COMPANY PROFILE

We specialise in the design and manufacture of labels, tags and identification systems, mainly for use with variable information printers. We place emphasis on working with printer manufacturers, as we believe a clear understanding of the equipment our Customers use is essential for the supply of a trouble-free product.

Origins

Piroto was established in London in the early 1970's as a price-marking label manufacturer. A French based Pan-European industrial labelling group acquired the company shortly after, to become their UK outlet for French label and label applicator products. This was an interesting parentage, as the group was totally vertically integrated, manufacturing base raw materials (self-adhesive papers and inks) through label presses, and a wide range of label and tag products to label application systems. 2003 marked a new era in the history of the company, as it was taken over by the then, Sales Manager, Leigh Mann, who has been with the company since 1989.

Markets

Our major markets are food and non-food retailing, food processing, garment manufacturing, some specialist pharmaceutical manufacturing, distribution and manufacturing industry, including motors and electronics. Covering the UK and operating in France through an Agent, we are currently working in partnership to develop a global supply capability.

Products

Our products are market based and manufactured from both self-adhesive and non-adhesive materials, which we source globally. They need to work well with many printing systems, including dot-matrix, direct thermal, thermal transfer, desktop and cold-fusion laser and inkjet. We place a lot of emphasis on quality of service and consistency of product, which depends on a high level of co-operation where everyone can rely on each other.

Specific products include labels and tags for Marks and Spencer's garment manufacturers world-wide - we are one of their approved suppliers. A range of traceability products under the brand name TOTRAC includes abattoir tags, which we developed specifically for the Meat and Livestock Commission, when BSE first became evident. We have worked on an RFID tag for use in the food distribution chain of a major UK retailer, and the development of a thin thermal laminate for hand-held portable printers in the UK is just one of the challenges we have successfully met in recent years.

Our latest selection of products includes a range of metal-detectable tags for high-care food processing plants. The addition of a Variable Printing System has also enabled us to offer yet another new dimension in the continuing expansion of our printing capabilities, including sequential numbering and bar-coding.

Production

Our 30,000 sq. ft. factory in Northampton (occupied since 1999) was fitted out to our specifications, with emphasis on controlling airborne particulates. We have always held a strict no smoking policy and operate under high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. Manufacturing equipment is based around a maximum printing width of 330mm, but includes narrower presses more suited to shorter runs. Flexibility in production is important in maintaining reliability and consistency of supply and most processes are duplicated. Our main printing process is flexo; using both water-based and UV ink technology.

Staff

Team Piroto consists of over 30 staff, bringing skills and experience from many relevant industries, including adhesive tape manufacturing, wall paper printing, carton manufacturing, food retailing, distribution, computer hardware manufacturing, label applicator manufacturing and engineering. Team Piroto works on the Kaizen philosophy of Continuous Improvement. Our priority of giving a first-class service to our Customers is managed by our Sales and Support Team. The SAS Team consists of several Area Sales Managers, who are also supported by their own in-house Sales Co-ordinators.

Mission

As manufacturers of customised labels and tags our aim is to "get it right, first time, every time" - with a well-trained, innovative team dedicated to providing a first class service to our Customers.