Deep in Bavaria, close to the Czech border, is a unique example of how a meeting of like minds can create a printed packaging business model that is pioneering sustainability.
The number of occasions when real ‘blue-sky’ thinking is brought to a successful commercial reality in our industry are few, very few! But the cooperative partnership established between Cellcoat, a UK-based laminating technology manufacturer and Labelisten, a German converter of roll labels and stand-up pouches, is a fine example.
Thermal laminating technology
Cellcoat, based in Sheffield in the industrial heart of England, is owned and run by Jonathan Smith, an entrepreneur and developer of thermal laminating technology. Established in 1986 with a small but dedicated team of engineers, the company has since gained an international reputation for its portfolio of series- and custom-built laminators that have been designed from the ground up with a focus on functional simplicity and ease of operation.
Mr Smith explained: “Our laminators are renowned for their quality, precision, and productivity, and by closely monitoring market trends, our R&D team can anticipate changes in demand and be ahead of the game with the latest technology when they arrive on the market. We started with a clean sheet of paper, and no pre-conceived ideas of how a thermal laminator should look – that’s why our customers benefit from the small footprint of a Cellcoat machine.”
With a user list that spans four continents, Cellcoat is accustomed to working with many of the leading OEM manufacturers and integrating its technology and control functions, so an enquiry from a German label converter with Epson and HP digital print engines gave no hint of what was to become a mutually beneficial working partnership for both companies.
Software programmes and environmental protection
Labelisten is the brainchild of Frank Plechschmidt, who admits to an obsession with writing his own software programmes, and in equal measure, a passion for environmental protection. A combination of the two is reflected in how his business was created and operates commercially on a day-to-day basis. “My initial thoughts were: how can I reduce waste, consume less energy, and live a life less harmful to the planet?” he commented. From day one, the business has been fully computerised with his self-written software, and that remains the case, with everything automated that can be automated.
Quitting his job as a graphic designer to go freelance, he set up shop in a pre-fabricated garage as a print broker. All went well at first, but as order sizes dropped and buyers demanded shorter print runs, he decided in 2013 that the time was right to move into label production with small table-top digital presses. Two years later, the first Epson press arrived, by which time the garage had been swapped for a converted cow barn, and the business was growing.
But it was the investment in an HP Indigo 6900 press in 2018 that moved the company into a new phase, and following a visit to HP’s Flexpack Workshop in 2019, Labelisten saw the real potential for expansion into packaging. From a workforce of 38 in 2022, numbers have risen to more than 100, and the second production unit has been commissioned. Today, the company handles 300+ jobs each day and, in 2025, produced 130 million labels. None of which could be achieved without ongoing investment in highly productive technology and a team of professionals.
One of the key processes in both label and especially flexible packaging production is lamination. To improve productivity, Labelisten researched the market before deciding that a Cellcoat unit would best meet its requirements. The T14 model, installed in 2025, is designed for reel-to-reel lamination of a variety of label substrates and applications using a rapid stabilised heating system. It features a short web path to reduce waste and a web tension device for handling extensible materials, and is fitted with an air shaft and rewind for film and stock unwind.
Laminating and slitting solved
Speaking for Labelisten, Nicolai Erhart said: “The Cellcoat machine solved the problem of laminating and slitting as two separate processes. This saves time, labour, and waste, and the whole unit has a small 2sqm footprint, which is important in our tightly-packed production area.” Since its installation, Mr Erhart estimates waste roll stock has reduced by 5-10%, depending on the job, lead times have been cut by 20% and labour costs are down by 40% with the two processes now achieved on one machine.
Having set a precedent for improved efficiency at Labelisten, when the company’s new HP Indigo V12 press arrived in 2025, Jonathan Smith was quick to secure an order for another Cellcoat laminator, this time a T30 model for flexible packaging. He explained: “The issue with the wet lamination process is the long turnaround times required for each job. This creates bottlenecks in production, extends lead times, and increases costs for work-in-progress storage.”
Solving this bottleneck was critical to Labelisten remaining competitive, being able to handle growing order volumes efficiently, and meeting tighter delivery deadlines from customers. He continued: “Whilst thermal lamination costs a little more, the job is ‘ready now’. As soon as the web is rewound, it can be further processed thanks to Cellcoat’s unique chill roll arrangement between the laminator and the rewind. Our T30 was the perfect solution.”
With no more liquid adhesives and chemicals to contend with, or extended drying/curing phases, the higher running speed of the Cellcoat T30 provides instant availability for pouch finishing steps. According to Nicolai Erhart: “The main real-time benefits include a massive increase in production throughput, elimination of waiting times between lamination and subsequent processes, improved workflow reliability, greater operational flexibility, and the ability to respond much faster to urgent or high-volume jobs. An all-round win-win!”
Threefold increases in production speeds
Where production speeds previously were around 25m/min, Labelisten now sees 60-75m/min, giving a near threefold increase in capacity with no added labour cost. Asked how this had affected the company’s business development, Mr Erhart responded: “Installing the Cellcoat thermal laminator has opened new opportunities that were previously impossible or simply not feasible. With our new HP Indigo V12, we can handle long print runs economically and quickly in digital mode. As a result, we are receiving more large-quantity orders. These require extremely highly complex and rapid finishing steps afterwards, which the new Cellcoat laminator enables us to do. We can now manufacture reliably in-house, without risking bottlenecks or having to outsource parts of the workflow.”
With a company ethos of ‘make everything as sustainable as possible’, Frank Plechschmidt and his team are keenly promoting the use of stand-up pouches as a replacement for rigid plastic containers. Requiring 80% fewer resources to manufacture and offering a reduction of some 95% in volume for transportation and storage purposes, it’s easy to make the financial case for pouches – it just needs a buy-in from marketing departments. Drawing a parallel, Jonathan Smith concluded: “Cellcoat thermal laminating and slitting technology is space-saving with low energy requirements and higher running speeds than is customary. I’d say we are a perfect fit for Labelisten!”
Cellcoat
Caption: Frank Plechschmidt and Jonathan Smith with the first Cellcoat thermal laminator installed at Labelisten