Pinetown printing company First Impression Labels boosted production 20% year-on-year since buying a top quality nine-colour printing press. They’ve also employed several new staff members and are teaching new skills to workers. With that, comes an expanding market.

A new printing press bought with the help of an MCEP grant enabled them to buy a new nine-colour printing press that has helped grow their customer base, and create jobs.

“Due to the phenomenal growth we’ve experienced during the last five years, we felt the need to invest in new machinery to enhance our competitive advantage,” says Martin Lötter, the company’s financial manager.

Greater efficiency and jobs

This has led to improvements in efficiencies and production volumes, and the ability to meet customer demand for quality and speed to market. The 20% increase in year-on-year output has helped First Impression Labels stand its own in the competitive flexographic labels market.

“We’ve employed two operators per shift running on a three-shift system. That is six new additional staff operating the machine. And downstream from that we have seen an increase in volume that has resulted in six additional staff being employed in our finishing department.”

Lötter says the company’s market has also expanded. “Our market is discerning. It’s a growing market that is consumer driven. The market that we supply in South Africa exports indirectly into Africa.”

Established in 1997 by Vaughan and Sandra Cumming, First Impression Labels started with only two employees running a two-colour flexographic printing machine on a farm in Karkloof. The company now employs over 130 people full-time.