Mills River, NC – UPM Raflatac, a global supplier of innovative and sustainable labeling materials, recently received recognition by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) for their undecorated white PP and clear PP pressure-sensitive label materials with acrylic adhesive for PP bottle recycling. The APR recognition is “based on the technical recyclability of the label innovations, in the polypropylene container recycling stream.”

“We are honored to once again be recognized for our continued commitment to the circular economy. This is the fifth APR Critical Guidance recognition achieved by UPM Raflatac to date. This new guidance will help us further provide a full solution to brand owners,” stated Kyle Strenski, Business Director, Films and Specials, UPM Raflatac Americas.

APR’s definition of “recyclable” is comprehensive and considers compatibility with industry standard recycling processes, starting with collection and ending with remanufacturing.

The recognition letter submitted by APR states, “APR thanks UPM Raflatac, for voluntarily submitting these label innovations for Recognition. The impact of these protocols is beneficial to world-wide recycling efforts. Meeting the Critical Guidance Document is a truly significant step in demonstrating overall recyclability of your label innovations.”

UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac is leading in sustainable labeling through our innovative self-adhesive label materials and services. We offer high-quality paper and film label stock for branding and promotion, informational labels, and labels with functionality. We operate a global network of factories, distribution terminals and sales offices. Our company employs around 3,000 people and made sales of EUR 1.7 billion (USD 1.9 billion) in 2021. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM. Find out how we are labeling a smarter future beyond fossils at www.upmraflatac.com.

Spencer, MA – FLEXcon Company, Inc., an innovator in adhesive coating and laminating, today announced that Nick Lupoli has joined the company as the new Chief Operations Officer, FLEXcon North America. Lupoli will oversee all of manufacturing, supply chain, and quality for the company.  

Lupoli’s background in operations, supply chain, finance, and engineering with a focus on lean manufacturing will be key in driving FLEXcon’s strategy and change initiatives, according to FLEXcon North America President, Aimee Peacock. He brings expertise in P&L management, supply chain optimization and key client engagement that align with the company’s vision. 

“Nick comes to us with a track record of successful transformational change through LEAN management practices and principles,” Peacock says. “We look forward to the insight he will bring to issues impacting the business that will enable FLEXcon to continue on its path forward.”  

Lupoli most recently served as a Vice President for Wyman Gordon where his oversight of the company’s Isothermal Forging business across multiple sites yielded double digit revenue gains. He previously served as the Director of Operations for Hanwha Aerospace, a maker of large machined hardware, and successfully grew the business in 2020 despite the impacts of COVID-19. 

“I look forward to championing FLEXcon’s continued efforts relating to its LEAN transformation,” says Lupoli “and coupling my manufacturing experience in the aerospace industry with the proven knowledge and experiences of the FLEXcon team to propel both the FLEXcon purpose and business strategy for many years to come.” 

About FLEXcon
FLEXcon Company, Inc. is a global leader in coated and laminated films and adhesives used as functional components in manufactured goods and in graphics applications. A family-owned company for over 65 years, FLEXcon serves as a development partner to engineers and designers to bring their innovative ideas from concept to reality, for markets such as transportation, electronics, industrial, healthcare, and construction & energy, with a focus on improving human lives through emerging technology. Headquartered in Spencer, Mass., the company has operations throughout North America and Europe with distribution worldwide. For more information, visit FLEXcon.com/functional-technologies, follow FLEXcon on LinkedIn, or call +1-508-885-8200.

In many ways, LMI Packaging, headquartered at Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, typifies the way that production of pressure sensitive labels has developed over the relatively short time this sector of the print market has existed.  The industry was built on ‘Mum & Pop’ shops with a simple press, often working in the garage until the business grew and became successful enough to pass on to the next generation.

When Chester Sykes established LMI in 1967, he could not have foreseen how, over three generations, his business would become one of the leading manufacturers of labels and lids in the US.  Today, under the leadership of grandson JP Moran as CEO, the company, which employs around 150 people, is bursting at the seams of its 72,000 sq.ft. facility and actively looking to move to larger premises.

“We’ve seen business double in the past two years, and it shows no sign of slowing down,” he said.  A long-time Mark Andy user, LMI currently has an impressive bank of the manufacturer’s Performance P-Series flexo presses, up to 11-colors, and all highly specified.  “We see the Mark Andys as good all-round workhorses that are capable of high-speed production of top-quality work,” he added, stating that the company has always prided itself on the hand-tailored solutions it offers its customers in the food & beverage, petfood, beauty and healthcare and household product sectors

One common factor to the P7 presses is LMI’s preferred choice of corona treater.  Director of Engineering AJ Chivell takes up the story.  “Our previous presses were fitted with a brand of treater that was not 100% reliable, especially in the humid conditions we experience here in the summer months.  They were also difficult for the operator to access for cleaning, maintenance, and adjustment.”

