Sustainable packaging Requirements for water-based barrier coatings P. 14
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Making packaging better with artificial intelligence
Cathie Ellis, president of Ellis Packaging
Actega executives discuss the requirements for water-based barrier coatings
DEPARTMENTS
NEWS
3 Flint Group introduces a new range of inks for flexible packaging converters, Nu-Maber updates its flexo plate processing line, Fujifilm North America appoints Ken Brown as global category specialist for labels and packaging, MacDermid Graphics Solutions announces plans for a Flexo Xperience Centre and more
INSTALLATIONS
5 Cambridge Label, CCL Industries and the Great Little Box Company
19 Products and solutions from Paragon Inks, Durst, Siegwerk, Michelman, V-Shapes and H.B. Fuller
Flint Group introduces a new range of inks for flexible packaging converters. The new OneCode range is designed to simplify the flexible packaging printing process, reduce process waste and increase ease in doing business. While the launch of the OneCode range is rolling out now across Europe, further global regions supplied by Flint Group, including Latin America and North America, will introduce the OneCode framework to customers in 2022.
Asahi Photoproducts, including Asahi AWP-DEW water-washable CleanPrint plates and an Asahi AWP4260 PLF automated inline processor with processing, drying and light finishing. This new configuration is Industry 4.0 compatible with remote maintenance and support capability. Asahi AWPDEW water-washable plates are suitable for flexible packaging and labels, and are designed to move away from VOC-washout, solvent-based plate processing.
Italy-based Nu-Maber updates its flexo plate processing line with latest technology from
The Graphic Systems Division of Fujifilm North America appoints Ken Brown as global category specialist, labels and packaging, a newly created role. In his new position, Brown will provide technical and business support to the Graphic Systems Division sales teams in addition to marketing, product management and senior leadership. Brown has built an impressive career in the digital print space, having maintained leadership roles in sales and product management, most recently managing the digital folding carton business as North America segment manager for HP. Brown also
has held critical print production sales roles at Eastman Kodak and Heidelberg.
MacDermid Graphics Solutions, a provider of flexographic platemaking and printing solutions, has announced plans for a Flexo Xperience Centre (FXC).
FXC is a partnership between MacDermid and SOMA, and is an expansion of their initial plans to install a SOMA Optima2 printing press at MacDermid’s facility in Atlanta, GA. The FXC will include multiple industry partners providing software, equipment and consumables. This global centre will combine hands-on and virtual visits for a “onestop-shop” for the package printing industry’s entire workflow to experience the latest flexographic printing innova-
tions. Additionally, FXC will host industry training, collaboration, research, experimentation and learning.
Berlin Packaging appoints
Ben Adams as the company’s first chief digital officer (CDO).
Adams will partner with Berlin’s commercial team to develop and execute the company’s global digital strategy and lead the next phase of digital transformation, including omnichannel capabilities that matter to Berlin’s customers, suppliers and other business partners.
Adams joins Berlin Packaging with more than 20 years of experience in digital strategy and e-commerce. Most recently, he served as CDO for Rexel, a multichannel distributor of electrical products and services for the energy industry.
Ken Brown
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m
Cambridge Label, based in Cambridge, Ont., has installed a DC330MINI Label Converter from Grafisk Maskinfabrik A/S (GM), on its own in just one day using the company’s visual installation guide. According to GM, the finisher is delivered in one box, so it can be unpacked and plugged in for near-immediate production. The DC330MINI offers features such as semi-rotary die-cutting, corona treater, varnishing, laminating and slitting.
The Great Little Box Company (GLBC), Richmond, B.C., has invested in a new HP Indigo 35K Digital Press to expand folding carton production capacity. The new press is operating at the Great Little Box Company & Ideon Packaging site in Richmond. Ideon Packaging is a folding carton specialist that GLBC acquired last year.
CCL Industries installs the world’s first HP Indigo 35K
Digital Press at its CCL Label Healthcare facility in Montreal. The new B2 sheetfed press for cartons and specialty boards offers high-definition printing, security inks and variable data printing for track-and-trace solutions and security elements. A majority of CCL’s fleet of digital presses belong to the HP Indigo family, including labels and packaging printers.
The augmented consumer
By Christophe Bossut
Aglobal trend exists today toward enhancing the human senses, evidenced, for example, in GPS, driving assistance, decision assistance and automated translation. The packaging industry will not escape from this digital surge, as it becomes “intelligent,” and an active communication tool for use by humans regardless of their profile: customer, seller, manufacturer, prospect, curious onlooker, controller or regulator. The rapid advance of technologies is such that the scope of
The ability to scan barcodes with smartphones opens up new opportunities for the packaging industry.
