Labelling Blog

ROTOCON  announces its representation in South Africa of Wink Stanzwerkzeuge GmbH & Co. KG , one of the world's leading manufacturers of cutting tools for the graphic industry. The company will provide local service and sales of the German-designed high precision tools including flexible dies, cylinders and steel rule dies for South African label and narrow web printers and converters. Using state-of-the-art CNC technology, Wink produces high-quality tools for internationally renowned manufacturers of labels, packaging, envelopes and a wide range of other printed products. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Germany, Wink has subsidiaries in the USA, Denmark, and Italy and is also represented globally by distribution partners. Patrick Aengenvoort, Director of ROTOCON comments: "We are pleased to represent the reputable line of Wink cutting tools in South Africa. With their outstanding quality from certified management systems in place and customer-focused philosophy,

Atlas Converting Equipment Ltd. has confirmed confirm that earlier this year it commissioned a 1350mm wide Titan ER610 compact slitter rewinder at Poyraz Ambalaj, located in Menemen, near Izmir in Turkey. Poyraz Ambalaj was established in 2007 by a group of people who together have more than 30 years of experience in the flexible packaging industry. The company prides itself on producing high quality printed materials for a wide range of consumer products using both flexo & gravure presses in up to 8 colours for both food and non-food applications. Installation of the new Titan ER610 compact slitter has made an immediate impact on production for the company. "In the short space of time since installation, it has proved to be so successful that we have been able to divert all materials from two existing slitting machines to the new Titan ER610 slitter, which can easily cope with this capacity," explained Mr. Ahmet Ruchan, Plant Manager at Poyraz Ambalaj. "When we

AB Graphic International Ltd. has announced the development of AUTO SLIT, a new digital knife box that automates slitting and set-up for labels and packaging production through HMI touch screen interface. Designed for its Digicon, Omega and Vectra label converting lines, AUTO SLIT takes slitting a step further in digital automation, removing pressure from the operator and permitting high quality, precision cutting safely and quickly. The fully modular system can be supplied as an option with machine purchase or as a retrofit on existing converting lines supplied by the company.   Explaining the reasons for the development, Andrew Noble of AB Graphic International said, “AUTO SLIT saves on both time and material waste and permits set-up of the slitting knives through touch screen. The operator simply enters the job parameters into the system and the knives are automatically positioned in seconds. For example, a job requiring 15 knives can take up to five or ten minutes to set m

Hörmann KG Eckelhausen produces its aluminum panels for doors using a leading-edge laser line. To support this process, the company was looking for a complete solution that combines the nameplate and paint mask labels plus the corresponding dispensing system. The specialists from Schreiner ProTech ensured that the application of the labels on the insular production line can be performed in a fully automatic process. Schreiner ProTech and Hörmann jointly established all the project parameters and requirements for the new laser line in an intensive consultation meeting. The challenge was to achieve a fully automatic application of the barcoded nameplate labels and the paint mask labels covering the nameplates to the aluminum panels on the insular production line. The experts from Schreiner ProTech subsequently qualified suitable materials and produced prototypes that were tested directly in the production process.   “The label composite developed for this project immediately hel

Graphium was first premiered on the Fujifilm stand at Print ’13 in Chicago in September, followed shortly by a presence at Label Expo Europe in Brussels. Graphium is the culmination of years of experience in colour management, workflow and scanning as well as inkjet knowledge. A very British made machine, with a collection of UK based companies working together to produce the Graphium. Contributing key technologies are Cambridge located Xaar providing the 1001 print heads, FujiFilm Speciality Ink Systems providing Uvijet Graphium inks made at their Kent facilities and Hampshire based print and converting manufacturer Edale supplying the web transport, based on their FL-3 conventional platform. FFEI approached Edale late 2012. The two businesses set to work, with the Graphium evolving soon after. From the wealth of experience Edale has accumulated in the field of digital print, including work for Agfa and AB Graphic, FFEI were confident that Edale would be the ideal partner. Edale’s

German print service provider, Penzler, has boosted its sustainability credentials and improved production quality and stability after investing in the KODAK SONORA XP Process Free Plate. The company is using the innovative plate as part of a remote-control CTP operation in conjunction with business partner, Eckenfelder GmbH & Co KG. The KODAK SONORA XP Process Free Plate allows users to produce print without any dedicated plate processing equipment and materials. This thermal plate can be used immediately after digital imaging, cutting prepress production time. It also saves users the cost of purchasing and maintaining a plate-processing system, and reduces their energy, water and chemical consumption.   Mr. Ralf Penzler, Owner and Mrs Anke Penzler Based in Andisleben, Thüringen, Penzler started out offering prepress services, software programming and computer hardware. Today it offers a wide range of print services, and about three years ago even began developing home

