While Maku is an acronym for Matrizen (matrices) and Kunststoffe (synthetics), it could apply equally well to Martin Kuipers, the founder and owner. Maku makes matrices and plant labels for nurseries – an unusual combination, but that is precisely what appeals to this headstrong entrepreneur, who revels in conducting precise analyses, deciding on a concept and putting it into action. He is the first matrix manufacturer worldwide to invest in a Genius 52UV. A tool maker who turns his hand to print production, how does that work?

After leaving school Kuipers studied computer technology at the Higher Technical College in Enschede. He set up Maku while an intern at Shell because he wanted to run his own company. Business acumen runs in the family: his father started up a plant nursery which under the management of Martin’s elder brother has developed into the biggest nursery for bedding plants in Europe, with a whopping 600,000m² under glass. Other brothers sallied forth into the big wide world, eventually building up a market gardening business in Africa.

Not Martin. After taking his degree he spent three years as the plant manager of a firm that manufactures trolleys for Wagon Lits, the Dutch railway company, which uses them to provide passengers with coffee, tea and rolls. It was here that he expanded his knowledge of matrices and synthetics. In 1996 he decided to develop this expertise still further, but in his own factory.

Market gardening in the Netherlands is extensively automated, with robots deployed in vast greenhouses. The plants are grown in plastic pots until they are big enough to sell on to consumers. The only way to remain competitive is to automate the entire production chain, from taking the first cuttings to delivering the plants to customers. That is one of Maku’s specialist lines of business.

“We are active on two fronts in this market,” says Kuipers. “We not only design the plant pots and containers, we also mill the relevant templates, which are subsequently sent to a company specialising in the production of customised plant containers. When designing the original template, every millimetre counts. If you’re raising plants under 60,000 square metres of glass, whittling two millimetres off the dimensions makes a big difference.”

Once the plants have reached a saleable size the label doubles as a convenient handle. Kuipers spent months brooding over “these stupid labels.” As he explains, “they are plastic labels that fork backwards at the base to prevent removal. A robot seizes a label, bends the ends 90 degrees to the vertical, and inserts them in the pot.”

The label contains all kinds of information for the consumer, for example the name of the plant in various languages, how much light or moisture it requires to thrive, and other useful information. Surveys have found that good labels can boost sales by as much as ten per cent or more.

The labels are packed in special plastic boxes. “We even design these. For nurserymen it is important that the labels are well protected, since even minor damage can disrupt production. Transport costs must be kept to the minimum, with no waste.”

Label manufacture begins with the production of white synthetic sheets, which are then used to print labels measuring 52mm (2in) wide by 360mm (14in) long. “We get the labels printed in Germany because both the quality and the price are right. The only problem I have is with delivery: sometimes a nursery runs out of labels and needs a new set without delay. Since its plants continue to grow whether they can be labelled or not, the time pressure is enormous. I can’t afford to wait two weeks for a print job, it has to be delivered by the next day at the very latest.”

Finishing, which demands the utmost precision, is carried out in-house. A die-cutting machine that was also designed in-house allows continuous production, day and night. Feeding, die-cutting and delivery are all fully automated, so that no manual intervention whatsoever is required. Once the labels have been die-cut they are packed in plastic boxes which are also conveyed automatically in the correct sequence. Kuipers is already busy designing the next generation of die-cutters, which will work to even tighter tolerances.

Martin Kuipers trawled the stands at many a trade fair in his search for the right press. “KBA’s importer in the Netherlands is Wifac, whose staff were regular visitors a while back when we carried out tests on the Genius 52UV in Germany following its market launch. The press ran superbly and was just what we were looking for – sturdy, easy to operate and with a high, reliably reproducible print quality. But the UV inks proved to be the sticking point because they were not as lightfast as the suppliers had led us to believe. Plant labels demand a much higher level of lightfastness than other types of label because they come into contact with water and chemical fertilisers prior to delivery and then stand outside in all weathers, so they must be impervious to all sorts of different influences. This means that the labels we produce have to pass tests that are much more rigorous than the standard. If a plant is sold after four months, say, and the label has faded, then the nurseryman has a problem and therefore so do I.”

A further series of tests was carried out, and Siegwerk inks were found to be the most resilient. “Once we had found an acceptable ink, things moved fast. One reason for choosing the Genius was that there is virtually no waste. With eighty per cent of our costs sunk in the substrate, we want as little waste as possible.”

Kuipers is unfazed by the fact that Maku is not a genuine printing plant: “Print production is no rocket science. I work here with ten staff who know how complex machinery functions. They work with computers all day, so they should also be capable of handling a press.”

According to Kuipers, at least four members of his staff must be able to operate the Genius. “When the press was installed we took a training course, which proved to be as informative for the instructors as it was for us because the questions we asked were quite different from those a trained press operator would ask. For example, I simply cannot understand why a press operator should spend more than one-third of his working hours feeding the paper or other substrate into the press at one end and removing it again at the other. To my mind the human factor should be taken out of the equation entirely. We’re still mulling this over, and I’m sure we’ll come up with a solution pretty soon.”

Nor does platemaking present an obstacle. “We process the PDF files using InDesign and send them to a Screen PlateRite system for CTP exposure. Once the machine has been set it is self-calibrating.”

Martin Kuipers is adamant that he has no intention of encroaching on his printer’s patch. “We took the Genius on board because some things were not functioning as they should. While the price and quality of the prints delivered are excellent, I want to avoid at all costs having to let our customers down when they need a rush job done. It was to eliminate this risk that we looked around for alternatives and hit upon the Genius, which proved to be just the ticket.”

The next step is for the firm to make its own substrates. “Our prime motivation is cost, but it is also important to safeguard continuous production. One problem is that, because the material is delivered in rolls and tends to curl at the ends, the robot that positions the corners above the plant pots and bends them 90 degrees is useless if the substrate lies flat. So we have to do it ourselves.”

Beuningen, where Maku is situated, is a tiny hamlet with scarcely 500 inhabitants. But the German border is just a stone’s throw away, the A1 east-west trunk road linking Amsterdam, Berlin and Moscow passes close by and the north-south link through Germany is just a few kilometres away. “Our labels are exported all over the globe, so this location is perfect. It’s rural but within easy reach of the whole world. And in this world creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are essential, as is rigorous cost control.”

Press release (RTF)