Let’s have a brief retrospective look at a similar subject—the car. When it was proposed to make cars autonomous (from the driver), everyone thought in a natural, instinctive way
based on what they already knew from the Eighties. It was necessary the car detects traffic signals and moves acpossibilities is ever-widening.
Making packaging better with AI
Packaging can be embedded with layers of “virtual info” that are readable by end-customers.
cordingly to positions along the road like an airplane’s transponder. However, the autonomous car became a reality only when the technology behind real-time image analysis (cameras, etc.) matured and was coupled with Lidar and other radars; this allowed neural traffic networks to process the required real-time data for “decision-making” purposes.
Thus, to revolutionize a service, product or object requires the total understanding of previous technological developments (as well evolution) to open up new fields of possibil-
ities, and, in direct commercial terms, to answer the new demands that have been set by the marketing community as ‘brand owners’.
Packaging or commercial print cannot avoid this kind of transformation. Image recognition and computer vision are two technologies pointing to a major revolution in the interaction between humans and packaging.
Explosion of scanning services
The evidence is clear; we only need to look at how new use cases have emerged over the past two years. Within the space of a few months, the notion of “scan” has become an accepted, understood use behaviour; you just need to look at Yuka, a scanning app, and the explosion of barcode scanners in Apple or Google stores.
Funnily enough, the simple scanning of an EAN 13 on a product was already commonplace since the late Seventies, but until recently the decoding of a barcode only allowed
connection to a product repository on a local network and was used to extract basic information such as price. Moreover, the use of barcode readers, a decoding tool, was not widespread. Today’s smartphones with cameras and tomorrow’s connected reading glasses open up the field of possibilities in an open internet where all information systems are searchable in real time by API.
Yuka has just fulfilled its mission with real-time information against a background of consumer distrust with products that are criticized for their declaration of origin or their composition.
The packaging market and brand owners therefore have a need to inte-
grate these dimensions. Leading brands have already started to integrate this perfectly. For example, check out the latest advertising by personal care product manufacturer Narta. The interaction between the product and the consumer via a smartphone is proof that our phones have become an oracle or lens offering greater vision into our real-time world. Instead of typing a query into a Google searchbox, we can scan our environment for additional information.
Virtual editorial
Augmented reality with print therefore becomes the key point. If today, it is becoming more and more natural to take out your smartphone to “scan” a
Image recognition and computer vision are two technologies pointing to a major revolution in the interaction between humans and packaging.
barcode, a QR code or even an image to obtain information, then you, as professionals of the graphics industry, have the same opportunity to offer your customers the benefits of interactive content.
So today, where are we? It’s now necessary to become aware of and prepare for the issues surrounding the emergence of the virtual editorial. Everything starts with the PDF file. Today, the PDF file (the document) embeds (or can embed) all the information needed for the printing job to be completed ( e.g. colour space, separation, content, cut-out shapes, folding layers, etc.). The PDF then enters a prepress flow to feed the entire graphic production chain. What about connectivity elements? Except from URL, QR code or an EAN13, the PDF does not embark anywhere.
From here, the printed packaging facets (sides, folds, faces) can each embed layers of “virtual info” that are readable by end-customers—even in
mass volumes—by simple scanning the packaging itself, the various codes present (QR code, 2Dcode, CodeBarre) or by reading the PDF via a simple browser that activates or hides the additional layers.
Augmented reality solutions give access to virtual editorial, a real post-manufacturing era issue, a campaign manager (PDF or paper) and a panel of players (App, WebApp, WebAR or simple browser for enhanced PDF).
The packaging-production companies have seen this new segment appearing as a natural evolution of their own production execution process. The final printed packaging object becomes a communication tool and, in all possible ways, it is the end-user who will choose their way of interaction—NFC (if the packaging has it), image recognition and augmented reality, scan code, or even activation of virtual layers in the PDF itself. In all these cases, it’s happening today
The consolidation of different technologies is leading to the emergence of new channels and uses for the printing and packaging industry.
through a simple smartphone, but also emerging and soon to be commonplace through the glasses you wear. Most professional solutions on the market offer a cloud storage option for all additional virtual content and to connect to the printed document. Only a few publishers embed those contents in the original PDF source file without changing the integrity of it. For graphic designers, it is compatible with the PDF / X and PDF / A standards and supports up to PDF version 1.7.
