The opening of a new office in Ireland to support a growing Irish client base is about to be opened by print management and business communication company Accessplus
Accessplus said that the new office will also enable the company to provide have a platform from which to explore further opportunities in the Irish marketplace. Based in Dublin and headed up by Accessplus Ireland general manager, Seamus Leathem, the office will be officially opened on September 1.
Colin Passmore, Accessplus's catalogues and publications division chairman, said: 'The Irish market remains an extremely vibrant one and we see considerable potential in it over the medium to long term.
Ireland is the European hub for a number of international businesses in the financial and IT sectors and also has a very buoyant domestic economy, both of which could benefit from the print management and business communication services we offer.' He added: 'Our Irish office general manager, Seamus Leathem, brings to the role a wealth of specialist experience in the Irish printing industry, most latterly as commercial manager with an Irish printing and fulfilment company.' Jason Cromack, the chief executive officer of Accessplus, commented: 'The opening of our Irish office is an exciting step and it is enabling us to once again extend our remit further in to Europe.
We have an active policy of continuing to identify countries that we believe present great opportunities for our print management and business communication services and Ireland has long been seen as key territory in this strategy.' He explained: 'The opening of our office in Dublin will enable Accessplus to serve its Ireland-based clients even more effectively.'
Source: printingtalk
Aug 31, 2007
Printers Upgrade to Heidelberg Equipment
Heidelberg USA announces the following new product installations:
Cavanaugh Press Gets Up and Running Fast with Speedmaster XL 105
Cavanaugh Press, Inc., Baltimore, Md. is in full production mode following the installation of its brand-new Speedmaster XL 105 6-color press just 30 days ago. “Our productivity is way, way up,” says Bob Atwell, executive vice president. Atwell cited the efficiencies gained with features like Instant Gate, DryStar Advanced, Center Color Assistant and Axis Control. “We’re already running high-end, 200-line screen work with spot colors and coating at 18,000 sheets per hour on the XL 105,” Atwell says. “The press is awesome.” The XL 105 is the latest addition to Cavanaugh’s extensive lineup of Heidelberg equipment. The all-Heidelberg shop also operates a pair of classic 6-color Speedmaster SM 102s, a 6-color Speedmaster CD 102, a 4-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfector, and two 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfecting presses, in addition to multiple Stahlfolders folders and a pair of POLAR ECM 137 high-speed, programmable paper cutters. Next, the company plans to overhaul its MIS and prepress systems with the installation of Prinect Prinance (job management and estimating) and Printready prepress workflow by the first or second quarter of 2008. Established in 1968 and with 93 employees, Cavanaugh serves a client base comprised of top-flight advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies from Florida to New York. “Heidelberg did an amazing job of helping us coordinate the installation and bring our pressmen up to speed on the new press,” Atwell says. “All of the preplanning paid off in spades in terms of our ability to ramp up quickly and keep things running efficiently. We can’t praise Heidelberg’s diligence enough.”
Edwards Graphic Arts Updates All-Heidelberg Press Lineup
Edwards Graphic Arts, Des Moines, Iowa, got precisely what it was looking for when it added a 6-color Speedmaster CD 102 with aqueous coating capabilities to its aging pressroom lineup. “Our aim was to increase our capacity and throughput by decreasing our makereadies and turn-around times,” says company President Jim Edwards, who reports that after a trouble-free installation, the company’s ramp up to press speeds of 13,000 to 15,000 iph on the fully automated new press has been an exhilarating ride. In the past, the shop had to turn away jobs requiring aqueous coating. Now, it now welcomes the work, which fits neatly into the quick-turn niche the company is well-equipped to serve. The all-Heidelberg shop still operates an older-model 6-color Speedmaster, a 2-color GTO (its first press), a 4-color MO, a Windmill and assorted letterpress equipment, in addition to a pair of POLAR cutters, three Stahlfolders, and a Stitchmaster ST 562 6-pocket saddlestitcher. Established in 1966, Edwards Graphic Arts provides printing, mailing, fulfillment and distribution as well as market research, trade show and creative services to a local, regional and national clientele. The family-run company has 75 full-time and 35 part-time employees.
Paradigm Impressions Off to a Strong Start with Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46
Mark Eyberg is the owner of family-operated Paradigm Impressions, a commercial print start-up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mark, a press operator, and his wife Jodie, a former newspaper editor and page designer, together have over 30 years of experience in the printing industry. When it came to selecting a press that would be the cornerstone of his business, Eyberg chose a fully automated Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46-2 with IR dryer. “I’ve run a number of different presses over the past 18 years, and Heidelberg is the only option for me,” Eyberg says. The fully loaded P-QM 46 is Paradigm’s ticket to the high-quality reputation it already has begun to build through a variety of nonprofit customers and word-of-mouth referrals to corporate and business clients in and around Colorado Springs. Being a Heidelberg shop is a big part of that equation, says Eyberg, who expects to add a POLAR cutter to his postpress lineup within the next six months. “The Printmaster QM 46 produces the highest quality and is the most efficient small-format press on the market. I couldn’t have gone any other route.”
John Roberts Puts Speedmaster XL 105 UV Through Its Paces
John Roberts Co., Coon Rapids, Minn., has installed a Speedmaster XL 105 press with full UV/hybrid capability, one of the first of its kind in the United States, enabling real productions speeds for UV jobs of clearly beyond 15,000 iph. With the right consumables UV-production at speeds all the way up 18, 000 iph is possible. The new press, which replaces an aging Speedmaster CD 102, greatly increases the commercial printer’s production capacity and enables it to take on an even wider range of work by reducing make-ready time and giving the shop the ability to run up to 18,000 iph. The company is an all-Heidelberg shop on the sheetfed side. In addition to the new XL 105, it operates a 10-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfector with CutStar; a 6-unit Speedmaster CD 74; a 6-unit Speedmaster CD 74 with UV/hybrid capability; and a 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 to produce work on paper, plastic substrates and board stock for advertising agencies, direct marketers, and industrial clients based primarily in Minnesota. Packaging work accounts for roughly 10 percent of its portfolio. The company currently is using the XL 105 to print 500 copies of a new edition of the hand-lettered and illuminated St. John’s Bible on 10-point cover stock. Fully assembled, each volume will be worth around $130,000. “You can’t entrust work of this kind to just any press,” says John Roberts President and CEO Michael Keane. “Heidelberg’s reputation for superior equipment and excellent customer service has always stood us in good stead. The XL 105 UV offers further proof that Heidelberg is at the top of its game, and we’re delighted to be the beneficiaries of that expertise.” The company employs 350.
Crowson Stone Takes Plate Handling to the Next Level with Suprasetter E 105
Crowson Stone Printing Co., Inc., Columbia, S.C., reached another milestone recently, when it installed a Suprasetter E 105 SCL platesetter from Heidelberg. The company, which has been steadily building and refining a Prinected workflow for the past several years, had taken its plate process “as far as we could go,” says Rob Anderson, vice president, Operations. “Although we weren’t going after more speed and capacity,” he explains, “the automation on the new Suprasetter just works better. In addition to producing a more accurate product, we’ve been able to eliminate one staff position. Nobody handles plates anymore.” The Suprasetter 105 produces up to 500 plates a week for Crowson’s 10-color Speedmaster SM 102 press. The general commercial printer also operates a POLAR cutting system, a 16-page Stahlfolder and a Stitchmaster ST 270 8-pocket saddlestitcher. The company also relies on front-end efficiencies gained with Heidelberg’s Prinect Prinance MIS and Prinect Printready prepress workflow. For 82-year-old Crowson Stone, it’s all part of a commitment made more than a decade ago to acquire and implement the tools necessary to continue to be “relevant” to its customers, Anderson says. “Heidelberg shares our vision in committing to be a single-source supplier for its customers, and in opening up access to training and other resources that support that vision. It’s great to be working with a company that is moving in the same direction we are.”
The Hartley Press Makes the Cut with New POLAR 115X from Heidelberg
The Hartley Press, located in Jacksonville, Fla., recently replaced a 12-year-old paper cutter with a new, 45” high-speed programmable POLAR 115X cutter from Heidelberg. According to machine maintenance manager Jim Klusmeyer, the new cutter programs more quickly and yields many more cuts per knife on a wide range of stocks from paper to chip board. “The new cutter is a pleasure to run. The operator is a lot happier, that’s for sure,” Klusmeyer says. The Hartley Press was founded in 1963 as a supplier of stationery and business forms. Today, the $15 million general commercial printer provides general commercial printing and related services to customers based in Florida and throughout the southeast. The Hartley Press employs 120.
Digital Color Graphics Puts the Pedal to the Metal with Suprasetter A52 from Heidelberg
Digital Color Graphics, Southampton, Pa., recently switched from polyester to metal plate production with the installation of a compact Suprasetter A52 thermal CtP platesetter with MetaDimension RIP from Heidelberg. The $3 million, full-service commercial printer had been turning out award-winning four-, five-, and up to 10-color work using polyester plates, before escalating issues with makeready, color and registration prompted the change. “We determined that if we could get up to color quicker, we’d save half the cost of our 4-color Speedmaster SM 52 press every month in paper, time and labor,” says John Rosenthal, co-owner. He hasn’t been disappointed. “Our new platesetter makes better plates,” Rosenthal says, noting that Digital Color turns out between 250 and 300 Heidelberg Saphira offset aluminum plates every month. “The makereadies on our Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 4-color press are down to around seven minutes, and the registration is excellent. It was all in the plate.” With 25 employees, Digital Color Graphics specializes in short-run color printing and serves customers located primarily in the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley area. Intent on growth, the company acquired a mailing operation last year and expects to add a second Speedmaster SM 52 5-color press in the near future. Digital Color Graphics has been a Heidelberg customer for eight years.
Phillips Printing Leads the Pack with Printmaster PM 52 Perfector from Heidelberg
Determined to make their company the high-quality printing leader in their central Florida neighborhood, the owners of Phillips Printing went all the way with Heidelberg. In June, the Ocala, Fla. company switched to computer-to-plate and installed a Printmaster PM 52 4-color perfector to boost the productivity of its pressroom and make good on its quality promise. “Heidelberg is synonymous with quality,” says Jody Phillips, president. “We could have gone with lesser-quality equipment, but you get what you pay for. We wanted the best, and we haven’t been disappointed.” The Printmaster PM 52’s running speed of 13,000 sheets per hour, coupled with its perfecting capability, means that Phillips now produces work more than twice as fast as before. The level of quality has begun to attract work from outside Ocala as well as work from local customers who previously took their four-color process work to providers elsewhere. “We have literally doubled our throughput,” according to Phillips. Family- owned and operated, Phillips Printing employs seven and handles a wide mix of work, including monthly publications and long runs, but specializes in short-run, four-color printing for clients in the advertising, manufacturing, nonprofit, religious and financial sectors. The long-time Heidelberg customer also has a Printmaster QM 46 2 color press, and uses Heidelberg Consumables specific to the Printmaster PM 52, Phillips says.
Liberty Creative Solutions Powers Up with Software and Hardware from Heidelberg
Liberty Creative Solutions, Inc., Tinley Park, Ill., recently installed a POLAR 92 XT high-speed, programmable cutter to capitalize on an expansion that more than tripled the company’s production space from 8,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet and enabled it to divide its prepress and postpress cutting operations. The full-service commercial printing company has doubled its business over the past three years, largely as a result of offering services including Web design, marketing, printing, finishing, fulfillment and mailing under one roof. In conjunction with the expansion, Liberty also undertook an extensive upgrade of its Prinect Printready prepress workflow, including the latest versions of the Signa Station imposition workstation and Meta Dimension RIP. “Our aim was to streamline production and add enough manpower to maintain our momentum,” says Angela Hipelius, vice president. “All of the installations went extremely smoothly.” The company also operates Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74, SORMZ and GTO presses, a Prosetter platesetter as well as an existing POLAR cutter, a pair of Stahlfolder B 20 folders and an SSP folding/stitching/perfing unit. Established in 1964, Liberty Creative Solutions serves a national market with customers in the educational, medical, corporate and gaming industries and has been a Heidelberg customer “since day one,” Hipelius says. “As a result of the improvements we’ve made, our operation runs more efficiently than ever. Heidelberg has a lot to do with that. Not only does Heidelberg make good products that perform the way they’re supposed to, they also stand behind them. We’ve never been disappointed.” The company employs 48.
A Stitch in Time Saves Time and Labor for Empire Bookbinding
Empire Bookbinding Co., Inc., Long Island City, NY, reports the addition of a Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 350 saddlestitcher with RS-1012S counter stacker. According to Jim DeNino, president, the company has experienced a 50 percent increase in throughput since the new stitcher ramped up to full production at the end of May. Empire, which also operates a pair of Stitchmaster ST 270 saddlestitchers, has been a Heidelberg postpress customer for around 30 years. “Heidelberg makes good, solid equipment at a reasonable price,” DeNino states. With 30 employees, the trade binder serves a wide range of customers in and around New York City.
