Luminer Converting Group
1925 Swarthmore Avenue, Lakewood, NJ USA 08701
1 Vulcan Lane, Red Lion, PA USA 17356
www.luminer.com

Tom Spina never envisioned running his own label company. Although he grew up with an entrepreneurial spirit, producing high-quality and complex pharmaceutical labels never entered his radar. But a high school job and a life-long friendship set the stage for one of the label industry’s premier companies.

As a sophomore in high school, Spina gained employment painting railings at an adhesive factory in Northern New Jersey. Although he didn’t understand the business at that time, the adhesive manufacturing company was selling industrial adhesives to major coaters, which were then developing products for label converters.

Even with a roundabout connection to the label industry, Spina targeted a different career path in the late 1970s – computer repair. Spina left his job at the adhesive plant and attended The Ohio Institute of Technology. Prior to graduation, he transferred to the NJ-based location of this technical school in order to search for employment. While he conducted his thorough employment search, he considered returning to the adhesive company for part-time work.

“When I contacted the president, he said, ‘Absolutely, come on back,’” remembers Spina. “When I graduated, I received a job offer to move to Seattle and make projection cameras for conference rooms. I actually accepted the job. When I went to thank the president for everything he had done for me, he didn’t want me to leave. I told him I wasn’t a chemist, but he said that after two years of learning the business I could work in sales.”
The adhesive company matched the salary offer in Seattle. Spina never moved west, and he never opened the back of a computer.

“I began to learn about the adhesive business by working my way up the ladder at this company,” explains Spina. “I began in the factory and worked my way up to the lab, where I learned about adhesive chemistries. I was working in sales on the supplier side, and some of my largest customers were providing labelstock to the label industry.”

Spina was selling adhesives to an older customer, who had a side business applying adhesives for use with Velcro. He suggested that Spina take over the business, and his entrepreneurial inclination sparked him to say yes. At that time, Spina befriended Paul Kraemer, who was building specialized coating equipment for very unique hot-melt adhesive coating applications.

“I had no money, but he built me a machine and I paid him back when I could,” notes Spina. “I left my sales job at the adhesive company and put this coating machine in a garage in Newark, NJ. There I started a company called WebCote Industries, which still exists today in another location. By the mid-80’s I was adhesive coating products  for Velcro and rat traps. I realized there was a need for inline printing and diecutting, in addition to the coating. My partners wanted no part of that, so I agreed to let them buy me out, and I practically gave them the company.”

Spina still wanted to run his own business, and he embarked on this solo journey for two years. “It was honestly a big mess and I lost a lot of money, but there was still opportunity,” says Spina.

Enter John Borrelli. Borrelli came from a construction background, but he was eyeing a new career path. Borrelli’s father initially invested in John and Tom, and Kraemer contributed equipment to the business as a silent partner. In 1989, Luminer Converting Group was born, with Spina serving as the president and Borrelli operating as the COO, positions they still hold today. From there, Luminer invested in a small Mark Andy Press and equipped it with hot-melt coating equipment.

The early years were a struggle for the duo. “We had a hard time with financial troubles, and it was at a time when John and I were both getting married and starting to have families,” explains Spina. “So, it was a mess. And like many companies, we were broke.”

With the help of Kraemer and Borrelli’s father, the pair moved the company to Toms River, NJ. Spina and Borrelli were always focused on inline adhesive coating with printing and diecutting, which opened up new potential growth areas. Luminer’s customers were inquiring about what other applications were possible with the company’s coating equipment, and Spina and Borrelli needed to find work to put on the equipment.

“We didn’t intend to become a label company at all,” says Spina. “We intended to become a device manufacturer. But the bottom line was: when you put adhesive, a facestock and a release liner together and you diecut it, it’s basically a label. We started to grow and that’s when we bought our first ‘true’ label press – a Prophiteer – since we wanted to be label printers, or at least we thought we wanted to be label printers.”

That growth facilitated the move to Lakewood, where Luminer currently operates today. The company also found a specialty to separate it from the competition: multi-level laminates.

“We would buy a press and the salesman would say, ‘It’s not made for that type of printing,’” states Spina. “Well, we would modify the presses to be able to run these jobs, and every one of our presses is now a multi-web press. We had this technology and we realized we needed to find business for that. So, we started doing these multi-ply labels, which became more and more popular because of Global Harmonization Systems (GHS). As the world got flatter and products started shipping to more and more countries, those regulations became such that they needed more information on these labels. That became a natural extension of our business.”

From there, Luminer entered – and excelled – in the pharmaceutical label printing business. Borrelli and Spina instituted a quality management system, and they delved further into the pharmaceutical space. Today, Spina and Borrelli run Luminer Converting Group out of a 50,000 square-foot facility in Lakewood. As the years have passed, Luminer has added significant equipment capabilities – plus a facility in Red Lion, PA – to service its customer base. The company boasts more than 60 employees, who can meet a host of customer demands, across its two locations.

