Etibana – specialist on a growth path

Etibana GmbH, based in Germany and part of the RAKO Group, develops and produces high-quality adhesive labels for pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and chemical companies. With around 70 employees, it is one of the few adhesive label suppliers in Germany that are fully certified in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).

Continuing to grow

Since 1997 the company, founded in Kassel in 1986, has had its production operations in a state-of-the-art building in Staufenberg that was specially designed for label printing. The workforce has doubled to over 70 highly motivated employees since the company was taken over by the RAKO Group in 2002. The company's equipment has been expanded and updated enormously in the last two years. The storage capacity and graphics department were expanded with their own film, printing plate and screen production facilities. The annual sales growth of 30%, well above average, shows that these efforts have paid dividends, making Etibana one of Germany's fastest growing label printers.

Transparent processes create trust

Around half of Etibana's sales are in pharmaceutical labels. "We focus on labels that have to meet high quality and safety standards," says Mike Manss, Managing Director of Etibana GmbH. "As a manufacturer of labels for the pharmaceutical and food industries, we feel we have a duty to identify and eliminate product safety risks and health hazards in all processes. By installing a GMP system, we have created a tool to combat potential risks," he adds.

Etibana GmbH is one of the few label manufacturers today that is fully certified in accordance with GMP. "While many companies' production operations only come close to GMP, we submit ourselves to annual inspections by TÜV, the German technical inspection body, thereby ensuring compliance in all aspects. In the sensitive business area of pharmaceutical and food labels in particular, you can't just rely on good faith, as errors can have catastrophic effects when working with medicines, for example," says Manss. "The GMP certificate and independent monitoring create transparency for our customers, forming a solid and sustainable basis of trust. The company was certified to ISO 9001:1994 back in 1998, with certification to ISO 9001:2000 and GMP following in 2003."

The right production equipment

"The strict provisions of the manufacturing processes that have to be complied with are also reflected in our choice of production equipment. While relatively high levels of freedom abound in areas such as logistics labels, the situation is much more restrictive for our customers." The application area and its conditions are therefore a key factor in determining the choice of production equipment. "Naturally, all this also needs to be viable from an economic perspective," says Manss. The Gallus ECS 340 is proving to be the ideal machine for Etibana for medium run lengths. The vibration-free support on a granite plinth, the excellent accessibility and a UV system that generates no exhaust air were key to the purchasing decision. "The short, waste-saving web path and fast changeover times were further features that attracted us to this machine system. The Gallus ECS 340 has provided a further significant boost to our productivity," adds Manss.

Off to a good start

Until the purchase of the Gallus ECS 340, labels were mainly produced on Gallus letterpress machines. Switching to a new main printing process normally results in a long learning phase. "Switching was amazingly easy for us. On the one hand, this is thanks to the know-how of Etibana employees, but it's also due to the coherent concept of the Gallus ECS 340," says Manss. The Gallus ECS 340 is designed in such a way that printers can concentrate on what really matters. The press is operated via a mobile touchscreen and can be changed over easily and quickly thanks to the consistent front loading and the anilox roller and printing cylinder sleeves. The chambered doctor blade system enables extremely fast and clean ink changes. "The Gallus ECS 340 integrates perfectly in our production environment and we're delighted with the machine's results following an extremely short learning phase," explains Manss.

Gallus would like to thank Mike Manss for speaking to us and wishes the company continued success with the Gallus ECS 340.