Labelling Blog

Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY) today announced the death of Charles D. Miller, who as chairman and chief executive officer from 1977 to 1998 was instrumental in transforming the company from a U.S.-based manufacturer into a global Fortune 500 market leader in pressure-sensitive labeling materials and office products. Miller, 83, died at his home in Pasadena on Nov. 23 due to complications from emphysema. “Chuck Miller’s impact on Avery Dennison was immeasurable,” said Dean A. Scarborough, Avery Dennison chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Every aspect of our business, from vision to strategy to execution to culture, has been shaped for the better by his passion and imagination. Numerous organizations in Southern California benefited from his tireless and wide-ranging philanthropic leadership over the past four decades. I will miss him as a leader, a mentor and a friend.” Miller began his 47-year association with Avery Dennison in 1964 when he joined the Av...

Toppan Forms Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s preeminent companies and a technology leader in business forms and data printing services, uses three KODAK PROSPER 5000XL Presses to printbooks for the education market and to fuel its expansion into new markets. The company will be shifting some of its offset and digital print volume to its new PROSPER 5000XL Presses.         Toppan Forms has developed an innovative solution to address the Japanese education publishing market’s evolving needs for high-speed, digital, variable print. The company built a system that allows the print buyers to use a fully digital workflow to cost effectively and efficiently move orders from client to completion. The PROSPER 5000XL Presses play a key role in this seamless workflow.         Toppan Forms is also using the PROSPER 5000XL Presses to expand the range of printing services it offers and to address a wider set of customer requirements. Topp...

The standout quality of print produced using KODAK FLEXCEL NX Plates continues to help Primopost, a leading UK package printer, collect industry plaudits. Following its EFIA Gold Award in March, Primopost’s Cemoi Dark Chocolate packaging won the FlexoTech International Print and Innovations Award for Best Use of Flexo within Single Forme. “It is great to print successfully and get recognition for what we do,” said John Callion, Primopost’s Print Development Manager. “It not only reinforces the quality of the services we offer to customers but it sustains the business and helps to maintain high staff morale.” Primopost began life in the 1970s as a film converter and moved into print in the 1990s. Family owned, it is run by Barry Bearman, Chairman, and his son Alistair, Sales Director. Today, the 40,000 sq. ft. operation, with just under 100 employees, operates around the clock producing print, film and stockholding, and associated services. There is also a quality and testing la...

Most people may be starting their Christmas shopping on the first weekend of December; but Edale’s Managing Director James Boughton, Head of Sales Jeremy Westcott and Technical Manager Daryl Finter, have gone to great lengths to avoid this festive tradition by taking part in the Original GRIM Challenge held in Aldershot, Hampshire.   The challenge is an 8 mile off road course using land which is used to test army vehicles where the guys will be running, wading through water-filled ravines and crawling under camouflage nets.     ‘Team Edale’ will be completing the GRIM challenge, not only for their personal achievement but also to get the ball rolling with raising money and awareness for Edale’s chosen charity for 2012; Naomi House Children’s Hospice.   Naomi House is a hospice which provides support to children with conditions that mean they are unlikely to live to become adults. The charity provides care to families and young adults living in comm...

Vienna-based prepress and platemaking specialist Repro Busek has improved customer satisfaction after delivering unprecedented flexo quality using the FLEXCEL NX System Reinhard Deim, Sales Manager and Board member at Repro Busek, comments on the investment in Kodak flexo technology, “Brand owners and printers are astonished when I show them the flexographic print quality we’re achieving with the KODAK FLEXCEL NX System . It’s the biggest quality leap I’ve seen in more than 30 years in the profession. The FLEXCEL NX Plates give us results that rival gravure in every respect—and in many cases are superior.” The quality leap Repro Busek is enjoying applies even with only four colors. The saturation of images is very impressive, and the high ink densities allow the gamut to be expanded significantly. Even with very fine screens such as 205lpi, it’s possible to reproduce the complete tonal range from 0.4 to 99.6 percent. This represents an excellent starting point for printing smo...

  At the  Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of 15 November 2011, the Punch Graphix nv companyname was changed to Xeikon N.V. The management believes that the company name Xeikon fits more closely with the Xeikon brand, which has a strong reputation on the market.   At NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam, Xeikon 's CFO  Kees Vlasblom led the 'gong ceremony' to celebrate  the new name Xeikon N.V (Stock code XEI)

manroland AG today filed a petition to initiate insolvency proceedings with the jurisdictional district court at Augsburg, after the negotiations with a potential investor have failed on the home stretch. At the same time the company has filed a request for self-administration in order to finalize the on-going restructuring efforts. The provisional insolvency administrator Werner Schneider will in due course examine the situation at manroland, in order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the situation.   The executive board of manroland aims to rescue key units within the framework of ongoing restructuring efforts as debtor in possession. The initiated insolvency procedure affords the opportunity to step up the restructuring process and guide the company through this difficult phase. Despite all the disappointment over the path that now has to be taken, the insolvency procedure as debtor in possession offers plenty of prospects because the company has compelling products, the ...