Source: printingnews
Cavanaugh Press Gets Up and Running Fast with Speedmaster XL 105
Cavanaugh Press, Inc., Baltimore, Md. is in full production mode following the installation of its brand-new Speedmaster XL 105 6-color press just 30 days ago. “Our productivity is way, way up,” says Bob Atwell, executive vice president. Atwell cited the efficiencies gained with features like Instant Gate, DryStar Advanced, Center Color Assistant and Axis Control. “We’re already running high-end, 200-line screen work with spot colors and coating at 18,000 sheets per hour on the XL 105,” Atwell says. “The press is awesome.” The XL 105 is the latest addition to Cavanaugh’s extensive lineup of Heidelberg equipment. The all-Heidelberg shop also operates a pair of classic 6-color Speedmaster SM 102s, a 6-color Speedmaster CD 102, a 4-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfector, and two 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfecting presses, in addition to multiple Stahlfolders folders and a pair of POLAR ECM 137 high-speed, programmable paper cutters. Next, the company plans to overhaul its MIS and prepress systems with the installation of Prinect Prinance (job management and estimating) and Printready prepress workflow by the first or second quarter of 2008. Established in 1968 and with 93 employees, Cavanaugh serves a client base comprised of top-flight advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies from Florida to New York. “Heidelberg did an amazing job of helping us coordinate the installation and bring our pressmen up to speed on the new press,” Atwell says. “All of the preplanning paid off in spades in terms of our ability to ramp up quickly and keep things running efficiently. We can’t praise Heidelberg’s diligence enough.”
Edwards Graphic Arts Updates All-Heidelberg Press Lineup
Edwards Graphic Arts, Des Moines, Iowa, got precisely what it was looking for when it added a 6-color Speedmaster CD 102 with aqueous coating capabilities to its aging pressroom lineup. “Our aim was to increase our capacity and throughput by decreasing our makereadies and turn-around times,” says company President Jim Edwards, who reports that after a trouble-free installation, the company’s ramp up to press speeds of 13,000 to 15,000 iph on the fully automated new press has been an exhilarating ride. In the past, the shop had to turn away jobs requiring aqueous coating. Now, it now welcomes the work, which fits neatly into the quick-turn niche the company is well-equipped to serve. The all-Heidelberg shop still operates an older-model 6-color Speedmaster, a 2-color GTO (its first press), a 4-color MO, a Windmill and assorted letterpress equipment, in addition to a pair of POLAR cutters, three Stahlfolders, and a Stitchmaster ST 562 6-pocket saddlestitcher. Established in 1966, Edwards Graphic Arts provides printing, mailing, fulfillment and distribution as well as market research, trade show and creative services to a local, regional and national clientele. The family-run company has 75 full-time and 35 part-time employees.
Paradigm Impressions Off to a Strong Start with Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46
Mark Eyberg is the owner of family-operated Paradigm Impressions, a commercial print start-up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mark, a press operator, and his wife Jodie, a former newspaper editor and page designer, together have over 30 years of experience in the printing industry. When it came to selecting a press that would be the cornerstone of his business, Eyberg chose a fully automated Heidelberg Printmaster QM 46-2 with IR dryer. “I’ve run a number of different presses over the past 18 years, and Heidelberg is the only option for me,” Eyberg says. The fully loaded P-QM 46 is Paradigm’s ticket to the high-quality reputation it already has begun to build through a variety of nonprofit customers and word-of-mouth referrals to corporate and business clients in and around Colorado Springs. Being a Heidelberg shop is a big part of that equation, says Eyberg, who expects to add a POLAR cutter to his postpress lineup within the next six months. “The Printmaster QM 46 produces the highest quality and is the most efficient small-format press on the market. I couldn’t have gone any other route.”
John Roberts Puts Speedmaster XL 105 UV Through Its Paces
John Roberts Co., Coon Rapids, Minn., has installed a Speedmaster XL 105 press with full UV/hybrid capability, one of the first of its kind in the United States, enabling real productions speeds for UV jobs of clearly beyond 15,000 iph. With the right consumables UV-production at speeds all the way up 18, 000 iph is possible. The new press, which replaces an aging Speedmaster CD 102, greatly increases the commercial printer’s production capacity and enables it to take on an even wider range of work by reducing make-ready time and giving the shop the ability to run up to 18,000 iph. The company is an all-Heidelberg shop on the sheetfed side. In addition to the new XL 105, it operates a 10-color Speedmaster SM 102 perfector with CutStar; a 6-unit Speedmaster CD 74; a 6-unit Speedmaster CD 74 with UV/hybrid capability; and a 2-color Speedmaster SM 102 to produce work on paper, plastic substrates and board stock for advertising agencies, direct marketers, and industrial clients based primarily in Minnesota. Packaging work accounts for roughly 10 percent of its portfolio. The company currently is using the XL 105 to print 500 copies of a new edition of the hand-lettered and illuminated St. John’s Bible on 10-point cover stock. Fully assembled, each volume will be worth around $130,000. “You can’t entrust work of this kind to just any press,” says John Roberts President and CEO Michael Keane. “Heidelberg’s reputation for superior equipment and excellent customer service has always stood us in good stead. The XL 105 UV offers further proof that Heidelberg is at the top of its game, and we’re delighted to be the beneficiaries of that expertise.” The company employs 350.
Crowson Stone Takes Plate Handling to the Next Level with Suprasetter E 105
Crowson Stone Printing Co., Inc., Columbia, S.C., reached another milestone recently, when it installed a Suprasetter E 105 SCL platesetter from Heidelberg. The company, which has been steadily building and refining a Prinected workflow for the past several years, had taken its plate process “as far as we could go,” says Rob Anderson, vice president, Operations. “Although we weren’t going after more speed and capacity,” he explains, “the automation on the new Suprasetter just works better. In addition to producing a more accurate product, we’ve been able to eliminate one staff position. Nobody handles plates anymore.” The Suprasetter 105 produces up to 500 plates a week for Crowson’s 10-color Speedmaster SM 102 press. The general commercial printer also operates a POLAR cutting system, a 16-page Stahlfolder and a Stitchmaster ST 270 8-pocket saddlestitcher. The company also relies on front-end efficiencies gained with Heidelberg’s Prinect Prinance MIS and Prinect Printready prepress workflow. For 82-year-old Crowson Stone, it’s all part of a commitment made more than a decade ago to acquire and implement the tools necessary to continue to be “relevant” to its customers, Anderson says. “Heidelberg shares our vision in committing to be a single-source supplier for its customers, and in opening up access to training and other resources that support that vision. It’s great to be working with a company that is moving in the same direction we are.”
The Hartley Press Makes the Cut with New POLAR 115X from Heidelberg
The Hartley Press, located in Jacksonville, Fla., recently replaced a 12-year-old paper cutter with a new, 45” high-speed programmable POLAR 115X cutter from Heidelberg. According to machine maintenance manager Jim Klusmeyer, the new cutter programs more quickly and yields many more cuts per knife on a wide range of stocks from paper to chip board. “The new cutter is a pleasure to run. The operator is a lot happier, that’s for sure,” Klusmeyer says. The Hartley Press was founded in 1963 as a supplier of stationery and business forms. Today, the $15 million general commercial printer provides general commercial printing and related services to customers based in Florida and throughout the southeast. The Hartley Press employs 120.
Digital Color Graphics Puts the Pedal to the Metal with Suprasetter A52 from Heidelberg
Digital Color Graphics, Southampton, Pa., recently switched from polyester to metal plate production with the installation of a compact Suprasetter A52 thermal CtP platesetter with MetaDimension RIP from Heidelberg. The $3 million, full-service commercial printer had been turning out award-winning four-, five-, and up to 10-color work using polyester plates, before escalating issues with makeready, color and registration prompted the change. “We determined that if we could get up to color quicker, we’d save half the cost of our 4-color Speedmaster SM 52 press every month in paper, time and labor,” says John Rosenthal, co-owner. He hasn’t been disappointed. “Our new platesetter makes better plates,” Rosenthal says, noting that Digital Color turns out between 250 and 300 Heidelberg Saphira offset aluminum plates every month. “The makereadies on our Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 52 4-color press are down to around seven minutes, and the registration is excellent. It was all in the plate.” With 25 employees, Digital Color Graphics specializes in short-run color printing and serves customers located primarily in the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley area. Intent on growth, the company acquired a mailing operation last year and expects to add a second Speedmaster SM 52 5-color press in the near future. Digital Color Graphics has been a Heidelberg customer for eight years.
Phillips Printing Leads the Pack with Printmaster PM 52 Perfector from Heidelberg
Determined to make their company the high-quality printing leader in their central Florida neighborhood, the owners of Phillips Printing went all the way with Heidelberg. In June, the Ocala, Fla. company switched to computer-to-plate and installed a Printmaster PM 52 4-color perfector to boost the productivity of its pressroom and make good on its quality promise. “Heidelberg is synonymous with quality,” says Jody Phillips, president. “We could have gone with lesser-quality equipment, but you get what you pay for. We wanted the best, and we haven’t been disappointed.” The Printmaster PM 52’s running speed of 13,000 sheets per hour, coupled with its perfecting capability, means that Phillips now produces work more than twice as fast as before. The level of quality has begun to attract work from outside Ocala as well as work from local customers who previously took their four-color process work to providers elsewhere. “We have literally doubled our throughput,” according to Phillips. Family- owned and operated, Phillips Printing employs seven and handles a wide mix of work, including monthly publications and long runs, but specializes in short-run, four-color printing for clients in the advertising, manufacturing, nonprofit, religious and financial sectors. The long-time Heidelberg customer also has a Printmaster QM 46 2 color press, and uses Heidelberg Consumables specific to the Printmaster PM 52, Phillips says.
Liberty Creative Solutions Powers Up with Software and Hardware from Heidelberg
Liberty Creative Solutions, Inc., Tinley Park, Ill., recently installed a POLAR 92 XT high-speed, programmable cutter to capitalize on an expansion that more than tripled the company’s production space from 8,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet and enabled it to divide its prepress and postpress cutting operations. The full-service commercial printing company has doubled its business over the past three years, largely as a result of offering services including Web design, marketing, printing, finishing, fulfillment and mailing under one roof. In conjunction with the expansion, Liberty also undertook an extensive upgrade of its Prinect Printready prepress workflow, including the latest versions of the Signa Station imposition workstation and Meta Dimension RIP. “Our aim was to streamline production and add enough manpower to maintain our momentum,” says Angela Hipelius, vice president. “All of the installations went extremely smoothly.” The company also operates Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 74, SORMZ and GTO presses, a Prosetter platesetter as well as an existing POLAR cutter, a pair of Stahlfolder B 20 folders and an SSP folding/stitching/perfing unit. Established in 1964, Liberty Creative Solutions serves a national market with customers in the educational, medical, corporate and gaming industries and has been a Heidelberg customer “since day one,” Hipelius says. “As a result of the improvements we’ve made, our operation runs more efficiently than ever. Heidelberg has a lot to do with that. Not only does Heidelberg make good products that perform the way they’re supposed to, they also stand behind them. We’ve never been disappointed.” The company employs 48.
A Stitch in Time Saves Time and Labor for Empire Bookbinding
Empire Bookbinding Co., Inc., Long Island City, NY, reports the addition of a Heidelberg Stitchmaster ST 350 saddlestitcher with RS-1012S counter stacker. According to Jim DeNino, president, the company has experienced a 50 percent increase in throughput since the new stitcher ramped up to full production at the end of May. Empire, which also operates a pair of Stitchmaster ST 270 saddlestitchers, has been a Heidelberg postpress customer for around 30 years. “Heidelberg makes good, solid equipment at a reasonable price,” DeNino states. With 30 employees, the trade binder serves a wide range of customers in and around New York City.
Source: printingnews
Aug 29, 2007
Clear Packaging May Affect Food Taste and Smell
Translucent packaging may compromise the taste and odour of food, scientists say.
Virginia Tech food scientists say recent research has provided significant evidence that visible wavelengths of light cause taste and odour changes in food.
For example, visible light degrades riboflavin in milk, interacts with flavour and odour molecules and causes pigment damage in food.
The scientists studied the effect of UV light in the range of 200 to 400 nanometres, which is the same range that causes skin damage.
Researcher Susan Duncan says as packaging has moved away from paperboard to polymers such as polyethylene, so manufacturers have begun to encounter problems with food quality.
Duncan says adding UV absorbers to the packaging materials went some way to resolving the problem, but they did not perform as well as opaque containers.
The scientists also tested a number of new materials, including a translucent sleeve over-wrap with an iridescent shimmer that reflects wavelengths, which also helped preserve the flavour of the food.
"We want to find manufacturers to work with us to develop packaging products that will work with milk and the visible wavelengths," Duncan says.
Source: packaging-technology
Virginia Tech food scientists say recent research has provided significant evidence that visible wavelengths of light cause taste and odour changes in food.
For example, visible light degrades riboflavin in milk, interacts with flavour and odour molecules and causes pigment damage in food.
The scientists studied the effect of UV light in the range of 200 to 400 nanometres, which is the same range that causes skin damage.
Researcher Susan Duncan says as packaging has moved away from paperboard to polymers such as polyethylene, so manufacturers have begun to encounter problems with food quality.
Duncan says adding UV absorbers to the packaging materials went some way to resolving the problem, but they did not perform as well as opaque containers.
The scientists also tested a number of new materials, including a translucent sleeve over-wrap with an iridescent shimmer that reflects wavelengths, which also helped preserve the flavour of the food.
"We want to find manufacturers to work with us to develop packaging products that will work with milk and the visible wavelengths," Duncan says.