A number of suppliers have been instrumental in Luminer’s journey. Luminer still runs a few Profiteer presses, as the company has for 25 years. Luminer has also invested in six Mark Andy presses, including two new 2200 Series presses. In addition, Luminer runs Nilpeter, Aquaflex and Webtron presses throughout its two facilities. Inspection is a critical part of Luminer’s business, as well. In New Jersey, Luminer utilizes CEI with 100% inspection from Baldwin Vision Systems. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania facility relies on Rotoflex.

Pharmaceutical leaders

Spina and Borrelli built a business capable of serving a wide range of labeling needs. While Luminer is a leading provider of pharmaceutical labels and devices, it has the ability to produce anything from a simple prime label to a two-ply peel and reseal pharmaceutical label, to a 60-page booklet label. Luminer has differentiated itself with numerous complex capabilities, including its booklet label business, as well as patterned adhesive coating for both label and device applications.

While operating in the pharmaceutical business during the early years, Spina and Borrelli found another untapped space – clinical trials. Luminer identified three areas of the pharmaceutical sector in which they offered products: over the counter (OTC), prescription drugs (also known as ethical), and then the clinical trials space.

“There were really very few  players in that space, and pharmaceutical companies started approaching us because they didn’t want to rely on just one supplier,” explains Spina. “We started making booklet labels, which were basically expanded content labels (ECL). We began doing booklet labels, mostly for clinical trials, and some companies required up to 60 pages on a single label – and the reason for that is languages.

“We became very good at the clinical trial space because there are a lot of very special requirements, which we excelled in,” adds Spina. “It’s more than just making the label. It’s the controls, the quality management system, the inspection process, all of that. And that’s a very big part of our business.”

While there is a large market for labels that adorn OTC headache medications, Luminer has positioned itself to serve the multi-ply pharmaceutical market needs. “This is the kind of company we are,” states Spina. “We’re not trying to go after prime label business from a huge CPG brand. We’re not trying to make beverage labels, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not our expertise. High-quality printing is expected, but we’re also doing six other things at the same time. We definitely stay in a more niche aspect of the labeling business.”

Luminer also specializes in a host of functional labeling applications in the form of devices. For example, multi-web labels featuring numerous adhesive chemistries and adhesives that are applied inline to make a finished product. Luminer produces these products for various industries, including the cosmetic and fragrance sampling spaces. The company makes end-use products or devices that perform a function. While the product might look like a label, it actually performs a function. These can often be seen in wrist bands, women’s hair removal products, and a host of other arenas.

Luminer’s success in these markets prompted further growth. In 2000, Spina and Borrelli decided to expand the business with an acquisition. Luminer acquired a small company in Pennsylvania that specialized in food labels. The company, which originated with two employees, was printing labels out of a garage. Upon the acquisition, Luminer moved its new acquisition to a new facility in Red Lion.

“We continued to grow that business, and it was really a great move for our company,” says Spina. “From a customer service standpoint, it’s always good to have two facilities in case something happens. They were producing prime labels, and we didn’t want to bring those lower-cost jobs into our NJ location – a higher-cost facility because of all the extensive capabilities we needed for more complex pharmaceutical labeling jobs. Ultimately, our Pennsylvania location started doing pharmaceutical labels as well, so we had to go through all the necessary steps to certify that plant.”

Setting the foundation

A successful company can only go as far as its team, and Spina and Borrelli have attracted a talented and dedicated workforce that has helped propel Luminer throughout the years. The NJ-based Luminer is run in four cells, which account for the different aspects of a sophisticated business.

The facility requires a quality control system to handle the numerous regulations and measures required for labels and devices in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, among others. Luminer maintains two certifications: ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 22716, which audits items that come into contact with skin.

“We have four different production environments in this building, and there’s a manager in charge of each one. Those managers specialize in the specific equipment in each cell, and of course they have their team that works under them. And everything operates under our quality control system. We have a great long-term team in place here.”

Along with Spina and Borrelli, the management team has amassed considerable experience with the company. John Goncalves is in charge of Luminer’s largest label manufacturing cell, which accounts for single and multi-ply labels. Francis Pearson, who runs the booklet cell, joined the company out of high school and worked his way up from press operator to manager. Meanwhile, Jim Woloszyn operates as the customer service manager.

Tom’s son, Nick, has grown with the company, too. He has taken over many of Luminer’s large accounts on the specialty label side of the business. Additionally, Nick is learning the executive side of Luminer’s business operations. To further illustrate the growth opportunities at Luminer, Heather Bookman now manages the graphic arts department. She functioned as a technician for nearly a decade before receiving a promotion to run the department.  In the same way, Debbie Tremmel worked her way up from rewind operator to inspection department lead and has been with Luminer for over 20 years.

