GLENDALE HEIGHTS, IL–NextGen Label Group, with facilities in Syracuse and Albany, NY, is an employee-owned converter serving the wine and spirits, food and beverage, health and beauty, and durable goods markets.

Formed by the merger of Syracuse Label & Surround Printing and Macaran Printed Products, NextGen Label Group takes pride in being solutions-centric brand custodians, by partnering with their customers to strengthen and grow their brands through consistent quality, innovation, and service.

As an employee-centric company, NextGen Label Group also remains dedicated to empowering its people and preserving the company’s employee-ownership legacy.

With a workforce of more than 175 employee-owners and a fleet of 19 presses–soon to be 20–NextGen Label Group continues to invest in technology that advances operational excellence and automation to support its customers’ evolving needs.

The Syracuse plant recently identified a critical area for improvement with respect to its AVT inspection systems: data duplication and manual entry at the press level.

“We realized a lot of data was already being entered upstream in prepress,” said Nick Noyes, COO. “But that information wasn’t automatically populating in the AVT system. Our operators had to re-enter it manually, which created unnecessary steps and opportunities for error.”

In a tight labor market, where skilled press operators are increasingly hard to find, simplifying and automating the process became a key operational goal.

NextGen Label Group sought a way to create a seamless data flow from prepress to press to inspection—one designed to improve consistency, reduce operator burden, and strengtheni quality assurance.

Building on a long-standing partnership with All Printing Resources (APR), NextGen Label Group collaborated with APR’s team to identify and implement the ideal solution.

“When we started exploring automation opportunities, APR was the first call we made,” said Noyes, “It brought everyone to the table: AVT, Esko, our internal teams, to make sure everything was compatible and to coordinate the process from start to finish.”

The solution came in the form of AVT AutoSet, an automation feature that allows inspection data to be transferred directly from prepress workflows into the AVT system on press.

With APR managing the integration, NextGen Label Group was able to link its new business system, prepress, and pressroom operations into a single connected workflow.

“APR did a great job keeping all the moving parts organized,” added Noyes. “It acted as the coordinator between teams to make sure the setup, training, and system compatibility were seamless.”

NextGen Label Group is already seeing the benefits of automation. Operators report a smoother, more intuitive workflow and reduced manual data entry, allowing them to focus more on production and quality rather than setup tasks.

“Anything we can do to simplify the process helps us get the most value out of the AVT system,” said Noyes. “Our operators are using the system more and using it better.” Results have been strong enough that the company has added additional AVT units, bringing the total to six across its facilities.

With its AVT integration complete and new press capacity on the way, NextGen Label Group continues to build for the future. The company is expanding its RFID capabilities and evaluating new automation technologies to improve efficiency across production.

“Automation is our focus as we look ahead to 2026,” said Jessica McCarthy, chief human resources officer. “It’s about ensuring efficiency, maintaining quality, and continuing to invest in technology that supports our employee-owners and our customers.”

For Noyes, the partnership with APR remains central to that strategy. “APR has been an exceptional partner,” he said.

“As a mid-market company like us, they understand our business and what it takes to succeed. From routine orders to complex automation initiatives, APR delivers the same level of care and expertise every time.”