E Labels has expanded its digital printing capacity over the past five years through investments in Domino digital printing technology, adding a second Domino N610i digital UV inkjet label press in 2024 after installing its first in 2019.
The California-based label converter serves customers in the food and beverage, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, oil, and industrial sectors, producing millions of labels each year. Company owner Carlos Rivera and chief financial officer Jacky Rivera said the move to digital printing has enabled the business to take on shorter-run work, improve production efficiency, and respond to changing customer requirements.
According to Mr Rivera, the investment marked a significant change in the company’s production capabilities.
“Customers are looking for commitment on us being able to meet their requirements and deliver on time, and technology is the key,” he said. “As soon as our first Domino press was installed, we started producing labels much faster than we could with flexographic printing. About 50 percent of our business moved to digital, and what really surprised me was seeing medium-sized runs transition to digital as well. It was a game changer.”
Ms Rivera said the introduction of digital printing allowed the company to expand the range of work it could undertake.
“When I started here, we had two flexographic presses and we weren’t getting many short-run jobs,” she explained. “After adding Domino, we were able to produce smaller runs and multiple SKUs without charging customers more. That’s really where E Labels blossomed.”
She added that the company continues to invest in its operations while preparing for future growth.
“We’re a small company, but we’ve built a great team and invested in great machinery,” said Ms Rivera. “That allows us to be better partners to our customers, and that’s why they keep coming back.”
Following the installation of its first Domino press, E Labels added a second system in 2024 to support increased production demand.
“Our first Domino helped us bring in more business,” Ms Rivera stated. “We needed the second one to help us continue growing.”
Press operator Elvira Pacheco said operating two digital presses has improved workflow on the production floor.
“The machine is easy to operate,” said Ms Pacheco. “Having two machines makes it easy to keep production moving because we can be working on one while setting up another. That’s why I’m always happy working here with Domino.”
Looking ahead, Mr Rivera said the company would consider further investment in Domino equipment if production demand continues to increase.
“If I needed another digital press based on the demand we have today, I can almost guarantee it would be another Domino,” he said. “On a scale of one to ten, my satisfaction is a ten-plus. Investing in Domino has been the best technology upgrade we’ve made, and we’ve been extremely successful with it.”
The company said customer demand continues to shift toward shorter production runs, a greater number of SKUs and faster delivery times, with its digital printing capability playing an increasing role in meeting those requirements.
