FPT 1:2020

Building A Culture Of Speed Two ar cles give a posi ve flexible packaging outlook on the future

Koenig & Bauer Flexotecnica about upcoming Challenges and Emerging Markets

Simec Group is ready to change the game for anilox

“Now we are seeing many of our customers come back to us for repeat or1 ders”

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The first article is about the current pandemic situation and how flexible packaging could have contributed to a better outcome. The second article is about how flexible packaging plays a key role in prevention of packaging waste and mitigation of global warming.

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On 11th March 2020 the EU Commission presents its new action plan for the circular economy. In order to set the right course for the necessary change in the industry, the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (German Association for Plastic Packaging and Films) has clear expectations of this action plan

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Plastics are an important resource that must be recycled and not end up as environmental litter. In order to manage and optimise the flows of material specifically for this purpose, the volumes of material flows as well as leakage into the environment need to be known.

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About 5 years ago KBA took over Flexotecnica and recently implemented changes in management. We met new CEO Dr. Peter Lechner to learn more about his plans for the company and what has changed in latest years‌

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Simec Group is known for high quality anilox rollers and sleeves.

Now they are ready to change the game with new sales concepts specially designed for the different application areas where their wide range of cylinders is used.

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In 2018, manroland web systems and Goss International became one: manroland Goss web systems. They are a strong force supplying global print markets with value-adding products and combine strengths and opportunities of two leading web offset suppliers.

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The Thallo system addresses market demands for shorter runs while offering the highest print quality; delivering maximum flexibility and cost efficiency for print runs of any length.

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AJ Buran and Dave Hotchkiss are two truly inspiring guys. Seeing a space in label printing, they decided to start their own digital printed pouch company, GOpak. Combining technical knowledge, experience, and even more enthusiasm, they received a reasonable amount of success from almost day one.

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No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning

Ok, I thought this editorial will be about the upcoming drupa and how great it will be.

Now things are different. We are all more or less grounded and the global economy has come almost to a halt.

However, consumption is still high, or maybe even higher than ever. People are stockpiling food, toilet paper, medicine etc. All of those things are packaged goods! Without modern state of the art packaging, many of the products that people are now storing wouldn’t be a thing. This industry has always contributed to a better modern life, and this is now needed more than ever.

All studies on packaging, and flexible packaging in particular, say that over the coming years we will see steady global growth. This won’t go away because of the current situation, its just postponed a little bit. China is already back in business, and on page 4 you will find an article about how flexible packaging could have helped prevent this situation. It is expected that China will take some measures in banning those so-called wet markets in favour of supermarkets which means more packaged goods!

I believe that I read somewhere that in the 2008 financial crisis, packaging was one of the few industries that didn’t take a blow, but in some instances actually benefitted from it as people spent less money on going out, but rather buying more packaged food. Does anyone have verified numbers and sources on this?

Webinar Currently we are working on realizing our first Flexible Packaging Technology webinar with a renowned industry expert. Participation will be free of charge, as this serves as a testimonial. We are highly confident of attracting at least 1000 viewers. Later on, this will become an additional service we can offer to our customers. Please contact me if you have an interesting topic for a webinar. We will take care of hosting and marketing, all you have to do is to share your technical knowledge.

USA Tour As I am writing this editorial I have just returned from the USA where I visited more than 15 companies (and drove more than 4000 miles/6400 km) in order to interview them about their success and the machinery they use. All of them have reported incredible double-digit growth over the past years, and they expected it to continue this way. This industry remains healthy.

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Two articles give a positive flexible packaging outlook on the future Below you will find two articles which give a positive outlook for the future of the flexible packaging industry. The first article is from Wood McKenzie about the current pandemic situation and how flexible packaging could have contributed to a better outcome. The second article is about how flexible packaging plays a key role in prevention of packaging waste and mitigation of global warming.

Coronavirus: could flexible packaging reduce the threat of future outbreaks?

The outbreak could spark an increase in China’s low consumption of flexible packaging While efforts to limit the spread of Covid-19 are ongoing, attentions are also focused on measures to reduce the risk of future outbreaks.

With the spotlight falling on food supply

chain health and safety, handled by staff and this could drive new de- customers in a confined mand for flexible pack- area. aging in China.

In response to the risk, Tighter regulation could the Chinese governbe ahead ment is reportedly considering a change to The outbreak meat handling and disis reportedly thought to tribution practices, and have started at a tighter regulations wholesale seafood and could lie ahead. And in meat market in Wuhan. our view, such a change These ‘wet markets’ can would likely result in inbe a breeding ground creased demand for the spread of animal for flexible packaging.

-borne diseases and viruses, as both live and Consumer expectations butchered animals are would need to change

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China currently has a very low consumption per capita of flexible packaging for fresh and processed meat and seafood, compared to Japan, the US and Western Europe.

An increase in consumption could play a role in reducing the risk of a future outbreak.

Distributing meat in flexible plastic packaging offers a host of advantages over live on-site butchering, in-

cluding improved sterilisation, tracing and recall, as well as extended shelf life.However, wet markets are an integral part of Chinese life. Local preference for freshly butchered meat won’t evaporate overnight, even with a strong government stance. To date, even major multinational retailers, such as Walmart, have been unable to improve their low market share in China’s fresh meat sec-

tor, despite their growing local presence.

But while the likelihood of wholesale changes in purchasing habits remains low, a public health crisis of the nature and magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak could spark a change in tastes and preferences.

How much growth is likely?

