Labelling Blog

Axon, a division of Pro Mach and a leading manufacturer of fully automated, heat-shrink labeling, tamper evident banding, and stretch sleeving equipment, has developed patented technology that triples the average throughput of shrink-sleeve labeling of cans, boxes, and other odd-shaped packaging from an industry average of 100 units per minute to 300 per minute, depending on the system. "For a number of years, applicator manufacturers have been able to supply machines that shrink sleeve odd-shaped packaging at relatively low speeds," said Adam Duncan, engineering supervisor, Axon. "This new patented technology means that many more packaged goods will be able to incorporate the advantages of shrink sleeve labeling because of the breakthrough in increased speed and throughput." The new patented technology is available on Axon EZ-200SL and EZ-400SL full-body sleeving applicators. In addition to the new patented capability on select models, all EZ-Series applicators now...

The smartGPS Beta version amazed the flexo world at Drupa 2008, and in the months following the exhibition, it was tested both at customer sites under production conditions and at the FISCHER & KRECKE facilities with customer’s printing forms, adapters, and sleeves. In January 2009 it was released for production: FISCHER & KRECKE’s smartGPS (Graphic Positioning System) now represents a new milestone in flexo printing technology. smartGPS sets a fundamentally new standard when it comes to registration and impression setting to the point that it is even hard to find an appropriate technical term to describe the technology. What is commonly understood by impression setting does not accurately describe this new breakthrough, because smartGPS does not perform the set-up in the press. Both a traditional manual adjustment or an automatic optical based system perform the set-up process in the press. smartGPS does the job ‘offline’ at the plate mounting stage with almost no additional t...

RPC Verpackungen Kutenholz is producing PET bottles in different designs, colours and sizes for Schwarzkopf & Henkel Production Europe. Schwarzkopf & Henkel has relaunched its famous Gliss Kur brand and for this RPC Kutenholz has built three new toolings for PET bottles. The bottles, blow moulded in 250, 300 and 400 ml sizes, stand out because of their high transparency and brilliance. The bottles for the Gliss Kur range are filled in Germany and Russia and contain three different products: “Oil Nutritive” for longer hair at risk from split ends, “Nutri Protect” for dry and stressed hair, as well as “Total Repair 19 Weightless” for fine and strained hair. The new Gliss Kur range was introduced worldwide. “The new Gliss Kur PET bottles contribute strongly to the success of the products in the market,” comments Kevin Mignon, Packaging Engineer at SHPE in Düsseldorf.

KWH Plast released a new film called Cast-IML last year. Cast-IML is a solid PP-film with a smooth surface especially intended for the injection molded PP-products. The film is available in two versions – white Cast-IML-W and transparent Cast-IML-T. The scratch resistance is excellent and the material itself withstands water and humidity as well as mechanical abuse. Cast-IML has a smooth surface with a good printability and a good on press behaviour. The printed film also has a stable performance during the In Mold process. These are properties that are crucial for the success of a label film used for in mold labelling. In mold decoration means decoration of molded plastic parts during the molding process. Besides the capital investments in the molding equipment there are no extra costs for attachment of the label. There is no need for any additional labelling equipment or staff and it’s easy to change labels without interrupting the production. All surfaces of a container can be labe...

An innovation project has paved the way to BASF’s success in using a conventional stretch blow-molding machine to create the lightest half-liter polystyrene bottle ever: it weighs a mere 7.5 grams. This project gave BASF the opportunity to see how extremely lightweight bottles for dairy products can be made of polystyrene using stretch blow-molding methods. After all, less weight always translates into lower costs and less consumption of resources. Since polystyrene has a lower density than PET, it can be used to produce bottles that weigh less but have the same wall thickness. Owing to the special properties of this plastic, BASF recommends the new polystyrene type (PS BX 3580) specifically for containers used for milk products. This is an approach that will be consistently pursued together with customers. SOURCE

The company behind Volvic and Evian water has committed to buying recycled plastic in amounts equivalent to as many plastic water bottles it sells in the U.K. Danone Waters U.K. says it will purchase 5,000 tonnes of recycled plastic in the first year of its commitment, eventually moving up to 12,000 tonnes in 2011. By buying more recycled plastic instead of virgin PET, Danone estimates it will save £250,000 ($360,000) in its first year of the program and spend that money instead on other environmental initiatives. Danone will purchase the plastic from waste hauler Greenstar, which will be collecting bottles through U.K. and ship them to the Artenius TurkPET factory in Dijon, France where they will be processed and mixed with virgin PET to make Evian and Volvic bottles. Danone says the Greenstar trucks would be making the trips anyway, and will now be moving plastic for recycling instead of nothing. Evian and Volvic bottles currently contain 25 percent recycled content, and Danone wants...

