Servibarras seeks to optimize

Servibarras seeks to optimize

Following a period of heavy investment in new technology, Servibarras – a pioneer in Colombia in variable data printing – has implemented a plan to optimize its processes. James Quirk reports

Servibarras, a label converter based in Medellin, Colombia, has increased its focus on production efficiency in order to maximize returns following a period of heavy investment. Through a variety of initiatives, the company aims to double its turnover over the next four years.

Servibarras has benefitted from – and, indeed, participated in – the growth in the Colombian narrow web sector over the last 10 years to become one of the country’s leading label converters. A pioneer in track & trace in the country, the company has also found success after moving into RFID label production. 

Founded in 1993 by Luis Alberto Gallón and his son Juan Carlos, Servibarras – as the name suggests – was initially dedicated to barcode printing, buying blank labels and overprinting variable data. Two years later, it began to print simple labels of its own on five machines built in-house – which are still running today.

In 2003, Servibarras moved into flexo printing with the installation of an 8-color Mark Andy Scout. Initially dedicated to food and beverage labels, the machine quickly began producing for pharmaceutical and cosmetics applications too. The press was followed by two Mark Andy 830s for printing flexo labels with variable data.

Investment and efficiency

A period of rapid investment followed. Two more Mark Andy presses, a 10 inch 2200 and 13 inch servo-driven XP5000, both 8-color UV, were installed in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Also in 2006 Servibarras moved into CTP platemaking with Esko technology, as well as relocating to the 5,000 sqm factory in which it operates today.

The following year, the company bought an HP Indigo ws4500 digital press and AB Graphic Omega converting line. In 2008, it purchased a Grafotronic slitter rewinder with AVT inspection and shrink sleeve equipment from Argentine supplier Novagraf. A second HP ws4500 digital press arrived in 2009. 

In 2007, the same year as its first HP Indigo installation, Servibarras moved into RFID with Mark Andy partnering with Tamarack to add inlay production to the converter’s 2200 press. ‘Moving into RFID represented a big investment,’ says general manager Juan Carlos Gallón, ‘but as a leader in VIP and track & trace, we also wanted to be a pioneer in RFID. It was a natural evolution.’ He says the company was the first converter in Latin America to produce RFID labels in-house.

Though there has been no Walmart-style mandate for RFID in Colombia, a leading retailer in the country, Almacenes Éxito, was pushing for the technology’s adoption in the supply chain. It is here that Servibarras has found particular success – serving customers for their own logistics – but the company has also produced RFID labels for tagging boxes of votes during one Ecuadorian and three Colombian elections.

A small amount of item-level RFID labeling is also done, mainly for the garment industry, while further applications include tickets for car parks and toll booths.

‘We’ve not had a single problem in our RFID tag production,’ says Juan Carlos Gallón. ‘The system finds, marks and removes any faulty tag automatically.’

More recent investment has seen Servibarras install AVT inspection systems on its Mark Andy XP5000 and 2200 presses this year, thereby adding inline inspection to the offline work handled by the Grafotronic rewinder. A second Grafotronic finishing machine is also due to be installed in 2012, as well as an offline silkscreen printing machine from a Japanese supplier.

With such an influx of various types of technology over the last seven years, Servibarras is now increasing its focus on production efficiency and maximizing its returns on the outlay. During much of this period, says Gallón, annual company growth has been around 20 percent. ‘After many years of investment and growth, we need to ensure that all processes are optimized so that we are maximizing our efficiency.’ He says that the company aims to double its turnover over the next four years, ‘with some further investment, but mainly by focusing on optimizing our processes’.

Servibarras exports labels to Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, the United States and Venezuela – but only five percent of its production. Usually, says Gallón, export sales have resulted from Servibarras being sought out by a foreign company. But this is beginning to change as it strives to increase export.

According to Gabriel Garcia, manager of organizational development, other strategies include an increased focus on sales and marketing activities as well as maximizing production efficiency on the factory floor. The company is also working alongside specialized consultants.

Despite an impressive period of growth and investment in advanced technology, there is a clear sense among Servibarras’ management of not wanting to rest on their laurels. ‘We understand that what has brought us this far does not necessarily take us all the way,’ says Garcia. ‘We must continue to evolve and to optimize our processes.’

