nilpeter.com People-to-People Personal interview: Andy Colletta

This is the first of a series of profiles on key managerial personnel within the international Nilpeter family. We start by interviewing the person responsible for the company's operation in the USA, CEO Andy Colletta.

I am president/CEO of Nilpeter USA Inc., which consists of our manufacturing facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, and our showroom in Davie, Florida. I have a house in Florida and an apartment in Cincinnati, where I spend ten days a month.

I am responsible for all operations involved with the manufacture and distribution of the Nilpeter FB-Line, including overseeing the key functional areas of sales/service, marketing, engineering, manufacturing and finance.

I was involved in the offset end of the printing industry as the national sales manager for Baldwin Graphic Systems, when I was offered an opportunity to join Webtron Corporation as a regional sales manager in 1985. I saw the narrow-web flexo industry as a growing segment of printing that looked exciting. My eight years at Webtron proved me right as I learned that this was an exciting and growing industry. I learned much about our business during my tenure at Webtron. I left my position in 1993 as the vice president of sales to join RotoPress in the same capacity. I became president/CEO of RotoPress in 1994.

In your experience, what have been the most significant advances in label press technology and has it reached a technical plateau?

As a general answer, I would have to say that any advances that increased the flexibility and print quality capability of a flexo press were significant. These would include combination printing technology, incorporating multi-process printing such as offset, rotary screen, hot foil stamping, gravure and the UV-based technologies. The one specific advancement that I see as just emerging is the use of servo-assisted technology, which will once again improve the capability of the flexo press. Servo motors will eventually supplant the traditional line of high-end presses currently outfitted with shaft/gearbox technology that has been used for more than 50 years.

In your opinion, what distinguishes the ordinary label printer from the more successful?

Superior value and superior customer service. The more successful companies always strive to deliver superior customer service and satisfaction by knowing the requirements and needs of their customers. They also know what each of their customer's customer wants and needs. The focus of these companies is always on improving relationship value between them and their customers. They work hard to become such an integral part of their customer's business that they become indispensable to their customer's success. The successful companies do not sell products, they sell service.

I believe that digital technology is in its early stages and will become a more significant factor as time moves on. However, I do not believe that it will take the place of traditional ink on substrate printing for some time. It is not a process for everyone to embrace due to the capital investment and high cost of the consumables. Additionally, production speeds are generally inacceptable for long runs.

Consolidation will continue to be the major factor in changing the landscape of the label industry. Many independent companies will be absorbed by larger entities as the label business becomes more competitive and globalized. On a recent visit to a large corporation - which is backed by venture capital and is in the process of making many significant acquisitions of label companies - I asked the question, "Why the interest in label companies?" The answer was interesting, "The label industry is one of the last industries where there is still room for major consolidation."

Never loose sight of the fact that despite having the best technology, equipment and real estate, success will not be possible without the best people.

Lake Como in the northern Italy. Driving along the shore on a summer day was just magnificent!

Tough question! It would really be great to work only two or three days a week and play golf the rest. So I would probably want to come back as a doctor!