What JR Cole Industries does

JR Cole Industries (legal name J.R. Cole, Industries, Inc.) is a privately held, veteran-owned contract manufacturer of printed packaging products, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates from three coordinated facilities in Charlotte spanning approximately 200,000 square feet — a Label Division, a Carton Division, and a Corporate/Creative Design center — and employs roughly 180 people. It was incorporated in 1979 as Southern Silkscreen, Inc., opened for business in January 1980, opened a roll label facility in 1982 and adopted its current name, and subsequently pivoted from magnetic media sleeves into packaging for healthcare, spirits, and consumer products.

The company's product portfolio is centered on five core printed packaging categories: branded pressure-sensitive labels, printed folding cartons, full color shrink sleeves and tamper-evident banding, pharmaceutical inserts/literature, and prepress services. It also offers in-house creative design and mockup production using Adobe Suite CC, ESKO Workflow, Studio Essentials, and Roland LEC printers. Manufacturing is built on a multi-process press fleet that includes HP Indigo WS6800 and 6K digital presses paired with ABG Digicon Series 3 finishing machines for short-to-medium run and variable-data jobs, twelve narrow-web flexo presses with in-line diecutting, and Heidelberg sheetfed offset presses with Bobst blanking diecutters for folding carton production. Decoration capabilities include embossing/debossing, hot stamp, cold foil, Cast & Cure holographic imaging, raised dome coatings, and specialty tactile UV inks.

JR Cole serves enterprise customers across four primary verticals — Pharmaceuticals, Health & Beauty, Wine & Spirits, and Food & Beverages — with named logos including AFRIN, Ritedose, Accu-Check, Coppertone, Listerine, Dr. Scholl's, Evan Williams, Three Olives, Kraken, Lunazul, Betty Crocker, Duke's Mayo, Skittles, and Mt. Olive. Its go-to-market is direct sales-led, with quote requests routed through the company website and phone inquiries handled at (704) 523-6622; pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The company emphasizes its independence (no outside investors, venture capital, or outside stockholders), an average associate tenure exceeding ten years, and a one-stop-shop model that bundles design, prepress, and multi-format production for North American brand owners.

Name

JR Cole Industries

Legal name

J.R. Cole, Industries, Inc.

Website

https://jrcole.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

JR Cole Industries is a privately held, veteran-owned Charlotte, NC contract manufacturer of branded labels, folding cartons, shrink sleeves, tamper-evident banding, and pharmaceutical literature for enterprise customers in pharmaceuticals, health & beauty, wine & spirits, and food & beverage.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing and Packaging Manufacturing

NAICS

Folding Paperboard Box Manufacturing (322212), Other Paperboard Container Manufacturing (322219)

SIC

Paperboard Containers & Boxes (2650), Converted Paper & Paperboard Prods (No Contaners/Boxes) (2670)

akta.pro primary industry

Folding Cartons & Paperboard Packaging Converting (IMAMAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Folding Carton & Paperboard Packaging Printing (IMALAKAH)

Keywords

• Pressure sensitive labels
• Printed folding cartons
• Shrink sleeve labels
• Pharmaceutical packaging
• Commercial printing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Printed Packaging Products: Manufacture and sale of branded labels, printed folding cartons, shrink sleeves, pharma literature, and prepress services. Revenue generated through product orders for B2B customers across pharmaceuticals, health & beauty, wine & spirits, and food & beverage markets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

JR Cole Industries manufactures and supplies custom printed packaging products for brand owners, including pressure-sensitive branded labels, printed folding cartons, full color shrink sleeves and tamper-evident banding, and pharmaceutical inserts (folded literature). The company complements its manufacturing with in-house creative graphic design, mockup and 3D rendering services, and a traditional prepress division handling platemaking and artwork-to-production processing, positioning itself as a one-stop shop for printed packaging.

Product overview

JR Cole Industries offers a comprehensive portfolio of printed packaging products and services centered around branded labels, printed folding cartons, full color shrink sleeves, pharmaceutical literature, creative design and mockup services, and prepress services. The company positions itself as a 'one-stop shop' providing creative design services alongside its manufacturing capabilities. Their product line includes pressure sensitive branded labels, custom printed folding cartons, shrink sleeves and tamper-evident bands, pharmaceutical inserts, and comprehensive prepress services—all supported by in-house creative design and mockup production using Adobe Suite CC, ESKO Workflow, Studio Essentials, and Roland LEC printers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Branded Labels Pressure sensitive labels at the forefront of branding and packaging, providing custom and versatile packaging solutions to make brands recognizable.
• Printed Folding Cartons Custom and creative printed folding carton packaging solutions for exceptional presentation of products and brands.
• Full Color Shrink Sleeves Full color shrink sleeves and tamper evident banding that function as product components while providing high quality, artistic packaging.
• Pharma Literature Design, layout and printing services for full sized pharmaceutical inserts to accompany pharmaceutical packaging.
• Creative Design and Mockup Custom graphic design artwork services for brands with in-house mockup creation capabilities, including Digital 3D PDF renderings, utilizing Adobe Suite CC, ESKO Workflow, Studio Essentials, and Roland LEC printers.
• Prepress Traditional prepress division utilizing in-house platemaking and processing to efficiently bring products from artwork to production.

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Custom Corporate Image, LLCminorOthersThird-party design services partner responsible for company website design. Minor operational partnership.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Multi-Color Corporation (PLZ Corp): Large multi-national pressure-sensitive label converter acquired into PLZ Corp, serving many of the same CPG, beverage, and personal-care brand owners as JR Cole. Comparable in label and shrink-sleeve product lines but operates at significantly greater scale and geographic breadth.
• CCL Industries: World's largest specialty label converter serving healthcare, consumer products, and beverage markets across global facilities. Operates well above JR Cole's scale but competes for the same enterprise prime-label and healthcare packaging accounts.

Direct peers

• Fortis Solutions Group: Mid-market label and packaging converter serving CPG, food & beverage, and industrial customers with pressure-sensitive labels, shrink sleeves, and flexible packaging. Closely mirrors JR Cole's product mix and target verticals, especially wine/spirits and food/beverage.
• Resource Label Group: PE-backed roll-to-roll label converter specializing in prime labels for healthcare, wine & spirits, and consumer products. Overlaps directly with JR Cole's prime label and shrink-sleeve offerings for pharma and spirits brands.
• Hammer Packaging: Privately held folding carton and label printer serving CPG, beverage, and healthcare customers with offset and digital printing capabilities. Directly comparable to JR Cole in folding carton and label product categories.
• Smyth Companies: Mid-market label and flexible packaging converter serving consumer products, food & beverage, and healthcare markets. Comparable product mix including prime labels, shrink sleeves, and folding cartons targeting similar enterprise brand owners.
• Collotype Labels: Specialty wine & spirits label converter producing premium decorated labels with hot stamp, embossing, and foil finishes. Directly comparable to JR Cole's wine & spirits segment and shared specialty decoration capabilities.
• Inland Label and Marketing Services: Mid-market prime label converter serving health & beauty, wine & spirits, and food & beverage verticals. Comparable customer base and product offering to JR Cole's branded label and shrink-sleeve business.
• All Packaging Company: Folding carton and rigid box converter serving cosmetics, personal care, wine & spirits, and food customers. Direct competitor in JR Cole's folding carton product line with overlapping specialty finishing capabilities.
• Landaal Packaging Systems: Mid-west based folding carton and corrugated packaging converter serving food & beverage, healthcare, and consumer products. Comparable in folding carton product offering and end-market verticals to JR Cole's Carton Division.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/j-r-cole-industries-inc/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about JR Cole Industries