Amherst Label Adds its 3rd Domino Press

Amherst Label, Milford, N.H., added its third Domino N610i digital UV inkjet with the installation of its second MPS EF SYMJET “powered by Domino” hybrid press in February.

The company, with 55 full-time employees, merged last year with label and printing products company Inovar Packaging Group and added 250 new customers. Today, Amherst has four flexo presses, one Domino N610i digital roll-to-roll, and two MPS-Domino flexo/digital hybrids.

Amherst installed its first digital press from Domino, an N610i digital UV inkjet label press, in July 2016. In 2021, the company added its first MPS EF SYMJET "powered by Domino" hybrid press.

Katie Putnam, prepress & digital print supervisor, notes that over the past several years, the company had “started to see more versioning, more SKUs, more specialty labels, and shorter runs because “customers were looking for higher quality.”

Nye Hornor, president of Amherst Label, adds that turnaround time was another "big thing" and customers were "asking for variable information. So, everything was really pointing us in the direction to add digital.”

The latest hybrid press installation added more than capacity, including the ability to print and convert in a single pass, all inline, while being able to add embellishments, varnishes, cold foil, and more. Additionally, Nye adds that the ability to print and convert inline saves “a tremendous amount of time by doing the process in one step versus two steps. So, we have more throughput, more productivity.”

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The company reports additional benefits include "the opacity of the white," the machine's speed (such as, running at 65 meters or 213 feet per minute), color gamut, and color consistency whether running 20,000 feet of product or 5,000 of the same label a month later.

Amherst’s parent Inovar Packaging Group has 11 locations and continues its plan to acquire, invest, and expand its geographic footprint, capacity, and printing capabilities.