Flexible packaging demand in Asia has

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been hit by a sluggish regional economy, growing by 4.8% in 2019 – down from 5.6% in 2018. Chinese per capita consumption of flexible packaging for fresh and processed meat and seafood is currently so low that even subtle shifting of production to larger corporations (who will use more packaging in distribution) could have an impact on growth.

In our view, we’re unlikely to see a complete

change in meat purchasing preferences in China. But the coronavirus outbreak could stimulate a redesign of wet markets and start to alter the landscape for fresh meat and its distrbution.

A recently updated and extended study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu), commissioned by Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE), has underlined the original study’s findings.

Updated study confirms flexible packaging plays a key role in prevention of packaging waste and mitigation of global warming

It shows clearly that flexible packaging is a more effective route to resource efficiency and reducing carbon footprint than using rigid packaging formats or focusing entirely on recycling. The study uses

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a scenario in which all non-flexible packaging (i.e. rigid packaging) for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are substituted by flexible packaging wherever possible. As carbonated drinks cannot be packed this way, for the purpose of the study, theoretical substitution excluded all beverages (as a conservative approach).

By using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach the study shows that such a theoretical substitution would decrease total Global Warming Potential (GWP) of all European non-beverage FMCG primary packaging by 33%, even if it is assumed, for the purpose of the demonstration, that no material recycling processes for flexible packaging would It showed that, by subtake place. stituting all rigid packaging of non-beverage The opposite scenario – FMCG at the EU level, the substitution in the the amount of primary EU of all flexible packpackaging waste could aging used for nonbevbe reduced by 21 mil- erage FMCG by rigid lion tonnes per year. packaging formats – This means a 70% re- would increase total duction of the total GWP of the primary amount of non- packaging to about beverage FMCG primary 30%, the study shows. packaging in the EU, This is despite the much highlighting the huge higher actual recycling packaging waste pre- rates of rigid packaging. vention potential of Indeed, even if the reflexible packaging. Even cycling rate of rigid more striking are the packaging was raised to consequences on the 100%, this theoretical environment. substitution would still

lead to 14% GWP, it says.

higher

In addition to GWP, the environmental impact of Abiotic Depletion, which refers to the use of non -renewable resources, and Use of Water have also been assessed using the LCA approach.

The study shows very similar results in the same order of magnitude for all three impact categories. The report’s authors conclude that for packaging the focus should not be on recyclability only but also and foremost on prevention.

This can be achieved by a higher use of flexible packaging, which would lead not only to less primary packaging waste, they claim, but also to lower carbon footprint and use of resources.

Conversely, a focus only on recyclability and achieving recycling targets might lead to the substitution of flexible

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packaging solutions by more easily recyclable, rigid packaging. This approach would clearly be detrimental for climate change and resource efficiency, besides running counter to the objective enshrined in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive to prevent the production of packaging waste. Commenting on the study, Jean-Paul Duquet (Director Sustainability FPE) said, “Prevention is on top of the waste hierarchy defined by the European Commission’s Waste Framework Directive, before other approaches like reuse, recycling and energy recovery.

The priority accorded to prevention before recycling is highly relevant for packaging, as this study demonstrates.

Flexible packaging perfectly fulfils this prevention requirement and proves to be a major part of the solution to today’s challenges facing the packaging sec-

tor and the environment. Not to mention the important ongoing efforts to reach high recyclability performances and make flexible packaging even more resource efficient.”

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EU action plan for Circular Economy: German plastics association calls for faster landfill bans and stronger markets for recyclates in Europe On 11th March 2020 the EU Commission presents its new action plan for the circular economy. In order to set the right course for the necessary change in the industry, the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (German Association for Plastic Packaging and Films) has clear expectations of this action plan: a faster end to the landfill on plastic packaging waste and stronger markets for recyclates should be the most important set screws.

At the same time, the association warns against the proposals for product bans and a so-called plastic tax as discussed in Brussels.

The side effects of such measures would be detrimental to climate protection and the intended circular economy.

Industry’s expectations of the action plan: development of recyclate markets must follow market economy principles

The IK member companies have set themselves ambitious goals for a better recycling management of their products. They expect the politicians to set the targets, but leave the implementation to the companies. For example, within the framework of the Circular Plastics Alliance, the industry is already working intensively on implementing the goal of using at least 10 million

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tonnes of recycled plas- the use of recyclates, tics by 2025. for example through financial incentives.”

The IK expects impulses from politics for the de- A better separate colvelopment of function- lection of plastic packing markets for recycled aging is the key to inplastic materials that creasing recycling effican provide the quanti- ciency. “We are calling ties and qualities re- for ambitious targets quired by the plastics for the separate collecconverting industry. tion of plastic waste and This must be based on a faster landfill ban,” sound market mecha- says Dr. Schmidt. “The nisms. On the other announced Europe-wide hand, the industry con- uniform model for sepasiders minimum recy- rate collection is welcling rates for certain come.” products to be the Plastic tax and product wrong approach. For bans: a step backwards many packaging matefor circular economy rials it cannot be guarand climate protection anteed that recycled materials are available The IK is particularly in sufficient quantity critical of the planned and quality. In addition, levy on non-recycled about 44 percent of the plastic packaging packaging is subject to waste. “Due to the lack strict food safety regu- of earmarking, the levy lations that severely re- deprives particularly strict the use of recy- countries with weak recled materials,” Dr. Isa- cycling infrastructure of bell Schmidt, IK Manag- urgently needed investing Director Circular ment funds in order to Economy, points out. adapt to the changed “There are other ways conditions of the circuto effectively promote lar economy”, explains

IK Managing Director Dr. Martin Engelmann.