Luminer boasts an impressive retention rate among many of its employees, as evidenced by the long tenure of the company’s management staff. In the Pennsylvania facility, Candi Eveler was one of the first two employees working with the original company, and she has stayed on in the 20-plus years Luminer has owned that business. She is joined by production managers Aaron Egan and Zach Dutton.

“We try to maintain a strong entrepreneurial culture here and be best-in-class at everything we do,” explains Spina. “As a young person joining a huge company, you’re thinking about how you can move up in the corporation. We’re a small company, so we have to recognize there are only so many levels you can move up. You can’t have 20 managers and no press operators. So, we’ve instituted multiple performance incentives and benefits packages that have really been appreciated by our team, and I think what we’ve done has been quite successful, especially when recognizing how long many of our employees have worked here.

“This is a really exciting time at Luminer, and we’ve got a great group in place,” adds Spina. “We have an excellent customer service team too.”

Luminer’s customer service team utilizes a Birth-to-Death Cycle, where the department oversees the entire life cycle of an order – from the initial placement to approving the documents as it’s shipped out to the customer.  The CSR’s really look after their clients.

“Yes, we have great technology and capabilities, which are critical to make products, but the experience that our customer service team provides is second-to-none,” notes Spina. “For example, my son, Nick, had a client struggling with application for a fragrance sample. He called the company and said, ‘You’ve got a problem? I’ll be on a plane to Texas this afternoon.’ That’s how we work, and it’s really appreciated by the clients because they see that we really care about their business.”

Luminer, which has established a foundation of culture and communication, has also been instrumental in TLMI. In fact, Spina served as the chairman for the first Technical Conference. “We’re very much involved with TLMI,” comments Spina. “They’ve been a great organization over the years. The biggest benefit for us is the communication with the other label owners. Remember most label owners are small companies, and the vast majority of them are under $50 million. It’s important to keep the small entrepreneurial culture in these companies.

“We actually do business with a lot of label companies because they don’t want to get into the ECL business because they don’t have enough job orders to warrant that investment,” he adds. “They don’t want to give the business away either, so we’ll help them out and we do a lot of work in that area. We have a great reputation in the industry, so it works well.”

Luminer’s industry success has not been lost on its peers, either. At TLMI’s recent in-person Converter Meeting, held in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM, Luminer was recognized with the prestigious Eugene Singer Award for Management Excellence. Luminer won for the medium company category, marking the company’s second time winning the award. This award acknowledges excellence in business management, which is measured and defined by an established set of growth and profitability ratios through participation in the TLMI Management Ratio Study.

Positioned for the future

Spina and Borrelli are always focused on the next move that will improve operations at Luminer. The company, which has endured significant growth for a long period of time, is now set for its next chapter. On October 1, 2021, Luminer was acquired by a private equity firm. Dunes Point Capital founded and funded a new group, called Premium Label & Packaging Solutions (PLPS). The move makes Luminer part of the PLPS family, alongside several other label converters – Overnight Label, based in Long Island, NY, and Label Graphics Manufacturing, located in Fairfield, NJ.

“John and I are in our early 60s, and we started to think about our plans for the future,” explains Spina. “The company was getting bigger and bigger, so we wanted to work with a company that was very much on the ground floor. We didn’t want to become a small fish in a big pond, because there are a lot of acquirers out there. There are a lot of good companies, but many of them are quite big and have already acquired many label companies.”

Luminer’s acquisition will allow the PLPS family to fill in the gaps of each other’s businesses. For example, Overnight Label runs five HP Indigo digital presses and several wider-web units to handle flexible packaging – neither industry in which Luminer specializes. Label Graphics, meanwhile, produces some flexible packaging but also has multi-ply capabilities. “The three of our companies coming together will allow us to provide much greater offerings to our clients,” remarks Spina. “Us as owners, we are still stockholders in the company. Although we brought in this private equity firm, we’re still running our businesses, so this is a very exciting time for us.”

The acquisition has not prompted Luminer to rest on its laurels. In fact, the company is planning a major expansion to its Pennsylvania facility. The Pennsylvania operation, which produces a mix of labels from pharmaceuticals to food and automotive, has excelled, necessitating the need for a new 60,000 square-foot building. “Our Pennsylvania operation is doing great and busting at the seams,” says Spina. “There’s just no more space, so this is a big step for us.”

Luminer is targeting a move-in date of July 1, 2022.

“We’re constantly thinking about our next investments and what it’s going to take to get us on the up ramp of our business,” says Spina. “Right now, that’s expanding to the new facility in Pennsylvania, and we’ll be acquiring new presses and equipment to enhance that location. We’re going to be making significant investments in the booklet label business in order to expand our gamut of product in that realm also. We’re always looking at what’s going to take us to the next level.”