Personalization of print
Finally, and this is the real challenge, all the augmented content can be modified in real-time, post-print. Personalization in post-print is finally possible and sweeps away the cum-
bersome control process of super-personalization promised by digital printing. However, these two worlds won’t clash. On the contrary, they will be complementary: one by the personalization of segments, the other by the personalization of the end-user.
As we have seen, the new use cases spread very quickly since the technology makes it easier to access a service.
The case of Yuka is interesting because it is easy to browse the database of the Open Food Fact through the barcode without having to go through a conventional search for information through a search engine and rate a product. It has become so viral that manufacturers have to adapt their product formulations to increase
their scores on the app. Such is the modern cauldron of increased consumer power! For the graphics industry, it is indispensable to be able to exist in both the digital and non-digital worlds. However, the graphics market is becoming digitalized and it is best to continue with parallel editorial content on all documents to make them ‘augmented’ in the end.
The barrier of downloading applications has fallen away either because the applications become more social or they offer easier access to them. Various information is accessible either because the WebAR no longer requires a simple browser to trigger the camera of your smartphone or because live augmented experiences can be observed through a website.
What’s more natural than connecting a PDF to its stream by increasing HTML5 layers related to manufacturing, commercial, technical and other elements, and all this in a blockchain?
What’s more natural than the printed end piece having the same digital information embedded and directly available by “scanning” the document, thanks to image recognition?
What is more natural than letting the different actors access different information depending on their profile?
What could be more natural than transforming the document or the package into a real communication piece with the final recipient, and this way convert it into a marketing engagement tool?
All these changes open up new markets and will lead to new behaviours by packaging printers, converters and brand-owners. The consolidation of different technologies is leading to the emergence of new channels and uses for the printing and packaging industry.
Christophe
Bossut is the co-founder of Argo. This article was originally published as part of the Drupa Essentials of Print series.
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Cathie Ellis / President / Ellis Packaging
Cathie Ellis is the president of Ellis Packaging, Pickering,
Ont. As one of the earliest female leaders of a printing and packaging company, Ellis understands the challenges women face in the industry. In an e-mail interview, she discusses her hopes for the industry.
What is the state of the print industry today, in your opinion?
CE: A myriad of different models exist in the print industry today due to the pandemic. The commercial print market has once again been hit hard, but the labels and packaging sectors have seen a surge in demand. Technology has improved, thus allowing printers to print better quality work at record speeds. It is truly a marvel.
What attracted you to the print industry?
CE: I was fortunate to grow up in the
print industry because I started working for the family business as a teenager. At that time, I had no idea I would run the company one day. However, I have always said print and packaging is addictive, and it somehow draws you in over time. I love that the print industry is fast-paced, and has many different facets to learn and manage.
As a woman, how challenging is it to work in a male-dominated industry?
CE: When I started out in the industry
30 years ago, it was very male dominated. As a female, it almost felt like things were kept behind closed doors for just men to discuss and figure out.
At first, when I was accepted into meetings, I stayed quiet and sat on the sidelines so as to not draw attention to myself; what if they decided that I, the only female in the meeting, shouldn’t be there! As time passed and I felt more confident, I would ask
questions or offer suggestions. As my career progressed, I didn’t place emphasis on gender, and instead focused on surrounding myself with people who were on the same page as I.
What sort of biases did you experience? How did you deal with them?
CE: I had a double whammy as far as biases go, as firstly, I was the owner’s daughter and secondly, I was a female. I took over from a father who was very involved in the packaging industry, and really, just evolved in his shadow for many years. I recall being invited to the now defunct Canadian Paper Box Makers Association (CPBMA) meeting as its first female member—It was an honour because I knew the association was a boys’ club! I was nervous at the first meeting because I wanted to be accepted as one of the ‘boys’, and to have a voice that would bring value regardless of gender.
What steps should the industry take to increase the number of women leaders?
CE: I feel the industry has really changed over the past 20 years. Today, we see that more print companies are led by women. It is exciting to witness the ‘changing of the guard’.
How can the industry attract more young people?
CE: Today’s youth are drawn to social media. Perhaps, we need to demonstrate further using that venue. Unfortunately, the trade schools that once taught print programs no longer exist. The education system should be placing more emphasis on trades.
In such a competitive landscape, how can printers win more sales?
CE: In today’s market, it’s all about quality, service and flexibility. We must be responsive and almost intuitive to our customers’ demands. As
In today’s market, it’s all about quality, service and flexibility. We must be responsive and almost intuitive to our customers’ demands.
mentioned earlier, while the CPG market is busy, the commercial sector has suffered due to the pandemic. I believe new technologies give printers the tools to meet current market challenges.
