By Roberto Mercati
Meet José Antonio Larroy, owner of GraficaZ, a family-owned company specializing in printing self-adhesive and shrink labels in Zaragoza, Spain, and his daughter Jessica who with two assistant engineers from the Italian company Lombardi Ltd. in Brescia are carrying out the final inspection on the 8-color flexographic rotary Synchroline before shipment.
José Antonio was pleasantly surprised to meet and take up the opportunity to talk to a trade journalist specializing in presses to document this moment that strengthens an already long acquaintance and friendship with the Brescian company. "I know the engineer Lombardi and his sons Lorenzo and Massimo who have worked with him for several years", he says. "However, I only bought my first machine from them at Labelexpo 2011."
Flexibility and dynamism
This machine has offered him the opportunity to produce labels on flexible film thereby expanding its portfolio and market reach beyond the regional level.
One of the greatest business successes was the acquisition of orders from a major French customer that produces jars of jams for the famous 7-star hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai, UAE. This customer has significantly enhanced the prestige of GraficaZ internationally.
José Larroy greatly appreciates Lombardi and its technicians' ability to satisfy his requirements including some machine specific solutions. After the preview at Drupa 2012, the Synchroline UV flexo underwent a period of adjustment and continuous improvement – mainly thanks to GraficaZ's experience with the press that produces mixed adhesive products on paper and film.
By now market expansion and increased demand for its products have prompted Mr. Larroy to double the line. The decision was already in the air for some time and at the last meeting at Labelexpo where he could see and evaluate the new prototype exhibited at Lombardi's booth, he decided to go with it and order his second 8-color rotary flexo Synchroline with a width of 430 mm. Although both machines could be described as twins, within the two years that have elapsed, a redesign of the press, not only in aesthetics but also enhancements to the control panels and a touch screen control on each printing unit facilitates and simplifies operation significantly.
The fact that Mr. Larroy will have two similar and interchangeable machines gives the company greater production flexibility and eliminates the bottleneck in terms of productivity thus easing the pressure on delivery times.
Mr. Larroy is pleased to be in Brescia to be present and carry out technical tests of the machine as "Lombardi and GraficaZ share the same business philosophy: family companies that are very flexible and for whom service to the customer always is the first concern."
One of the advantages Mr. Larroy already experienced when dealing with Lombardi during delivery and pickup of the first Synchroline was the ability to manage everything via the internet – always in direct contact with the plant in Brescia. This has enabled both companies to solve small problems promptly without loss of time or misunderstandings and to strengthen an extensive collaboration with mutual trust resulting in positive outcomes.