TORONTO—Manon Chin, chief operating officer at Labels in Motion, spoke June 12 at the Xeikon Café in Toronto about how he successfully entered the label business without any prior experience.

The Orlando, FL-based company is the in-house print shop of Xymogen, a nutritional supplement manufacturer. Chin convinced Xymogen to invest in a Xeikon 3500 to handle production of the company's customized labels for the nutraceutical market.


Manon Chin tells the origin story of Labels in Motion at the Xeikon Café in Toronto

The machine, along with a Grafisk Maskinfabrik DC500 finisher, produces millions of labels per year for the Xymogen line of formulas, which Chin said breaks down to 75,000 bottles a day. Now Labels in Motion is a fully-fledged business within the business, producing labels for a host of clients.

"The labels practically sell themselves," Chin said. He explained that the technology's capabilities make his sales pitch easy. He touts the machine as a state-of-the-art gadget, same as any new consumer device like a high-end TV. He gives clients hands-on demos, creating live prototypes for them to touch, and brandishes powdered toner that "moves like a liquid."

Chin echoed Infotrends' Bob Leahey, who spoke earlier that morning, in naming nutraceuticals as a key market, along with food and beverage and cosmetics. A stream of new formulas and flavours, upgraded ingredients lists, and constantly changing industry regulations are some of the reasons he listed for why high versioning and short run capabilities can mean big business in supplements, food and makeup.

The technology is also useful for security purposes, enabling the printing of unique QR codes on every label, as well as micro-text in case the code gets damaged, to help companies curb frauds and counterfeiters. Xymogen itself uses these methods for its own labels, tracing products that are sold online by unauthorized dealers.

Thanks to ease of use, Chin said inexperience is not an obstacle to entering the market. Producing a quality live prototype right in front of a client means "your history goes out the door," he said. He advised attendees to set focused goals aimed at specific industries, and to ditch thinking of themselves as vendors and become advisors instead. "Clients will always reward people who do good work with more work," he said.