The Link: Thomas Dahbura, President at Hub Labels

In this episode, Dscoop Executive Director Peter van Teeseling sits down with Thomas Dahbura, owner of Hub Labels and a self-described "printer at heart." Thomas traces his roots in flexo printing back to his parents' operation in El Salvador in the 1960s, and shares how that foundation shaped his obsession with quality — summed up in Hub Labels' unapologetic tagline: we kick ass labels.

The conversation ranges from the hard lessons of adopting digital printing in 2003 to how Thomas is now weaving AI into his operation — using tools like NotebookLM to make SOPs accessible on the shop floor, and Claude to build a custom project management tool. He's candid about the limits of automation, the frustrations of legacy ERP systems, and why he concluded that his shop isn't built for short runs — and why that realization was actually liberating.

Thomas also talks about culture over credentials when hiring, the myth of the "magic print button," why spot color will always beat a CMYK build for brand consistency, and the surprising ROI of just being generous with knowledge in a tight-knit industry.