When Pat Wafer and Ryder Fyrwald purchased the company in 2018, it was known as Alros Label – a trusted name serving customers for over 35 years. They made the decision to keep every single employee on the team, honoring the decades of craftsmanship, experience, and customer relationships they had built. While two of those original team members have since retired, their legacy still shapes their culture today.

Five years ago, the company changed its name to Cover Label. The name better reflects what the company does and what it stands for: covering products, and bringing labels and packaging into the 21^st century.

In transitioning the company to that next chapter, Cover Label added digital printing as a key component to grow the business and selected Domino.  It began in 2019. First, with the installation of the Domino N610i digital UV inkjet press at the end of that year, and then transitioning in 2025 to the Domino N730i. 

Domino caught up with co-CEOs Pat Wafer and Ryder Fyrwald to learn more about their business – from the past to the present, and their journey with Domino along the way.

Domino’s visit was captured in this VIDEO: Cover Label & Domino.  

Pat begins, “In this business, you’re selling somewhat of a commodity, and so you have to stand out somewhere, and one of the ways we do that with customers is a mix of lead time and customer service.”

Ryder adds, “By offering this really good customer service and lead time, they give us that next order and that next order, and that’s something that’s really been a differentiator for us in this space.”

From Tech Backgrounds to Label Innovation

“Back in 2018, both of us had come from working in grueling VC-backed tech companies, and we knew we wanted to go and do something on our own,” says Ryder. “And we ended up finding this business called Alros Label. When we got in there, we realized we didn’t have the right technology to really be able to grow the business the way that we wanted it.”

That realization led to a pivotal investment decision.  “So, we actually debated: do we go get a big flexo press, or do we go get a digital press?” Pat explains. “And we ended up landing on the Domino, and it allowed us to comfortably step into the digital world. Immediately, we started closing multiple deals that were in our pipeline.”

Scaling Capacity, Quality, & Productivity with Domino

“A year and a half ago or so, we still had the same Domino that we originally bought, and we were getting a little bit constrained by capacity,” says Ryder. “And Domino came in and basically offered an option for us to trade-in our original machine for the new machine. And it’s been off to the races ever since.”

For Jose Casian, general manager at Cover Label, upgrading to the Domino N730i was a significant milestone. “I can tell you, I was very excited with going to the N730i, because I really wanted that 1200 dpi. Everybody understands… before productivity, there’s got to be quality. And this press has been able to give us both. It has been able to give us good quality and the productivity that we’re looking for. The N610i was great, and it ran really well. But moving to the N730i, it actually changed everything.”

Pat notes that coming from a technology background made the transition to digital even more compelling.

“Coming from a tech background, when we bought the first Domino, we learned that these digital presses are much easier to learn. As we’re getting busier, the more jobs we can move from flexo to digital, the easier it is for us to hire and keep up with demand. And so, we see that as a huge advantage.”

On the production floor, the benefits of the new press are immediately visible to Michael Trinidad, a press operator at Cover Label. He describes the new Domino N730i: “It has some cool features, including a priming station, the ability to print in seven colors, a varnish station, and a camera for inspecting the labels. The benefit of using this press is the 1200 dpi. It’s great for labels on small products.”

Expanding Markets and Capabilities

With enhanced digital capabilities, Cover Label continues expanding into new markets. “We still do a lot of cosmetics labels,” Ryder says. “We’ve really tried to expand our offering and try to get into a lot of consumer-packaged goods. We do a lot of food and beverage. And then we’re really starting to grow more in the pharmaceutical space. We are ISO compliant, working to be ISO certified, which is a really compelling thing for pharmaceutical companies that need that type of certification.”

The company is also investing in emerging smart label technology. “We have a customer right now that wants to do smart labels, and we’re investing in RFID and NFC chips,” says Pat. “So, customers see that we’re willing to invest, and I think that goes a long way.”

At the same time, flexibility remains a core strength. “Because we have digital and flexographic technology, we can do short run stuff,” Ryder explains. “So, if you’re just starting out and you need 500 labels, we can do that. As you grow, you need 1,000, 5,000, 100,000, even up to a million, 10 million. We can satisfy all of those requirements, and we can really be a partner with you as you grow.”

Strong ROI and Production Gains

The investment in Domino technology has delivered measurable returns. “From an ROI perspective, there’s a lot of different areas where it helps,” Pat says. “Right away, you’re doubling your capabilities and your production speed. We’re getting twice as many labels out in one shift. I think that goes a long way.”

The Domino Difference

For Cover Label, the relationship with Domino extends beyond equipment. “The Domino difference to us is having a partner in one of our suppliers.” Ryder says. “There was a level of familiarity and comfort in working with Domino. We’ve had several years of experience with them. I cannot state enough how good their service is. Without that service, I don’t really know where we’d be.”

Pat reinforces the importance of that support. “Yeah, just to stress what Ryder said, being comfortable with the customer service is huge. Knowing that if something goes wrong, we have the Domino team behind us that we already have worked with for several years, it’s a big deal.”

And in a highly competitive environment, uptime is critical.  “We can’t be down for three weeks. Our customers will go elsewhere,” Ryder says. “There are 100 other, 200 other label companies in LA alone. They can go to other places. So having a reliable machine that runs, that spits out the same quality label that we can rely on… we wouldn’t be where we are today, our company would not be the size that it is, without having a Domino press in place for the last five years.”

By combining service, speed, quality and trusted partnership, Cover Label continues to differentiate itself … earning that “next order and that next order” while building long-term customer relationships.