Rotolabel saw a growth opportunity in the booklet industry with the increase in legislation and the need for more information on labels.
Rotolabel, a division of Bidvest Office and Print has upgraded its factory in Kempton Park, Johannesburg. Strategically, the Rotolabel senior management looked at the limited pharmaceutical booklet offering as well as the best geographic position. It was decided on Johannesburg as the location of the booklet facility. Rotolabel invested in the state of the art booklet machine, which is a Rotocontrol BL440. The company also invested in the most up-to-date inspection machine, the Rotocontrol RSP, and increased its capacity by investing in new printing machines, namely the Nova Gidue Digital Flexo.
‘We want Rotolabel Johannesburg to become a centre of excellence in Johannesburg in supplying labels and label products to the pharmaceutical industry in South Africa,’ says Khorommbi Nelwamondo, general manager of Rotolabel.
Project phases
Rotolabel looked at the production facility to make sure it is in line with pharmaceutical standards to avoid cross-contamination by securing sites for each component. Quality control was tidied up for the different pharmaceutical regimes required. One of the regimes is to mark each component of the factory and to completely separate the pharmaceutical area to the commercial labelling areas. Distribution, customer concerns and product recall were reviewed. Above all, self-inspection was integral in reassessing its facility by employing the services of a consultant with extensive knowledge and experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
The consultant helped achieve this and made sure all steps were met in order to achieve pharmaceutical standards. Nelwamondo says the company is now 100% ready.
After completing the project phases Nelwamondo concluded that, ‘We are ready to contest with anybody when it comes to a pharmaceutical offering.’
The machines
Nelwamondo states ‘We are pleased to have a Rotocontrol booklet machine. The impressive machine technology and configuration design provides the solution we need to further expand the finishing phase of our booklet labels, to supply the growing demand in the South African market. The combination of advanced security finishing features of the Rotocontrol RSP machine and highly sophisticated vision inspection technology offered by AVT provided us with an ideal solution for our innovative specialty labels. As we serve the medical and pharmaceutical industries, 100% security inspection is a fundamental requirement, which is delivered with the RSP.’
The Rotocontrol RSP series is specifically designed for compliance with the most demanding security label inspection and finishing applications. The feature-rich machine built for Rotolabel includes multiple, fully integrated inspection and verification modules from AVT. The machine is specially designed to inspect the booklet labels.
X-panda Labels
Customers can look forward to high quality, competitively priced X-Panda Labels (Rotolabel’s trademarked booklet/leaflet label). These labels can be designed and die-cut into various shapes and sizes. The leaflet length is suitable for all informational needs and only limited by the final folded thickness. The new equipment is also able to manufacture peel & read labels with ease. Large amounts of information can be permanently attached to the label and the container, eliminating the need for separate package inserts and informational booklets. The elimination of the package insert can also potentially lead to the elimination of the carton and the inherent cost savings. Further savings are achieved when one takes into account the shortened packing process on the production line.
