Here's a teaser for you. What comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, is made of a variety of materials and is a vital part of many production lines? You've seen them everywhere, but probably haven t paid much attention to them. What am I talking about? Labels.
One East Kilbride company that is racing ahead in this industry is TPL Labels Ltd. Based in Kelvin Industrial Estate, the specialist label company is currently taking on the Eastern European market thanks to the Lanarkshire Export Partnership.
The Partnership gave TPL the help and support it needed to start exporting to Hungary, this included organising for representatives from the company to attend a South Lanarkshire-led trade mission to Hungary in June last year.
Alan Fruish from the Partnership said: "We were able to give them lots of practical help to ensure they were ready to export. Then we organised a trade mission to Hungary, helping them meet the right people an forge new partnerships. We were also able to give the company some financial help to get out there. This resulted in TPL securing business with indigenous companies and they are now looking to build on that success."
Alastair MacTavish, MD of TPL Lables, said: "The Export Partnership gave us a lot of help and we are planning to go on another trade mission with them in January.
"I would definitely recommend the Lanarkshire Export Partnership to other companies. It's a good organisation to become involved with. However, what I would say to other business people is before you even think about exporting, make sure you have a solid base at home. There's no point trying to get into markets abroad if you are firefighting at home."
So who are TPL Labels and waht do they do?
The company started life as Taylor Packaging in 1969. By the early 90s, it had changed its market and began producing labels for the industrial markets.
Now the company offers a range of products including:
- industrial labels - rating, instruction, warning, barcode, shipping, decal, logo and schematic labels
- security and anti-fraud labels - tamper evident, hologram, watermark, chemical topcoat, layered security, destructible, covert
- in-house label printing systems - they offer a complete package of printers, software, thermal transfer ribbons, wax to wax/resin and premium resin, preventative maintenance and print management/support
- barcode scanning - ID linear barcodes, 2D stacked
- and matrix codes, data collection, RF Systems, CCD Technology, Laser Reading Technology, Image Capture
- shielding products - Static, EMI and RFI Sheilding; Kapton Die-Cuts and Tapes; Die-Cut Shielding
- Die-Cut components - seals, gaskets, cushion pads, double-sided, insulation
- variable information print systems package and support system - thermal transfer systems, software, scanners, verifiers, full back-up.
Alastair MacTavish said: "Our business is producing industrial labels for all sorts of industries including the computer and electronic sectors, telecommunications, automotive, white goods and brown goods. A lot of our clients are blue chip multi-national companies, but we do produce for smaller and independent companies as well.
"We have an established business which is very successful, but that's not just what TPL is about. We are constantly researching and developing new products and have produced Twinfo which allows the client to have two different label materials on the same backing material. This is particularly useful for the manufactuing industries as it means they only have to use the one printer to print off their paper and polyester labels."
The company has also been busy investing in a new aquiflex press and is currently working towards QS 9000 accreditation recognised by the automotive industry.
For more information on the Lanarkshire Export Partnership, contact:
Jim Martin
South Lanarkshire Council
tel: 01698 455132
e-mail: jim.martin@sled.org.ukIsobel Long
North Lanarkshire Council
tel: 01236 616287
e-mail: longi@northlan.gov.ukAllan Fruish
Lanarkshire Export Partnership
tel: 01698 745454
e-mail: allan.fruish@scotent.co.ukLorraine Donnelly
Lanarkshire Export Partnership
tel: 01698 745454
e-mail: lorraine.donnelly@scotent.co.uk
Business South Lanarkshire - Winter 2001
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