The company has created an in-house workflow system for production control which will be combined with its Esko software. As well as outward-facing activities such as sales and marketing, the system increases internal traceability, ensuring every roll is easily and uniquely identifiable. In the warehouse, meanwhile, the organization of rolls has been redesigned to maximize space.

Production

Servibarras produces self-adhesive labels for a wide variety of applications, including food and beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, cosmetics, promotional, security, track & trace and variable data, the latter of which is served by the company’s RFID capabilities. Shrink sleeves are produced for the food and beverage sectors.

Specialty products include booklet and scratch & sniff labels. A variety of finishing options allows cold and hot stamping, embossing and varnishing, among others.

Eighty percent of the company’s business is in self-adhesive label production. Of this, 60 percent are prime labels while VIP labels make up 40 percent. The remaining 20 percent of business comes from selling hardware and software products; Servibarras also manufactures label applicators and print-and-apply systems.

Running three shifts, the company produces six million sqm of labels a year. Production director Fredy Gallón says nearly 20 percent of label production is handled by the two HP Indigo ws4500s, and that figure is rising steadily.

The company’s flexo and digital presses are complemented by consumables from leading industry suppliers such as Apple Die, Harper Corporation, RotoMetrics and Zeller & Gmelin.

Aside from its early adoption of variable data printing, Servibarras has also been something of a pioneer in pre-press. According to pre-press director Liliana Gallón, the company was the first in Latin America to install computer-to-plate technology when it purchased an Esko system in 2006. Esko’s HD Flexo and workflow software have since been added.

‘We believe that the label’s quality is 80 percent determined during pre-press,’ says Liliana Gallón. A DuPont Fast system offers water-wash photopolymer plate processing. The company also offers in-house design services, frequently working with both clients and local advertising agencies. It is certified to G7 for color management and quality control as well as ISO:9001.

Gallón reports that clients have no preference between digital or flexo printed labels, and credits this to the implementation of HD Flexo last year. ‘It has made a big difference to flexo quality,’ she says. ‘It was a change that was immediately noticeable.’

The quality of Servibarras’ label production has been recognized with industry accolades. Its ‘Ranchera de Zenú’ label won in the narrow web and pre-press categories at Colombian association Andigraf’s annual awards last year. At the same event, its ‘7 Seguros’ stamp won the security award. Featuring 18 different inks and 10 embedded security features, the label also scooped an HP Indigo award in 2010.

A further development has seen Servibarras develop a label whose material and adhesive will both biodegrade in water. In a wonderfully innovative marketing campaign, the company designed a label with a peel-off section to which plant seeds were attached. This peeled-off biodegradable material can be left with the seeds attached and will help them to grow.

Environmental sustainability is of increasing interest to local brands, says Angela Espinosa, directory of marketing. The company sends its matrix waste back to material suppliers Arclad and Avery Dennison who recycle it in special programs.

With 210 employees, Servibarras runs sales and support offices in the Colombian cities of Bogota, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga. As well as the three Gallón siblings interviewed by L&L, two more work at the company: Jaime and Marcela. The team – with an eye on the arrival of the next generation, mostly now in their teens – is creating a protocol for working with family members.

Juan Carlos Gallón says that Colombia is seeing growth across most end user segments due to the country’s improving economy, with particular growth in the cosmetics sector.

He cites the increasing competiveness of the Colombian label sector as a key driver for the company’s focus on diversifying its product line and optimizing processes. Servibarras has been well-served by focusing early on emerging markets and technology, as reflected by its moves into variable data, RFID and digital printing as well as shrink sleeve production. With its wide spread of market segments and potential for increased export, the company’s ambitious growth plans for the next four years may yet be achievable.

Pictured: (L-R) Juan Carlos Gallón, general manager; Angela Espinosa, marketing director; Gabriel Garcia, manager of organizational development; Fredy Gallón, production manager; and Liliana Gallón, pre-press director

This article was published in L&L issue 4, 2012.

James Quirk

James Quirk

  • Latin America Correspondent