Label and packaging solutions provider OPM (Labels & Packaging) Group has invested in GMG OpenColor to get accurate colour results and repeatable quality.
By implementing GMG’s solutions, OPM expects to see a reduction in waste, time and production costs.
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Located in Leeds, Yorkshire, UK, OPM offers artwork, repro and print services for firms using a traditional range of Adobe and Esko software design tools. It also has significant presence in the specialist packaging segment, where clients require high quality and low costs.
OPM Group commercial director Susan Ellison said: "Our clients include brands with thousands of products on the market, varying from their competitors’ offers by only 1p or 2p at a time.
"The commercial success of their brands may depend entirely on what visual impact the packaging has on their customer when they see it in store, so our clients expect nothing less than perfection from our work. Colour management is key to the services we provide."
OPM required an efficient way to understand what a finished product would look like as early as possible in the manufacturing process, otherwise it would lead to unnecessary costs associated with plates or actual printing.
"By predicting colour more accurately at proofing stage, we knew we could avoid costly errors on press," added Ellison.
OPM opted for GMG OpenColor as it had built-in features to give proofs that would be identical to the finished product. It also connected seamlessly with its Esko workflow processes.
By creating multi-channel profiles, GMG OpenColor accurately simulate print output for CMYK and spot colours.
Ellison added: "One of our toughest challenges was reliably communicating colour between everyone in the supply chain, from designers right through to the client’s brand manager.
"But with OpenColor proofs, we get highly accurate representations of trapping and overprints, inks printed one on top of another, which just wasn’t possible before. As a result, we don’t have to waste materials, time or money committing press time before colour approval from the client.
Usually when overprinting spots, an unknown colour mix is created, thereby making it difficult to expect what will happen once a job reaches the press. However, GMG OpenColor solves this problem by calculating profiles on-the-fly, axing down the time taken as well as the margins for error en-route.
It also ensure all systems use the same critical colour data, and the software links everything in to a centralised database. The database links back to the OPM completely automated ink mixing system, which in turn shares its data with GMG.
