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Trendsetters in Printing and Graphics
April 1, 2007 By: Stephanie Skernivitz Paperboard PackagingInsiders expound on the year's latest innovations.
Sam's Club, BJ's, and Costco all have something in common besides the obvious classification of "wholesale club." Each of these massive marketplaces loudly displays bulk size versions of the splashiest, flashiest, boldest, brightest graphics on packaging within 120,000 sq ft or more of otherwise drab concrete walls.
 Concepts, a York Container company, York, Pa., entered the digital printing arena in 2004, after months of careful research. Digital printing propelled Concepts into the small quantity, high-graphic market. |
"Wholesale clubs and warehouse stores are experiencing unprecedented growth. That, in turn, has created additional demands for attractive colored boxes on white liner," says John Bird, president of JB Machinery in Weston, Conn. "Wholesale clubs, warehouse stores and today's marketing chains demand shelf-ready packaging, greater message amplification, shelf velocity and branding."
While the appeal of warehouse club product packaging may be driving certain trends, other experts argue it's the equipment you run, or the type of printing employed. We've "toured" the industry to seek out the latest trends so board converters can investigate the most appropriate options for enhancement of their printing and graphics capabilities — and ultimately drive their businesses forward.
Overall Direction
"In corrugated, there is a slow, but very steady, trend toward fine graphics — display-type work driven by the fact that there are not nearly as many ads in print media or television. The trend seems to be shifting toward in-store marketing or displays, especially in the club stores that have resulted in more seven- or eight-color presses with UV coating capabilities on corrugated," says George Sickinger, president and ceo of Color Resolutions. His Fairfield, Ohio-based company manufactures inks and coatings for the corrugated and folding carton segments, including UV and water-based coatings.
On the folding carton side, Sickinger says the trend is to provide unique specialized packaging to stand out in the marketplace.
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"We see a proliferation of products related to producers of food and beverage packaging," Sickinger adds. "To differentiate, packaging is getting more creative in terms of shape of package, features such as glow in the dark, fluorescence — anything to catch the consumer's attention."
Tom Weiler, national account executive with Flint Group's Packaging Division in North America, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., views the corrugated and folding carton industry trends on three fundamental levels: commodity, functional/convenience and specialty.
"The trend in the commodity portion of the market is toward price sensitivity," Weiler says. "The key purchasing decision factor is price. Relationships are less important; anyone can do business if the price is right."
Improved functionality impacts the beverage side of the business. One example may be the fridge packs for refrigerator dispensing of drink cans. Consumers may "pay a little extra for convenience," he says.
And as for the specialty arena, Weiler says that often, cost of equipment and materials bar entry into this market. For those successful enough to make substantial returns on specialty products, key drivers are often a unique component of the products and reduced competition. Examples of up-and-coming specialty items, Weiler says, include new substrates, such as holographic materials, high-end metallic, six- and seven-color process, and UV and specialty coatings.
Specific Trends and Innovations
Inks
Danny Ramos, vice president of service operations for Graphic Sciences, Portland, Ore., is well-versed in the benefits of his company's pH-neutral inks for corrugated applications, an innovation still relatively unfamiliar to the industry.
For those unschooled on pH-neutral inks, Ramos explains: Water-based inks run with a pH of 8.5 to 9.5 at optimal performance, while pH-neutral inks are designed to run within a much broader window of 7 to 9.5.
"What a converter would see with these inks is less clean-up time on the plates," Ramos explains. Now that the pH window is much wider, the inks should stay soluble longer periods of time, which translates to less downtime.
"With pH-neutral inks, viscosity is almost stable throughout the entire run. That contributes to not cleaning plates as often, as well as ensuring consistency during the run," he says.
As for the cost of such technology, Ramos says converters can expect to pay just 20 percent to 30 percent more. "In the long run, this is an investment," he says.
Pigments
Vacuum metallized pigment (VMP), a very thin, highly reflective aluminum particle, is the bread and butter of two-year-old company, Liqui-Met Inc., in Brockville, Ontario, a supplier to ink manufacturers. Greg Smith, chief technical officer of the company, says ink formulators can use this relatively new option as their aluminum additive, which can be tinted into various shades and colors.
To carry the product into the future, the company is fine-tuning VMP's capabilities. "On the folding carton side, we're looking at a combination of unique sealers for this metallic that really bring out reflectivity. We're looking at various thicknesses of particles to create a subtle difference in the shade of the aluminum," says Smith of the product, which has only five producers globally.
Coatings
Coating trends in 2007 will relate to efficient use of packaging and elimination of excess waste to the landfills, says Jim Elliott, global market manager of Michelman Inc. The Cincinnati-based company offers the VaporCoat® series as a repulpable alternative to traditional wax cascaded and curtain coated boxes. VaporCoat is a recyclable water-based moisture barrier coating for corrugated boxes, chipboard, folding cartons, kraft and fine papers. Common uses for the coating include produce and poultry boxes, and release for frozen meat patty boxes.
"Folding carton and box makers need to work with retailers to find alternatives for wax cascaded and curtain coated boxes," Elliott says. "Traditional wax coatings for corrugated present myriad problems: production can be unsafe for workers, petrochemical supply is tight, disposal costs are rising, and landfills are filling up. Water-based coatings are safer to apply, conserve resources in production, and often simply do a better job of protecting contents than alternatives."
Digital Printing
Diane Wolf, general manager of Concepts, a York Container company, York, Pa., says her company entered the digital printing arena in 2004 after months of careful research. At that time, Concepts purchased a UV ink-based printer from EFI/VuTek, Meredith, N.H., featuring a 6-ft.-wide format and the ability to print on rigid and roll-to-roll substrates.