Source: packaging-technology
Co-op opts for breathable box liner over shrinkwrap for cucumbers
The Co-op is to become the first UK retailer to remove plastic shrinkwrap from whole cucumbers.From 1 October, the group will pack its cucumbers in cardboard boxes lined with Long Life Solutions' SmartLiner breathable membrane.
The East Lothian firm has claimed its technology will keep a cucumber fresh for up to 40 days if its storage guidelines are followed.
A survey by the Cucumber Growers' Association earlier this year found that shrinkwrapped cucumbers stayed fresh for about 14 days.
Long Life Solutions chief executive Andrew Wright said: "The exciting thing from our perspective is not only that the SmartLiner increases the quality and shelf life of the cucumber, but that it also eliminates packaging."
The Co-op estimates it will save eight tonnes of plastic a year by removing shrinkwrap from its cucumbers.
In addition, both the SmartLiner and the cardboard boxes are recyclable.
Kate Jones, head of range development at the Co-operative Group, said: "Our customers have told us they are pleased to see that we are taking steps to reduce packaging, and are more than happy to buy their cucumbers without the usual plastic wrap."
Wright said the retailer aimed to use the SmartLiner for other fresh produce in the future.
The material is also suitable for wrapping iceberg lettuces and cauliflowers and has been found to keep bread, fish, flowers and dairy products fresher than conventional packaging.
Source: packagingnews
Look Digital lands biggest-ever job with FA work
Look Digital, the branding division of Piggotts, has undertaken its single largest printed project to date with work for the FA Community Shield.The Essex-based company produced two 27x20m pitch displays showing photos of Manchester United and Chelsea players, a 15mx3m sponsor banner, and 36 sponsor flags.
Look Digital development manager Rory Blackwood told printweek.com: "We were given 14 days to complete the work, which is as much as you'll really get for jobs like that, but thankfully we managed to get them delivered in 10 days.
"This brief certainly tested our expertise in terms of the sheer scale of the project."
Look Digital was previously responsible for producing 15x15m pitch banners for the opening ceremony of the 2007 FA Cup Final at Wembley in May.
Clive McElarney, director at event360, said: "The plan included the huge photographic banners and following on from the FA Cup Final success, we chose Look Digital again.
"Its experience with large-format banners is unrivalled and we are well aware of its ability to deliver high-quality products on time."
Source: printweek
Wrap to determine milk pack lifecycles
The packaging of the billions of pints of milk consumed in the UK each year could be affected by the results of a major lifecycle analysis being led by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap).The project, which is in its early stages and aims to publish results next spring, has the support of the dairy industry and will assess the environmental impact of using a range of virgin and recycled materials.
It will look at fresh and long-life milk and take into account primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
Industry body Dairy UK hopes that a "joined-up, lifecycle approach" will provide the "best long-term sustainability" for milk packaging systems. Sustainability and environmental manager Will Clark said it was important to consider the full range of variables, such as durability and recyclability, as well as commercial issues.
Clark said the situation was complicated by "uncertainty over recycling and recovery options" and consumer perceptions of new products and technologies.
The project comes after increased interest in 'green' materials for milk bottles in recent months, with trials of containers such as the "Greenbottle", which uses recycled pulp with a plastic liner, and Calon Wen's PLA pouch.
Source: packagingnews
EskoArtwork becomes foremost pre-press provider as merger completes
EskoArtwork is set to become the dominant name in the packaging pre-press sector following the completion of the merger between the two market leaders.The company said yesterday (27 August) that it had completed the deal, which was initially announced on 2 August.
Esko is paying £7.70 (€11.50) a share for the stakes of the three principal shareholders of Artwork Systems.
The combined company has almost 1,000 staff and revenues in excess of £120m.
Pre-press firm Wyndham Kestrel, which uses products from both companies, was optimistic about the merger. "We're looking forward to seeing how they intend to combine their product and service offering," said technical manager Gary Curtis.
Bart and Peter Denoo and Guido van de Scheuren set up Artwork in 1992. The three men were also the founders of Barco Graphics, which became Esko following the merger with Purup Electronics.
Source: packagingnews
Quadrant plumps for HP digital kit
Quadrant is aiming to streamline production and meet a growing demand for personalised work with its recent installation of HP digital printing equipment.The Hertford-based print firm has bought an Indigo 5500, an ink mixing station and HP's Creo-powered production stream server.
A growing demand for short-run work and personalised products prompted the printer to make a move into digital two years ago.
It spent 18 months researching the digital printing industry and tested four different manufacturers before making the decision.
Quadrant operations director Peter Chisholm said: "Digital printing allows us to be more flexible and reach a wider range of customers.
"We were aware that the future development and success of the company depended on making the right investment in digital equipment."
Quadrant's staff found the HP Indigo presses to be the strongest in a number of categories, particularly in saleability and colour gamut, where scores reached nine out of 10.
Quadrant's client base includes customers in the pharmaceutical and commercial markets.
The HP Indigo 5500, launched earlier in the year, features a new four-drawer feeder with improved media handling capabilities to support a wider range of media and a fast-ink replacement.
Source: printweek
Ink-jet printer controller
FoxJet’s Marksman Duo HR ink-jet controller is a full-featured, economically priced printer which utilizes Trident®-based high resolution printing technology.The controller’s features include graphic user interface with color touch screen display, around-the-clock diagnostics and system status, print speeds of over 200 feet per minute, Ethernet, USB and serial communications, and more.The Marksman Duo HR controller is sleek and modular, for use in double-sided case coding.
Source: packworld
Packaging mark to authenticate Chinese food
A new mark required on the packaging of Chinese food exports from next month will allow importers to tell certified products from fakes, according to food safety officials.
The "CIQ" mark, which stands for China Inspection and Quarantine, guarantees that products have passed quality tests, according to a regulation unveiled by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).
A series of food safety scares, including the discovery of Melamine in feed, have plagued Chinese exports over recent months. National regulators and the other government bodies have been taking measures to combat both food safety and authenticity of products manufactured in China.
Although the regulation will improve worldwide confidence in the quality and authenticity of Chinese products, exporters may be hit with additional charges to cover to cost of the scheme, said Huo Jianguo, president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Products and Animal By-products.
The new regulation is expected to affect about 20,000 shipments worth $100m each year, according to Inspection and quarantine agencies in Dongguan, Guangdong Province.
China pledged to prevent substandard food exports in a white paper published last week.
The first of its kind, the paper issued by the State Council provides information on food production and quality, the food supervision system, imports and exports, as well as international exchanges and cooperation on food safety.
If requested by an importing country, quarantine authorities should issue a hygiene certificate, and enter on the certificate the name, address, hygiene registration number of the producing enterprise, date of production, date of export, loading port and destination port, supplementing the "CIQ" mark.
The white paper admitted a few Chinese companies had avoided quarantine inspections by means of fraud, and exported their goods through illegal channels, which resulted in fake and substandard food going abroad.
However, going forward companies that severely violated regulations or avoided quarantine inspections will now face fines and added to an internet blacklist. To date, 55 enterprises have been included on the List of Unlawful Enterprises.
Source: packwire
The "CIQ" mark, which stands for China Inspection and Quarantine, guarantees that products have passed quality tests, according to a regulation unveiled by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).
A series of food safety scares, including the discovery of Melamine in feed, have plagued Chinese exports over recent months. National regulators and the other government bodies have been taking measures to combat both food safety and authenticity of products manufactured in China.
Although the regulation will improve worldwide confidence in the quality and authenticity of Chinese products, exporters may be hit with additional charges to cover to cost of the scheme, said Huo Jianguo, president of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Products and Animal By-products.
The new regulation is expected to affect about 20,000 shipments worth $100m each year, according to Inspection and quarantine agencies in Dongguan, Guangdong Province.
China pledged to prevent substandard food exports in a white paper published last week.
The first of its kind, the paper issued by the State Council provides information on food production and quality, the food supervision system, imports and exports, as well as international exchanges and cooperation on food safety.
If requested by an importing country, quarantine authorities should issue a hygiene certificate, and enter on the certificate the name, address, hygiene registration number of the producing enterprise, date of production, date of export, loading port and destination port, supplementing the "CIQ" mark.
The white paper admitted a few Chinese companies had avoided quarantine inspections by means of fraud, and exported their goods through illegal channels, which resulted in fake and substandard food going abroad.
However, going forward companies that severely violated regulations or avoided quarantine inspections will now face fines and added to an internet blacklist. To date, 55 enterprises have been included on the List of Unlawful Enterprises.
Source: packwire
Aug 27, 2007
X-Rite to acquire Pantone for £89m
US-based X-Rite is set to cement its leadership in the colour matching market after agreeing to acquire Pantone for £89.7m ($180m).The deal, announced yesterday (23 August), would add Pantone's industry standard colour matching system and international client base to X-Rite's already formidable pre-press arsenal.
Pantone, which generated £21m profit in 2006, sells its products and services into more than 100 countries across the globe through direct distribution and hundreds of licencees.
X-Rite chief executive Tom Vacchiano said: "[Pantone's] iconic brand is the perfect complement to X-Rite's business, bringing Pantone's expertise and market position in colour communication and standards to our colour solutions product offerings.
"We believe this strategic acquisition will provide value for out shareholders, customers, employees and partners."
Pantone will become a unit within the X-Rite umbrella. The details of the new structure are unclear, though X-Rite said in a statement: "Current Pantone leaders will continue to play key roles in the organisation."
Source: printweek
Supermarkets and wine makers in lightweighting drive
Supermarkets Morrisons and Tesco, and wine brand owners Constellation Europe and PLB Wines, expect to save around 6,000 tonnes of glass per year by lightweighting bottles, according to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap).Tesco said new bottles for its own-label wines, developed in conjunction with Quinn Glass and Kingsland Wines and Spirits, will save more than 2,500 tonnes of glass per year.
The bottles will hit shelves later this year and make a "significant contribution" to the multiple's target to reduce packaging 25% by 2010.
Morrisons is working with Corby Bottlers to save more than 200 tonnes a year from its Working Dog and William Grove wines.
Wrap glass technology manager Andy Dawe said it was "great to see the wine industry making such significant progress on optimising packaging".
Meanwhile, Australian vintner Wolf Blass has launched a new range of wines contained in PET bottles. The bottles for the Green Label range are 33% shorter and 90% lighter than an equivalent 75cl glass bottle.
Its move comes a month after Sainsbury's said it would introduce lightweight 75cl PET bottles for some of its wines.
Source: packagingnews
DBA announces awards' packaging contingent
Thirteen design groups have been shortlisted in the four packaging categories for the Design Business Association's (DBA) 2007 Design Effectiveness Awards.Pearlfisher features prominently in the shortlist, with two nominations in the Packaging – Branded Food and Drink section, for PizzaExpress Chilled Pre-packed Pizza and Highland Park, and one in the Packaging – Own Brand Non Food category for Family Toiletries.
Newcastle design agency NE6 has also been nominated in the Branded Food and Drink category, for the packaging and labelling of Oleifera culinary oil, which is produced by Northumberland farming collective Borderfields.
In the same category, Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) is a finalist for its work in creating a visual identity and packaging for The London Tea Company
Creative Leap is the only company shortlisted in the Packaging – Branded Non Food category, but a DBA spokeswoman said the firm had not necessarily won a gold award because awards are decided using a points system. Creative Leap could take a silver or bronze award instead.
The awards ceremony will take place on 30 October at The Hurlingham Club in London.
Source: packagingnews
Packaging jobs hit by British Bakeries closure
Workers in the packaging department at British Bakeries in Bradford are likely to lose their jobs after the firm said it would cease all manufacturing and support operations at the site.
Up to 370 jobs will go at the bread-making factory as part of a restructuring following declining bread sales.
The firm, which makes bread for the Hovis, Mother's Pride and Nimble brands, will also close its depot in Telford with the loss of 60 jobs.
A spokesman for British Bakeries said: "Closing a site is not a decision we take lightly. The move reflects an overall fall in bread consumption, changing consumer habits and the increased self-sufficiency of British Bakeries' operations in the south of England, resulting in a reduced requirement to transfer bread and morning goods down the country."
The firm, which has started a 90-day consultation with staff and trade unions, said it would also reorganise dispatch and logistics activities at the Bradford site as a depot facility.
British Bakeries has 23 UK manufacturing and distribution sites and employs 6,500 people.
Source: packagingnews
Up to 370 jobs will go at the bread-making factory as part of a restructuring following declining bread sales.
The firm, which makes bread for the Hovis, Mother's Pride and Nimble brands, will also close its depot in Telford with the loss of 60 jobs.
A spokesman for British Bakeries said: "Closing a site is not a decision we take lightly. The move reflects an overall fall in bread consumption, changing consumer habits and the increased self-sufficiency of British Bakeries' operations in the south of England, resulting in a reduced requirement to transfer bread and morning goods down the country."
The firm, which has started a 90-day consultation with staff and trade unions, said it would also reorganise dispatch and logistics activities at the Bradford site as a depot facility.
British Bakeries has 23 UK manufacturing and distribution sites and employs 6,500 people.
Source: packagingnews
Greenford plumps for five-colour Speedmaster
Greenford Printing Company has installed a five-colour Heidelberg SM 74 off the back of some "large contract" wins.The Gerrards Cross-based printer will run the Speedmaster alongside an existing four-colour SM 74-P and three B3 presses.