UK based print and specialist labelling company, Customark, based in the West Midlands have brought a five colour award winning Edale Alpha compact press to join their other two Edale machines.   Established in 1968, Customark originally produced blank and printed labels; quickly realising in order to grow the business they would have to diversify and add to their product range – and today they have grown into one of the UK’s most diverse printing and labelling companies producing several unique and specialist labelling and ID applications.   As business has continued to grow, Customark made the decision to purchase the 5 colour Edale printing press. Barry Foster, Production Manager at Customark says “The Alpha offered us the ability to print, sprocket, perforate, undercut, cut and laminate as well as back slit and trim the labels in any combination of our customers’ requirements. This new press also has a cold foil unit on it to enable us to produce higher quality lab...

Digital inkjet book printing first began to draw the attention of printers and publishers three years ago at Drupa 2008. Today, just a few years later, Kodak has multiple customers in Europe, North America and Asia producing and selling millions of digitally printed books that are virtually indistinguishable from their offset counterparts. Kodak and other leaders in digital book publishing recently gathered at the InterQuest 2011 Digital Book Printing Forum to discuss the latest trends, opportunities and success stories in an industry that is beset with change. During the forum, many leading book publishers, printers and distributors highlighted their success with short-run digital printing strategies. The presenters discussed the savings on inventory, waste and obsolescence costs that are enabled by digital printing. Presentations showed that high-speed digital inkjet printing enables niche books, that otherwise wouldn’t get printed, to be published. As part of its market update ...

PERSOMAIL, PERSOLINE, VERSAMAIL card personalisation and mailing solutions, as well as the card management software platform PMP from Atlantic Zeiser, are now available from Xproma GmbH in Germany and the Benelux States.   Sales network expanded: Atlantic Zeiser Group, a leading developer and provider of comprehensive, total solutions for secure card personalisation and industrial digital printing, has formed a partnership with Xproma GmbH. The agreement includes the sale of card personalisation and mailing solutions PERSOLINE, PERSOMAIL, VERSAMAIL as well as the card management software platform PMP from Atlantic Zeiser in Germany and the three Benelux States. The objective is to achieve faster market penetration in the card sector by implementing additional sales activities. Xproma, based in Salzhausen near Hamburg, is a sales and service company with core competence in the professional mailroom and dispatch sector.   From left: Stefan Öing, Director Secure Card S...

Xeikon recently received the Graydon award to indicate that it is a financially healthy company and reliable to do business within its industry. This is in line with the recent announcement of its tripled net profit and 16% EBITDA growth in comparison with 2010. According to Wim Maes, CEO of Xeikon, ” The Graydon award confirms that Xeikon is a financially stable company. Our customers and partners can rest assured that Xeikon is a reliable business partner. According to Graydon, only 3% of all Dutch companies truly have their financial act under control. And we are a part of this select group.” The Graydon awards are only granted to organizations that meet a number of strict criteria. To be awarded, a company has to obtain a positive credit status with a minimal chance of unreliable payment. The judgment is made on a mix of factors such as turnover numbers, yearly business results and payment conduct. With its database being updated on a daily basis, users of Graydon servi...

Michelman now offers two new grades of its Michem® Guard family of waterborne dispersions formulated to control slip, mar, and rub resistance in water-based OPVs, inks and industrial coatings. The dispersions eliminate the need to use solvent-based surface modifiers. Michem Guard 1350 and 1351 are both nonionic dispersions of polyethylene wax that improve rub and abrasion resistance in pigmented and semi-gloss coatings, inks and OPVs. They prevent blocking and cause minimal reduction in gloss.   Michem Guard 1350 features a narrow particle size distribution centered at approximately one micron, giving it a unique balance of rub resistance and gloss at very low addition rates - typically just 3-5% of total formula weight. Michem Guard 1351 contains an efficient solids content of 65%.   The new products will be introduced at ChinaCoat 2011 in Hall 3E Booth 3G06-10.   About Michelman Michelman is a global developer of water-based barrier and functiona...

