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"PRESSING THE ISSUE"
Packaging buyers can create opportunities by asking a few questions about press technology
They're daunting. Huge, lumbering machines that make loud noises, take up most of a factory floor, and have more moving parts than an episode of Desperate Housewives. It's hard to believe these behemoths turn blank paperboard into intricately designed, perfectly registered packaging at lightening-fast speeds. But that's exactly what the latest generation of presses does.
People who purchase folding carton and litho-laminate packaging probably don't need to be able to run a press or name all its moving parts. But emerging press technologies are making new packaging designs possible, improving quality control and cutting costs. With a basic knowledge of these technologies, packaging buyers will know the right questions to ask their suppliers.
"COMBINATION" PRESSES LET YOUR PACKAGING SHINE
What's your fancy? Silver? Gold? Copper, platinum or
bronze? New "combination" presses print metallic inks that look so much like foil you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference. And they do it faster, more affordably, and with little or no waste.
"We serve a large number of companies in the health & beauty, liquor, and cosmetics industries," explains Don Droppo, vice president of marketing for an ICG company located in the Northeast. "They're
constantly looking for ways to give their packaging a luxury appeal."
A little more than a year ago, Droppo's company installed a new 10-station, 51" KBA Rapida press that is still unique on the North American continent. It's a conventional offset lithography press, but with a flexography-style unit at both the beginning and end of the press. These units apply
and cure metallic or pearlized inks, then apply a UV coating. The job gets done in one pass, without having to transfer the paper to a much slower
hot-stamping machine. And because the inks are cured, there is no waiting for the thick coat of metallic ink to dry.
The result? "More of our customers are developing packaging that includes metallic or pearlized designs," says Droppo. "That means a high-end look and more impact at the shelf." And, he adds, it doesn't hurt that customer savings average 15 to 20 percent vs. traditional metallic foil stamping.
CLOSED-LOOP COLOR CONTROL LETS THE BUYER KNOW FOR SURE
"Color consistency and control are of great
importance in many packaging applications," says Bud
Ashmore, general manager at another ICG company
located in the Northeast. "But they're especially
important in applications like hair care and food
packaging, where color differences can influence
consumer perceptions."
Ashmore's company recently installed a Mitsubishi
seven-color press with a "closed-loop color control"
system that ensures color consistency not only throughout the run, but also from run to run. Test
patterns are printed in the waste area of the sheet, and read by a scanner during the run. Readings are
compared to the original approved sheet and corrections are made automatically, without having to stop the presses. Then, the job data is stored on the press so the next time the customer places an order, the color will be exactly the same as the previous.
"For consistent color, nothing touches closed-loop
color control technology," says Ashmore.
VARIABLE SLEEVE OFFSET PRESSES COMBINE THE BEST OF TWO WORLDS
For years offset printing has been known for quality, while flexography offered the cost advantages of the high-speed web format. Now variable sleeve offset technology marries the best of both. "Variable sleeve offset presses combine the quality of offset printing with the cost advantages of highspeed web technology," says Ben Graham, director of sales and marketing at a Midwest ICG company that just installed the first variable sleeve offset press (VSOP) in North America. Like sheet-fed presses, the VSOP uses offset printing plates. But unlike sheet-fed press, it capitalizes on the web format to eliminate separate sheeting, die-cutting, and scrapping operations.
"The key is the variable sleeve," explains Graham. Previous attempts to apply the web format to offset
printing required heavy cassettes that were Prohibitively expensive and slow to change. "With the VSOP, we can change jobs in a matter of minutes."
In addition, sleeves are a fraction of the cost of cassettes and can be produced in whatever size optimizes the printing job.
But the biggest benefit of the VSOP is the speed it brings to offset printing. The VSOP at Graham's company is rated to run at 1300 lineal feet per
minute. "We will be able to complete a typical packaging job in less than half the time of sheet-fed offset presses," notes Graham.
He adds that "when you increase speed by orders of magnitude and eliminate steps in the production process, it has big implications for cost and pricing."
WIDE FORMAT PRESSES: BIGGER GETS BETTER AND BETTER
It always made sense, conceptually. A wide format press enables printing of more package copies at once. That means greater efficiency. But until recently, it was pretty much accepted that color control, registration, and overall quality were difficult to achieve on larger sheets of paper. Plus, larger presses required significant downtime for changeovers and maintenance. So most presses were 40" or narrower. No more. Advances in technology have made it possible for wide-format presses to match the printing quality, dependability, and flexibility of traditional-width presses.
For example, an ICG company in Southwest Ohio recently installed a 67" Fisher and Krecke (F&K) press that includes an integrated web scanning system that makes automatic adjustments to ensure print quality and proper registration. The press also has an advanced tension control system that results in zero slur, lift or distortion.
"We let customers compare jobs printed by our new
F&K press with packaging from our narrower presses, and they can never see a difference in image quality," says Bob Zumbiel, president and CEO of the ICG company that installed the press.
Furthermore, the F&K press uses automatic plate, blanket and cylinder washers to minimize maintenance downtime. And when it comes to flexibility, "we can do changeovers and make-readies so quickly that we can even use this press for short print runs," says Zumbiel.
The bottom line on the latest generation of wideformat presses? Significant gains in efficiency that help everyone's bottom line.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR PACKAGING BUYERS
Presses are big purchases; packaging suppliers don't buy new machines every day. But the companies investing in new press technologies will be able to offer new and potentially beneficial options for packaging buyers. There are a few questions worth asking.
First, ask your supplier what kind of press technology (offset, flexography, or gravure) they use to print your packaging. Also, ask them to explain the pros and cons of that technology for your specific packaging application. Some converters have more than one type of press and may be able to print your packaging on a better-suited format.
Second, think about your priorities. If a high-end look and superior image quality are your biggest concern, look into what combination presses and closed-loop color control can do for your packaging. On the other hand, if reducing cost without sacrificing quality is your priority, you might benefit from working with a supplier that's invested in the latest generation of variable sleeve offset presses or wide-format presses.
Finally, ask your packaging supplier to keep you informed on the latest in press and other technologies that can save money or increase the impact of your packaging. In the end, there is no substitute for a well-informed supplier who keeps you in the loop.
KBA, an approved press supplier for ICG companies,
assisted in the preparation of this newsletter.
For more information about printing technology and presses, contact an Independent Carton Group company. For a directory of Independent Carton Group companies, click here.
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