Megalabel partners with Etirama for rapid growth

Sao Paulo-based self-adhesive label converter Megalabel has made rapid progress since its foundation in 2009.

A remarkable average sales growth of 100 per annum was topped by 300 percent growth in 2016 compared to the previous year, and coincided with the installation of five flexo presses from Etirama and a move to a new factory. Now with 11 such machines, Megalabel is the Brazilian press manufacturer’s biggest client and can make a strong claim to be the fastest-growing label converter in the country.

Megalabel was founded by the dynamic Marcio Romano when he was only in his mid-twenties. He had worked from a young age in his father’s offset label business Romano, which was started by his grandfather in 1950. ‘I saw an opportunity for flexo in the local market, particularly for nail varnish labels,’ says Marcio Romano, who had been serving that sector with offset-printed labels while at his father’s company. ‘Nail varnish is a cosmetics product but one in which companies tend to specialize, without manufacturing anything else.’

With no experience in flexo printing, Marcio Romano founded Megalabel – which today has 42 employees – and began production on a second-hand Etirama press.

‘Etirama provided great support. The machine was easy to use and produced the right quality for the market,’ he says. It was the beginning of a relationship which has been hugely beneficial to both parties. Romano added further Etirama flexo presses – as well as a raft of other printing equipment – as Megalabel grew, culminating in the order for five machines in 2016, with another installed in February 2017.

Rapid growth

The now 11-strong fleet of Etirama flexo presses – seven Superprint models, two Evo and two Elite – are housed in a new 2,300 sqm facility to which Megalabel completed its move early this year, a substantial upgrade from its previous 800 sqm space and indicative of the company’s rapid growth in recent years. ‘The new facility focuses on cleanliness, organization and client service,’ says Romano.

The Etiramas are 8-color, full UV machines, with cold stamping and relam/delam among their specifications. Alongside them, Romano has added a wide variety of printing capabilities. Megalabel installed an HP Indigo WS6000 digital press three years ago, and late last year – among the flurry of Etirama installations – brought in a Nilpeter MO offset and a Gallus R200 letterpress, both second-hand. Finishing takes place on two AB Graphic machines, two Cartes – one with laser cutting and the other a flatbed system with hot stamping, silkscreen and die-cutting – and two semi-rotary die-cutters from Chinese manufacturer Weigang Machinery.

Inspection is handled by seven systems from Brazilian supplier Technotronic. The pre-press department houses equipment from Kodak.

‘I’m keen to have all types of self-adhesive printing technology,’ says Romano, ‘hence the investment in offset and letterpress machines, both of which also bring silkscreen capabilities. We are always renovating and upgrading our equipment. The next step will be inkjet. I believe that inkjet can take as big a market share from digital as flexo took from offset.’

Flexo, though, still represents the bulk of Megalabel’s 500,000 sqm per month production. The cosmetic market takes 80 percent of business, food and beverage 10 percent, and automobile and chemical five percent each. According to Romano, the cosmetics and beverage sectors are the two biggest growth areas for the company.

Vision

Key to Megalabel’s success is the vision of its youthful owner, who takes a hands-on role in product development and client service.

‘I reckoned that there weren’t any really strong medium-sized companies serving the label sector,’ he says. ‘So my idea was to have the quality of a big company with the service and flexibility of a small company. There was a gap in the market.

‘Some of the historically big label converters in Brazil were going through a change in the generation of leadership. Perhaps some of them were resting on their laurels and not investing. So there was room in the market for a young, dynamic company to capture market share.

‘My best marketing tool is being face-to-face with the client. I’m the boss, so I can help the client however they want. We once received an order for 5,000 labels at 6.00pm on a Friday. It was ready half an hour later.

‘Client service, flexibility and rapid delivery are crucial. Both small and big clients receive the same level and quality of service. The agility of the company is important. Same-day delivery is possible thanks to digital printing and laser finishing.

Romano credits Etirama with providing ‘great support’ during Megalabel’s record-breaking year. For the press manufacturer’s sales and marketing director Ronnie Schröter, Megalabel’s growth is something to be proud of, as Etirama too goes through a period of strong growth.

‘We guarantee our clients – and allow them to test this before they buy our machine – that our press can print a label with exactly the same quality, same set-up times and same waste levels of any machine on the market offered by international suppliers,’ says Schröter. ‘And, depending on the model, they are a quarter to a third of the price.’