Greenford studio manager Elliot Banks told printweek.com: "Winning the contracts was the prime motivating factor behind buying the new press.
"In this instance, we were dead set on going for a Heidelberg as we already had similar equipment in place."
The ISO 9001- and 14001-accredited printer runs two B2 presses across double days shifts, but hopes the machine will attract more business.
Greenford classes itself as a "concept-to-completion" company, producing government and corporate work as well as local business jobs.
Banks added: "We have a design team in-house and we do everything from artwork design through printing to mailing."
Source: printweek
Advanced Dynamics Introduces 'Linerless' Labels to UK
UK packaging firm Advanced Dynamics is introducing an innovative 'linerless' labelling system to the UK packaging market.
The system, pioneered by Italian labelling company Irplast, consists of a bio-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film with a solventless adhesive coating which grips but does not stick to itself.
By dispensing with the need for traditional paper backing, the label amount per roll is doubled, resulting in a 50% reduction in label change-over time.
The labels are dispensed from a labelling machine that can be adapted to any packaging line.
Source: packaging-technology
The system, pioneered by Italian labelling company Irplast, consists of a bio-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film with a solventless adhesive coating which grips but does not stick to itself.
By dispensing with the need for traditional paper backing, the label amount per roll is doubled, resulting in a 50% reduction in label change-over time.
The labels are dispensed from a labelling machine that can be adapted to any packaging line.
Source: packaging-technology
Packaging machine provides healthy mail-order results
Providing quality healthcare while holding the line on costs continues to be a priority throughout much of the life sciences industry. Watching expenses is a critical task at Group Health as well, where the company’s Seattle facility handles mail-order prescriptions and serves as a central fill location for its 26 pharmacies located in both Washington and Idaho. Since adding a Maverick Enterprises UPM B/T (Universal Packaging Machine with Bottle and Tote infeed), Group Health has reduced its labor needs, improved efficiency within its confined 7,000 sq’ area, and readied itself to handle growing sales volume. In turn, those benefits help to hold down Group Health member costs.Marking its 60th year, Group Health Cooperative is an innovative, consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system that integrates care and coverage.
Tom Colleran, Group Health’s associate director of pharmacy systems, explains that fundamental changes in the company’s business helped drive the need for the automation that’s provided by the Maverick machine.
“We used to produce 95-percent of our work for pharmacist orders from our Group Health centers,” Colleran says, with 5-percent mail-order prescriptions. “Now, it’s 55-percent mail-order and 45-percent for our central filling of prescriptions. We do about 10,000 prescriptions a day, and the trend to more mail-order prescriptions continues.”
That trend is understandable, given that mail-order scripts are typically mailed directly to a patient’s home, so there’s no need to drive to a pharmacy. That’s especially appealing when gasoline prices are high. It’s also an option for those who may be “transportation-challenged.” And purchasing mail-order drugs often allows patients to order 90-day quantities, something that may not always be possible at their local pharmacy.
The challenge of fulfilling mail-order prescriptions, Colleran explains, is that they require more printing and packaging than is necessary for scripts picked up by patients at the pharmacy. “As we moved more to mail orders, technicians at our facility had to print more patient information and put in literature and leaflets that they didn’t need to do much of before, so it slowed down our process and required more people.” Another challenge: Mail orders require more physical space to store materials and pack them.
Following the process
Prescriptions are filled upstream of the Maverick machine on an AutoMed OptiFill Gen IV. “It takes an order from our Pharmacy system, labels it, and fills the product into a white high-density polyethylene bottle,” from O-I . The bottle is then routed to a pharmacist for verification.
In the past, a packaging technician would scan the bar code on the bottles to verify accuracy and completeness of the order. This would generate a packing label for the bag, and any paperwork needed. The technician would then put these items into the bag with the package label on it, scan the packing label to complete the process, and place the package onto a Dornerbelted conveyor. The conveyor carries the package downstream where workers sort packages for mail-order shipment or distribution to one of Group Health’s 26 pharmacies.
Before adding the Maverick machine, Group Health had one technician at each of eight manual packing stations. Each person could do about 90 packs an hour. With the mail-order business growing, says Colleran, “We believed that this was an area that was right for automation because it was a totally manual process and had been a bottleneck.
“We didn’t have a large-enough tote volume just to have a totes-based system,” he adds. “We also didn’t have a large-enough volume for a bottle-only system. It wasn’t until Maverick developed an integrated product for both bottles and totes that it made sense for us to move in that direction.” The Maverick system became operational at Group Health by July, 2006.
The Maverick process
Group Health’s system is unique in that it handles both multi-order bottles as well as totes filled with unit-of-use products or combination orders. The pharmacy computer system sends order information to the Maverick database and the packaged products are conveyed to the Maverick UPM B/T packaging machine.
Once bottles and totes arrive (at two different areas on the machine), bottles are packaged first. The Maverick system reads each bottle’s unique vial identification bar code with a scanner positioned just upstream of the UPM. The machine’s software interfaces with the pharmacy’s software to determine what packaging label information and/or patient-specific printed material, including FDA medical guides are required with the prescription. The pharmacy’s software transmits that data to the Maverick, which stages the information for printing. Material for staged orders is printed six orders in advance of packaging using four high-volume paper printers.
Bottles are then conveyed past another bar-code scanner that reconfirms each bottle’s bar code against printed literature, thermally printing the customer label and bar code on the outside of the bag. This label includes the customer address for the mail order or the store information for a central fill. Literature is folded and inserted into the bag. A bottle chute opens and drops the bottle and literature into the bag, which is automatically heat-sealed. Sealed bags are then sorted into either mail-order or central-fill orders and conveyed to shipping.
For totes, the process is similar, beginning with totes leaving the pharmacist verification station. From there, they pass through a transfer station that sorts order types and directs totes appropriate for the Maverick packaging machine to a bar-code reader, where each tote is scanned. The order-specific information is then transmitted from the pharmacy software to the Maverick system. The information is staged and prioritized with the bottle-only orders. When the printed literature is complete and inserted into the waiting bag, the totes are mechanically flipped with products automatically inserted into the waiting bag. Bags are then sealed and sorted. Finished product is again conveyed to downstream shipping.
“The Maverick is a packing system that replaces manual packers,” explains Colleran. “It prints paper, verifies that the paper goes with the order, verifies that the drugs go with the order, prints the packing information onto the bag, whether it’s for a pharmacy or the customer’s mailing address. It puts the items or bottles into the plastic bag and seals the package.”
Determining return on investment (ROI)
Colleran estimates that the Maverick can accommodate up to about five bottles per 14.5”x16” bag. “The Maverick is a totally automated solution,” he says. “One part of determining our ROI on purchasing it was that we had no more space. This machine allowed us to actually consolidate some of our space. The other part is we were able to reduce the number of packagers [people] that we need.
“We had two positions open that we didn’t need to fill, and we were able to move one of our other technicians to another job,” he continues. That was possible as a result of investing in the machine. “We had an agreement with management that the machine would reduce three people, and by now, we would have needed a fourth,” Colleran adds.
Instead of eight packing stations, Group Health now has four, but typically only uses one or two.
Beyond labor savings, the Maverick provides 500 packs-per-hour speed. “And it doesn’t care whether we are filling for our centers or mail orders,” Colleran says.
“We have been pretty happy with it,” he notes. “We were buying this machine for the future. We bought more capacity than we currently had in the system. So it isn’t an automatic payback right now, even though Group Health usually looks for a two-year payback on equipment.”
Group Health always has to watch its economic line, and not just for internal purposes. “The advantage in
this packaging equipment also extends to our members as it helps us keep our rates as low as possible,” says Colleran.
Source: healthcare-packaging
US Packing Machinery Market Records Growth
The US packaging machinery industry has recorded growth for the fifth consecutive year.
Trade association PMMI's 2007 Shipments and Outlook study shows packaging machinery shipments reached $6.11bn in 2006, a 6% increase on 2005.
Of the machinery categories PMMI monitors, wrapping saw the biggest increase, of 18.6%, followed by capping, overcapping, lidding and sealing, which increased 11.2%.
Converting machinery was the only category that saw a decline (0.6%).
Exports of packaging machinery surpassed the $1bn mark for the third consecutive year, reaching $1.012m in 2006.
PMMI says the growth has been driven by the increased focus of US companies on manufacturing and packaging cost reduction and the increased need for flexible packaging systems to accommodate shorter packaging runs with a widening range of packaging styles, sizes and configurations.
Source: packaging-technology
Trade association PMMI's 2007 Shipments and Outlook study shows packaging machinery shipments reached $6.11bn in 2006, a 6% increase on 2005.
Of the machinery categories PMMI monitors, wrapping saw the biggest increase, of 18.6%, followed by capping, overcapping, lidding and sealing, which increased 11.2%.
Converting machinery was the only category that saw a decline (0.6%).
Exports of packaging machinery surpassed the $1bn mark for the third consecutive year, reaching $1.012m in 2006.
PMMI says the growth has been driven by the increased focus of US companies on manufacturing and packaging cost reduction and the increased need for flexible packaging systems to accommodate shorter packaging runs with a widening range of packaging styles, sizes and configurations.
Source: packaging-technology
TricorBraun Says Clarified Polypropylene a Good Alternative to PET
TricorBraun has launched a new line of clarified polypropylene injection stretch blow moulded (CPP-ISBM) bottles.
CPP-ISBM bottles have the clarity and sheen of PET bottles, but a moisture vapour transmission rate 14 times that of PET and 2.5 times that of HDPE.
TricorBraun says CPP bottles are a cheaper alternative for companies wishing to upgrade to an HDPE line of packaging.
CPP bottles are also greener than their PET counterparts, requiring less energy to manufacture and mold the base resin. They do not require drying and are blown at a lower temperature.
Source: packaging-technology
CPP-ISBM bottles have the clarity and sheen of PET bottles, but a moisture vapour transmission rate 14 times that of PET and 2.5 times that of HDPE.
TricorBraun says CPP bottles are a cheaper alternative for companies wishing to upgrade to an HDPE line of packaging.
CPP bottles are also greener than their PET counterparts, requiring less energy to manufacture and mold the base resin. They do not require drying and are blown at a lower temperature.
Source: packaging-technology
GE Plastics to Help Healthcare Overcome Mono-Material Packaging Limitations
GE Plastics has introduced an in-house co-injection method which will help developers of healthcare packaging to overcome the limitations of mono-material solutions.
The co-injection blow-moulding process enables crystal clear, virtually unbreakable Lexan HP polycarbonate resins to be integrated with traditional barrier materials, such as glass.
GE Plastics says the resulting sandwich of two Lexan HP resin exterior layers and an internal barrier layer solves the performance challenges of traditional glass and plastic materials in applications such as diagnostic and culture vials, and drug containers.
GE Plastics' healthcare technical manager John Davis says the pharmaceutical industry is demanding enhanced clarity and greater emphasis on patient and caregiver safety, which mono-material solutions struggle to deliver.
"To help our customers in the in vitro diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries address these limitations and meet changing market needs, we built on our extensive processing and materials technology resource to provide a broader approach to barrier packaging," Davis says.
Source: packaging-technology
The co-injection blow-moulding process enables crystal clear, virtually unbreakable Lexan HP polycarbonate resins to be integrated with traditional barrier materials, such as glass.
GE Plastics says the resulting sandwich of two Lexan HP resin exterior layers and an internal barrier layer solves the performance challenges of traditional glass and plastic materials in applications such as diagnostic and culture vials, and drug containers.
GE Plastics' healthcare technical manager John Davis says the pharmaceutical industry is demanding enhanced clarity and greater emphasis on patient and caregiver safety, which mono-material solutions struggle to deliver.
"To help our customers in the in vitro diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries address these limitations and meet changing market needs, we built on our extensive processing and materials technology resource to provide a broader approach to barrier packaging," Davis says.
Source: packaging-technology
Kimberly-Clark paper workers claim strike victory
Kimberly-Clark has settled an industrial dispute with its paper processing and packaging workers in South Africa.
The deadlock between Kimberly-Clark and the union, CEPPWAWU, was resolved on 22 August after three weeks of strike action, supported by the UK print union Unite.
The union claimed victory in the dispute, saying the company had finally agreed to its terms, which included a wage rise and demands that temporary staff be made permanent.
The all-out strike across the union, which covers chemicals, paper, print, wood and furniture, led to petrol pumps running dry across South Africa.
Unite was not directly involved in the strike, but wrote to the chief executive of Kimberly-Clark in the US urging him to intervene in the dispute in South Africa, and sent copies of that letter to the Kimberly-Clark managing directors in the UK and all union representatives.
The UNI Global Union said in a statement: "Our affiliate, the CEPPWAWU and its members appreciate all the solidarity given by all the workers around the world during their strike action.
"The union wishes to send their thanks and gratitude for all the support. It has been shown that global worker solidarity is not just a dream but indeed a reality."
Kimberly-Clark was unavailable for comment.
Source: printweek
The deadlock between Kimberly-Clark and the union, CEPPWAWU, was resolved on 22 August after three weeks of strike action, supported by the UK print union Unite.
The union claimed victory in the dispute, saying the company had finally agreed to its terms, which included a wage rise and demands that temporary staff be made permanent.
The all-out strike across the union, which covers chemicals, paper, print, wood and furniture, led to petrol pumps running dry across South Africa.