From early 2007 through 2008, NatureWorks LLC, maker of Ingeo™ natural plastic resin, and the packaging and recycling industry made significant strides toward the adoption of bottles made from renewable resources rather than imported oil. “In late 2006, NatureWorks pledged to responsibly and transparently introduce Ingeo™ natural plastic water, dairy, juice, and other bottles into the market,” said Marc Verbruggen, NatureWorks president and CEO. “Our twin goals were to work with brand owners on carefully phased bottle introductions and on a parallel track to develop a deeper environmental and technical understanding of end-of-life scenarios for bottles made from renewable resources rather than oil. Both of these efforts saw significant advances throughout 2007 and 2008.” Key milestones during this 24-month period included a grant from the state of California for a bioresin recycling pilot project, the first national rollout of water bottles made from NatureWorks’ Ingeo™ natural plastic...

GERNEP - manufacturer of labelling machines located in Southern Germany - which is already well established in the beverage as well as in the food and non-food market, will present at “Anuga FoodTec 2009” recent technologies of rotary labelling systems for the food industry. GERNEP is well prepared for the increasing demand for self adhesive labelling. The labelling machine LABETTA SK is predestined to meet the requirements of all sectors of labelling industry. Appropriate servo drives located on the dispenser transfers the labels precise and above all smooth onto the container, even in container recess or increased label fields. It enables processing of innovative and exclusive label designs as well as no-label-look and water resistant plastic labels. Compared to wet glue labelling systems changeover times are obviously shorter, similar to the cleaning and maintenance work. For wet glue labelling GERNEP provides the labelling machine LABETTA. An important advantage of the wet glue...

Coca-Cola Bottling System has benefited from the expertise of Sidel’s worldwide network for the manufacture of approximately 2,000 blow molds for its new On-the-Go bottle. With the 2008 opening of two new Packaging and Tooling Centers (PTC) in Guadalajara (Mexico) and Beijing (China) in 2008, Sidel has enhanced its local service capability and its customer proximity for new packaging development and blow mold manufacture. SOURCE The launch by Coca-Cola’s of the new On-the-Go (OTG) bottle shape, replacing the traditional contour bottle for small formats (0.4 liter, 0.5 liter and 0,6 liter), started in late 2007 in China, before being extended to Europe in 2008 and now to North and South America. Sidel’s unique, worldwide network of six PTCs has enabled it to handle the major order from Coca-Cola Bottling System for nearly 2,000 OTG molds in one year. Worldwide Network Coca-Cola Bottling System was looking for a world-class partner that can manage complex projects thanks to its network ...

Hammer Packaging, a 400-man strong company based in the Rochester, NY area recently installed their second Variable Sleeve Offset Press (VSOP). The company uses leading-edge technology to produce high-quality printed labels and package decoration for the global beverage, food, horticulture and household products industries. Core products include cut & stack labels, in-mold labels, shrink sleeve labels, roll-on shrink-on labels, roll-fed labels and pressure sensitive labels. Jim Hammer, president of Hammer Packaging, proudly stands by his second Drent Goebel VSOP (Variable Sleeve Offset Printing) press that prints in nine colors offset. Itis the first installed VSOP press that gives the opportunity to cure with EB, (Hot Aircuring) UV, or a combination of both. The unique installed VSFP (Variable SleeveFlexo printing) unit provides both possibilities of either Hot Air or UV curing. The unit isa high speed flexo printing group, specially designed for integration in a VSOP offsetmachin...

Fusion UV recently supported a hands-on seminar hosted by Cytec at Chemsultants International’s facility in Mentor, OH. The day-long seminar included presentations on the pressure sensitive adhesive market, economics of UV PSAs, industrial applications, and an environmental, health and safety overview. Cytec demonstrated their new GELVA® UV-curable PSA which is 100% solid and designed initially for high performance transfer tape applications – a direct replacement for current solvent PSAs. Fusion UV worked with Cytec and Chemsultants to install three rows, each with two F600S curing systems to cure the new Cytec GMR8020-02 hot melt adhesive during live demonstrations. Chemsultants International’s ChemInstruments division manufactures a full line of PSA testing equipment. This enabled participants to test the cured GMR8020-02 samples onsite. For more information about Cytec’s new UV-curable PSA, including a video from the seminar and trials, click here . *** Fusion UV Systems, Inc.®...