Bans also have the potential to do more harm to the climate than good.

“Anyone who bans plastic packaging for vegetables or fruit ignores the fact that this product group accounts for almost 30 percent of food losses,” Engelmann continues.

“Packaging has been proven to contribute to reducing precisely these food losses. In addition, if bans are imposed, plastic packaging is usually replaced by other, heavier materials, which is often harmful from a climate point of view”.

Towards a climateneutral and environmentally sustainable Europe: opportunities for industry The EU Commission’s Green Deal does not bring any major surprises for the plastics processing industry. The Commission’s goals

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have been known since contribution to the anthe Plastics Strate- nounced strategy for gy from January 2018. sustainable products.

Within the plastic packaging industry, the issues addressed there already have priority, for example in setting its own ambitious recycling targets for 2025: 90 per cent recyclable or reusable packaging (today 75 per cent) and 1 million tonnes of recycled material used in plastic packaging in Germany (today 400,000 tonnes). With the guidelines “Eco Design for Plastic Packaging”, the industry is making an additional

“For the plastics industry, the initiated change brings new opportunities: like no other material, plastics are needed for the climate-neutral economy, whether as rotor blades for wind turbines or as energy and resource-saving packaging for food and other products,” says Dr. Isabell Schmidt. “We are working flat out to close the cycles and rethink our products.

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Avoiding environmental littering, pushing forward with a circular economy – Plastics industry creates transparency for global plastic flows Plastics are an important resource that must be recycled and not end up as environmental litter. In order to manage and optimise the flows of material specifically for this purpose, the volumes of material flows as well as leakage into the environment need to be known. Starting from this shared objective, six associations and organisations in the plastics value chain commissioned a pilot study to investigate global flows of plastics, including the handling of post-consumer plastic waste.

A total of 250 million consumer plastic waste Collected: 173 million tonnes of post- worldwide tonnes; disposed of improperly: 63 million tonnes; dumped irresponsibly: 14 million tonnes Circular economy has top priority in fight against marine littering “The Global Plastics Flow Study is the first of its kind to document facts and figures about the circular economy in

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44 countries around the world in a uniform and comprehensive manner and to clearly identify traditional weaknesses in collecting and reusing waste,” said Dr Jürgen Bruder, General Manager of IK – German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films, and Project Manager for the study, explaining the unique contribution of the survey to the fight against environmental littering. “The volumes of waste escaping into the environment are dramatic and must be a wake-up call for the entire value chain. Waste management in all its forms must be the common goal of business leaders and politicians. The study’s findings clearly identify hot spots re-

quiring urgent action to reduce unregulated waste management.”

What is special about the study is that the findings were not generated from a helicopter perspective, but are the result of extensive regional surveys.

The measures to be taken are as varied as the findings: while waste collection needs to be given priority in some regions of the world, Europe, for example, faces the challenge of expanding recycling and enforcing a ban on landfill.

Core findings about material flows in 2018 The extensive study provides important numbers about the worldwide production of plastics, about how they are recycled, but also about how valuable, reusable materials are lost. The following core findings result at the global level: Production: 360 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally.

Processing: Added to the 360 million tonnes of new material are an additional 30 million tonnes of recyclates, therefore a total of 390 million tonnes of plastics are processed annually.

The study was prepared

by Conversio Market & Strategy GmbH in close cooperation with the associations of the Global Plastics Alliance and a large number of other Post-consumer waste: The total institutions.

of

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plastics goods used leads to around 250 million tonnes of consumer-related plastics waste annually.

Waste management: Of this, 173 million tonnes of plastic waste are collected.

Environmental littering: 63 million tonnes of plastic waste are disposed of improperly, for example through illegal dumping, and 14 million tonnes are thrown away carelessly (leakage).

While closed cycles are defined in different ways around the world, there is a consensus among all the partners participating in the study that the collection, sorting and recycling of post-consumer waste made from plastics must be given absolute priority in order to drastically reduce materials littering the environment. Furthermore, care must be taken to ensure that no additional environmental littering occurs

through the trade with waste.

Structured data capture, global cooperation, high rate of representation The Global Plastics Flow Study is an important step towards capturing, processing and evaluating data concerning postconsumer plastic waste in a systematic structure. Furthermore, the participating associations and organisations in Germany and Europe

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want the study to provide a stimulus for a global discussion of measures to combat environmental littering.

The study will thus contribute to the Global Information Project of the “Alliance to End Plastic Waste�, an opensource database especially for prioritizing investments in waste management.

around 60% of the world’s population and around 80% of global GDP. The country- and continent-specific as well as global capture and analysis of data focuses on the following: Flow of plastics from production and processing to consumption and disposal

Division into the areas of packaging and nonAt the same time, the packaging study is intended to provide the basis for fu- Different loss rates , i.e. ture investigations leakage of plastics aimed at documenting waste per country/ progress in global waste continent management. This is also why a further aim of Different waste manthe organisations par- agement systems with ticipating in the study is their own specific disstructures to involve other stake- posal holders and thereby in (recycling, waste-to ena first pass extend the ergy incineration, regubreadth and depth of lated landfill etc.) the existing data and Different framework verify them further. For conditions for plastics the latest data, it was collection, recycling, possible to process in- and disposal. formation about plastics from production to disposal from 44 countries that together represent

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Koenig & Bauer Flexotecnica about upcoming Challenges and Emerging Markets About 5 years ago KBA took over Flexotecnica and recently implemented changes in management. We met new CEO Dr. Peter Lechner to learn more about his plans for the company and what has changed in latest years‌ Please tell us about our implemented changes in management and your related company objectives.