What are some of the biggest opportunities in the print industry?
CE: As the plastic ban becomes more widespread, we will see a greater demand for paperboard packaging alternatives. We need to ensure our design teams are ready to take on these challenges. Digital print will make further gains within the commercial market with its speed-to-market abilities.
What do you think is the most exciting thing about print today?
CE: The print industry has morphed so much over the past 30 years. I think the exciting thing is technology. Years ago, we were limited by what our technology could do. Today, our presses are intuitive and programmable. More information is available with the new technology that enables us to analyse and improve our waste and throughput whereas in the past we had to rely on manual collection of data that wasn’t always accurate.
Ellis’s responses were edited for length. For more Q&A Spotlight interviews, please visit www. printaction.com/profile.
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The push to create sustainable packaging
Actega executives discuss the technical and regulatory requirements for water-based barrier coatings
By PrintAction Staff
This Q&A focuses on sustainability, and how it is reshaping the world around us, and more specifically, the markets we serve. There is no doubt the packaging industry is under tremendous pressure to be more sustainable from both brands and consumers, who now demand environmentally responsible packaging solutions.
Benjamin Lux, chief technology officer at Actega, and Markus Locher, global barrier manager at Actega, Business Line Paper & Board, talk about the importance of sustainability in the packaging industry.
They discuss the technical, commercial and regulatory requirements for water-based barrier coatings as a solution for more sustainable end products.
What does sustainability mean to you?
BL: I have been hearing about sustainability ever since I joined the industry. For the last 15 years, it has been an emerging trend, but the good news is that it has moved beyond that—it is now most definitely a fundamental requirement and expectation of the market.
Water-based barrier coatings could help make packaging more sustainable.
When exploring new solutions, one of the biggest challenges is the ever-changing and complicated regulatory landscape. – Benjamin Lux
How does the shift to sustainability impact companies?
BL: Sustainability was previously driven by consumer preferences, and that is still true today. However, brand owners now value sustainable practices too, and not just to satisfy the consumer. They understand its importance to the planet, and that it is a fundamental requirement for the longterm viability and profitability of their business. Sustainability is no longer a niche trend, but something businesses have really bought into, and are leading the charge for, especially in the packaging industry.
A great example of this is the new ‘plastics economy’, a multinational project of hundreds of different brand owners who have stepped-up and voluntarily made some bold commitments around sustainability. They have set some very aggressive goals, and in doing so, are now really pushing sustainability up and down the supply chain, particularly
around packaging. What’s more, when we look at the claims these brand owners are making, they are big, bold, public commitments. These commitments go beyond just packaging. This has set a benchmark for other companies to follow, such as ourselves. As such, you now see these same sustainability objectives being incorporated into the DNA and daily focus of some of the world’s largest companies.
What steps are companies making toward sustainability?
ML: Global brand owners have taken many initiatives to reduce their impact on the environment, but one of the biggest we’ve seen is the trend toward more paper-based alternatives in packaging. Another big trend is the move toward more sustainable barrier coatings, which we predict will continue and eventually represent the bulk of the packaging market, as the water-based barrier coatings provide
an effective, economical and truly sustainable solution for the printing and packaging industry. As businesses continue to make these commitments to sustainability, they are ultimately compelled to work with new sustainable approaches, while slowly moving away from traditional products and techniques that are no longer fit for purpose.
What does this mean for the packaging barrier industry?
ML: There are many implications. However, a big change to the industry, and one that could have hugely positive sustainable benefits, would be the replacement of PE extruded paperboard. It’s currently the most ubiquitous material used in the barrier world today, and for good reason. It’s well-established within the supply chain and offers great functional performance. However, it isn’t recyclable, and as a result, a large amount of it ends up in landfill or the ocean. We
Water-based barrier coatings provide an effective, economical and truly sustainable solution for the printing and packaging industry.
– Markus Locher
must find an adequate and sustainable replacement for it.
What other challenges can we expect?
BL: When exploring new solutions, one of the biggest challenges is the ever-changing and complicated regulatory landscape. Those paperboard materials mentioned before already have a well-established regulatory profile, meaning it’s easier to apply a ‘band-aid’ approach to solving these problems, instead of creating new products, which we must do. However, to see real progress and make real change, businesses will need to confront the complexity of laws, policies and regulations.
In terms of barrier coatings, are there any challenges to consider?