Now it is official - Flint Group Flexographic Products is the first sleeve supplier to be qualified to manufacture sleeves for the ‘smartGPS’ system from Fischer & Krecke (F&K), Bielefeld/Germany. Flint Group Flexographic Products can rely on many years of experience with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology – for more than 10 years rotec® sleeves have been available with this technology. As all rotec® sleeves for the ‘smartGPS’ system are equipped with a RFID - Chip and a register sensor, relevant data like the actual print diameter, the actual job design as well as the used materials can be recorded and stored already during plate mounting. The data is then recalled in the printing unit, where the printing sleeves are moved fully automatically into the exact register and impression setting. As the traditional press proof is no longer required, material usage and set-up times are significantly reduced with extremely high register. The challenge for the sleeve produ...

Nilpeter 's successful showing at the India Label Show will boost its presence in this fast-growing market. Held on 3-6 December at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, ILS 2008 was the fourth show since its inception in 2002 and the first organised by the Tarsus Group, organiser of the Labelexpo series. Despite the atrocities in Mumbai just five days previously, the show attracted nearly 5,000 visitors from India, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. About 200 international exhibitors took part. The company demonstrated an eight-unit FB -3300 Servo UV flexo press with a web width of 330 mm (13 inches). It was equipped with hot-air dryers and interdeck UV curing units. Other equipment included a movable cold foil unit for fitting between any two print units, and a drop-in rotary screen cassette from Stork Prints. It was the most advanced narrow web press of its type at the show and attracted much interest. It also is the first FB-line Servo press to be manufactured by Nilpeter India in C...

Nilpeter closed the latest LabelExpo Americas, held recently in Chicago, in an upbeat mode. Global inflation may be a major threat to the world economy, but overall growth for the global label industry remains fairly buoyant in most market sectors. Reflecting this, Sales Director Jakob Landberg said, 'Despite the current financial problems, we experienced a positive atmosphere and had an extremely successful show with orders firmed up for 26 machines across all lines'. Nilpeter's exhibition highlights included: * The successful introduction of the FG-Line of flexo combination presses. * The North American debut of CASLON, a full-colour InkJet and flexo printing platform. * New print units for the FB-3300 UV-flexo labels and packaging press. • The new FG-Line is a mid-range press positioned between the FA-Line and the high-performance FB-Line. 'G' stands for 'Global', which means it incorporates features designed to give converters a competitive a...

Stimulating the sensitive drinks market by making it easier to package products in PET bottles: this is the goal for a new service offered by Sidel. The Group is assisting its customers in choosing the most suitable PET material and package shape for their beverages. In the sensitive drinks segment (juice, milk, tea, etc.), the launch of new drinks, formulations or packages can be complex. As their name suggests, sensitive drinks are complex. They can easily undergo changes in color or taste, and they can be altered or contaminated by micro-organisms, light, oxygen or temperature. For these reasons, it is critical to study how the beverage will behave in the package. This is why Sidel has developed a package/product compatibility evaluation service for its customers. Identifying the most suitable material and package The Group offers customers its unmatched expertise with PET, its test equipment and the skills of its team in physics, chemistry and microbiology, helping identify the mo...

Xeikon , a division of Punch Graphix, legendary for pioneering the first digital color presses, today announced that Tapecon , a leader in providing superior quality custom decals, labels, and printed electronics has recently made an investment in the Xeikon 3300 digital color label press Tapecon has been exceeding customer expectations for over 90 years. The company utilizes state-of-the-art technology to provide innovative and custom solutions to its customers in a wide array of vertical markets, such as food & beverage, health & beauty, medical/medical devices and military, to name a few. According to Jay Ziegler, Director of Marketing & Strategy at Tapecon, “We take pride in our man and machine competencies and deliver high-impact decal, overlay and label solutions that enhance, identify, and protect our customers’ products. With our digital printing expertise, we are able to offer high-quality, short to medium runs with quicker turnarounds and cost savings to our cust...

