ONTARIO, CA—Warren Packaging is a family-owned and operated company located in Ontario, CA and has been in business since 1999. It provides custom labels, corrugated boxes and folded cartons.
Owner and President Phil Warren, who after 30 years in the box and packaging industry, understood that a particular need was not being fulfilled by one company alone. Business of all sizes were forced to utilize multiple suppliers for their custom labels, corrugated boxes and folded cartons. Phil decided to take on the challenge of making all these options available under one roof, and that roof became Warren Packaging. To help make his vision a reality, Phil brought in a team he knew would possess the same level of determination—his family.
Over the past several years, Warren Packaging has continuously increased facility size and capabilities to manage the growing volumes and demand, while developing new and innovative packaging for current and future customers. Phil said, “We believe that a great product deserves great packaging, and that is what we consistently strive to provide.”
To provide the best quality and service to their customers, Warren Packaging focuses on Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement. One critical aspect of Lean it focuses on is eliminating wasted time and material. “We constantly continue to improve our facility and manufacturing practices in order to provide the highest quality labels, corrugated boxes and folding cartons,” said Phil.
In that spirit, Warren Packaging added the Domino N610i digital UV inkjet press in July 2021.
To discuss its label business, the growing demand for digital printing and why it chose Domino, Domino caught up with the team at Warren Packaging: Phil Warren (owner and president), Phil Warren Jr. (VP), and Mike Dittenber (business development manager).
Describe the labels that Warren Packaging produces and sectors served.
“We produce high-quality pressure-sensitive labels for many applications including bottles, clamshells, storage containers, boxes, bags and produce PLUs to name a few. Industries and markets that we serve are nearly unlimited, but include produce, beef jerky, meat, storage, cleaning products, chocolates, syrup, pastries/baked goods, laundry soap and more. We utilize a variety of materials and finishes to meet and exceed the needs of our customers… from white BOPP or semi-gloss to silver or clear materials with gloss, matte or more customized finishes. We utilize flexographic presses as well as the Domino digital press, which gives us the ability to offer high-quality labels at competitive pricing at any quantity,” said Phil.
Tell us about your customers’ needs, requirements, expectations.
Phil Jr. said, “Our customers hold us to a high standard regarding quality as well as lead times, while also expecting competitive pricing. This requires us to focus on continuous improvement to maximize our efficiencies in production, upgrading and maintaining our equipment, as well as building strong relationships with suppliers to keep our costs and material lead times where we need them.”
How has COVID-19 impacted your business?
“COVID-19 has had both positive and negative impacts on our business over the last two years. The packaging industry in general has seen significant growth, however it has forced us to get creative and become even more efficient as we have been faced with issues such as operating lean in terms of staffing, and receiving supplies and materials when needed to maintain our lead times and stay on schedule,” said Phil.
What does Warren Packaging do better than anyone else?
Mike said, “Aside from what makes us stand out the most, which is the ability to offer corrugated boxes and folding cartons in addition to labels, what we do better than anyone else is develop our customers’ packaging alongside with them, rather than offering limited options. We move quickly in our development stages so the customer can make decisions and get their products to market.”
What is most important that you want your customers and prospects to know about Warren Packaging?
Mike continued, “The most important thing about Warren Packaging is our focus on packaging development and continuous improvement in all three areas that we specialize in: labels, corrugated boxes and folding cartons. We will consistently be a supplier with the ability to offer high-quality designs to finished products at competitive pricing.”
Why digital? What were the drivers for adding digital?
Phil Jr. said, “The first driver would be flexibility to run various quantities and multiple SKU items with the best quality possible. Another is the savings we are able to pass onto our customers for new items or changes to existing items. Finally, with the new technology of digital printing in both the label and box industry, we have made it a point to maintain our position as a leader in new development and technology in the industry, to be able to offer the best options to our customers in relation to both quality as well as pricing.”
Why Domino?
Phil said, “We first found out about Domino sometime in 2018 or 2019. We felt Domino would be a strong partner as we continue to grow, due to their innovation and continued growth in the market.”
When was the Domino N610i installed and how has it performed?
Phil Jr. said, “The press was installed in July 2021. We have been able to move 30 percent or more of our flexographic work to our Domino, which has allowed us to produce more work in a shorter time span. It has been a tremendous asset to our production floor.”
Have you noticed any changes in the types of label jobs you run or projects you pursue due to the capabilities of the Domino N610i?
Mike said, “Yes, we have been able to pursue new projects that previously we were either not competitive on due to press efficiency, or the tooling and changeover would create complications and unnecessary costs to us and the customers.”
What production and business benefits have you realized?
Phil Jr. said, “By having the Domino, we have been able to increase output by moving jobs to this press that we previously ran flexo. This has been a huge asset for us and our customers. It has also allowed us to produce quicker turnaround for our customers, while providing us less costs and better profitability. We’ve seen an increase in the bottom line due to efficiency of this press, and the ability to hit the silver and clear market that we had not be able to before we had the Domino.”
Tell me about the cost justification for acquiring the Domino N610i.
Phil Jr. continued, “We had realized after looking through our jobs that a digital press would be a huge asset to our company. Many of our jobs are in the 5,000-to-20,000-ft. run lengths with multiple versions, as well as constant art changes.”
What has been your level of satisfaction with Domino as a company, and what do you foresee moving forward?
Phil said, “We have been highly satisfied, and we hope to purchase more equipment from Domino in the future.”
Is there a Domino Difference? If yes, what is it?
“The Domino Difference for us means high-quality with quick lead times at competitive pricing,” concluded Phil Jr.
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