We caught up with Markus Weber, operations director at Leipzig-based Druckwerk GmbH, a third-generation label converter that decided to break with tradition. The company had just taken delivery of a new digital label press from sticker giant, and Weber was eager to talk about the journey—one that started with skepticism and ended with a 40% reduction in changeover time.
When we first looked at digital, we thought it was a toy, he admitted. But the market had moved. Our customers were asking for 3,000-label runs with delivery in 48 hours. On our flexo line, that meant a four-hour setup for a 20-minute run. It didn't add up.
The experience offers a real-world look at what happens when a traditional shop embraces a new way of thinking. It also reveals the obstacles, the trade-offs, and the unexpected opportunities that digital printing can bring to sticker and label production.
A Family Business Meets the Short-Run Revolution
Druckwerk GmbH was founded in 1983 by Weber's father, originally as a letterpress shop. Today, the company employs 28 people and runs a six-color flexo line plus semi-automatic screen printing for specialty work. Their client mix includes regional food brands, a cosmetics contract packer, and a publisher of children's activity books. That last customer ordered a steady stream of stickers for products like the little einsteins giant sticker activity book—a title that required dozens of unique die-cut sticker sheets per edition.
But by 2023, something had shifted. The average order size had dropped from 50,000 labels to just 8,000. Some orders were as small as 1,500. Changeovers on the flexo press were eating 30-40% of each shift. Waste on short runs was hitting 15%, because the press was set up and scraped the first 200 meters every time. The numbers were ugly, and Weber knew they had to change.
They began researching digital presses from several vendors, including sticker giant. Weber's main concern was color fidelity: 'We weren't about to compromise on print quality. Our customers expect Pantone-matching, and most of our work is on pressure-sensitive vinyl. We had to see it with our own eyes.'
The Pilot Run: From Doubt to First 5,000 Labels
Sticker Giant arranged a pilot run in their demo facility in the Netherlands. Weber brought their own artwork—including a tricky process-blue label for a mayonnaise brand—and a set of die-cut tools. After a day of testing, they ran 5,000 labels on a transparent PET film with a white ink underprint. 'I placed that sample next to our flexo output and honestly couldn't tell which was which,' he said. 'The dots were clean, the overprints were sharp. That's when I started to take digital seriously.'
The installation took five days, including two days of operator training. The first month was an education. 'We had a learning curve on file setup,' Weber said. 'Our prepress team had to get used to the digital front end. There were a couple of late nights, but the support team from Sticker Giant was responsive. They even helped us integrate the press with our existing MIS.'
Now that they could handle variable data, customers started asking for more specialized work. For example, a pharmaceutical distributor needed help with serialized labels and wanted to know what information is required to be displayed on the labels of OTC medication. Weber's team could now produce small batches with correct regulatory text without incurring a fortune in plate charges. They also began receiving requests for iron on clothing labels—a product they had avoided before because the minimum order on flexo was too high. The digital press made those 2,000-piece orders profitable.
What the Numbers Say: Efficiency, Waste, and New Business
After the first six months, the results were clear. Changeover time went from 45 minutes to under two minutes, and the average setup waste dropped from 15% to under 3%. Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) on the digital press climbed to 82%, compared with 60% on the flexo line for short runs. Energy consumption per thousand labels was about 30% lower than the flexo press, largely because the LED-UV lamps only run when the press is in operation.
One of the biggest surprises was the new business it brought in. A local sign company approached them about producing giant college stickers for a university promo wall. As Weber puts it, 'a giant college sticker isn't what most people think. It's a 1.2-meter floor decal with, like, 30 layers of overprint. The digital press handled it without any extra work.' This wasn't in the original business case, but it now accounts for about 15% of the machine's operating time.
Still, digital isn't a silver bullet. For very long runs—above 20,000 labels—the flexo press still has a lower cost per thousand, and Weber is the first to admit that. The digital press is not used for high-volume basics. Instead, it's become the go-to machine for anything under 10,000 pieces, versioned labels, and any job with variable data. That split lets the company get the best from both technologies.
Advice for Converters Considering a Digital Step
Weber's biggest advice is to invest in training. 'Don't assume cutting over to digital is just a matter of plugging in a new printer,' he said. 'It changes your workflow, your pricing model, and even the way you talk to customers. We had to think about how to quote digital jobs that are suddenly faster but involve more machine amortization per unit. That took time to get right.'
He also suggests starting with a hybrid approach rather than making an all-in switch. 'We kept our flexo line running, which meant we could serve our long-run clients while we learned the digital ropes. It made the transition much less risky.' And when asked about other odd requests, he laughed: 'They even asked us if we could help them mail merge from Excel to Word labels for a direct mail campaign. That's the kind of request we never got during the flexo era.'
The new press is now running two shifts a day, and Druckwerk GmbH is already considering a second unit. 'The sticker market is changing faster than we expected,' Weber said. 'If you're not thinking about digital now, you'll be thinking about it in two years—except you'll be two years behind your competitors.'
As Weber walked us back to the car, he pointed to a stack of freshly printed labels. 'These would have been uneconomical a year ago,' he said. 'Now they're our daily bread. Sticker Giant gave us the flexibility we needed—and we didn't have to tear up the floor to do it.'
