Luc Martin has been a press operator for 45 years at Imprimerie Ste-Julie, a company specializing in the design and manufacture of self-adhesive labels for food and pharmaceutical product packaging.
In his early sixties, and now the dean of the 116 employees of the Imprimerie Ste-Julie, Luc Martin has no plans to retire soon.
“I’m starting to think about it, but I’m in no rush. After all these years, I still really enjoy my job and the working environment at Imprimerie Ste-Julie,” said Luc Martin in a discussion with La Presse during a visit to the factory located in the industrial park. of Sainte-Julie, a suburb of Montreal.
Also, with the evolution of self-adhesive label design and manufacturing technologies in the commercial packaging market, Luc Martin still appreciates the opportunities to “take on the challenges” of producing “more complicated jobs” and learning “new machinery” in printing.
These days, Luc Martin is completing refresher training as an operator of new manufacturing equipment for the latest technical innovation in commercial packaging labels: self-adhesive labels without the usual layer of protective waxed paper until they are put on the packaging.
Nicknamed “liner-less” in commercial printing jargon, this innovation reduces the amount of waste in the food and pharmaceutical packaging or bottling line. This represents a key element of the “sustainable economy” objectives that have become part of the business priorities at Imprimerie Ste-Julie.
“The printing industry is presumed to be in irreversible decline in the face of digital media. However, this is not at all what is happening in the label and packaging market,” points out Marilène Fournier, co-president (with her sister Caroline) of Imprimerie Ste-Julie.
The Fournier sisters are the daughters of the company’s founder, Jean-Maurice Fournier, the same man who hired Luc Martin at age 17 as an apprentice at his first print shop in 1978!
“My sister and I weren’t even born when our dad hired Luc Martin. Even when he started out, he slept in the basement of our parents’ house between his working days, “says Marilène Fournier in a joking tone during the discussion with La Presse.
Since taking over from her father with her sister in 2018, Marilène Fournier has been full of praise for her veteran pressman and her younger brother, Jacques, also a pressman, but for “only” 35 years, at the Sainte-Julie printing office.
“I grew up with them in the business run by my father. I have always appreciated the quality of their work, as well as their generosity in advice to their colleagues, says Marilène Fournier.
“And since my sister and I took over from our father in charge of the Imprimerie Ste-Julie, it’s reassuring when we arrive at work to know that Luc and his brother Jacques are present with their experience and their resourcefulness. to guide our production activities. »
“Before the advent of more automated presses, during my first 20 years at Imprimerie Ste-Julie, there was a lot of preparation and adjustment time needed before producing each label job,” explains Luc Martin
“But since the arrival of CNC machines at the turn of the 2000s, we have considerably reduced our set-up time between jobs, while being able to produce increasingly complex and specific labels. »
Age: 62
Occupation: press operator manufacturing self-adhesive labels for commercial food and pharmaceutical packaging
Employer: Ste-Julie Printing
Seniority: 45 years
Place of employment: Sainte-Julie industrial park
