Thinking Big!

Posted: September 30, 2009

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Leroy Baker of LTI

LTI is a small family-owned printer who refuses to think like a small family-owned printer.

Leroy Baker founded LTI in 1995-a small flexo shop with big ideas. "Flexo quality kept getting better and better and we made it our job to keep up with the latest and greatest technologies so that we could offer our customers as good as or better quality than any of the larger printers and do it for less cost. You just can't deliver the best quality for the lowest price if you don't invest in good equipment and keep after your production costs."

This quest for a more efficient operation prompted LTI to put a Martin automatic splicer and automatic transfer rewind to their newest line, a Mark Andy XP5000 servo press. Baker said, "Since we added the Martin equipment, we're able accomplish in a day what would otherwise take us a day and a half to do. It's like adding extra hours of production capacity to every shift."

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Martin MBS at LTI

According to Baker, every stop of the press for a roll change wastes about 300 feet of material-that represents an average cost of $30 per roll change. (And, Baker points out, that $30 of cost is based on a newer press which is easier to bring up on impression. An older press could cost them as much as $50 per roll-change.) On a typical job using 100,000 feet of stock, Baker estimates his Martins save him at least $300 in materials and $100 in ink waste. He also notes that his anilox rollers stay cleaner and last longer running non-stop, and there is less wear on the presses from constantly starting and stopping.

To learn more about LTI call 336-277-8485 or visit www.labelstagsandinserts.com