Allen Smith has been with Century Printing and Packaging for eight years. He serves as the first shift manager of production.
Allen, what do you do at Century? “I assist all the press operators with changeovers, color correction, the right die, any questions, and any assistance they need, I’m here to help our five press operators and make sure everything flows smoothly to fulfill customer orders and specifications. They have very unique jobs so I step in and assist them. It’s a learning experience doing new jobs and orders. You’ve got to keep a clear head, have patience with the machine and make sure the machine does the work.”
What do you love about your job?
There is always something different every day and I’m always learning something new. I love the challenging orders, or something new, you never know enough and the industry is constantly changing and we adapt to those changes as best we can.
Can you provide an example?
Heat seal was a big change for us and the game-changer, then the corona treater that electrifies the material. The chemicals in the heat seal are being realigned so we can apply ink to it, if it doesn’t get realigned it bubbles up and doesn’t adhere to the product as well. An example of those products would be flexo film with chips or cookies that require one seal.
How would you describe Century Printing and Packaging?
It’s the best company I’ve worked for because it’s family-owned and local. I’ve worked for big companies before and these guys get it. They are focused on customer service and quality output. The owners are more than willing to hear you out before making a decision and the team we have now gets along really well. I work with Neal and Roger and when I moved from second to first shift it made a lot more sense. The information flow from the press room to the finishing area flows so well. I write down what’s wrong so rewinders can keep going and don’t have to stop their machine, which would stop another machine and then another. We are producing some of the best products we can with limited interruptions or delays.
So you have a great team?
We are working on a way to get everyone to look at the big picture of the total production, we rip off a whole die, repeat checking the die, and color to see if any trash in it. Then we check the whole sample, color die-cut, etc. It all goes to quality control and making sure we eliminate any mistakes, or flaws before they can become an issue. Our team works well together and we are on the same page to produce quality products for our customers.
After eight years what have you noticed about the company?
The quality of work we do is so much better. Everything is coming together, technology, people leading by example, managers working to make sure everyone is doing their job correctly and safely.
Allen is from Greer. He is married and has three girls. Two with special needs. When he has free time he enjoys video gaming.
At Century Printing and Packaging we have a long line of tenured employees who make up our team. We are proud of their work, spirit, and the contribution they make to our quality of work and production. All of them work hard to fulfill customers’ orders and produce high-quality work.