Profile: Big ideas boosted by small-firm philosophy

Steve Pickford stands on the mezzanine balcony that overlooks the eight busy presses at the Deeside factory that is home to Systems Labelling. Down below, a handful of staff oversee the workings of the presses and finishing machines that are churning out labels for supermarket dairy products, beer and more.

It's a clean and efficient shop floor, without a doubt. But for Pickford, who founded Systems Labelling and is this year celebrating the company's 21st birthday, there is more to the scene than meets the eye. Most of the printers at work, he says, have graduated to running the presses from within the business. In the office behind us, an administration team of just two people run order-taking and scheduling for this site and two others.

"When we started out, there was one person picking up the phone and one person on the press," says Pickford. "The line of communication was direct. We're trying to recreate that - it's all about working like a small company, even if you're a big company."

Big-name clients
As it moves into its 22nd year, Systems Labelling may not yet be a giant in the world of packaging, with a turnover of around £15m and 120 staff across three sites. Yet its client list tells a story of a firm that has clearly made its mark in the labelling sector. In its biggest market, for dairy labels, customers include Robert Wiseman, Arla and the major supermarkets; while Unilever, Barclays, RBS and Whitworths are among a host of other big-name brands that call on Systems Labelling's services.

Central to the small-company philosophy is a bespoke management information system, which allows jobs to be quoted and scheduled in real-time by the slimline team. The system, which connects to every press in the company, is also sophisticated enough to track whether important elements of an order are present and flag them up - for instance, if the artwork hasn't come in - and to indicate whether jobs are on time or running late. It also tracks stock levels and can be accessed by customers to call off stock or place orders directly. Crucially, Pickford proudly points out that just one piece of paper is produced per order. "The MIS really gears the business up for flexibility," he says.

It also helps that Systems Labelling is an owner-managed business, with Pickford, who set up the company after working as an electrical engineer at Norprint in the 1980s, still the majority owner. The result is that quick and sometimes unusual decisions can be made on investments and strategy, be they in terms of business or technology.

On the unusual side, Systems Labelling makes its own labelling material with an in-house coater at the Deeside facility - a capacity that has come into its own following the recent price hikes in labelstock. Most recently, the company has moved into in-mould labelling (IML) at its Runcorn facility which it opened in late 2008 in a building previously occupied by coding and marking equipment supplier, Markem Imaje. Future investment in both presses to print IML and the kit to cut and finish them is planned to meet growing demand for the format; a second converting machine is already on order.

In quality control, the company claims to be the only label printer in the country running a 100% inspection system on its presses and the so-called EyeC Proofiler, which uses pattern-recognition technology to monitor for smudges, missing characters or any other defect on the firm's output.

Elsewhere, Systems Labelling has kept an eye on environmental initiatives and is currently working with Wrap on a project to develop labels for dairy packaging that easily separates from the HDPE bottle. The company is also pushing IML as positive for recycling as the label effectively becomes part of the packaging.

Southern expansion
M&A is another area where Pickford and his team have been busy. The company last year swooped to buy Essex-based short-run label printer Double R Labels, which fell into administration in February 2009. It has since been rebranded as Systems Labelling Express and, under new managing director Paul Byard, is carving a niche as the southern division of the Systems Labelling group. "We had a gap in the portfolio around short runs," says Pickford. "From a market viewpoint it's been a good move."

All this has helped Systems Labelling add around £5m to its turnover in the last three years. But the future could bring more. Pickford says further acquisitions could be on the horizon in the flexible film market, while he is expecting further growth in both in-mould labels and wraparound labels. But whatever the future holds, big or small, one thing is sure: as it celebrates its 21st birthday, Systems Labelling has come of age.

FACTFILE
Established 1989
Managing director Steve Pickford
Location Deeside, Runcorn, Essex
Turnover £15m
Staff 120
Key markets Dairy, food, drinks, household, logistics, cosmetics
Clients include Robert Wiseman Dairies, Arla, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco, Unilever