expensive and based on maintaining the volume over a long period of time. In other cases, it’s a matter of supplying technical support in the form of a joint sales call.


For example, a few years ago one of our distributors had an opportunity with a new, very large prospect. We spent a significant amount of time at the user’s location studying the issue and their entire process. Our solution not only solved the problem, it landed our customer an order over $1 million, and they con- tinue to grow that business.


PIA: What are some key services and experiences that differentiate Flesh Co from its competitors?


RB: We have two primary services that cross over thousands of applications in many markets. One of these is our ability to layer labels or ID cards into documents. We have our offset, flexography, and integration equipment housed under one roof. This gives us a huge advantage in that we control the environment and quality of each component. We also have a highly skilled group of associates running that equipment.


Our second primary service is in our ability to add variable 1d, 2d, and human readable numbering. Many of our clients' applications are in the health care, manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution markets where tracking is critical. The quality of the barcode as well as the substrate reflectance must be extremely good. We invested in the latest inkjet imaging systems in order to provide our customers with high-quality barcodes.


PIA: Can you share a challenge that Flesh Co has overcome?


RB: Obviously, when you’ve been in business for 104 years, you have overcome many challenges. Chang- ing markets drive changes in production processes, which often require heavy financial investments. One of the more recent challenges we’ve faced involves labor. Attracting new labor while retaining your current skilled labor is difficult. Our plant man- agement team developed a unique shift schedule that better served our changing labor pool. It allows


us to continue meeting customer deliveries while providing our associates the time needed with their families.


PIA: What accomplishment is Flesh Co most proud of?


RB: We are a 104-year-old company in the printing business that is still family-owned. Not only have we survived when many, many printers have gone out of business, we continue to grow and maintain financial stability to invest in technology. This allows us to continue to serve our valued customers while insuring a stable work place for our associates and their families.


PIA: What makes Flesh Co a great place to work?


RB: It’s probably the same answer for every success- ful company—the people. We are fortunate to be in an area where people appreciate a good job and will give you 110% every day. Just imagine the changes in our industry over the last 25 years alone, then realize that those changes are reflected in our production processes. And our associates—many of whom were with us during that time—must learn new equipment and technologies. Today we may do numbering using inline inkjet systems where we used to perform this by crash imprinting at a much slower speed. Instead of a numbering list, we use a database. If you want a truly successful company, you need associates who can adapt to change.


PIA: What does the future hold?


RB: As I mentioned earlier, Roy Flesh, II is our current CEO. Jillian Flesh, his daughter (and a millennial), is our EVP and fourth generation of family leadership. In the short term, you will see us continue to service our customers and invest in the necessary technologies to perform that service. In the long term, we suggest you check back in ten years and see what Jillian has accomplished.


Learn more about Flesh Co at www.fleshco.com, or come to the Continuous Improvement Conference to hear Flesh Co's continuous improvement coordinator, Ben Daugherty, deliver his presentation, “Lean Starts in the Front Office.”


The Magazine 5 3.2017


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