a highly competitive environment, uptime is critical. “We can't be down for three weeks. Our customers will go elsewhere,' Fyrwald said. 'There are 100 other, 200 other label companies in LA alone. They can go to other places. So having a reliable machine that runs, that spits out the same quality label that we can rely on, we wouldn't be where we are today, our company would not be the size that it is, without having a Domino press in place for the last five years.'