A crucial reason for change was our sales structure: Previously we had no sales- and marketing director, everything has just been operated by the sales managers directly.

Companies do need a sales structure inside and out: Own subsidiaries and independent representations need to

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be served. Koenig & Bauer’s priority now is corrugated cardboard and flexible packaging and the results speak for themselves as we are one of the leading printing machine manufacturers. The industry seemed to be a little surprised as we took over Flexotecnica as people rather connected us with the commercial print segment. But with the acquisition we gave a clear statement. We will invest further, own huge building lands and plan on expanding our sites. Our group has already several international plants: Austria, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic and Turkey. In Würzburg our parts manufacturing and casting plant is located so competences are

bundled– that’s fantastic! Talking about objectives: There are several existing key markets with great collaboration as in South East-Europe and in USA. However, there exist upcoming key markets and our target is definitely to focus on these.

Where are these future key markets?

We expect an aboveaverage growth in general Asian region. China is very vital and does not have issues with language modification and a fairly huge installed base of flexo machines, so one does not need to explain technology and characteristics of the segment.

Round about 600-700 CI presses are installed in China. For the mar-

ket size itself that’s not a lot as gravure is still the dominating technology, but in total that’s already a decent flexo market with growing numbers.

Moreover, Italian- and German manufacturer expertise is wanted there. However, India is growing also and even superior with a strong tendency to high-quality facilities.

Both markets are strategical highly valuable.

You need qualified employees and Asia has a good training. In recent times Flexotecnica was not that active in Asia, whereas now we are well positioned and strategically represented with offices in China and Malaysia to establish contacts. So intensifying presence and working together with

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customers and local partners is crucial.

Nevertheless, you need to observe the market precisely.

rather poor infrastructure but definitive an increasing and interesting market with much capacity!

In regions with no such a base, like African countries, you need to start from the beginning: Neither did they have experienced print workers or certain apprenticeship, nor a relevant supporting industry – pretty challenging! Such a structure has to be built up first. Yet they have a

Many small industries but they definitely grow enormously with annual double-digit growth rates. Especially East Africa, like Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya is similar in size to Europe in some ways and sometimes underestimated, as well as South Africa and Egypt, which are

remarkable. We are working together with a company that trains companies and teaches them how to handle the facilities, this year we will take part in a few of this seminars in Africa. It is a fantastic concept that transfers knowledge and expertise into these countries, generating such a positive impact – a perfect win-win situation. These markets have a high demand on information so we are constantly in personal

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exchange. A highly mo- going to be interesting flexo and WĂźrzburg tivating and inspiring and exiting in future!

100% digital print. So work! in upcoming years there surely will be plenty of Eastern Europe is also Have you planned to progress but it needs to attractive, already construct offset ma- be executable - with equipped very well and chines for flexible our new machine geninvested funds from Eueration we will again packaging? ropean Union pay off move a major step furand come back as these This question is quite ther. areas are growing once complex with regard to more. Engineering over our company group. We there, especially in Po- have bundled offset What is your view on land, is growing. These technology in-house as the topic sustainabilcountries have great in- we print offset and digiity and recycling and ternational sprit and an tal. We are focused on resulting changes already existing and ability to implement within packaging infurther increasing ade- both of them, but that dustry? quate support- and ser- does not mean we need vice industry, like color to cover any segment. From my point of view a manufacturers.

These In history there have change of thinking will developments empower been technically exiting come in lamination and the market! Also coun- developments that have recycling area - but not tries like Ukraine and failed to establish itself as pronounced within Belarus have a high po- on the market in the our segment. In several tential towards future long term, so you need sectors it is certainly lebusiness and are orga- to monitor the pro- git: Of course a plastic nized very well. gress. cup can and should be replaced by a paper These emerging mar- In my opinion the incup! Several countries kets do still learn from stalled base is a crucial give an example: Italy us. However, develop- figure: One cannot exalready uses many pament in Japan in earlier change facilities within per packaging for its years has slopped over one night, as also prenoodle industry and to China as well and it sent customers need to Scandinavia is now uswill be the same with be served. I think we ing more and more pathe upcoming men- are perfectly positioned per bags. However, as a tioned countries. This is as we offer 100% CI-

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flexo printer we anyway utilizing paper and you need to focus on the entire supply chain.

The question is: What is economically good and what is ecologically acceptable? You need to balance and it should make sense. I am optimistic - there will unquestionably occur changes as government and the society exert pressure. But in the packaging sector it is almost impossible to entirely omit plastics – because it is not practicable for final users due to damaging and conservation of products.

Willingness is definitely there as in convenience packaging industry and plastic bags for shopping produced on flexo machines will even further disappear. Naturally, manufacturers will miss work then but there will be other solutions for these segments - industrial development has been this way all the times.

A nice example from optimization rigid plastic packaging material from real life is the rectangular margarine tub.

At the time it was launched on the market, it seemed like the perfect answer due to space utilization, stackability and transport – almost all factors have been optimized! The old round packaging of was rather inefficient with 50% rejection rate and non-exploited spatial volume. So everybody thought: That’s it - the round one can be withdrawn from the market.