Unite was not directly involved in the strike, but wrote to the chief executive of Kimberly-Clark in the US urging him to intervene in the dispute in South Africa, and sent copies of that letter to the Kimberly-Clark managing directors in the UK and all union representatives.
The UNI Global Union said in a statement: "Our affiliate, the CEPPWAWU and its members appreciate all the solidarity given by all the workers around the world during their strike action.
"The union wishes to send their thanks and gratitude for all the support. It has been shown that global worker solidarity is not just a dream but indeed a reality."
Kimberly-Clark was unavailable for comment.
Source: printweek
Newspapers stem readership decline with online offerings
National newspapers are countering the decline in print readership by continuing to grow online audiences, new circulation figures show.The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has released the group product reports for July, listing the online and print audiences of newspapers side by side.
The figures show that online audiences for some titles now dwarf those of print. In July, for example, The Guardian had an average daily circulation of 362,309 and its Sunday sister title The Observer had an average weekly circulation of 445,162. Meanwhile, Guardian Unlimited drew an average of 830,361 unique visitors every day – a whopping 16,058,979 over the month.
The Mail Online was in second place with 11,865,039 unique visitors over the month, followed by Times Online with 10,536,915, the Sun Online with 9,435,509 and Telegraph.co.uk with 8,992,526.
One glimmer of hope for printers is that much of the online growth is coming from overseas rather than replacing newsstand sales in the UK.
Only 50,541, or fewer than one in seven, of the printed copies of The Guardian were sold outside the UK, but the UK only accounted for 37% of page impressions on Guardian Unlimited.
The most recent newspaper ABCs showed steady falls in circulation across the entire paid-for market, with freesheets posting the only upbeat figures.
One positive development is that many newspapers have introduced free editions, bolstering the amount of newsprint overall. The Daily Record in Scotland had paid circulation of 405,036, but nearly 20,000 extra copies were distributed to evening commuters in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Source: printweek
Dress to impress
Coating – the general process of adding a coat of clear or semi-opaque varnish to a printed sheet or web – has grown massively in the past decade.
Demand has intensified, partly because of the drop in turnaround times – coating, sealing or varnishing a sheet makes it less likely to get scuffed during post-press – and partly because the technology has largely moved inline on an offset press, which reduces the cost and eliminates the handling and floorspace overheads of offline coating. A multicolour sheetfed offset press is now rarely sold without a coating unit or an extra print unit that can be used to seal if needed, and some estimates reckon that around 75% of the UK’s general commercial print output is now sealed.
As for offset, so also for digital: there’s a growing demand for coating in digital environments. With the use of variable data printing set to massively increase over the next couple of years, particularly in the direct mail sector, more customers than ever before are asking for jobs to be protected against the damage to toner-based print – more fragile than ink-based print – caused by mailing lines and postal sorting systems.
Enduring finish
Given the growth in inline coating, it stands to reason that some manufacturers of digital presses should have looked at the same route for the purpose of coating digital print. It’s an area that Xerox recently turned its attention to, with the release last year of the inline UV coater for its iGen3. The CTi-635 unit, made by US corporation Epic, is anilox-roll based, which gives a high-quality, enduring finish. And because it’s specially made for the iGen3, it uses Xerox’s Document Finishing Architecture interface, meaning it can be programmed from the iGen’s control panel.
Likewise, Kodak has offered the Fifth Imaging Unit for its NexPresses (models 2100 upwards) since 2004; the fifth unit is more flexible than the iGen3 dedicated coater approach, because when it’s not coating, it can be used for a fifth colour. The company also offers the Nexglosser glossing unit, which is a dedicated offline coater that puts a high-gloss finish onto prints coated with a clear dry ink on the fifth unit of a NexPress. Other printer manufacturers that have taken the inline route include Xeikon with the PrintProtector, an inline unit that Xeikon claims can help to eliminate static on post-press operations.
However, at a capital outlay of between £30,000 and £65,000 – not to mention click charges and service agreements, which can figure as part of the sales agreement – the average inline coating solution doesn’t come cheap. For users to get their money’s worth, it may be necessary to coat every sheet going through the press, which may not be what the printer in question wants or needs to do. And some coaters slow down the press, despite the instant UV flash curing process. On top of all that, inline digital coaters can be inflexible. For instance, with an anilox-based system, to vary the weight of coating applied it’s necessary to change the anilox for another with the appropriate cell density. And if you’re applying a spot coating, you’ll need an anilox engraved to the spot coating pattern required, which can be expensive.
For printers running digital presses that don’t have the option of an inline coating unit, the solution is to go offline for coating. In fact, there are strong arguments in favour of offline coating even if you do run a press with an optional inline coater, according to Alan Stewart, chief information officer of K2 Systems Group. K2’s A3 Digicoater and A2 Ultracoater offline UV coating systems have been enjoying a big surge in popularity in the light of demand from the digital sector. Stewart argues that an offline coating solution allows for the ultimate in flexibility: both offset and digital jobs can be coated, and the service can even be offered out on a trade basis. “Customers and printers all have widely differing demands, so having a standalone UV coating system allows for immediate address to everyone’s needs,” he says. Interestingly, K2 began its career in coating by making an inline system for hooking up to sheetfed digital presses (it still sells the NexGen inline system), but now focuses on its offline systems for the digital market.
Flexibility is one argument, but what about costs? The capital cost of an offline coater depends on its architecture: simple roller-coaters fall in the region of half to two-thirds the cost of an inline system, where aniloxes are heavier-duty and more expensive. Cost in use, however, is not a simple equation: inline coating incurs none of the handling costs associated with offline, which entails taking a job from one machine to another, plus loading and makeready time, as well as extra ‘overs’ for makeready wastage. The cost of consumables is identical for both methods: an A3 sheet can be coated for between 0.1 and 0.25p per sheet.
Offline and nearline
The offline approach is favoured by HP, whose UV Coater is designed to stand ‘nearline’ to the press. The sheetfed device coats in gloss, matt and satin finishes with ‘virtually’ no drying time, at up to 8,000 A4 sheets per hour. The speed matches the output of most of the HP Indigo press range, so it’s not for speed reasons that Indigo has chosen to go offline: it’s for flexibility. “Finishing is an area of opportunity,” says HP senior vice president for graphics and imaging Stephen Nigro. He adds that the UV Coater has been built in-house by HP from scratch, “as we couldn’t find a strong partner”.
The third-party offline systems currently on the market vary in terms of the type of coatings they can apply (UV or aqueous, and whether the user can switch easily on a job-by-job basis), how those coatings are applied (anilox, plate or simple roller coating), and whether they can only handle all-over ‘flood’ coatings or can additionally handle selective or spot coatings. Epic Products’ offline system, the CT-660, uses an anilox system for flood or spot, aqueous or UV coatings. Prime UV’s Digital Offline UV Coating System uses rollers for all-over flood coatings. Dorn SPE’s offline coating models are all roller coaters with flood capabilities only, as are Olec’s DMC series. Kompac’s Kwik Finish offline coater is a roller-coater, but can take plates for spot coatings in aqueous or UV formulations. Equicoat’s eponymous offline system is a hand-fed roller-coater that carries out only flood coating using UV formulations. UV is the coating formulation of choice for digital work due to its ability to cure instantly, but other machines offer alternative drying solutions for aqueous coating formulations.
Just as the offline coating sector appears to be on the brink of a revival in popularity, manufacturers are beginning to wake up to the possibilities of inkjet technology in the coating world. Inkjet may provide a boost to the sector, bringing the option of in-house, truly flexible offline coating solutions to many digital printers for the first time.
Drop-on-demand
Montreal-based PAT Technology Systems has launched ‘the world’s first truly digital UV coater’, the Varstar, an offline system that applies UV coatings via five Xaar drop-on-demand piezo inkjet printheads. It’s immediately obvious how the inkjet-based application architecture brings immense flexibility to the coating process: coatings can be flood or spot without any need for hardware such as aniloxes, plates or blankets. The fact that the Varstar uses greyscale printheads means that gloss levels can be varied on the run if necessary. The pay-off for all this flexibility, as ever, is speed and format: the Varstar handles a B2 maximum sheet size at a top rate of 1,750 sheets per hour, ie, 7,000 A4 sheets per hour. And the Varstar’s price, while not too exorbitant compared with inline solutions, is high in virtue of its operational flexibility: around £86,000.
While most manufacturers of coating equipment don’t specify the use of particular coatings formulations for use with their equipment when running digital print, it’s worth noting that there are various formulations that have been specially designed to work with digital print. The difficulty in using conventional formulations is twofold: first, the microlayer of fuser oil laid over a digitally-printed sheet means it can be hard for standard coating formulations to adhere to the sheet; and second, the fractionally raised edges of toner-based print (generated by the size of toner particles compared with offset ink) means that a coating or varnish applied to a digitally-printed sheet risks looking lumpy. Last year, Fuji Hunt introduced Ultracoat UV X2, a high-gloss or satin finish varnish designed specifically for toner-based digital printers. Director of marketing Michael Tocci believes the digital market is poorly understood when it comes to varnish products: “The industry is well supported by UV coatings used in the offset process. But Fuji Hunt is committed to developing innovative UV coating solutions to the under-supported digital market,” he says. Ultracoat UV X2 was developed specifically for Xerox’s iGen3, but, Fuji claims, gives “excellent” results in offline coaters as well.
Source: printweek
Demand has intensified, partly because of the drop in turnaround times – coating, sealing or varnishing a sheet makes it less likely to get scuffed during post-press – and partly because the technology has largely moved inline on an offset press, which reduces the cost and eliminates the handling and floorspace overheads of offline coating. A multicolour sheetfed offset press is now rarely sold without a coating unit or an extra print unit that can be used to seal if needed, and some estimates reckon that around 75% of the UK’s general commercial print output is now sealed.
As for offset, so also for digital: there’s a growing demand for coating in digital environments. With the use of variable data printing set to massively increase over the next couple of years, particularly in the direct mail sector, more customers than ever before are asking for jobs to be protected against the damage to toner-based print – more fragile than ink-based print – caused by mailing lines and postal sorting systems.
Enduring finish
Given the growth in inline coating, it stands to reason that some manufacturers of digital presses should have looked at the same route for the purpose of coating digital print. It’s an area that Xerox recently turned its attention to, with the release last year of the inline UV coater for its iGen3. The CTi-635 unit, made by US corporation Epic, is anilox-roll based, which gives a high-quality, enduring finish. And because it’s specially made for the iGen3, it uses Xerox’s Document Finishing Architecture interface, meaning it can be programmed from the iGen’s control panel.
Likewise, Kodak has offered the Fifth Imaging Unit for its NexPresses (models 2100 upwards) since 2004; the fifth unit is more flexible than the iGen3 dedicated coater approach, because when it’s not coating, it can be used for a fifth colour. The company also offers the Nexglosser glossing unit, which is a dedicated offline coater that puts a high-gloss finish onto prints coated with a clear dry ink on the fifth unit of a NexPress. Other printer manufacturers that have taken the inline route include Xeikon with the PrintProtector, an inline unit that Xeikon claims can help to eliminate static on post-press operations.
However, at a capital outlay of between £30,000 and £65,000 – not to mention click charges and service agreements, which can figure as part of the sales agreement – the average inline coating solution doesn’t come cheap. For users to get their money’s worth, it may be necessary to coat every sheet going through the press, which may not be what the printer in question wants or needs to do. And some coaters slow down the press, despite the instant UV flash curing process. On top of all that, inline digital coaters can be inflexible. For instance, with an anilox-based system, to vary the weight of coating applied it’s necessary to change the anilox for another with the appropriate cell density. And if you’re applying a spot coating, you’ll need an anilox engraved to the spot coating pattern required, which can be expensive.
For printers running digital presses that don’t have the option of an inline coating unit, the solution is to go offline for coating. In fact, there are strong arguments in favour of offline coating even if you do run a press with an optional inline coater, according to Alan Stewart, chief information officer of K2 Systems Group. K2’s A3 Digicoater and A2 Ultracoater offline UV coating systems have been enjoying a big surge in popularity in the light of demand from the digital sector. Stewart argues that an offline coating solution allows for the ultimate in flexibility: both offset and digital jobs can be coated, and the service can even be offered out on a trade basis. “Customers and printers all have widely differing demands, so having a standalone UV coating system allows for immediate address to everyone’s needs,” he says. Interestingly, K2 began its career in coating by making an inline system for hooking up to sheetfed digital presses (it still sells the NexGen inline system), but now focuses on its offline systems for the digital market.
Flexibility is one argument, but what about costs? The capital cost of an offline coater depends on its architecture: simple roller-coaters fall in the region of half to two-thirds the cost of an inline system, where aniloxes are heavier-duty and more expensive. Cost in use, however, is not a simple equation: inline coating incurs none of the handling costs associated with offline, which entails taking a job from one machine to another, plus loading and makeready time, as well as extra ‘overs’ for makeready wastage. The cost of consumables is identical for both methods: an A3 sheet can be coated for between 0.1 and 0.25p per sheet.