Vale Labels Ltd, manufacturers of high quality digital and hot foil labels on rolls, install a Daco DTR330 Label Rewinder.   Having looked around at various rewinders from many different manufacturers it soon became apparent that typical inspection / slitter rewinders were not suited to short run digital finishing, the web path was just too long.   A visit to Vale Labels was arranged to look at typical print jobs printed on an HP Indigo WS4500 and varnished / die cut on an AB Graphic Digicon.  With some jobs of only 10 metres or less I could immediately see the issue that Vale were faced with commented Mark Laurence, Sales Manager of Daco Solutions.   We recommended the Daco DTR with an increased inspection / splicing area and a guided unwind to be the ideal solution.  3D CAD drawings were produced to show Vale Labels the concept of the machine.   The machine was delivered and installed with all of the operators trained in the machines opera...

R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company (Nasdaq:RRD) today announced that it has acquired West Chester, OH based StratusGroup, Inc., a full service manufacturer of custom pressure sensitive label and paperboard packaging products for health and beauty, food, beverage and other segments.   "With the exponential growth in media choices available to consumers, point-of-purchase packaging plays an increasingly important role in our customers' marketing mixes," said John Paloian, RR Donnelley's Chief Operating Officer. "StratusGroup's superb decorative labeling and paperboard resources offer an excellent complement to our prime label, corrugated and other global packaging capabilities. Its location is also ideal, with its facility in close proximity to RR Donnelley kitting and fulfillment centers. We anticipate being able to immediately expand StratusGroup's utilization and to offer its customers even more extensive integrated solutions."   StratusGr...

Xeikon showcases latest digital printing solutions at Labelexpo Asia 2011   Xeikon will showcase its latest range of digital printing solutions dedicated to the label market at Labelexpo Asia 2011, taking place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) in Shanghai, China from 29 November to 2 December 2011. Visitors to the Xeikon stand will have the opportunity to experience live demonstrations of the Xeikon 3030, the company’s entry-level digital label press, which will be set up in a roll-to-roll configuration. Alongside the press, Xeikon will also demonstrate the benefits of its dry toner process and its dedicated workflow based around the X-800 Digital Front End. “This is the third time that we’ve come to the show – and each year it just gets bigger,” says Filip Weymans, Business Development Manager Labels & Packaging at Xeikon. “China is an emerging market for labels and brand owners beginning to realize the power of labels in delivering shelf impact ...

Michelman offers primer, indicator and cleaning solutions designed specifically for the optional in-line priming (ILP) unit available on the HP Indigo WS600 0 and WS6600 digital presses. The use of the ILP unit along with Michelman products, eliminates the need for pre-planned substrate treatment, allowing last-minute print jobs to be completed more quickly.   Michelman’s Michem® In-Line Primer 030 imparts a print-receptive surface to paper substrates and improves the ink transfer and adhesion of HP Indigo Electroinks. It improves the surface of a range of paper substrates, including both uncoated and clay-coated with various basis weights, as well as PSA label stocks with paper face-stocks, including textured papers. The in-line priming unit will automatically apply the correct amount of primer when used as instructed by HP.   Michem® Indicator 001 is an indicator solution used to detect the presence of a Michelman in-line primer on dry substrates. A drop is applie...

The first industrial liner less applicator will be installed at an important household product manufacturer in Montreal, Canada. This allows a significant change in the conception of the liner less labelling. Up until now, this economical and ecological  way to make labels was marginal because label printers were limited to square or rectangular label shapes and to the tie points. This new labelling method does not bring limits to the shape of labels nor to their application speed. This process allows  big label users to access the liner less mode without any marketing compromise and without major modifications of their production lines. A dozen of brand owners are already interested in this proccess. Many label  printers around the world are ready to take up the liner less challenge with the ETI COHESIO technology. According to Francois  Bayzelon: « The liner less, we  have been hearing about for years, will finally see the ligh...

Mondi Lindlar, the German manufacturer of flexible packaging and packaging materials, has achieved its goal of a breakthrough improvement in flexo packaging quality thanks to KODAK FLEXCEL NX Plates and optimized printing process parameters. Quality breakthrough in flexo packaging Attractive packaging is vital for products to stand out and appeal to customers at point of sale. Mondi Lindlar GmbH, a subsidiary of the Consumer Bags division that is part of the Mondi international paper and packaging corporation, was aiming to significantly improve its flexo printing quality for this reason. At the same time, the company hoped to profit from the new flexibility and offer a greater variety of packaging designs, along with shorter runs. Mondi Consumer Bags manufactures high-quality plastic and paper-based pouches, as well as rolls used to make packaging – chiefly for foodstuffs, animal fodder and non-food products. This flexo press at Mondi Lindlar is used to print plastic film ...