Whereas in earlier days you bought a machine and produced the same products on it for decades, lifetime of facilities is much shorter these days. Now everyone wants a quick amortization; therefore upgrade will be a major topic.

What was the plan for the drupa?

We are going to introduce a new generation on K. This will be an optimized CI-flexo with adjusted visual design and raised technical level. Driveline technology has been completely rearranged and all facilities are now Bosch.

This new generation is standardized and modularized and basically able to build up variants within the machines so they can be equipped simpler and be offered at a more favorable price.

But in this case: So much easier said than done – it did not work out! Industry totally underestimated the installed base of the filling machinery for round packaging.

Nowadays the two variants are available on the market, in creative coexistence!

In my opinion it will be the same with flexo printing - existing facilities will be retrofitted. Starting from K, we will present the new fourth

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range in a modular system. First prelaunch will be in September where we will present our newest developments to our customers. As a result our four standard series vary on printing width from 820 until 1600 millimeters. On DRUPA we will introduce another machine from our new generation, most likely in a different print width. It is a logical consequence on what customers will see on K as we have tremendously advanced our program.

Would you like to tell us something about your sales figures and general company’s future plans?

Last year we start to build CI flexo presses as well in our plant in Wuerzburg in Germany, whereas here in Italy depending on their complexity we can build 20 to 30 machines.

All in all we generated 40 million Euros revenue in 2019. Nonetheless we want to reach significant growth, therefore it is reasonable to launch and offer our mentioned new modular and standardized machine generation.

The necessary sales structure has been created for the most part and will be expanded further. We absolutely have planned to extend our portfolio.

But then again, our focus is currently to produce state of the art and then proceeding step by step. From my point of view in food packaging flexo will play as well an important role in the future. However, digitalization and sophisticated personalization is growing and wanted!

We have so many exiting ideas as we are not only a machine producer, but also ordinary customer in the supermarket, right? We all have personal expectations, so

further research and development is required as in area of application, seasonal offers and much more. Historically Koenig & Bauer has its origin in paper segment. Consequently we have according expertise and in regard to imprint plastic material we can benefit from this know-how. Let’s see what future will bring – we are looking forward to it!

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Simec Group is ready to change the game for anilox Simec Group is known for high quality anilox rollers and sleeves. Now they are ready to change the game with new sales concepts specially designed for the different application areas where their wide range of cylinders is used.

Best known for variety and high-quality products, family-owned Simec Group has been a mainstay in the flexo printing industry and beyond for the last 60 years. The company has been producing multiple varieties of rollers and sleeves for more than 35 industrial fields of application; with focus on flexographic printing, embossing, coating and lamination and special applications.

development and he is directly deeply involved in the transformation and internalization of business in order to adapt the structure to the changing needs of the worldwide marketplace.

Their two industrial facilities, one in northern Italy and the other in central Italy, house over 65,000 meters of production space, where they manufacture nearly 80 percent of their products internally, with

Emilio Della Torre guides the company’s technical and structural

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a total control of the the high level of cuswhole production chain. tomization they offer for specific press models And while their conhelping customers to sistency has always get longer product life been one of their main and guaranteeing reselling points, the compeatability. pany is also continually investing 360° in digi- Thanks to their new talization and interlock- proactive SDB business ing of equipment (most model export activity is of them designed and globally growing; they manufactured in-house) call it GloCalization: by to set the sails of the thinking global and actSDB for total process ing local they provide automation.

Along the cost benefits northese lines, the compa- mally linked to standny invests 6.5% of net ardization and highrevenues from industri- volume production al activities in research while assuring above and development. average delivery times for supplies through the But what really sets record of customer Simec Group apart from needs and equipment their competitors in the specs and development flexographic printing is of a predictive ware-

house – all coded anilox.

through

Something more about the Simec Digital Background Starting as research nearly 15 years ago, and gaining steam in the last five years, Simec Group has interpreted the changing nature of the industry by implementing new concepts and business models driven by what they have termed the “zation era” – digitization, standardization and globalization – SDB has been created for this purpose.

The SDB business model is based on three pillars: data management,

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product customization products or ready for and performance anal- delivery with the conysis. sequent reduction of capital equipment at By recording a customthe customers. er’s data its anilox is developed around his The product customizatools and his require- tion requires that the ments, pre-settled, rollers or sleeves protested and coded; as a duced by Simec Group result, the risk con- respect specific pronected to anilox selec- duction cycles, estabtion and its related cost lished according to the are reduced and pre- printing machines they liminary tests are no are intended for. It allonger needed. This is lows to combine the also to guarantee specs cost advantages of repeatability and en- standardization with sure no headache and those typical of a tailor fast deliveries by bene- -made approach, that’s fiting from a ware- to say a product dehouse of pre-engraved signed and built to re-

spond to specific demands.

Obviously, there is no chance of managing a production this way unless you control the entire manufacturing chain and Simec does, labelling for instance its sleeves with the “100% Made In Simec Group” caption.

The performance analysis is based on more than 5 years of statistics on Anilox performances, implemented continuously. All construction drawings are coded, each anilox manufactured by

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Simec has an ID digital card which works as its life tracking number, each anilox shipped to be refurbished undergoes an incoming inspection and related data are automatically recorded in system – that’s to say that a customer having a cylinder

by Simec Group has access to a database showing him how many times it has been refurbished and the causes that made it necessary, the length and the quality of its working life and a possible deviation from the most common situations or the industry average. This system makes it also possible to anticipate customers' needs, being able to predict the end of a cylinder's service life (used on a specific press model and under predefined conditions of use).