Cerutti Group’s attendance at Converflex will be marked by a typical Italian style stand, headquarter of the brands that are part of the Casale Monferrato based family. Officine Meccaniche Giovanni Cerutti will show the successful R980 gravure press: Cerutti personnel will be available to illustrate all the technical evolutions and improvements achieved; the R980 press combines versatility and easiness of use with its solid sturdiness that is a distinguishing feature of the Cerutti products. In addition, Cerutti will present the last born of its gravure line for the printing of packaging materials: the R990 unit, dedicated to the short run market and specifically designed to satisfy the needs of customers requiring quick job change-over and very high printing quality – for example the printers focused on the sleeve segment and also on other applications. The innovation that will be presented at Converflex consists of a brand-new concept of cylinder loading, that allows to mount on the ...

The company integrates filling, labelling and packaging into a single division, and plans investments in new factories Investment, innovation and strategic repositioning: these are the three pillars of the strategy with which Sacmi is responding to the economic crisis and the contraction in the international markets. The most recent move has involved the drinks business, and has laid the groundwork allowing Sacmi to compete at global level, while continuing to focus on its core manufacturing activities in Italy. The complex operation consists of two main parts: a financial/corporate aspect, with Sacmi Imola’s acquisition of all the minority shares of Sacmi Filling and Sacmi Labelling; and a manufacturing aspect, entailing investment in machine tools and production facilities. A total of EUR 50 million has been ploughed into the project to integrate the group’s activities of filling, labelling and packaging for the beverage market into a single division at Sacmi Imola. This strategic mo...

Polyliner is the latest innovation from Germark. Is a technology that lets you add a polyester liner TO any label at no additional cost to the customer. The are many advantages compared to conventional paper liner. Among the most important are: Durable avoid breakage of the liner , and thus minimizing the stops on the packaging line ; hydrophobic material which avoids the known effect of curl by moisture conditions, reduced thickness, which allows for optimization of the entire logistics chain and higher productivity because a 20% increase in the number of tags in the same roll diameter (less storage space, less cost of transportation, less stopping machine ...). Innovation is a cornerstone in our company and Polyliner, in addition to complying with this premise, is noted for its many advantages and, above all, because it allows us to offer more value to our customers at no cost to them. We focus on their needs and problems and innovations in products and technology. The Polyliner, by ...

Amcor PET Packaging has created an industry first with the introduction of a new and unique 2.5 ounce hot fill PET container. Amcor ingenuity and engineering was required to create this one-of-its-kind mini package that is dwarfed by its 20 ounce big brother. The bottle, which is produced at Amcor’s state-of-the-art facility in Nicholasville, Kentucky, is being used to launch Hormel Health Labs new “healthy shot™" high protein healthcare beverage. Amcor has long been the leader in hot fill engineering and the foundation for development of this project was based on proprietary technology that Amcor has developed over the years. Although the 2.5 ounce bottle is a relatively simple cylindrical shape, adapting technology used in larger containers was not a straightforward reduction process. Every size container and each design nuance impacts PET performance and presents new challenges. “As far as we know, there was no heat set container this small on the market before,” said Amcor pro...

Folding carton specialist Benson Group, UK packaging company of the year, has announced details of its first move into the labels sector with the purchase of a Gallus EM340S printing press with a Scantech VisionTrack rewind and inspection machine for its pharmaceutical-focused Medica Packaging business in Crewe, Cheshire. The company cites customer demand as being the key driving factor behind the move. "We are now able to offer pharmaceutical customers the creation of cartons, leaflets and labels all from one production site. We do not believe that any other business in the UK is able to offer this single site production focus for pharma customers," said Mark Kerridge, Benson Group Managing Director. "Single site production helps to ensure consistency of print quality across all three elements, as well as offering customers the facility to purchase a complete packaging "kit". For many pharmaceutical companies a single site audit also offers significant benefit...

Royston Labels most recent innovation – antimicrobial labels – have been developed to help combat the growth and spread of bacteria, fungi & mound. The new labels, which are available in both clear and white, include active antimicrobial technology in the form of ionic silver in the face material. Ionic silver is a natural compound which is 99% effective in limiting the growth of bacteria including MRSA, E-coli, Salmonella and Listeria. When bacteria land on the surface of the label the active agent disrupts their metabolism, prevents their ability to reproduce and will ultimately result in their death. Silver is widely used in other industries for its antimicrobial properties, is completely harmless to humans and animals and is safe to use in all types of environments. Tests show that the effectiveness of the antimicrobial properties do not diminish with time and lasts for the life of the label. As well as developing antimicrobial labels Royston Labels have worked closely wit...

