Masterstroke against fakes

The labelling, ticketing and carton industries are at the forefront of the fight against counterfeiting and product tampering. One company in the fight is Masterstroke, a leading Nigerian producer of wet glue labels, film wrap-around, folding cartons and POS material. More than 300 people are employed at two plants working a 24/7 production schedule.

When the Nigerian Government decided to ban the import of mobile phone recharge cards, Masterstroke’s managing director, Dotun Magbagbeola, saw a chance to expand the product range.

Following major investments in floor space, machinery, people, training and product development, the company soon established itself in this special field. It recognised the potential of complete in-line, single-pass production to automate and rationalise production. This enables a faster turnaround response to customers’ Just In Time (JIT) ordering strategies.

The machinery investment was an Edale Beta 250 modular flexo printing and converting press with seven print stations.

Dotun Magbagbeola explains: “We had a number of objectives linked with this new investment - to reduce the number of machines, meaning less operations, waste, Work In Progress, manpower and floor space; and to increase production output with shorter delivery times, meaning a quicker reaction to customer demands and job changes. Finally, to add on more security features, giving rise to opportunities for more commercial security applications using the same machine.”

The configuration of the Beta combination press included a large unwind with web cleaning, insetting for multiple web paths, multiple flexo print stations equipped with infra red/air and UV drying, and combination drying for conventional printing, varnishing, scratch-off inks printing and digital printing for personalisation (multiple inkjet heads). It also boasts a multi-stream hologram applicator, coldfoiling and lamination, die cutting, perforating, sheeting and finishing stations with reel-to-reel or reel-to-sheet/ticket production.

The ability to produce a recharge mobile phone card in a single-pass operation gives Masterstroke a large technical and commercial edge in the market.

“This technology is totally new to our local market,” he explains, “and it required in-depth planning, an enormous amount of training and a new approach by the whole company from production planning through to the actual production. We are now in a position to look for additional customers and business in the same field, but also to expand into other areas.”

The company has begun looking into other applications where this single-pass production process adds enormous benefit - for example, commercial security printing, and converting and finishing. Counterfeiting is a big problem in Nigeria, with many brand owners looking for protection solutions. This also applies to the authorities, who are losing huge tax revenues, making commercial security applications one of the fastest growing areas within the printing industry.

With a strong presence already in the folding carton market, Masterstroke’s decision to invest in another Edale press further strengthened its market share. This time the press was a Sigma shaftless, servo driven, 430 mm wide, 8-colour modular press dedicated to carton applications. According to reports, more than half the pharmaceutical products in Nigeria are fakes - an alarming figure when you consider the consequences for patients taking the incorrect prescriptions.

With this diversification into niche markets to keep expanding its business, Masterstroke now has a total of five Edale machines.

With pharmaceutical companies around the world working hard to introduce more security into their products to fight against counterfeiters, Edale’s experience in commercial security is proving beneficial in providing printing and converting machines to these companies.

Processes such as flexo, screen, digital and gravure can all be done in a single pass, on one machine and in-line with hologram, lamination, punching, embossing, die cutting and micro-perforation. The final products can be delivered in reel, sheet or fan-folded form. All this from a single pass, allows companies to profit from the vast number of advantages and cost reductions, says Edale.