A number of leading label and package printing experts are lined up to present at the Labelexpo Asia exhibition and conference, which celebrating its 10 year anniversary, is set to bring industry professionals together to discuss current trends and processes within the label and package printing sector. Taking place between 3-6 December at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), it will be the show’s largest edition in its history. Supporting the four day exhibition which boasts nearly 300 press, ancillary and material manufacturers, a broad range of topics will be covered during the two day conference; with a specific focus on global trends, new technologies, sustainable growth and profitable sustainability. Jukka-Pekka Haapanen, vice president Asia Pacific at UPM Raflatac, will explore the latest global trends in his opening keynote presentation. Focusing on the latest developments occurring in and facing the industry as a whole, he will also look at China’s emerging

Stellar Films Group, Malaysia, today announced the start-up of Akronn Industries – a new silicone release and coating business whose name – meaning ‘leading edge’ in Greek – reflects the company’s remit. Akronn Industries’ new purpose-built production facility in Nilai, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is equipped to manufacture high-quality release liners for the hygiene, photovoltaic, graphic arts, tapes, and other industrial markets – all major growth markets for release liner today. Paper- and film-based products The new facility houses the widest-web production line in Asia today, and is focussed on solvent-free coating of both paper and film substrates; multi-colour back printing; and narrow-coil slitting capabilities. Customers around the world will be able to source a diverse mix of paper- and film- based release products, sustainably-produced in an eco-friendly plant. Akronn Industries’ Technical Director, Peter Symons, confirms: ‘From the beginning, we set out to build a s

Legra printing house has commissioned Poland’s first digital production colour press, the KODAK NEXPRESS SX2700 Digital Production Color Press with a Long Sheet feeder. The latest KODAK Solution chosen by this rapidly growing Krakow printer, one of Poland’s largest producers of calendars, books and a wide range of printed materials, joins a KODAK MAGNUS Q800 Platesetter , together with KODAK PRINERGY Workflow and KODAK INSITE Prepress Portal Systems . The investment was made on the basis of the successful results achieved on these KODAK Systems. Market observation “We pay close attention to the market, and our future investments are always considered in terms of market developments,” explains Tomasz Kostecki, Legra’s spokesman. The declining print runs of books, calendars, printed materials, and even catalogues, does not surprise anyone these days. As a result, Legra printing house needed to find an alternative in order to satisfy its customers, who expect their orders to be of

Avery Dennison today announced it has appointed Kelly Hall vice president, sales Materials Group North America. In this role, Hall will lead the business’s field sales, technical sales, customer service and technical support teams for two business segments: Label and Packaging Materials and Graphics Solutions. “I am thrilled with this appointment given Kelly’s proven track record at Avery Dennison and her knowledge of the pressure-sensitive industry,” said Darrell Hughes, vice president and general manager of Avery Dennison Materials Group North America. “Kelly’s expertise, experience and success in one of our smaller, global businesses shows she knows how to build lasting relationships with customers, understand their needs and help them grow.” Hall joined Avery Dennison in 1999 and brings 15 years of experience in the company to this new role. She began her career with financial planning and marketing roles in Label and Packaging Materials and the company’s former office produ

Edale have opened a Sales and Support office in Lamlukka, Thailand to cover all regions of Asia Pacific; including Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam, on a sales and servicing basis which will be run by new company ‘Edale Asia Pacific’, under the wider Edale brand. The office is the next step for Edale who see Asia Pacific as the next big growth area in their expansion plans. Edale Asia Pacific, headed up by Tony Law, General Manager, and Pasin Sritong, Sales Manager, have already sold three Edale machines into the region. A five colour FL-1 compact flexo press for labels in Bangkok, an eight colour FL-5 Carton line for the production of paper cups into Thailand and most recently a six colour FL-3 label and flexible packaging press into Malaysia.   Tony Law and Pasin Sritong of Edale Asia Pacific Edale Asia Pacific have already spent a great deal of time at Edale’s UK Head Office getting an in-depth feel for the product portfoli

Aksorn Art Paper Cup and Packaging Company, based in Samutsakorn, Thailand were producing such high volumes of jobs that their four existing offset presses could no longer keep up with demand, and when the time came for their next investment, they decided to ‘go flexo’ and purchased an eight colour Edale combination UV/IR Carton line with a wide range of additional options for their newly renovated factory. Founded in 1972, Aksorn Art Paper Cup and Packaging Company, part of the wider Aksorn Art Group, is one of Thailand’s well known suppliers of offset printing services and innovative packaging solutions. They produce all paper cups for hot and cold food and drink products – both single and double walls. Joe Wongvorakul, Managing Director, says “We decided on the 8 colour Edale FL-5 Carton as it can drastically reduce time; the biggest problem we were finding with offset were the bottlenecks – this will be eradicated with the FL-5 Carton, and allow us to become more efficient in b