Styrolux® HS 70, an innovation showcased at the K 2007 plastics trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, has now gone into one of its first serial productions in Europe, namely, at AXIAL, an Italian film manufacturer. AXIAL has just started to produce shrink films made of BASF’s SBC (styrene butadiene copolymer), and is distributing the material to the main converters, not only in Italy. Sutter, e.g., an Italian producer of cleaning products, is using them to sleeve-wrap its bottles. AXIAL decided in favor of the new film material because of its optimized shrinkage behavior in comparison to the commercially available SBC/PS blends. Films made of the new material can reach final shrinkage values of up to 80%, which allows containers having a wide array of shapes to be tightly sleeve-wrapped. “Our customer Sutter, which so far had shrink-wrapped its bottles with a PET shrink film, is now introducing our film made of Styrolux® HS 70. This eliminates the so-called “smile effect” – folding, for ...

Makers of fine English wines, Bookers Vineyard were conscious of the need to encourage repeat sales and turned to self-adhesive label specialists Goldcrest for ideas. "I'm sure we've all been there," said Samantha Linter of Bookers Vineyard, "looking at the shelves full of different wines, trying to remember the name of that wine, the one we tried and really liked." "Bookers Vineyard wanted a way to ensure that when our wine was enjoyed, the customer could find us again. Goldcrest labels gave us a simple but effective way of keeping out product in the memory." By providing a perforated tab to the back label on each bottle, giving wine details and promoting the Bookers Vineyards brand, Goldcrest were able to give the consumer an easy way to remember a fine wine. Once removed, the tab can be kept as a reference for future purchases. Bookers Vineyards found that the MemoryTab has put their product in the prime position for the repeat sale. The MemoryT...

SOURCE PE Labelers, from Mantova (Italy), through its subsidiary, PE Labelers America, the arm of marketing and after sales of the Italian company for South America, Central America and Carib, Brazil began producing self-adhesive label linear in a factory installed in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. The labellers were developed specifically for the Brazilian market and Latin America. Only the heads applicators of high technology, with speeds of 20 to 140mt/min will be imported. The structure of the machine, the drive mechanism and drive were nationalized to ensure competitiveness, but with the same concept of technology applied in rotary and linear labeled manufactured in Italy. The company is starting with applications for cylindrical bottles, flat and semi-flat, with label and back label, label, envelope or in part, to meet the cosmetic industry, pharmaceutical, food and beverages.

SOURCE A LABELLING system that tracks the "water footprint" of foods sold in supermarkets would help combat the $5 billion worth of food that goes to waste each year, a leading environmental campaigner claims. Jon Dee, Planet Ark founder and chairman of non-profit group Do Something, said awareness of the scarcity of water would help the public to realise the huge energy costs that went into producing food. "We've already seen throughout Australia that the Australian public is very responsive to the idea of reducing their day-to-day usage of water," he said. "What the Australian public are not aware of at the moment is just how much water is used in getting their food from the paddock to the plate." A water footprint would operate in a similar way to carbon footprint labelling used in Europe, but it would track the amount of fresh water, instead of carbon, used to produce foods such as rice or meat. The system was developed by Professor Arjen Hoekstra ...

SOURCE With a multi-million investment programme, Töpfer Kulmbach GmbH has laid the way for further growth. Around ten months after the approval of public funding, the work for the planned plant expansion has begun. With this move, the company, which is already one of the leading label manufacturers in Europe, will further expand its market position. Töpfer is investing a two-figure million sum in its Kulmbach location. On land next to the existing plant (previously in front of the factory) a new 6,500-m² production and storage warehouse is being constructed. Here, Töpfer will produce mainly foil labels, flexible packaging, banderoles, sleeves and wet adhesive labels. Construction – including machinery start-up – is planned to be completed in Autumn 2009. At the same time, a push on quality is planned. The areas “pre-set”, “offset” and “gravure” are being upgraded with new, more powerful machinery. Further new acquisitions are planned for the “finishing department”, in which the final ...