After speaking about this issue with other narrow web converters, the brand that consistently drew praise for its reliability and ease of use was Vetaphone.  The Danish company, which pioneered the surface treatment technique we all know today as corona, remains the world leader through its ongoing commitment to R&D.

Coping with issues of humidity is well-known to Vetaphone from its experience over the years of supplying technology to converters in a variety of climatic conditions.  Key to its success is the well-proven design that separates the power unit from the treater station, which combined with the slow start-up mechanism on the iCorona generator, removes the danger of any condensation causing cut-out or corrosion issues.

With Vetaphone VE-2A treaters fitted to both of its latest Mark Andy P7 lines, production stoppages from condensation causing a power outage on the corona unit is a thing of the past at LMI.  “Not only are they reliable and consistent in power delivery, the location and size of the units makes them easy for the operator to carry out all the necessary jobs to maintain performance,” said AJ Chivell, adding that Vetaphone technology is easy to learn and the units simple to control via the touch-panel.

The key to reliability and performance with all machines is cleaning and maintenance, and LMI imposes a regular program of routine tasks to ensure the corona units stay in tip top condition.  “We have been really impressed by the service and support from Vetaphone’s Eric Hopfensperger who is based locally, so any concerns we might have had about using their equipment were quickly removed – in fact, it could not have worked out better,” he added.

With business booming and the range and number of SKUs the company is asked to supply increasing all the time, the all-round performance and reliability of both Mark Andy and Vetaphone technology for 24/7 operation is fundamental to LMI’s continued success.  With a wide variety of substrates being processed at high speed, including PET, BOPP, Co-ex, and foil, the company is full of praise for the support it receives from both manufacturers.  “I would unquestionably recommend Vetaphone technology to anyone who needs surface treatment and can guarantee it will be their corona treater fitted to our new flexo press that is due to be installed soon,” he concluded.

www.vetaphone.com

Leading print and packaging industry supplier, Flint Group, is celebrating after picking up a duo of bronze awards, whilst its products supported more than 10 companies who won accolades at this year’s FIAUK Print Awards.

At the ceremony held at Silverstone racetrack, Flint Group was recognised for the development of inks and coatings which enhance recyclability, supporting the creation of a circular economy, and have a positive impact on sustainability within the label and packaging value chains.

Flint Group Narrow Web was awarded bronze for its Evolution Primer & Varnish in the Technical Innovation (Supplier) category and Flint Group Packaging received a bronze award for the prestigious Supplier of the Year, which is voted for by printers and customer partners. Meanwhile, 80% of the awards handed out on the night were won by companies using Flint Group inks and coatings on their packaging.

Thomas Gray, Vice President of Strategy & Marketing said: “We would like to congratulate all the winners at this year’s FIAUK Print Awards. We are extremely proud to supply inks and coatings to so many of the award winners, reflecting our continued commitment to innovation and support to the flexographic industry.

“At Flint Group, we understand the importance of sustainability and were delighted that our Evolution range of coating solutions was recognised by the judges for its contribution to simplifying the label and sleeve recycling process.

“We are very honoured to be acknowledged by the FIAUK in achieving the bronze award in the Supplier of the Year category. This is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of everyone in our team, who have gone above and beyond this year to push the boundary of what we can achieve for our customers. We are grateful to the judges and the industry for recognising our hard work in making packaging more sustainable, and we look forward to building on this success in the future.”

Flint Group Narrow Web launched the Evolution Series of coating products in the autumn of 2021. The UV-flexo coating solutions were developed to improve the recyclability for shrink sleeves and pressure sensitive labels.

Using different chemistries, the Evolution Deinking Primer, for shrink sleeves, and the Evolution Caustic Resistant Overprint Varnish (OPV), for self-adhesive labels, were designed to increase the yield of material in the recycling process. Both coatings have been recognised by the Association of Plastic Recyclers to comply with the critical guidance for PET packaging.

The ‘plug and play’ solutions enable better recycling without impacting ink colour, image quality, code readability or application performance, enabling converters to transition to the new coatings smoothly and easily.

For more information on Flint Group and its activities, please visit www.flintgrp.com or email info.packaginginks@flintgrp.com.