— Kodak’s SONORA Process Free Plate technology could lead to impressive water savings for the commercial printing industry. The forecast is based on new adoption data for the process-free plates, which remove the need for a plate processor in the prepress stage of a print operation. KODAK SONORA Plates eliminate the need for water to process plates before they are put on the press, setting a new standard for responsibility in prepress in terms of water conservation. Based on sales projections, Kodak estimates that in the next year, use of SONORA Plates could be directly responsible for saving up to 265 million liters of water.   Despite estimates that only one percent of the world’s water is suitable for drinking, industry and agriculture, water scarcity has long been considered a problem relegated only to specific locales where climate or geography limit access to clean water. However, it’s now predicted that even water-rich nations such as the United States could see a water s

The Label Printers has won two prestigious awards for their efforts in making the company’s operations more environmentally sound and sustainable.  The company has won TLMI’s (Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute) Environmental Leadership Award for the second time in a row (the first time a company has done so), and the State of Illinois’ Governor’s Sustainability Award - also for the second time in a row. Bill Kane, Chief Executive of The Label Printers discussed the importance of the company’s sustainability efforts.  “Generally speaking – businesses should do their part to improve their company’s “ecological footprint”.  Number 1 - it’s just plain good for us and our planet to reduce and reuse resources.  Number 2 – if you look at it from a business standpoint and ask yourself, can we save money?  Possibly – maybe even probably.  But that’s not the point.  Customers demand that their suppliers find ways to conserve resources, to use more efficient and cost effective packaging. 

Brand protection is a major issue for companies around the globe, but in the pharmaceutical realm, the issue takes on increased importance because of the extreme health risks involved. Experts in the field gathered last month in London for the 2nd Annual Pharma Anti-Counterfeiting Congregation 2013 to talk about everything from brand protection technologies and government strategies to international partnerships and best practices. Kodak exhibited its broad range of brand protection solutions and presented in the conference program.   Experts estimate that up to 10 percent of all drugs worldwide are counterfeit, meaning that consumers may be taking drugs that have been manufactured incorrectly or with inferior ingredients. The drug industry loses billions of dollars each year to drug counterfeiting, and consumers need to be better protected. Attendees spent two days discussing these issues and the innovative solutions that are available today. “Advancements in track and trace t

How multiple generations globally are working together to manage and grow successful businesses in today’s labeling industry by FINAT   All over the world, family run businesses play a critical role in our economy and or society. Research done by the European Commission, shows that family businesses make up more than 60 % of all European companies and account for over 40 % of employment in Europe. In North America, family-owned business plays an equally big role, where over 80% of businesses are considered to be family owned. Until recently, nearly all the businesses in India were considered to be family owned businesses.   While these statistics relate to businesses in general, family owned businesses also play an important role in the labeling industry. “Family businesses are a dynamic part of our membership – in both the traditional FINAT association and the more recently established FINAT Young Managers Club (YMC),” says Kurt Walker, President of FINAT. " We wanted

Esko ( www.esko.com ) proudly congratulates its customer JV Uniflex ( www.uniflex.by ) for winning the Supreme Award at the recent FlexoTech International Print & Innovations Awards 2013 with its «Moskovskiy Kartofel» entry. The same entry also won the 'Flexo job previously printed by another process' category. "We are incredibly pleased with this prize. It's like the Oscars for printing," says Eugene Lungin, head of prepress at Uniflex. "It demonstrates our advances in flexo printing, a breakthrough which was possible thanks to the Esko products we implemented – Esko Full HD Flexo and Equinox color technology. We aim to transfer our jobs from rotogravure and offset to flexo, and Esko's technology allows us to do so." Founded in 1996, Uniflex today is one of the biggest flexo packaging and self-adhesive label specialists serving Russia, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine. Industry recognition for flexo print quality that rivals gravure and offset As

