Steinhauser | 47Tara Halpin, owner and CEO of Steinhauser, during the MPS installation ceremonySteinhauser expands flexo fleetUS-based converter Steinhauser has recently installed its second MPS machine. Luis Rodriguez reportsperating out of a 36,000 sqft facility in Newport, Kentucky, “Halpin always has her door open, Steinhauser installed its second MPS press, an EFA 530 fexo machine, during the frst weeks of 2022. It replaces a Oand she walks the foor all the time. Comco Proglide MSP installed in 2005 – the company’s frst foray into fexo.She’s a very present owner”‘The frst time through with MPS, the team did their due diligence. Talking to industry leaders, press manufacturers, and ‘The MPS presses have allowed us to be more competitive in our did their research,’ says Rod Baehner, vice president of operations turn times with the compatibility of both the presses,’ says Erin at Steinhauser. ‘The second press came along based on the Dickman, director of sales and marketing at Steinhauser. ‘There was performance of that frst press. And naturally, there are synergies a time when we had two different presses, and once we installed that go along with that, having the tooling in place and smaller cost the second MPS, the work became very fuid between the two.’ of entry, but a lot of it was based on the performance of the press Along with the two MPS presses, the company utilizes an HP and the MPS’s after-sale services.’ WS6800 digital press, an AB Graphic Digicon Series 2, and other The press began operation just a few weeks after the installation. equipment to continue offering short- and long-run services across It features 12 fexo stations, two rotary screens, two die-cutting the United States.stations, cold foil and lamination stations, delam/relam stations, a turn bar for double-sided printing, a Martin Automatic rewinder, 11 decades in businessAVT Helios S inspection system with Workfow Link, and UV LED Steinhauser was founded in 1905 by Albert Steinhauser from his curing capabilities. garage in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a focus on printing government According to Steinhauser, the purchase and installation of its bonds. The company has operated as a family-owned business for second MPS press come from its satisfaction with its frst MPS 117 years, with Tara Halpin currently taking the lead as its fourth-installation in 2018. It also stems from the fact that all the tooling generation owner and CEO.was already in place, along with the personnel training necessary to In 2005, the company began shifting from an offset, lithographic operate a fexo press. commercial printing company to a label converter with the With both machines now operating in tandem, the company’s purchase of its frst Comco Proglide in 2005. That purchase was intention with the new press was to have a sister press that can made partly because of a major customer changing formats and share work wherever possible across the company’s pressure- Steinhauser wanting, as always, to ensure it fulflls its goal of sensitive and shrink sleeve platforms. Both machines are primarily keeping its customers satisfed. Because pivoting a business can be focused on work in the health and beauty, beverage and household a major risk, the move required a level of trust from its employees.end-user markets. ‘We had been litho printers for 100 years, and our largest According to Steinhauser, the press has already helped the customer had decided that they wanted to change label platforms company remain a major player in end-user markets where many from sheet-fed, in-mold to fexo PSL,’ says Baehner. ‘Tara’s dad larger converters have a strong foothold. This is partly due to the made the very courageous decision to make the investment off of fuidity of moving work from one press to the other. a handshake and a conversation he had with the customer, and the Jul - Sep 2022