These are the core competencies long held by David McDowell, CEO of McDowell Label, Plano, TX, even before firing up his company's first press in 1994. "I was with Avery for 10 years," said David. "Avery wasn't a low bidder and wasn't local. I had two factories—one in Los Angeles and one in Chicago—but I was here in Dallas. We had to figure out some way of selling long distance. At the same time, our labels were more expensive and I had to find a way to differentiate."

He has since passed that vision on to his son, John, who has, as the senior McDowell put it, "taken that vision and put it on steroids." The company produces high-end flexographically printed labels and full-body shrink sleeves. It has earned dozens of awards over the years from Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), TLMI (Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute) and the World Label Association. And it has done so as a result of diehard determination to produce the best possible quality, and steadfast dedication to never having to say, "I can't do that."

Working Together
As stated earlier, much of McDowell Label's success comes from establishing strong relationships, be it with the customer, the supplier or its own employees. "The customer is undoubtedly the king, but we treat our suppliers like gold," said John. "You are only as good as your sources. We are very purposeful in identifying our partnerships."

As such, the company has been able to accomplish great things for its customers. A little over a year ago, an entrepreneur approached McDowell Label looking for a package for a new energy drink. His concept involved a shrink sleeve on a uniquely shaped container. Easy enough. But the customer wanted the sleeve to contain glow-in-the-dark inks. What most suppliers had available at the time did not meet his need as far as how bright the inks would glow. So, the team at McDowell worked with its ink supplier, spending almost a year to create an effect of "shock and awe," as John put it.

McDowell Label has also worked hard to build intricate relationships with its consumer product company (CPC) customers. "We work vertically and horizontally with brand owners," said John. "We go to the top executive level, and things get delegated to the chief brand manager, VP of marketing, certain category managers. Then we get together in a room and talk about effects, cradle-to-cradle concepts, detail to retail. We want the package to have the same effect in a retail environment as it does during the press check. We will preemptively identify potential pitfalls and challenges. Care has to be taken in regard to application, the bottling environment, product fill, even retail."

John referred to a product in which the customer had, in the past, taken great advantage of the capabilities of McDowell's presses. "They began incorporating a more romantic appearance for their containers, but were looking to hold true to their brand identity. The only way to do that was to provide them with full-body decorative heat shrink sleeves."

Again, the solution seemed simple enough, but the previous packaging had clear on clear labels, which also incorporated UV, spot and process colors, rotary screen print, doming and foil stamping. John said, "They wanted to take those same effects and incorporate them into this new structural change. One of the things we did was come up with a way to provide an emboss effect on shrink sleeves."

In the end, what truly matters is the relationship the package will have with the consumer. "If you have something that creates an emotional connection with the consumer, it's almost a given that they are going to scan that barcode," said John.

Presses and People
The pressroom at McDowell Label houses both water-based and UV presses. Most are outfitted with screen, hot stamp, and other capabilities.

One of the most versatile machines in the company's arsenal is its MPS EP. "It offers total flexibility," lauded David. "I don't care what the job, how many screen colors, how many flexo colors, I can do it on that press. Every head can either be flexo or UV screen. I don't have to slide heads in and out. It also has re-insertion." This is the same press that produced one of the firm's most difficult jobs—a 27-color run, which required three re-insertions. The job shared the cover of FLEXO^® Magazine's March 2006 issue. "Thanks to this press, we very seldom have to tell someone, ‘We can't do that.'"

But John insists that there is much more to the company's abilities than simple equipment. "Our presses play a vital role," he said.