The major global market players are seizing the opportunity to strengthen different aspects of their businesses by joining SDB. Thanks to the close collaboration with some of them, it has been possible to analyze numerous industrial cases, draw up case studies and define the industry standards. In the SDB Community merged experiences, skills and expertise of the stakeholders of the reference chain, whether they are OEM, printers, end users or suppliers of complementary goods: sharing knowledge creates a dynamic of transparency, trust and collaboration that increases the power of the relationship exponentially and generate a win-win situation.

Concrete examples? A plate or an ink producer Not enough? Let’s belonging to this comtalk about the SDB munity could offer its Community customers to carry out tests of its own product

considering different anilox specs with banded sleeves at no cost.

Fleets of testing sleeves (pre-evaluated and validated on the press machine) allow OEM to carry out trials with its customer being sure that selected anilox could be delivered within 1 week worldwide.

So, what is the main draw the SBD system?

This business model offers a deep, unparalleled knowledge of customers’ needs. But it won’t be for everyone since Simec Group is interested in identifying customers who have a specific quality standard and a closer approach to anticipating needs.

Whether or not you are a believer in SDB, there is no doubt that Simec Group is committed to offering the best service and products to their customers, much and much more than engravings as its payoff is stating!

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manroland Goss Web Systems: Introducing Advanced Offset Technology for the packaging industry In 2018, manroland web systems and Goss International became one: manroland Goss web systems. They are a strong force supplying global print markets with value-adding products and combine strengths and opportunities of two leading web offset suppliers. Their headquarters is located in the city of Augsburg in Germany with subsidiaries throughout the world. We were talking to Rainer Rosenbusch and Dr. Daniel Raffler about their new VARIOMAN line and forthcoming future challenges and plans.

Can you please tell us about your new line VARIOMAN, the idea behind it and its benefits?

One main driver for the VARIOMAN are shorter order sizes. The pilot VARIOMAN press was designed together with a customer as an offset -gravure-hybrid press and offers all crucial competences of printing systems. It combines both a stable offset

printing process and gravure printing. Innovative flexible packaging printing and a lowpriced production process at highest quality!

Depending on the job, customers will decrees their production costs by 25 % or more. Main reason is the utilization of offset printing plates instead of gravure cylinders with a resulting faster job change and lower print-form costs

plus huge energy savings.

What is the exact scope of application and unique selling point of VARIOMAN? With VARIOMAN we are very broadly positioned in flexible packaging.

The entire range, from thin film up to paper packaging has been tested in Augsburg and there are even plenty of

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application possibilities more. VARIOMAN is a strong machine for diversified customer wishes and we constantly receive great feedback throughout all segments. Superb register accuracy and color consistency on a wide web offset press for flexible packaging are key factors. This is the perfect set-up for expanded gamut printing with 5, 6 or 7 colors.

does not end after sales are done: We are a future oriented company and see ourselves as reliable long-term partner, in regular business as well as in aftermarket service - customers get the full bundled service. Our portfolio is distributed worldwide

by an international sales- and service network with a huge amount of experienced employees. We provide support as a highperforming partner, with a 24/7 support network. Clients can also get relevant spare parts during the entire

Our PECOM-X control system bundles all automation and networking functions. Fast job change over, exact presettings of the machine and ink zones and data exchange with prepress are state of the art. We already realized “Industry 4.0� with our customers when the term did not exist.

What makes manroland Goss the perfect business partner?

From our point of view, customer relationship

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machine-lifetime easily in our online shop MARKET-X (https:// www.market-x.com). It builds up their installed machine and shows necessary spare parts which can directly be bought there. Any of the mentioned service is included in our bundled offer – fantastic!

In the offset sector we are market leader; our share speaks for itself.

Unmatched offset technique is what we bring to the flexible packaging sector, and we would like to transmit our success even to digital print segment.

All in all one can say manroland Goss’ competence is industrial application of printing system output, high performance and workflow. We offer attractive benefits that create success for both sides - due to fully developed design, systems integration and service- and maintenance packages.

Coming back to technical aspects, is there a plan to introduce VARIOMAN as well for other parameters?

We receive interesting inquiries; however the target is flexible packaging and this requires a rather wide web. Yet there are possible segments that are narrower, like cigarette packaging. We are offering the VARIOMAN in three different web widths: 425-850 mm, 5601120 mm and 6501300 mm with maximum speed of 400 meters, which are perfect for the existing market demands. With actual changeover times in offset we are very well positioned. The VARIOMAN also gives big technical and cost advantages when producing in a clean room environment.

Originally you came from newspaperand offset printing sector. How do you master the challenges that come along with the rather new sector of packaging printing?

That is easy to say through amplified development and continuous training! There is no area with that kind of pressure as within newspaper segment, printing presses need to perform no matter what happens - therefore we are more than ready for this challenge. We additionally needed a skilled person with explicit know-how on board and found it in Mr. Rosenbusch, our Executive Sales Manager. VARIOMAN is a corporative project out of valued collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners. manroland Goss is already a big player in offset and in our opinion flexible packaging will grow but it has to be-

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come more environmentally friendly. VARIOMAN with EB technology follows that trend.

The first machine will go into production in the beginning of 2020 – that’s exciting! Our credo is: Solutions deliver additional values.

Are there specific upcoming projects you would like to share with us?

Yes, of course there are several remarkable projects. Our main markets are Europe, North America and Asia.

