Coast Label installs Durst Tau 330E

Under the ownership of president and CEO Craig Moreland for more than 25 years, Coast Label has grown through a devotion to innovation in flexo, digital, and screen printing.

Coast Label’s 13in digital UV inkjet press allows it to continue this pattern and its advance into the digital durable and specialty label space. Moreland cited several reasons for Coast Label transitioning to digital, including efficiency, and growing customer demand for full color and multiple versions on even the simplest industrial labels. ‘That becomes time consuming and expensive to do, especially in low volumes on flexo equipment.’

Moreland chose the Tau after a long consideration on what would deliver the best results for Coast Label’s largest verticals, which include healthcare and high -performance industrial. ‘We just hadn't found a piece of equipment that we wanted to own. We offer UL-recognized components and other products that have a strong need for ink performance, adhesive performance, substrate performance,’ he said. ‘This is where the toner technologies don't really work very well for our needs.

‘This year at Labelexpo Americas, it was clear that UV digital label printing had arrived in terms of the quality and the speed; that was one of the things that finally tipped us toward the Tau 330E. With the Tau, we've got the enhanced capabilities of a very durable ink set that, in a lot of cases, will not require overlamination. It certainly is fast and will not require any delays for making printing plates. 

‘We also expect to be able to make labels with lower levels of waste, which ties into our LIFE-certified facility environmental initiatives. We'll be able to do things faster and offer better service levels and enhanced products with a very high level of quality and repeatability.’

Coast Label has combined the Tau 330E with a Grafisk Maskinfabrik DC330 Mini semi-rotary finishing system with in-line integration.

As the market evolves, service times and ordering strategies are evolving as well, and Coast Label looks forward to being able to offer new ways of purchasing, as well as new products. ‘We see it as game-changing to be able to offer shorter runs with lots of versioning at a competitive price,’ continued Moreland. ‘We already do a lot of work in the variable information space with consecutive numbers and barcodes, and database jobs.  The Durst Tau further enhances our capabilities in this area.’

Emily Kroll, business director of label and specialty packaging systems for Durst Image Technology US, commented: ‘With its focus on specialty custom solutions, its highly regarded third-party certifications and its new Durst Tau 330E acquisition, Coast Label truly stands apart as a premier national provider of labels and packaging solutions.. We are proud to have an innovative leader like Coast Label as the first West Coast installation of the Tau.’

Moreland has been appointed as chairman of TLMI's 2017 board of directors, as reported here.