The Label Makers Improve Efficiency with Martin Automatic
- Published: August 29, 2025
In the six decades since The Label Makers was established in Bradford, West Yorkshire, the company has always invested in the latest equipment to steer a path toward excellence in label production. Leading press manufacturing technology from Gallus, Nilpeter, MPS, Xeikon and Durst have all been part of the development program that now sees the The Label Makers’ offices adorned with trophies and certificates acknowledging its manufacturing excellence.
Today, the company supplies labels to a wide range of industries from food and beverage to personal care and petrochemicals and decorative coatings. And it’s the company’s attention to detail that sets it apart from the competition.
Combining this work ethic with the most appropriate technology for its customer base and specific demands has always been priority at The Label Makers – and these requirements have changed over the years as print processes have developed, from rotary letterpress, through offset to flexo and digital. One of the requisites for high-quality embellishment is good web tension and accurate register is the reason for the latest tranche of flexo presses being manufactured by the Dutch firm MPS.
The third and latest press of its type at the company’s facility is a 10-color MPS EF-430 model that the company decided to equip with automation to improve its performance on both short and long run work, in particular the roll handling at both ends of the line.
The equipment chosen and installed at The Label Makers is a Martin Automatic MBS 04-17-40 automatic unwind butt splicer at the front end of the MPS EF 430 and a Martin LRD 05-18-31 automatic transfer rewind at the delivery end. The Martins were chosen for their design principle and robust construction that provides the all-important reliability required.
The Martin MBS butt splicer and LRD transfer rewind are well-proven across a wide range of production lines, reliably handling substrates from paper and film to laminate and board. Engineered for performance and durability, they accommodate web widths up to 660 mm, roll diameters up to 1250 mm, and transfer speeds of up to 300 m/min. As the units were fitted onto an existing line at The Label Makers the installation was carefully planned to ensure minimal disruption, allowing the new equipment to be integrated seamlessly while production continued smoothly.
Currently, The Label Makers runs both paper and filmic substrates on its presses. A typical job might be 50,000m run off on 4,000m rolls. This is where the Martin MBS really comes into its own offering non-stop production even on the longest runs, on which Mr Hyde estimates its saves at least 80m of material per roll change, not to mention the issues of time lost and variable print quality associated with stopping and then ramping up to full production speed afterwards. But the rewards are equally worthwhile on short run work that is now much in demand.
Future investment will include Martin Automatic technology added to the two other MPS presses as well as automated waste extraction to maximise efficiency. With the current global problem of recruiting and keeping quality personnel, especially in production, the use of automation where possible is the only way forward – and Martin is well placed with its expertise to tailor the optimum solution.