Flint Group is dedicated to serving the needs of the global Flexible Packaging, Paper & Board, Narrow Web and Publication industries. The company develops, manufactures and markets an extensive portfolio of printing consumables and equipment, including: a vast range of conventional and energy curable inks, coatings and additives for Flexographic, Gravure & Offset applications; pressroom chemicals and printing blankets. Furthermore, Flint Group designs and manufacturers digital printing presses for labels, corrugated packaging, document and commercial applications. The company is a leader in colour management solutions which are supported by a Global Colour Centre to ensure colour consistency and standardisation. Flint Group strives to delight its customers through a relentless focus on developing: innovative products, exceptional levels of service and the security of supply. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Flint Group employs some 5,600 people. Revenues for 2021 were €1.5 billion. On a worldwide basis, the company is the number one or number two supplier in every major market segment it serves. For more information, please visit www.flintgrp.com

Mills River, NC – UPM Raflatac, a global supplier of innovative and sustainable labeling materials, announces their participation in PACK EXPO international in Chicago. They will immerse their booth visitors in a multi-sensory forest experience, which will feature labeling solution that are more sustainable than standard materials. The company will exhibit solutions for multiple industries, including food, beverage, pharma, home and personal care, package delivery, and industrial.

“Our goals are to help companies reduce their packaging footprint, reach their sustainability goals, and create added brand value among environmentally aware consumers,” stated Ashley Drew, Sustainability Manager, UPM Raflatac, Americas.

Show attendees will learn how UPM Raflatac helps their customers and brands make the switch to more sustainable alternatives. These include products made with recycled content, ones that use renewable raw materials, and ones made with fewer raw materials. The company also enables brands close the materials loop for the circular economy with solutions that enhance packaging recyclability and reuse.

Finally, UPM Raflatac will display several of their innovative labeling materials including their latest, The Ocean Action Label, made from ocean bound plastic waste. Ocean Action is a perfect fit for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), such as household products, personal care, packaged foods, and beverages.

PACK EXPO International takes place at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL, between 23-26 October. You can find UPM Raflatac at booth S-3942 in the PACKage Printing Pavilion.

UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac is leading in sustainable labeling through our innovative self-adhesive label materials and services. We offer high-quality paper and film label stock for branding and promotion, informational labels, and labels with functionality. We operate a global network of factories, distribution terminals and sales offices. Our company employs around 3,000 people and made sales of EUR 1.7 billion (USD 1.9 billion) in 2021. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM. Find out how we are labeling a smarter future beyond fossils at www.upmraflatac.com.

Elk Grove Village, IL — SCREEN Americas announces the sale of two Truepress Jet L350UV SAI S models to Label Solutions Inc. of Marshfield, Missouri. The first installation took place in July 2022 and the second installation is scheduled for October 2022. The company invested in the white, blue and orange ink options for both presses.

President Karen Stevens of Label Solutions noted that the new press resulted in ink savings of 20 percent compared to its replacement — a percentage they expect to increase with the installation of the second press. Because the Truepress Jet L350UV SAI integrated so well with Label Solutions’ existing workflow and color management software solutions, the training and service team at SCREEN Americas is now collaborating with the staff at Label Solutions to achieve a goal of 95 percent uptime for the company’s platform. “The print quality is amazing,” said Stevens, “The size of the dot is small, which allows for a great image. We’ve never had a digital press that printed with this type of quality before.”

Label Solutions had a unique start in 1989 when the company, then under a different name, was part of an establishment that manufactured and sold household paint. The organization purchased a press to print its own labels for paint cans. In 2000, the label portion of the business separated from the household goods business and became a stand-alone label manufacturer. Though it was only generating sales of less than one million dollars in annual revenue, Stevens and her team worked strategically and diligently to grow the business from the ground up.

Today, the company has nearly 40 employees and operates in an impressive 40,000 square-foot facility. Prime labels, custom labels, labels containing multiple SKUs, short-run labels and consecutive bar code labels are manufactured daily for a variety of industries including compressed gas, which accounts for 50 percent of the company’s business, food, beverage and nutraceuticals — a particularly fast-growing market for Label Solutions.

Label Solutions is making the investment to become GMI certified. GMI, which stands for Graphic Measures International, is a certification that ensures accuracy and consistency in color. The company is working toward this certification in order to expand its services to customers who require it.

Label Solutions Inc. is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise adhering to the Women’s Enterprise National Council’s requirement of being at least 51 percent owned and operated by females.

About SCREEN Americas
SCREEN Americas, a SCREEN Graphic Solutions group company established in 1967, is a leading provider of digital inkjet technology serving the commercial, publishing, direct mail, transactional, packaging, and label industries. In 2021, SCREEN Americas relocated its headquarters to Elk Grove Village, Illinois, with an upgrade that included a 14,000-plus square-foot Inkjet Innovation Center.