Offline and nearline
The offline approach is favoured by HP, whose UV Coater is designed to stand ‘nearline’ to the press. The sheetfed device coats in gloss, matt and satin finishes with ‘virtually’ no drying time, at up to 8,000 A4 sheets per hour. The speed matches the output of most of the HP Indigo press range, so it’s not for speed reasons that Indigo has chosen to go offline: it’s for flexibility. “Finishing is an area of opportunity,” says HP senior vice president for graphics and imaging Stephen Nigro. He adds that the UV Coater has been built in-house by HP from scratch, “as we couldn’t find a strong partner”.
The third-party offline systems currently on the market vary in terms of the type of coatings they can apply (UV or aqueous, and whether the user can switch easily on a job-by-job basis), how those coatings are applied (anilox, plate or simple roller coating), and whether they can only handle all-over ‘flood’ coatings or can additionally handle selective or spot coatings. Epic Products’ offline system, the CT-660, uses an anilox system for flood or spot, aqueous or UV coatings. Prime UV’s Digital Offline UV Coating System uses rollers for all-over flood coatings. Dorn SPE’s offline coating models are all roller coaters with flood capabilities only, as are Olec’s DMC series. Kompac’s Kwik Finish offline coater is a roller-coater, but can take plates for spot coatings in aqueous or UV formulations. Equicoat’s eponymous offline system is a hand-fed roller-coater that carries out only flood coating using UV formulations. UV is the coating formulation of choice for digital work due to its ability to cure instantly, but other machines offer alternative drying solutions for aqueous coating formulations.
Just as the offline coating sector appears to be on the brink of a revival in popularity, manufacturers are beginning to wake up to the possibilities of inkjet technology in the coating world. Inkjet may provide a boost to the sector, bringing the option of in-house, truly flexible offline coating solutions to many digital printers for the first time.
Drop-on-demand
Montreal-based PAT Technology Systems has launched ‘the world’s first truly digital UV coater’, the Varstar, an offline system that applies UV coatings via five Xaar drop-on-demand piezo inkjet printheads. It’s immediately obvious how the inkjet-based application architecture brings immense flexibility to the coating process: coatings can be flood or spot without any need for hardware such as aniloxes, plates or blankets. The fact that the Varstar uses greyscale printheads means that gloss levels can be varied on the run if necessary. The pay-off for all this flexibility, as ever, is speed and format: the Varstar handles a B2 maximum sheet size at a top rate of 1,750 sheets per hour, ie, 7,000 A4 sheets per hour. And the Varstar’s price, while not too exorbitant compared with inline solutions, is high in virtue of its operational flexibility: around £86,000.
While most manufacturers of coating equipment don’t specify the use of particular coatings formulations for use with their equipment when running digital print, it’s worth noting that there are various formulations that have been specially designed to work with digital print. The difficulty in using conventional formulations is twofold: first, the microlayer of fuser oil laid over a digitally-printed sheet means it can be hard for standard coating formulations to adhere to the sheet; and second, the fractionally raised edges of toner-based print (generated by the size of toner particles compared with offset ink) means that a coating or varnish applied to a digitally-printed sheet risks looking lumpy. Last year, Fuji Hunt introduced Ultracoat UV X2, a high-gloss or satin finish varnish designed specifically for toner-based digital printers. Director of marketing Michael Tocci believes the digital market is poorly understood when it comes to varnish products: “The industry is well supported by UV coatings used in the offset process. But Fuji Hunt is committed to developing innovative UV coating solutions to the under-supported digital market,” he says. Ultracoat UV X2 was developed specifically for Xerox’s iGen3, but, Fuji claims, gives “excellent” results in offline coaters as well.
Source: printweek
Pharma packaging goes futuristic
A France-based packaging solutions company plans to launch heat-shrink labels with integrated holograms into the pharma industry, in what it believes will be the next big counterfeiting solution for the sector.
Sleever International is in discussions with a major but undisclosed pharmaceutical company for the use of the newly launched Holosleeve 3D, an integrated packaging solution which combines three disclosed technologies to deter counterfeiters on several levels.
The product was first developed for the alcohol and spirits market with the recent release of the application for Hennessy Cognac XO, but Sleever has now focussed on the pharmaceutical industry.
The counterfeit drug industry is currently booming with estimates that the black market would reach $75bn (€55.6bn) by 2010. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, barcodes and various other solutions have been offered to the industry as security measures.
Speaking to in-PharmaTechnologist.com, Sleever marketing manager Pascal Leroy said the Holosleeve 3D "is one of the best answers" to the "very very difficult problem" of counterfeits.
Combining three disclosed technologies, the Holosleeve 3D is a heat-shrink label integrated with holograms, and based on the same idea where holograms are used on bank notes.
The first technology is the sleeve, which in the case of Hennessy Cognac goes around the neck of the bottle, that can remember its deformation after heat shrinking, making it possible to create relief effects or three dimensional patterns. In this way the name of the brand can be written in relief on the sleeve.
The second technology is the printing on the sleeve creating a three dimensional (3D) motif combined with up to six-colour helio-engraving printing in addition to highly precise positioning and a vast range of special effects which are very difficult to copy.
The third technology, developed in partnership with Hologram Industries, involves a new generation of high-security demetallic holograms, which self destruct when the bottle, or pharmaceutical package, is opened.
Leroy said the product was virtually tamper-proof because no one else had the technological capability to be able to copy the sleeve.
"This technology changes year-after-year. Holosleeve was launched a couple of years ago but now we have added more technology to further complicate it for someone to copy. If you look at the solution in five years it will be different to ensure the product would not be copied."
While it was too early to name a pharmaceutical launch date for the Holosleeve 3D, Leroy said it would be easy to apply the product to pharmaceuticals.
"On a bottle it would be very simple; it is the same system as for wine. We can apply the Holosleeve even if the product is in a carton, plastic or metal box. The final result from a design point of view would be different," Leroy said.
He also said it would be possible to incorporate a track and trace mechanism but declined to comment further.
The cost of the product was undisclosed.
"Production price is nothing compared to the risks to brand image."
"If you buy fake cognac it might be tea and you're still alive, but if you buy a fake medic the consequences could be very different."
Source: in-pharmatechnologist
Sleever International is in discussions with a major but undisclosed pharmaceutical company for the use of the newly launched Holosleeve 3D, an integrated packaging solution which combines three disclosed technologies to deter counterfeiters on several levels.
The product was first developed for the alcohol and spirits market with the recent release of the application for Hennessy Cognac XO, but Sleever has now focussed on the pharmaceutical industry.
The counterfeit drug industry is currently booming with estimates that the black market would reach $75bn (€55.6bn) by 2010. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, barcodes and various other solutions have been offered to the industry as security measures.
Speaking to in-PharmaTechnologist.com, Sleever marketing manager Pascal Leroy said the Holosleeve 3D "is one of the best answers" to the "very very difficult problem" of counterfeits.
Combining three disclosed technologies, the Holosleeve 3D is a heat-shrink label integrated with holograms, and based on the same idea where holograms are used on bank notes.
The first technology is the sleeve, which in the case of Hennessy Cognac goes around the neck of the bottle, that can remember its deformation after heat shrinking, making it possible to create relief effects or three dimensional patterns. In this way the name of the brand can be written in relief on the sleeve.
The second technology is the printing on the sleeve creating a three dimensional (3D) motif combined with up to six-colour helio-engraving printing in addition to highly precise positioning and a vast range of special effects which are very difficult to copy.
The third technology, developed in partnership with Hologram Industries, involves a new generation of high-security demetallic holograms, which self destruct when the bottle, or pharmaceutical package, is opened.
Leroy said the product was virtually tamper-proof because no one else had the technological capability to be able to copy the sleeve.
"This technology changes year-after-year. Holosleeve was launched a couple of years ago but now we have added more technology to further complicate it for someone to copy. If you look at the solution in five years it will be different to ensure the product would not be copied."
While it was too early to name a pharmaceutical launch date for the Holosleeve 3D, Leroy said it would be easy to apply the product to pharmaceuticals.
"On a bottle it would be very simple; it is the same system as for wine. We can apply the Holosleeve even if the product is in a carton, plastic or metal box. The final result from a design point of view would be different," Leroy said.
He also said it would be possible to incorporate a track and trace mechanism but declined to comment further.
The cost of the product was undisclosed.
"Production price is nothing compared to the risks to brand image."
"If you buy fake cognac it might be tea and you're still alive, but if you buy a fake medic the consequences could be very different."
Source: in-pharmatechnologist
Pharma packaging goes futuristic
A France-based packaging solutions company plans to launch heat-shrink labels with integrated holograms into the pharma industry, in what it believes will be the next big counterfeiting solution for the sector.
Sleever International is in discussions with a major but undisclosed pharmaceutical company for the use of the newly launched Holosleeve 3D, an integrated packaging solution which combines three disclosed technologies to deter counterfeiters on several levels.
The product was first developed for the alcohol and spirits market with the recent release of the application for Hennessy Cognac XO, but Sleever has now focussed on the pharmaceutical industry.
The counterfeit drug industry is currently booming with estimates that the black market would reach $75bn (€55.6bn) by 2010. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, barcodes and various other solutions have been offered to the industry as security measures.
Speaking to in-PharmaTechnologist.com, Sleever marketing manager Pascal Leroy said the Holosleeve 3D "is one of the best answers" to the "very very difficult problem" of counterfeits.
Combining three disclosed technologies, the Holosleeve 3D is a heat-shrink label integrated with holograms, and based on the same idea where holograms are used on bank notes.
The first technology is the sleeve, which in the case of Hennessy Cognac goes around the neck of the bottle, that can remember its deformation after heat shrinking, making it possible to create relief effects or three dimensional patterns. In this way the name of the brand can be written in relief on the sleeve.
The second technology is the printing on the sleeve creating a three dimensional (3D) motif combined with up to six-colour helio-engraving printing in addition to highly precise positioning and a vast range of special effects which are very difficult to copy.
The third technology, developed in partnership with Hologram Industries, involves a new generation of high-security demetallic holograms, which self destruct when the bottle, or pharmaceutical package, is opened.
Leroy said the product was virtually tamper-proof because no one else had the technological capability to be able to copy the sleeve.
"This technology changes year-after-year. Holosleeve was launched a couple of years ago but now we have added more technology to further complicate it for someone to copy. If you look at the solution in five years it will be different to ensure the product would not be copied."
While it was too early to name a pharmaceutical launch date for the Holosleeve 3D, Leroy said it would be easy to apply the product to pharmaceuticals.
"On a bottle it would be very simple; it is the same system as for wine. We can apply the Holosleeve even if the product is in a carton, plastic or metal box. The final result from a design point of view would be different," Leroy said.
He also said it would be possible to incorporate a track and trace mechanism but declined to comment further.
The cost of the product was undisclosed.
"Production price is nothing compared to the risks to brand image."
"If you buy fake cognac it might be tea and you're still alive, but if you buy a fake medic the consequences could be very different."
Source: in-pharmatechnologist
Sleever International is in discussions with a major but undisclosed pharmaceutical company for the use of the newly launched Holosleeve 3D, an integrated packaging solution which combines three disclosed technologies to deter counterfeiters on several levels.
The product was first developed for the alcohol and spirits market with the recent release of the application for Hennessy Cognac XO, but Sleever has now focussed on the pharmaceutical industry.
The counterfeit drug industry is currently booming with estimates that the black market would reach $75bn (€55.6bn) by 2010. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, barcodes and various other solutions have been offered to the industry as security measures.
Speaking to in-PharmaTechnologist.com, Sleever marketing manager Pascal Leroy said the Holosleeve 3D "is one of the best answers" to the "very very difficult problem" of counterfeits.
Combining three disclosed technologies, the Holosleeve 3D is a heat-shrink label integrated with holograms, and based on the same idea where holograms are used on bank notes.
The first technology is the sleeve, which in the case of Hennessy Cognac goes around the neck of the bottle, that can remember its deformation after heat shrinking, making it possible to create relief effects or three dimensional patterns. In this way the name of the brand can be written in relief on the sleeve.
The second technology is the printing on the sleeve creating a three dimensional (3D) motif combined with up to six-colour helio-engraving printing in addition to highly precise positioning and a vast range of special effects which are very difficult to copy.
The third technology, developed in partnership with Hologram Industries, involves a new generation of high-security demetallic holograms, which self destruct when the bottle, or pharmaceutical package, is opened.
Leroy said the product was virtually tamper-proof because no one else had the technological capability to be able to copy the sleeve.
"This technology changes year-after-year. Holosleeve was launched a couple of years ago but now we have added more technology to further complicate it for someone to copy. If you look at the solution in five years it will be different to ensure the product would not be copied."
While it was too early to name a pharmaceutical launch date for the Holosleeve 3D, Leroy said it would be easy to apply the product to pharmaceuticals.
"On a bottle it would be very simple; it is the same system as for wine. We can apply the Holosleeve even if the product is in a carton, plastic or metal box. The final result from a design point of view would be different," Leroy said.
He also said it would be possible to incorporate a track and trace mechanism but declined to comment further.
The cost of the product was undisclosed.
"Production price is nothing compared to the risks to brand image."
"If you buy fake cognac it might be tea and you're still alive, but if you buy a fake medic the consequences could be very different."
Source: in-pharmatechnologist
United Drug makes second EU packaging purchase
United Drug has made its second European contract packaging purchase as the Irish services firm continues to pursue expansion across the continent.