While a hefty pricetag is attached to the digital printing process, Wolf says the method has complemented York's business. Because the process is computer-driven, no printing plates are required.
"This equipment makes it possible for us to prototype high-quality graphic packaging for our customers," she says. "Such prototyping affords our customer the opportunity to make revisions with ease, as well as have a replica of pending packaging to use for marketing purposes. Additionally, digital printing has allowed us entry into the small quantity, high-graphic marketplace."
There's a similar story at Englander Container in Waco, Texas, where the company installed an HP CorJet large-format digital printer two years ago. The digital printer allows the company to produce short-run corrugated boxes and point-of-purchase displays without film or plates.
 Comco's C2 features an electronic control system 100 percent servo driven that combines technologies, such as rotary screen, hot foil stamping, and diecutting options, and allows users to install them in a press on a "plug and play" basis. |
"This new capability has expedited our lead times, providing our customers with a quick-to-market solution without tying up much money in tooling," President Marty Englander says. Englander Container went a step further with the installation of a digital diecutter to further speed up processes and save on cutting dies.
"I truly feel that digital is going to grow as a P-O-P solution for corrugated," Englander says.
But digital printing is not without its flaws. "Digital printing, as we know it today, is difficult for many in the packaging industry to embrace," Wolf says, referring to the print times on larger runs.
The actual printing time is very slow "compared with the market 'norms' of flexographic printing," Wolf says.
As a result, volume production is not cost-effective. She says the technology really needs better marketing strategies to establish its value in the market.
Mike Pfaff, in charge of sales of paperboard and folding carton presses for Comco, Milford, Ohio, seconds Wolf's comments. "No matter how inexpensive and quick make-ready the process is, the speed penalty is way too much to pay for people to adopt that on a wide scale," he says.
However, the label side of the business is one niche market where digital can fly. "Take for example, the boutique label houses who print wine labels," he says. "They do a very small number for a given vintage, say, a couple thousand bottles. Then, you probably don't mind having something that runs 50 feet a minute. If you have two million cartons, that's another story."
Machinery Innovations
There's a lot of pressure on converters to modernize and do the same work they've done all along — only more efficiently and consistently. Kennesaw, Ga.-based Heidelberg USA's Roland Krapp, vice president of sheetfed product management, says that Heidelberg's XL-105 press offers a solution to relieve such pressure on converters.
 JB Machinery illustrates how a printer converter took his customer's graphics from box on right to box on left. Within three months, beer sales doubled — as did the printer converter's box sales. |
"With this press, Heidelberg has set the benchmark for productivity in the industry, due to make-ready and real production speeds," he says. "The press can handle up to 80,000 sheets in an hour. (We believe) this press offers a new productivity dimension in sheetfed offset printing."
On the folding carton side, Heidelberg is focused on the Heidelberg Logistics press, which provides an automatic nonstop system and yields automated pile changing at the feeder.
 Heidelberg XL-105 press can handle up to 80,000 sheets in an hour. |
Comco's Pfaff says machinery-specific trends also are tied to demands for higher quality of graphic reproduction, tighter registration, and multiple processes (for example, combining flexo printing with rotary screen printing or with hot or cold foil stamping) to give package distinction.
Comco features a new press platform, the C2, an electronic control system 100 percent servo driven that combines technologies, such as rotary screen, hot foil stamping, and diecutting options, and allows users to install them in a press on a "plug and play" basis. "Such an offering gives a converter a really versatile platform," Pfaff says.
Danny Webb, vice president of sales for folding carton manufacturer Dominion Packaging in Richmond, Va., mentions his company's ongoing development of a system that will offer a full replacement in the gravure process. Dominion Packaging is also working on the short-run gravure side to "compete with the boys in flexo and offset with some new technology that would produce tooling." He declined to elaborate on the technologies.
Key machinery innovations from Brian Jacob's perspective revolve around anilox roll cleaning. Jacob, of Jacob Flexographic Services, Plymouth, Mass., which represents key suppliers to the flexographic printing market, has spent 30 years within the corrugated anilox roll marketplace.
"Large block solid printing on recycled material, as well as fine screen printing on high hold out liners, benefit from meticulous care and cleaning of the anilox cylinder," Jacob says. "Given this mentality, more expensive freestanding anilox cleaning units, once reserved for the flexible packaging marketplace, are now often finding their way into the corrugated arena."
A second anilox-specific trend is the natural progression of higher line count anilox rolls required because of higher line screen plates. "The movement of finer line count (explains) why there is more of a cleaning awareness, as finer and finer cells require improved cleaning habits to maintain print densities," he says.
JB Machinery's Bird adds that drying equipment should not be downplayed as a potential trendsetter in the business. Drying capabilities can enable shelf-ready packaging by adding color, pop, information, gloss with and without varnish, scuff and rub resistance, box strength, water resistance and a smooth tactile experience for the consumer, Bird says.
"As a consequence, infrared drying and UV curing systems have, within the past several years, found their place in the corrugated direct print marketplace," he says.
Trend Awareness
Experts unanimously acknowledge that awareness of the trends is the first step toward future innovations. Flint's Weiler says regardless of awareness, certain players still have advantages.
"The large printers are capable of supporting and moving the trends in certain directions, whereas the smaller printers often can't afford the initial costs involved," he says. "Over the last couple of years, the large converters are addressing cost issues. Downtime is decreasing, press speeds are increasing, and material weight reductions are being investigated."
Mark Rasmussen, product manager for packaging at Heidelberg USA, says consolidation has positively affected the market.
"While consolidation of companies continues to drive cost-efficiency in the market, improvements and graphic enhancements to our materials and processes are key to the success of this king of business moving forward," he says.