Some markets are more offset-orientated than others are. Japan e.g. is

very demanding in terms of print quality and need a solvent less print technology for the future - we can meet those necessities perfectly with VARIOMAN. Tobacco printing, another challenging market, is asking for offset due to many different warning texts in different languages and loads of different brands and flavors. Gravure printing has high running costs, as offset printing units are fundamentally more complex. On the one hand, one has higher investment costs in offset, but on the other hand running costs are less, like energy, plates,

inks. Once you have overcome this hurdle your printing press is more productive and running costs are low.

What are your strategies for the forthcoming years?

It is essential to build, test and configure printing presses from the beginning in collaboration with our customers and partners.

Although every customer’s need is different, the most valuable target is performance of the machine.

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“Now we are seeing many of our customers come back to us for repeat orders” Contiweb is known as a global leader in the development, production, sales and support of state-of-the-art web offset printing presses and webfed auxiliaries for a wide range of commercial, packaging and label printing applications. The Thallo system addresses market demands for shorter runs while offering the highest print quality; delivering maximum flexibility and cost efficiency for print runs of any length. In addition, according to Contiweb, Thallo offers the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for short run production.

Contiweb Thallo is designed on a modular inline platform that integrates with digital, flexo & rotogravure systems to offer even more flexibility, and is compatible with all Contiweb unwinding, rewinding and finishing solutions. Food -safe inks, coatings and curing solutions without VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound), plus a focus on waste reduction, make the Thallo an ex-

cellent choice for food Thallo, but for the packaging and environ- company as a whole? mental sustainability.

Last year we had a very We recently sat down good year because we with Contiweb’s new had a big backlog for CEO Rutger Jansen for Thallo; we had about a discussion on the $10 million in sales in business, Thallo, and 2018. Our forecast is other topics. $4.5 million for 2019.

We reduced sales effort Can you give us an a bit because we wantupdate on your sales ed to introduce the in 2018 and forecasts product, stabilize the for 2019? Not just for product, and go for more sales. Now we are

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seeing many of our customers come back to us for repeat orders, which is a very positive sign.

In fact, out of the five Thallo’s that we delivered last year, we expect to have at least two of those clients as repeat orders.

scheduled, and we think cent, is invested in it will be very good to Thallo technology. draw customers and From graphs I have show technology. seen, it looks like the How much do you in- significance of the vest in research & Thallo for your turnodevelopment for the ver is growing and Thallo press? growing every year?

In general, we usually do about $4 million a For this year, what year in development. are your plans to proAnd a big portion of mote offset for flexithat, let’s say 25 perble packaging?

Yes, we are really on a turning point now. From what we see, we are a market leader in the auxiliaries for commercial printing. We have

We have LabelExpo in Brussels to promote.

We believe in offset; we believe that offset is also a solution for a lot of the printers that have small and medium-sized orders. I think there is also some work to do in offset; this is the reason why I said we wanted to stabilize the product; so we are more successful.

We will also be at Drupa and will have some events of our own, including a few demo press events in U.S. and South America.

There are three events

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been doing that for 40 years and are pretty good at that. But we also see there is a stabilization in that market. That’s why in 2013, we were looking for different markets to invest in. First, we went from commercial printing to digital printing; and our second step was to invest in the Thallo technology; we took over the IP in 2016. Now, at the moment, a large portion of our sales are in these new market segments. Packaging is part of our future.

presses, we can offer different curing possibilities such as UV and electro beam; we can also combine with flexo units for coating and other things.

I think the CI concept is interesting for specific, dedicated market segments; but not for the general marketing of flexible packaging that we are aiming at.

Looking at it from productivity, flexibility, and pricing standpoints; I see no reason why we would adapt to a CI concept. I think we are competing well There is one big with the in-line concept competitor with off- that we have. set press but different machine concept, mixed with CI. Do you think it would make sense for you to go for a CI press or stay with in -line?

Do you think you will widen your portfolio with different types of machinery aimed at packaging and printing?

At the moment, for packaging and printing, we will still stay with the Thallo concept and enlarge that. There are other possibilities we could do, looking at configurations strongly based in flexible and paper. It’s not on the road map for this year but could be for the near future. There are always possibilities to invest, but Thallo will always be the base.

Next step could be to

No, we will stay with in -line; we believe the in -line concept offers flexibility in configuration. With our hybrid

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add more digital unit inclusions; you could easily imagine that there are more steps to make; but the basis will still be offset technology. It’s what we feel we are strong in, and also feel that the growth in the market is good.

At the moment, our aim is very moderate, selling three this year would be good for us.

We would go to 6 to 7 in the coming years and then we would have 10 percent market share for total sales. Offset is limited; from that we aim to have 50 percent What about adding or more. We should be die-cutting equipthe strongest offset ment or lamination supplier for the market. lines to your portfolio for more touch points You have been the with customers? new CEO since beginning of 2019, with a We work with partners to supply technology like lamination and die cutting. If you look at our history, we were always strong in new technologies with a competitive advantage for our customers – therefore you need to stay with your core technologies – and those are not our core technologies.

30-year history with the company. What are your goals for the future?

We are aiming for a fourth market for converting. We were always print-related, and our technology can fit nicely in converting. We see that we are selling the first products in that market and have a competitive advantage.

Customers recognize that and there is a future for us there. We

What is your sales goal for Thallo units per year and in the next few years?