For €15.4m United has agreed to acquire Pharma Logistics Investments (PLI), based in Heerenveen in Northern Holland. Under the deal United has also agreed to pay an additional €5.5m based on achievement of agreed targets over the next three years.
PLI provides its packaging services primarily for generic pharmaceuticals and healthcare products throughout Europe and currently employs 125 people, all of whom will remain with the business.
United Drug's Chief Executive, Liam FitzGerald said he plans to invest further in the new business to "facilitate its future growth".
"PLI complements our existing packaging businesses, Budelpack in Belgium and TD Packaging in the UK and expands our geographic reach in contract packaging", he said.
Indeed, although United's core business is that of a pharmaceutical wholesaler, FitzGerald has been forthcoming with his plans to move the company into new areas on the international stage through a strategy of both organic and acquisitive growth.
In April this year the firm made its first foray beyond Ireland and the UK into mainland Europe, with the purchase of Budelpack, and the company's latest acquisition of another packaging firm in Europe comes as no surprise.
At United's annual general meeting at the end of February, FitzGerald said that he would specifically be targeting take-over opportunities with contract packaging firms and medical and scientific companies and indicated that the firm would have around €150m to throw at such deals over the coming year.
Sparking the company's metamorphic plans is the fact that over the past decade European pharmaceutical wholesalers have been facing tough times. Margins continue to be squeezed as a result of government efforts to reduce the increasing financial burdens of drugs on public health care expenditures and as a result, the industry has experienced considerable consolidation in order to remain economically viable.
"The current model of purely relying on re-sale price earnings on pharmaceuticals is no longer sustainable, however, the industry as a whole is not evolving," FitzGerald told Outsourcing-Pharma.com at last year's annual general meeting of the European Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (GIRP) in Budapest.
"Pharmaceutical wholesalers in Europe need to evolve to meet the changing pharma market and a world of opportunity awaits for those willing to think beyond their traditional business model and move to compete in the outsourcing arena."
Source: in-pharmatechnologist
For €15.4m United has agreed to acquire Pharma Logistics Investments (PLI), based in Heerenveen in Northern Holland. Under the deal United has also agreed to pay an additional €5.5m based on achievement of agreed targets over the next three years.
PLI provides its packaging services primarily for generic pharmaceuticals and healthcare products throughout Europe and currently employs 125 people, all of whom will remain with the business.
United Drug's Chief Executive, Liam FitzGerald said he plans to invest further in the new business to "facilitate its future growth".
"PLI complements our existing packaging businesses, Budelpack in Belgium and TD Packaging in the UK and expands our geographic reach in contract packaging", he said.
Indeed, although United's core business is that of a pharmaceutical wholesaler, FitzGerald has been forthcoming with his plans to move the company into new areas on the international stage through a strategy of both organic and acquisitive growth.
In April this year the firm made its first foray beyond Ireland and the UK into mainland Europe, with the purchase of Budelpack, and the company's latest acquisition of another packaging firm in Europe comes as no surprise.
At United's annual general meeting at the end of February, FitzGerald said that he would specifically be targeting take-over opportunities with contract packaging firms and medical and scientific companies and indicated that the firm would have around €150m to throw at such deals over the coming year.
Sparking the company's metamorphic plans is the fact that over the past decade European pharmaceutical wholesalers have been facing tough times. Margins continue to be squeezed as a result of government efforts to reduce the increasing financial burdens of drugs on public health care expenditures and as a result, the industry has experienced considerable consolidation in order to remain economically viable.
"The current model of purely relying on re-sale price earnings on pharmaceuticals is no longer sustainable, however, the industry as a whole is not evolving," FitzGerald told Outsourcing-Pharma.com at last year's annual general meeting of the European Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (GIRP) in Budapest.
"Pharmaceutical wholesalers in Europe need to evolve to meet the changing pharma market and a world of opportunity awaits for those willing to think beyond their traditional business model and move to compete in the outsourcing arena."
Source: in-pharmatechnologist
Pegasus Printing opens its books for due diligence inspection
The Sydney printing company may be next in line for a Private Equity bid. After all, it must be over a month since a major printing company was taken over.
Accountants Price Waterhouse are currently conducting an inspection of the company's records.
Although no one is talking, industry speculation points to either Blue Star or rival GEON as the likely buyer. Well-known industry identity, Wayne Finkelde, general manager, remained tightlipped when approached for a comment, although there are plenty of rumours about.
The company itself was an active consolidator up to last year, buying MAPS Litho from Bruce Meers to add to its Teldon takeovers. In recent time the Blacktown-based company, which among its other activities prints for Woolworths, installed a Heidelberg long-prefecting press. It also consolidated the printing from MAPS at French's Forest to the Blacktown site.
If the deal goes ahead it will continue the massive consolidation underway since Private Equity funds Gresham and Champ entered the industry last year. Since then it has become a race between the two printing groups to snap up mid-size printing companies along the east coast of Australia.
Most recently Blue Star picked up Bob McMillan’s in July as well as ACT-based printer National Capital Printing in May. GEON bought Sydney company, Dynamic Press in June and Brisbane mailhouse, Laser Solutions in August
It goes to show that the current financial turmoil is unlikely to stop a stop to the determined consolidation underway on both sides of the Tasman
Source: print21online
Accountants Price Waterhouse are currently conducting an inspection of the company's records.
Although no one is talking, industry speculation points to either Blue Star or rival GEON as the likely buyer. Well-known industry identity, Wayne Finkelde, general manager, remained tightlipped when approached for a comment, although there are plenty of rumours about.
The company itself was an active consolidator up to last year, buying MAPS Litho from Bruce Meers to add to its Teldon takeovers. In recent time the Blacktown-based company, which among its other activities prints for Woolworths, installed a Heidelberg long-prefecting press. It also consolidated the printing from MAPS at French's Forest to the Blacktown site.
If the deal goes ahead it will continue the massive consolidation underway since Private Equity funds Gresham and Champ entered the industry last year. Since then it has become a race between the two printing groups to snap up mid-size printing companies along the east coast of Australia.
Most recently Blue Star picked up Bob McMillan’s in July as well as ACT-based printer National Capital Printing in May. GEON bought Sydney company, Dynamic Press in June and Brisbane mailhouse, Laser Solutions in August
It goes to show that the current financial turmoil is unlikely to stop a stop to the determined consolidation underway on both sides of the Tasman
Source: print21online
Why are printers ignoring Generation Y?
New research pinpoints Generation Y as being most affected by skills shortages; and yes, that includes the printing industry.
Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research found that the supply of young people in the workforce is low, due to the ageing of the Australian population and the relative decline in the number of young people.
"Occasionally in history, rapid technological change combines with massive demographic change and with one generation change society alters altogether," McCrindle said.
"Today we are living in one such era."
Key findings in the report were that 30 per cent of the total workforce is employed on a casual basis, while for Generation Y this has risen to over 40 per cent, and that employers have to ensure Gen Y are effectively trained and managed for work outcomes and productivity to be maintained.
The printing industry is not adequately promoting itself to those who fall inside the Gen Y age bracket, according to McCrindle.
"I don't think they are doing enough," he said.
"When it comes to apprenticeships, many people say that Gen Y aren't interested in those traditional trades so we look to older and overseas workers when we have a whole TAFE industry to get young people into traditional trades [like printing]."
Printing Industries CEO Philip Andersen agreed that the skills shortage would be around for a long time, but added that there are also procedures in place to attract youth.
"We are now in the midst of a technological revolution affecting the way traditional production is handled and creating a new myriad of communication products and services. With this comes the need for people with new skill sets, in particular Generation Y people who have been brought up with technology and would relish technology-based careers," he said.
"We are currently working with the Institute of Trade Skills Excellence to get a star rating for Registered Training Organisations to provide employers and potential employees with a guide to what they can expect from the many different training institutions."
Part of the solution lies in throwing some light on an industry that is all too often associated with the dark ages. Effective marketing will go a long way in doing this, McCrindle said.
"The industry has to reposition itself as offering real careers," he said. "In the early 90s, the accounting industry re-branded itself. It once had a daggy reputation but they turned it around and made it attractive. The military has also done quite well in promoting itself to young people."
Anderson recognises that this is often the case. "Poor perceptions of what the industry can provide still abound," he said.
"Our film Imagine: A World Without Print? took a step in the right direction of changing these perceptions, but it's only one step on a very long road. We are working with government and the various skills councils to get better results for the industry including wider promotion of the skills packages to young people."
Industry identity Colin Bowd sees the DVD as merely a starting point in what must become an ongoing conversation with youth. (For more analysis, read his letter).
"The DVD was a good start but we need some evolution from it," he said. "Going out to visit schools is a good idea."
Being dynamic and proactive will win out, McCrindle believe. "We've got to show young people not just the dirty old factory out the back but the fact that printing is 21st century and involves innovation, new technology, entrepreneurism and all the things that Gen Y want," he said.
"It [printing] is more than dirty hands and overalls."
Andersen concluded that: "There are no simple solutions for the skills shortages and, as the McCrindle research shows, no quick and simple solutions to fix it."
Source: print21online
Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research found that the supply of young people in the workforce is low, due to the ageing of the Australian population and the relative decline in the number of young people.
"Occasionally in history, rapid technological change combines with massive demographic change and with one generation change society alters altogether," McCrindle said.
"Today we are living in one such era."
Key findings in the report were that 30 per cent of the total workforce is employed on a casual basis, while for Generation Y this has risen to over 40 per cent, and that employers have to ensure Gen Y are effectively trained and managed for work outcomes and productivity to be maintained.
The printing industry is not adequately promoting itself to those who fall inside the Gen Y age bracket, according to McCrindle.
"I don't think they are doing enough," he said.
"When it comes to apprenticeships, many people say that Gen Y aren't interested in those traditional trades so we look to older and overseas workers when we have a whole TAFE industry to get young people into traditional trades [like printing]."
Printing Industries CEO Philip Andersen agreed that the skills shortage would be around for a long time, but added that there are also procedures in place to attract youth.
"We are now in the midst of a technological revolution affecting the way traditional production is handled and creating a new myriad of communication products and services. With this comes the need for people with new skill sets, in particular Generation Y people who have been brought up with technology and would relish technology-based careers," he said.
"We are currently working with the Institute of Trade Skills Excellence to get a star rating for Registered Training Organisations to provide employers and potential employees with a guide to what they can expect from the many different training institutions."
Part of the solution lies in throwing some light on an industry that is all too often associated with the dark ages. Effective marketing will go a long way in doing this, McCrindle said.
"The industry has to reposition itself as offering real careers," he said. "In the early 90s, the accounting industry re-branded itself. It once had a daggy reputation but they turned it around and made it attractive. The military has also done quite well in promoting itself to young people."
Anderson recognises that this is often the case. "Poor perceptions of what the industry can provide still abound," he said.
"Our film Imagine: A World Without Print? took a step in the right direction of changing these perceptions, but it's only one step on a very long road. We are working with government and the various skills councils to get better results for the industry including wider promotion of the skills packages to young people."
Industry identity Colin Bowd sees the DVD as merely a starting point in what must become an ongoing conversation with youth. (For more analysis, read his letter).
"The DVD was a good start but we need some evolution from it," he said. "Going out to visit schools is a good idea."
Being dynamic and proactive will win out, McCrindle believe. "We've got to show young people not just the dirty old factory out the back but the fact that printing is 21st century and involves innovation, new technology, entrepreneurism and all the things that Gen Y want," he said.
"It [printing] is more than dirty hands and overalls."
Andersen concluded that: "There are no simple solutions for the skills shortages and, as the McCrindle research shows, no quick and simple solutions to fix it."
Source: print21online
$31 million printing press set for Tasmania
Tasmania may be the state most Australians have forgot, but News Limited value it enough to build a new $31 million printing press.
For Tony Yianni, managing director of Davies Brothers, which publishes the two newspapers, the Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian, investing in the new press was a way of keeping the business active.
"It will allow us to provide a significant new range of services to readers and advertisers and will dramatically enhance the quality of our publications," he said.
The new press will enable full colour printing on every page up to 80 pages. Additional equipment will offer full trimming, stitching, gluing and folding capabilities, as well as automated inserting. A new plant will be constructed at Technopark, north of Hobart, which will replace the current press in Argyle Street. The building will house a single width five-tower press along with conveying, stacking, product finishing and automated inserting equipment.
All other operations of the newspaper group will continue to be based in the city at 93 Macquarie Street where the company was established 150 years ago.
Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon gave the development the thumbs up, saying it was a positive step forward for Tasmania. "It is excellent to see a long-standing Tasmanian company reinvesting with an eye to the future," he said.
"Ongoing investment in Tasmania, like the Mercury's new printing press, is exactly what we need to keep growing our economy and creating new job opportunities and prosperity in our state."
A spokesman from News Limited would not disclose which company would be supplying the printing equipment to the new press. It is also uncertain when actual construction will commence; the spokesman could only comment that the newspaper will be printed on the new press within two years.
Source: print21online
For Tony Yianni, managing director of Davies Brothers, which publishes the two newspapers, the Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian, investing in the new press was a way of keeping the business active.
"It will allow us to provide a significant new range of services to readers and advertisers and will dramatically enhance the quality of our publications," he said.
The new press will enable full colour printing on every page up to 80 pages. Additional equipment will offer full trimming, stitching, gluing and folding capabilities, as well as automated inserting. A new plant will be constructed at Technopark, north of Hobart, which will replace the current press in Argyle Street. The building will house a single width five-tower press along with conveying, stacking, product finishing and automated inserting equipment.