Looking for a premium finish to reflect its new on-the-go beverage product, U.K.-based The Good Whey Company turned to Eastman Embrace™ HY copolyester material to use for its labels. These labels — supplied by CCL Label Decorative Sleeves , also based in the U.K. — are used on bottles of Upbeat , a high-protein dairy drink. Embrace HY was selected because the material offers the bottles a soft-to-the touch feel, matte look, 360-degree billboard effect and sustainability benefits. Meeting consumer needs    One reason Eastman Embrace™ HY copolyester was considered by The Good Whey Company for the Upbeat product is because the recyclability of the bottles was important to the company. “Eastman Embrace™ HY copolyester is an innovative sustainable packaging option for brand owners, offering a 30 percent lower density than other copolyesters and requiring less material for the same demand,” said Anthony Sammut, EMEA specification sales and marketing manager, Eastman. “By using Embrace

UPM Raflatac announces the renewal of its removable adhesive portfolio with the addition of RR19 and RR12 . Materials made ​​from these adhesives provide good initial tack and durable adhesion to a wide range of substrates offering  excellent long-term removability . Products manufactured with UPM Raflatac RR19 and RR12 are "go-to" for versatility and disposal capacity because they can be used in a variety of end uses , including point of sale, information and commercial applications , logistics and decorative stickers and variable information labels . "We are pleased to introduce our RR19 and RR12 into our removable adhesive range ," says Patrick Goss , Director of Marketing and Innovation , UPM Raflatac , America. "These products allow us to help our clients take a new positionon removability, as we can now provide them with additional options to meet their business needs." Source:www.upmraflatac.com

In  2005  Krones AG unveiled a milestone in terms of wrap-around labelling: it developed the Contiroll HS! With a rating of up to 66,000 containers an hour, what was then the newly developed Contiroll High-Speed labeller eclipsed everything that had gone before. Today, after eight years, Krones has booked an order for the thousandth machine of this series, which means the Contiroll HS has most definitely secured itself a permanent place in the international beverage industry. And, now it’s even better!   Since the Contiroll HS made its debut, interest in wrap-around labelling for beverage containers has steadily risen. The thousandth Contiroll HS will be going into operation very soon. One of the salient factors of the Contiroll HS is that the labels are cut electronically. Thanks to variable utilisation and fast replacement of the vacuum cylinders, different container diameters and output spectrums can be handled on one and the same machine. This is a particularly attractive o

The new RightWeight bottle weighs just 7.95 grams yet offers top-load performance of 33 kilograms without nitrogen dosing, using standard 26/22 caps. The increased resistance of the RightWeight bottle helps eliminate the 'over squeeze' issue often experienced by end consumers when using ultra-light bottles, which can result in the spilling of contents unintentionally. Increased resistance also makes it easier for consumers to unscrew the cap and open the bottle. In addition, the stronger resistance means the RightWeight bottle is more likely to travel across the supply chain and retain its original attractive appearance when it is placed on a supermarket shelf in front of the consumer.   "Beverage producers are increasingly striving to unlock the value of a PET bottle across their entire supply chain, from concept to consumer," explains Christophe Bunel, Head of Packaging Care & Development at Sidel. "To achieve this, a bottle must be lighter, of cou

Spaipa , the third largest bottler of Coca -Cola in the Brazilian territory , was recently acquired by Coca -Cola FEMSA Mexico , the largest manufacturer of soft drinks throughout Latin America. On the market since 1946 , it has four factories with a total of fourteen bottling lines for different types of drinks such as Coca Cola , Fanta , Sprite , fruit juices , sports drinks ( Powerade ) , mineral water and beer . The Spaipa plants are located in Curitiba where three bottling lines are installed, Mariingá with four production lines, five lines are installed in the Marilia factory and  two other in Bauru factory . Spaipa is a company that  in 2010 produced more than 213 million cases of 12 bottles each, for a total of two billion 556 million ( 2.556 billion ) bottles.   In 2012 , Coca -Cola  launched Crystal Eco, the new water bottle with 20 % less PET. To comply with the environmental requirements of the container, it turned to PE LABELLERS for labelling the new container , th

Xeikon , an innovator in digital color printing technology, announced that it will be exhibiting at Labelexpo Asia, which will be held in Shanghai, December 3 to 6. Labelexpo Asia is the most important event related to labels in the Asia-Pacific region and this year marks Xeikon fourth’s partiipation in a row . Located on stand H22 E2 , Xeikon will present solutions that have positioned the company as a leader in the market of digital label. This includes the Xeikon 3030 digital press , live producing digital labels , and digital front-end options such as MyPress , Xeikon ColorControl and VariLane . "Asia is an important market for Xeikon . Labelexpo Asia offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of Xeikon in terms of digital label printing. Being  at Labelexpo Asia for the fourth time is not a coincidence ," says Filip Weymans , Director of Business Development and Marketing Labels and Packaging  at Xeikon . " Labelexpo Europe earlier this year in B