REPROSERVICE Eurodigital Improves Flexo Plate Quality and Increases Productivity with the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide System   Germany’s REPROSERVICE Eurodigital GmbH, a member of Matthews Brand Solutions, has streamlined production and increased output after investing in the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide System. Munich-based REPROSERVICE Eurodigital was one of the first print businesses in the world to install the system. The company supplies digital flexo plates to packaging printers and brand owners, mostly for high-quality solvent and UV flexo printing on plastic film, aluminum and other substrates. Plates for higher-fidelity presswork are typically made in 175lpi. The KODAK FLEXCEL NX Wide Flexographic System enables the platemaking specialist to produce flexo plates up to 1067 x 1524mm. REPROSERVICE Eurodigital has been a user of the FLEXCEL NX Mid System since August 2009. All the advantages of the KODAK FLEXCEL NX System on a larger scale For Managing Director Peter Ha...

Universal Converting Equipment sold six HMCS 420’s during November 2011, a modular device that enables hot melt adhesive coating capability to be added to print presses and other web fed processes. The Universal HMCS 420 allows printers to coat hot melt adhesive in-line on their print presses, enabling them to service customers requiring adhesive coating without incurring the costs associated with installation of a dedicated line. The coating systems are designed to give the same precision of coating normally only achieved on dedicated hot melt coating lines.   The hot melt adhesive can be applied either as a continuous coating, as striped coating or patch coating in registration with the print design. A complete range of hot melt adhesives can be applied including pressure sensitive, heat seal, dry peel and UV curing. Applying adhesive on a press or finishing line allows special products to be manufactured which cannot be produced on standard label stock. End uses h...

The KODAK NEXPRESS SX Digital Production Color Platform with the long-sheet option has been honored with the German printing industry's prestigious Innovation Award 2011. The digital press scooped the coveted ‘Most Innovative Technology’ (Gold Award) in the Printing category. The awards are organized by the Deutscher Drucker Verlagsgesellschaft publishing house. The winners were chosen in an internet poll by readers of Deutscher Drucker and Grafische Palette , two leading German trade journals, and print.de , from a total of 30 technologies nominated by the publications’ editors.       This latest award marks a hat trick of honors for Kodak. In 2009, the company won an Innovation Award for its unique KODAK NEXPRESS Dimensional Printing System , while last year Kodak walked away with two Innovation Awards—the first for its KODAK TRILLIAN SP Thermal Plate in the Prepress category and the second for its KODAK PROSPER 5000XL Press in the Printing category. ...

Avery Dennison, a global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and materials, has opened its new Adhesives Center of Excellence research center in Mill Hall, Pa. The 24,500-square foot facility expands the space currently devoted in Mill Hall to research and development of adhesives, one of the company’s core technologies, and brings its adhesives researchers under one roof in state-of-the-art facilities. “Our company was founded on an innovative use of adhesives, and we’re dedicated to remaining the innovation leader in this space,” said Dave Edwards, vice president and chief technology officer for Avery Dennison.  “Bringing our full team together in Mill Hall will facilitate collaboration and cross-pollination, and enable us to work faster and smarter to meet the needs of our converter customers and end users for more specialized, higher-performance and more sustainable adhesives.” Avery Dennison was founded in 1935 by R. Stanton Avery, who produced the first pre...

Over last month, October 2011, PE Labellers have signed the agreement for the technology transfer of Acma/Ocea labelling machines to P.E. LABELLERS Spa.   The agreement states that P.E. LABELLERS Spa will acquire the intellectual property of OCEA machines and will provide OCEA’s customers with after-sales services (supply of original spare parts, machines upgrading, change parts and machines overhauling), as well as technical assistance through its own service network.   This operation will guarantee to OCEA customers continuity of after-sales service and assistance through a leading company in the field of labelling machines, such as P.E. LABELLERS Spa.   Source:  www.pelabellers.it

In an effort to cut down on workplace waste and costs, France-based Gobilab introduces The Gobi , a reusable water bottle made with Eastman Tritan™ copolyester . Tritan is a new-generation copolyester with a balance of properties that help extend product life, including lasting clarity and dishwasher durability. Tritan is also free of bisphenol A (BPA).    The Gobi holds 400 milliliters (13.5 ounces), or the equivalent of three disposable cups, and can replace hundreds of plastic cups per employee each year, saving on workplace waste and overhead costs. Recognizing employees in the European workplace throw away many disposable cups daily, Gobilab developed The Gobi. “To ensure product sustainability, we analyzed the environmental impact of every stage of the development process prior to introducing The Gobi made with Eastman Tritan™ copolyester,” said Florence Baitinger, one of three Gobilab creators. “Eastman helped facilitate this process by providing data and...