Arrow Systems sells digital printing and finishing equipment for the label printing industry. For the cannabis trade, they also provide special knowledge on unique materials and printing styles to make a cultivator’s products pop in the eyes of the consumer.
“Arrow is at the forefront of helping us make new standout labels and giving us ideas on how to make labels special to each customer,” says Paul Leon, head of print operations for Cannabiz Supply. “You want to be different from everyone else on the shelf. How else would you do that besides through a label?”
For example, Leon says that Arrow customer service reps might suggest a new holographic material with a rainbow sheen for use on his company’s cannabis-carrying glass containers, polystyrene jars and moisture-resistant mylar bags.
Cannabiz began working with Arrow a year ago, impressed by the Buffalo-based company’s inline printing system, the all-in-one ANYJET machine that prints Leon’s labels from start to finish with no extra steps.
“Before Arrow, we were buying labels from a third-party seller,” says Leon. “The main difference with Arrow is they’re always on the phone, ready to talk to us. They’re in Buffalo, but the time difference doesn’t matter. I can call them at 9 p.m., and they’re ready to walk me through whatever I need.”
Arrow's commercial printers and finishers are compatible with a multitude of different label materials, at any volume. ANYJET can produce up to 7 million labels per year, for example, but it can also meet the more modest packaging needs of companies like Cannabiz, which creates up to 6,000 labels a day.
“We’ve seen smaller systems that do 80% of what Arrow’s printers can,” Leon says. “Or there are bigger machines that do these crazy numbers."
Cannabiz has about 35 customers, mostly cannabis cultivators alongside a few restaurants and a kombucha venture. Leon’s grower clientele might require a funky printing style or other unconventionally designed labels, with Arrow readily available to keep Cannabiz apprised on the newest industry developments.
Additionally, Arrow educates Cannabiz on operating its equipment, navigating Cannabiz Supply’s employees through the intricacies of a multi-component machine. By harnessing Arrow’s printers, Leon expects to build up the labeling side of a business that largely focuses on packaging.
“Arrow is helping us stay on top of trends,” Leon says. “They’re going to conventions throughout the world and sending us pictures of new labels and materials.”
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