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are known in our traditional market, but not in newer markets, so that is a challenge for us. It takes time, and we are investing in marketing, social media, and events to transfer to new markets and building up our reputation. We want to bring some of the good things from the other marketplaces where we are high-end and high performance and bring it to the new marketplace.

plastic for packaging, especially food for example. If you look at waste from poor packaging, and go to different forms of packaging, it would probably be even worse. We should be responsible, so we do believe in recyclable and biodegradable plastic.

sition of the Vits and JetWeb finishing equipment. Later, in 2015 the company introduced high-end auxiliary equipment for inkjet printing presses.

What were your plans for Drupa?

We are coming up on 12 months so we are still finalizing, but we will show some new deChanging points, velopments, although coming from packagwe can’t disclose details ing, with all of the yet. news about the negativity of plastic for Previously a subsidiary the planet, do you of Goss International, see a trend towards Contiweb is operating paper with your cus- as an independent comtomers? pany since August 2018, under ownership Not yet. I know that of American Industrial there is a push to get Partners (AIP), an inmore paper packaging, vestment company fobut in general, we don’t cused on building midsee it yet. The bigger dle market industrial trend is recyclable and companies.

Contiweb biodegradable plastics. expanded its business I think it’s difficult to in 2012 with the acquiimagine a world without

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GOpak – Innovators in Packaging AJ Buran and Dave Hotchkiss are two truly inspiring guys. Seeing the growth in flexible packaging and even more in the digital space of flexpack, they decided to start their own digital production pouch company called, GOpak. We aspire to provide flexible packaging fast so customers can “go pack” their product. Combining printing & packaging and small business experience with high energy and enthusiasm, they are generating success one customer at a time.

At the outset, AJ and Dave had, in their words, “Zero business and no customers— just an opportunity in the growing space of digital flexpack.” The pair had experience in packaging and printing, and had a knowledge set across different segments, including food, beverage, medical, and direct mail.

20000 digital press technology was transforming the market for short to medium run jobs with no plate costs. This opened a whole new segment of the flexpack market that was not being served.

As a company that values people and client relationships, GOpak was able to leverage They saw that flexible and grow a network of packaging market was contacts to ramp their growing and that the HP new business. They es-

tablished two pillars of opportunity: resellersother printers, distributors, brokers, and manufacturer reps and select end users. Positive word of mouth has helped to open and grow both pillars.

Products Over the last several months, the team at GOpak has supplied a number of products for companies in a wide range of industries and

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with a variety of pro- They can also come duction volumes. with a variety of finishing features, including Pouches and Bags zippers, child proof GoPak’s pouches give seals, tear notches, and businesses in food pro- hang holes. duction, health and For customers looking beauty and the cannato get a visual edge on bis markets more reliathe product shelf, GOble ways in which to fill, pak also offers a store and display their shaped pouch that can offerings. be die cut to spec via These pouches can fea- special tooling. These ture custom printing for solutions can also be brand messaging and purpose built to enproduct information. hance someone’s grip on the pouch.

Rollstock In addition to their pouch solutions, GOpak also offers customized rollstock that food and supplement producers can use to seal products. Clients can use the rollstock either with their own packaging equipment or via a copacker. GOpak designs to a client’s exact specifications so that they get the right customized printed rolls for their needs.

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Sustainable Packag- HP 20000 ing It was clear from the Finally, GOpak has per- outset that the HP fect sustainable and re- 20000 was the right cyclable packaging op- printing press for GOtions by leveraging pak. Thanks to its 30specialized print and inch wide web and high EBeam technology. production capacity, Thanks to this innova- the printer could aid tive approach, the the company in meetcompany can reduce ing orders and scaling material layers (and, up as the company therefore, waste) with- grows. out reducing the perThe HP Indigo 20000 formance quality of the digital press delivers packaging. GOpak can impressive specs, inalso use certified matecluding 29-inch image rials in these solutions width, 7 ink stations, to create compostable and color capabilities and recyclable options. that can address 97 Machinery percent of Pantone colors.

How has GOpak been able to create these Additionally, this HP products and address press can print from the need they saw in 0.4 to 10 pt. text and the marketplace? By produce up to 135 lineleveraging rather new ar feet in full color or unusual technolo- each minute. Finally, it gies so that they can is the only digital color deliver some of the printing solution that best lead times in their can adequately match niche, while producing gravure printing for the a high volume of prod- most detailed, high ucts with personalized resolution results. and customized details.

PCT Ebeam Coating line With the PCT EBEAM Coating line, GOpak found what they needed to work quickly and sustainably. One significant advantage of the EBEAM line is that GOpak does not have to laminate. Instead, the solution just overcoats, in a step that is cured immediately. This significantly contributes to their lead times.

The team consider EBEAM technology a significant step forward for the industry as a whole. As an alternative to laminating, EBEAM provide a more sustainable way to produce product at higher speeds. What’s more, EBEAM gives GOpak the sheer layer reduction needed to create recyclable and compostable products, ink protection with no lamination needed.

THE EBEAM Core 100 utilized by the team at GOpak has the capaci-

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ty to address any flexible packaging produced by the HP Indigo 20000. It delivers a top speed of 600 feet per minute, and it also has the ability to work with multiple presses at once.

Finally, the EBEAM Core 100 works with a range of overprint varnishes, giving GOpak the ability to create a range of different effect in their final products and give clients the distinct packaging looks they need

to distinguish them- tain a strong future in selves in the market- flexible packaging. place.

Moving Forward The company has invested extensively into their location with the ability to expand. Future goals include additional presses and converting equipment as needed.

GOpak believes the power of EBEAM and HP technology combined will sus-

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