All other operations of the newspaper group will continue to be based in the city at 93 Macquarie Street where the company was established 150 years ago.
Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon gave the development the thumbs up, saying it was a positive step forward for Tasmania. "It is excellent to see a long-standing Tasmanian company reinvesting with an eye to the future," he said.
"Ongoing investment in Tasmania, like the Mercury's new printing press, is exactly what we need to keep growing our economy and creating new job opportunities and prosperity in our state."
A spokesman from News Limited would not disclose which company would be supplying the printing equipment to the new press. It is also uncertain when actual construction will commence; the spokesman could only comment that the newspaper will be printed on the new press within two years.
Source: print21online
New shiny PET bottles target bemused consumers
Impressions Packaging has launched a range of shiny packaging products that reflect the growing need for cosmetics companies to attract customers bemused by crowded aisles.
Market interest in the bright metal look led the company to produce the shiny heavy wall PET bottles, which are available across the United States in aluminium, brass, copper, pewter and blue steel colors.
Co-founder Rob Hyames said the bright look and added thickness of the New Shiny Metallics helps place them at the higher end of the market.
Hyames said: "Everything looks the same when you go into a store. These bottles should stand out from the crowd and their look is very popular in today's cosmetic, personal care, spa and speciality applications packaging."
The cosmetic industry's demand for packaging and labeling that can compete for customer attention on retail shelves is driving the development of elaborate and eye-catching packaging. Impressions Packaging's shiny metal bottles fit in with this market trend.
Other popular attention grabbing effects include interference and color shifting, luminescent and phosphorescent, fluorescent, light sensitive photochromic and colour changing thermochromic finishes.
Ciba has also just announced the development of a colorful selection of plastics for many applications including cosmetics packaging. The company said the new products are available in various shades but all of them sparkle with gold - some in two tones, some in tiny sprinkles and others in glossy liquid flow.
As for the Impressions Packaging bottles, they are developed for the cosmetics market and are especially suitable for spray or pump applications because the walls are particularly thick.
According to the company, thick PET bottles have many advantages over their thinner cousins. Hyanes said that they don't dent easily, they are easy to print on and their strength gives them a high quality feel.
The Georgia-based firm can produce the new shiny metallic bottles in any of its heavy wall stock line of rounds and cylinders in 3.3, 4, 6.7 and 8 ounce capacities. It can also produce custom shapes to ensure that the packaging matches the finished product.
Source: cosmeticsdesign
Market interest in the bright metal look led the company to produce the shiny heavy wall PET bottles, which are available across the United States in aluminium, brass, copper, pewter and blue steel colors.
Co-founder Rob Hyames said the bright look and added thickness of the New Shiny Metallics helps place them at the higher end of the market.
Hyames said: "Everything looks the same when you go into a store. These bottles should stand out from the crowd and their look is very popular in today's cosmetic, personal care, spa and speciality applications packaging."
The cosmetic industry's demand for packaging and labeling that can compete for customer attention on retail shelves is driving the development of elaborate and eye-catching packaging. Impressions Packaging's shiny metal bottles fit in with this market trend.
Other popular attention grabbing effects include interference and color shifting, luminescent and phosphorescent, fluorescent, light sensitive photochromic and colour changing thermochromic finishes.
Ciba has also just announced the development of a colorful selection of plastics for many applications including cosmetics packaging. The company said the new products are available in various shades but all of them sparkle with gold - some in two tones, some in tiny sprinkles and others in glossy liquid flow.
As for the Impressions Packaging bottles, they are developed for the cosmetics market and are especially suitable for spray or pump applications because the walls are particularly thick.
According to the company, thick PET bottles have many advantages over their thinner cousins. Hyanes said that they don't dent easily, they are easy to print on and their strength gives them a high quality feel.
The Georgia-based firm can produce the new shiny metallic bottles in any of its heavy wall stock line of rounds and cylinders in 3.3, 4, 6.7 and 8 ounce capacities. It can also produce custom shapes to ensure that the packaging matches the finished product.
Source: cosmeticsdesign
Aug 20, 2007
Sealed Air tipped to buy Alcan Packaging
Sealed Air, the protective packaging specialist, has been named as the likely buyer of Alcan's packaging business.The New Jersey-based firm has been tipped in US newspapers to pay £2bn-£2.5bn ($4bn-$5bn) in cash in a deal to be announced in the next few weeks.
Montreal-based Alcan said it would sell its packaging arm following the group's £19bn takeover by mining conglomerate Rio Tinto.
Bemis, the Minneapolis-based producer of flexible packaging and pressure-sensitive labels, is also said to be interested in acquiring Alcan Packaging.
However, a Sealed Air spokesman would not confirm its interest.
"As a general policy, Sealed Air does not comment on any specific acquisition activity or rumour," he said.
Alcan and Bemis also declined to comment.
The sale of Alcan's packaging division will help Rio Tinto finance its takeover of the rest of the group.
Alcan Packaging has five plants in the UK.
Source: packagingnews
New Plastic for Injection Moulded Packaging Launched in US
Basell is to launch a new resin suitable for use in thin-walled injection moulded (TWIM) food packaging applications.
The metallocene-based Metocene polypropylene copolymer, dubbed Clyrell EM248U, is produced using an exceptionally clean technology with low levels of volatiles and oligomers, Basell says.
The resin is reactor-grade and does not require vis-breaking or peroxides, and can be used in customer food applications which require low organoleptic properties.
Basell's customer project manager of Metocene Amit Gupta says in the past processors have relied on adding plastomers to conventional polypropylene to achieve the required impact and clarity for TWIM applications.
"Although these blends were capable of meeting performance requirements, the use of the plastomer increased costs and added an extra production step," Gupta says.
"On top of that, inconsistencies in impact strength from batch to batch increased the chances of having part breakages."
Gupta says Clyrell EM249U removes the need to add an additional plastomer without reducing the quality of the finished product.
The resin, which was introduced in Europe last year under the name Clyrell EM1791, will be targeted at the US packaging market.
Source: packaging-technology
The metallocene-based Metocene polypropylene copolymer, dubbed Clyrell EM248U, is produced using an exceptionally clean technology with low levels of volatiles and oligomers, Basell says.
The resin is reactor-grade and does not require vis-breaking or peroxides, and can be used in customer food applications which require low organoleptic properties.
Basell's customer project manager of Metocene Amit Gupta says in the past processors have relied on adding plastomers to conventional polypropylene to achieve the required impact and clarity for TWIM applications.
"Although these blends were capable of meeting performance requirements, the use of the plastomer increased costs and added an extra production step," Gupta says.
"On top of that, inconsistencies in impact strength from batch to batch increased the chances of having part breakages."
Gupta says Clyrell EM249U removes the need to add an additional plastomer without reducing the quality of the finished product.
The resin, which was introduced in Europe last year under the name Clyrell EM1791, will be targeted at the US packaging market.
Source: packaging-technology
Printers ready for HIPs boost as second roll-out confirmed
HIPs printers have breathed a collective sigh of relief as the government confirmed that the troubled packs will be rolled out to three-bedroom properties from 10 September 2007.The packs are being introduced on a phased basis as the government claimed this would ensure a smooth transition throughout the housing market.
Nick Twyford, chief executive at FSP, which was recently saved from a fall into administration it blamed on HIPs setbacks, told printweek.com: "This confirmation gets rid of the uncertainty and it couldn't have come at a better time. It's just a shame it didn't happen earlier.
"Everyone has been somewhat hurt by the delay so this is great news for FSP and for the industry," he added.
The move follows the 1 August introduction of the packs for houses with four or more bedrooms.
Greg Smith, managing director at HIPs printer Cats Solutions, told printweek.com: "The confirmation is absolutely fantastic news and the demand for the four-bedroom packs is driving up all the time."
Smith added: "We've managed to do the work working at extra capacity on our existing equipment.
"Traditionally, we run at 75% capacity so the HIP orders have fitted into that. If demand continues to increase, we will give them a separate department."
ImageData chairman David Danforth echoed Smith's thoughts: "Any extension of the HIPs is a benefit to the market as a whole.
"There was always the worry that after all the delays, the government could go back on its word again."
The government has claimed HIPs make life easier for property buyers by having the legal necessities at hand.
However, many estate agents have said the scheme is pointless because it does not include a number of key details.
Source: printweek
Linpac Allibert acquires 40% of supply chain specialist Acqsys
Linpac Allibert, the materials handling division of the Linpac Group, has taken a 40% stake in Acqsys Supply Chain Systems.Acqsys applies bespoke financial systems and technology, such as RFID, to food and beverage firms to help them manage and monitor their assets throughout the supply chain.
These include products such as vending machines, crates for bottled water, soda syrup containers, beer kegs and wine casks.
Linpac Allibert was formed after Linpac Materials Handling bought the European materials handling division of French firm Allibert last year.
The firm offers asset management and RFID tracking services to the retail, automotive and chemical industries through its Logtek and Intellident businesses, and contributes 20% to Linpac Group's £1.1bn turnover.
Acqsys chief executive Alan Doyle said: "Acqsys is a good fit with Linpac Allibert as both businesses offer asset management and tracking services. We will be able to share our knowledge of different markets and both businesses will be exposed to a more varied customer base."
Linpac Group chief executive Mike Arrowsmith said the deal would bring together the best of both businesses to broaden the range of supply chain services they offered.
Linpac Allibert has 1,900 staff across Europe in Birmingham in the UK, Germany, Spain and France. Its head office is in Nanterre, France.
Source: packagingnews
Buxton Press ploughs £750k into Heidelberg finishing upgrade
Buxton Press's finishing department has become an all-Heidelberg operation following a £750,000 spend to cope with growing volumes.The Derbyshire-based magazine printer is to take delivery of a Stitchmaster ST 450 multi-station saddlestitcher and three additional KH78 combination folders.
Buxton operates round the clock, printing more than 350 titles. The former PrintWeek Environmental Company of the Year winner said it chose Heidelberg as it needed robust, proven and reliable equipment to cope with the continually increasing volume of work.
Buxton Press operations director Kirk Galloway said: "With this latest saddlestitcher, Heidelberg has taken a giant step forward.
"We evaluated carefully, undertaking machine tests and company visits and, as a result, have come down solidly in favour of the Stitchmaster."
The printer's machine operators undertook site visits and found the ST 450 to be fast and operator-friendly.
Source: printweek
Aug 19, 2007
Avid eyes global growth with drug pack patent
Avid Holdings hopes a UK patent for its heat-sealed lid for blister-packaged drugs will lead to global licensing agreements.Chief executive Jonathan Bobbett said the patent, which has just been granted, had been lodged in other global markets and that the firm was "confident it will be granted in Europe and North America next".
The patented lid enables random perforation to be applied to any blister-packaged drug and is said to avoid damage to the drug on exit.
Avid offers the lid in varying degrees of child resistance that can be produced without altering existing packaging lines.
Two international pharmaceutical manufacturers have already carried out successful tests on the product.
The company is also investigating the possibility of anti-counterfeit measures offered by the lid.
Source: packagingnews
Greif / Blagden Merger Gets Go Ahead
The UK Competition Commission has cleared Greif, the industrial packaging manufacturer's acquisition of Blagden Group's large steel drum business.Greif bought the Blagden operation in a £142m deal last November.
In a provisional report earlier this year, the Commission said the merger of Greif and Blagden may lead to a substantial lack of competition in the market for new large steel drums in the UK, however it has now concluded this is not the case and has allowed the purchase to proceed.
Inquiry group chairman Diana Guy says since the provisional report was published work on a new steel drum plant has begun in the Netherlands, which will limit Grief's domination of the UK market.
"We did not find this an easy decision," Guys says.
"The merger has resulted in the loss of Greif's strongest current competitor and the merged company will account for between 50% and 60% of the market for large steel drums.
"However, the evidence we obtained late in the inquiry about a new production facility being built in the Netherlands led us to change our view of the future competitive situation.
"As a result, we could no longer reach and expectation that the merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market for large steel drums in Great Britain."
Source: packaging-technology
New Packaging Option for Shelf-Stable Seafood Market
The shelf-stable seafood market, traditionally dominated by can and glass packaging, is set to be revolutionised by a new plastic packaging concept developed by EDV Packaging for Heinz Australia.
The new plastic packaging for the Heinz Greenseas flavoured tuna and salmon single-serve varieties includes a resealable lid and spork for customers on the go.
The high barrier cup, made of white PP/EVOH/PP, preserves the product for up to 18 months, is resistant to breakage and is 100% recyclable.
EDV says the container, which was launched on to the market in January has proved to be very successful.
"This product has been a success in its speed to market, trade response and sales, and has exceeded Heinz's initial sales forecasts," the company says.
Source: packaging-technology
The new plastic packaging for the Heinz Greenseas flavoured tuna and salmon single-serve varieties includes a resealable lid and spork for customers on the go.
The high barrier cup, made of white PP/EVOH/PP, preserves the product for up to 18 months, is resistant to breakage and is 100% recyclable.
EDV says the container, which was launched on to the market in January has proved to be very successful.
"This product has been a success in its speed to market, trade response and sales, and has exceeded Heinz's initial sales forecasts," the company says.
Source: packaging-technology
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