BL: Something to always consider is the possibility of ink migration on the exterior of packaging. A big concern for the packaging industry is that
these inks could potentially get into the packaging substrate, and then into the consumer product. As we use more and more recycled papers, it is common to find more impurities within the substrate, making it even more difficult to reuse materials and protect the product from impurities; this must be solved.
What is Actega doing to kick-start this change and what does the future hold?
ML: We are working with other businesses to create the best solutions for the industry and achieve a greater impact. We are approaching this by trying to fully understand all aspects of sustainability and to define key pillars, which also include other aspects that are important for the success of any product solution.
BL: Essentially, we are striving to make a positive impact by incorporating sustainable solutions. To achieve that, we are currently developing new
supply chains to help bring these technologies and products to life and working with brand owners, raw materials suppliers and regulatory agencies. This partner-centric approach utilizes the best and most innovative technology and expertise available today. This way, we hope to build a better tomorrow.
Signite is a decorating solution from Actega that’s designed to reduce label waste.
Domino Digital Printing Solutions and Paragon Inks develop varnishes for overprinting on some Domino UV ink sets.
UV varnishes from Paragon Inks
Domino Digital Printing Solutions and Paragon Inks have developed a full suite of varnishes specifically for overprinting on Domino’s UV95 and UV90 ink sets that can be used with their N-series digital inkjet label presses.
The first set of varnishes (matt and gloss including TTO over-printable) for use with Domino’s UV95 food packaging-compliant UV digital ink set, are optimized such that the output does not need to be corona treated before the varnish is applied. These varnishes have been formulated for many non-direct food packaging applications and, under the right conditions, are migration compliant.
Siegwerk unveils new water-based inks
Siegwerk is now offering a new generation of sustainable water-based inks for paper and board applications: UniNature. The new product range is formulated with renewable and natural components, providing an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional inks without impacting the recyclability of paper and board packaging.
The new ink and coating series is applicable for many paper and board applications including corrugated board boxes, trays and dis plays, fast food packaging, sacks and bags, as well as cups and wraps.
Durst unveils new features for Tau RSC platform
Durst has updated its Tau RSC platform and improved the Tau 330 RSC and Tau 330 RSC E presses for short and medium runs. Even various Tau RSCi solutions for hybrid printing and inline processing can be offered now, thanks to the expansion of the product range with various partners.
The Durst Tau RSCi can be configured with optional flexo stations—before and/or after the digital print unit. Therefore, challenging materials can be used by adding a primer or combination printing between flexo and UV Inkjet. By printing white over with the post-press flexo station more applications can be added to the press. These new developments are also available as a retrofit for existing Tau 330 RSC and RSC E customers.
UniNature inks by Siegwerk are formulated with renewable and natural components. The Durst Tau RSCi can be configured with optional flexo stations
H.B. Fuller introduces two new compostable adhesives for the flexible packaging market.
H.B. Fuller launches compostable adhesives for flexible packaging
H.B. Fuller announces two new compostable adhesive solutions for the flexible packaging market under its Flextra Evolution brand: Flextra Evolution SF1000CP/XR2000CP and Flextra Evolution WB1200CP/XR2200CP.
The Flextra Evolution SF1000CP/XR2000CP is a 2K solvent-less adhesive. Flextra Evolution WB1200CP/XR2200CP, a water-based, two-part system that works best with paper-to-film laminations, is fully compostable according to EN13432, ASTM D6400, and is certified through the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI).
Michelman expands its high-performance label solutions
Michelman has expanded its suite of high-performance label solutions, used with UV overprint varnishes (OPVs), permitting HP Indigo digitally printed labels to endure harsh environments, including extreme heat, chemicals, water or friction during packing and transport.
These solutions allow press owners to increase their addressable market size and produce more with their HP Indigo digital label presses in applications, such as packaging for personal care and cosmetics, household cleaners, automotive oils and fluids, wine and beer bottles and industrial and electronic equipment.
Michelman expands its suite of high-performance label solutions.
V-Shapes introduces VS Dflex for nearline sachet printing
V-Shapes, a supplier of single-dose packaging solutions, launches the V-Shapes VS Dflex nearline reel-to-reel printer for printing the top layer of its single-dose sachets. The sachets are opened with a single gesture using one hand.
Powered by Memjet DuraFlex, this printing system makes it easy to print flexible packaging onsite, thereby eliminating the need to outsource printing or to tie up other printing equipment in the plant, especially for shorter runs of customized sachets.
The V-Shapes VS Dflex nearline reel-to-reel printer can be used to print the top layer of single-dose sachets.
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