The innovative semi-solid film has an enhanced yield and opacity compared with solid white films.

Innovia Films has developed a high yield, semi-solid, glossy white BOPP film, Rayoface™ JB. This 47 micron film, designed for pressure sensitive labelling (PSL) applications, combines some of the advantages of cavitated and solid films into a semi-solid film. JB47 has a coating receptive surface to allow customers to add their own printable topcoat and has EU and FDA food compliance.

Rayoface™ JB is particularly suitable for use within a wide range of market segments such as Household and Personal Care, Food and Beverage, and other consumer packaged goods sectors.

Produced at Innovia Films Poland, on their advanced technology 5-layer BOPP line, JB is a superior performance product. Compared to a solid white film it has much better opacity and higher yield. The glossy film surface has excellent

compatibility to top-coatings and PSL adhesives and importantly also has EU and FDA food contact compliance.

Stephen Weber, Key Account Director, explains “The semi-solid nature of JB47 means it has some of the advantages of a cavitated film whilst still behaving closer to a solid film. It has the glossy white, high opacity appearance of a cavitated film and a higher yield than a solid white film. Combined these features make JB47 an aesthetically and economically attractive film.”

Rayoface™ JB is available now, so to find out more, contact your local Innovia Films Sales Manager or email labels@innoviafilms.com

About Innovia Films
Innovia Films is a major producer of highly differentiated specialty Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) films using proprietary ‘Bubble’, Stenter Technology and Cast manufacturing processes. 

The company holds a leading global position in the markets for high performance coated films, tobacco overwrap, labels and security films.Innovia employs >1400 people worldwide and has production sites in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Poland and the UK.The company is focused on high-quality value-added products, strong customer relationship, R&D and excellent service

www.innoviafilms.com

Rochester, NY and Lawrenceville, GA – Durst Image Technology and Vanguard Digital Printing Systems are proud to announce that they have received seven coveted PRINTING United Alliance 2022 Pinnacle Product Award across multiple Output Device Categories.

Output devices are judged by measuring color charts and then comparing them to industry specifications. “This is the only competition I know of that reports on the percentage of Adobe RGB a printer can hit,” said Dawn Nye, Program Manager for Pinnacle Awards, PRINTING United Alliance. “Some categories were decided by tenths of a point, so fierce was the competition this year.”

The following products won 2022 Pinnacle Product Awards:

• Durst P5 Tex iSub: awarded Roll-to-Roll Direct Disperse Ink on Textile category

• Durst Delta SPC 130: awarded Single Pass printer category

• Vanguard VR6D-HS: awarded UV/Latex Flatbed ($100K – $200K) category

• Vanguard VR6D-HS: awarded UV/Latex Flatbed + White ($100K – $200K) category

• Vanguard VR5D-E: awarded UV/Latex Flatbed (under $70K) category

• Vanguard VKH900-HS: awarded RTR/hybrid/flatbed new technology category

• Vanguard VKR3200: awarded Roll-to-Roll UV (over 80 in.) category

Becky McConnell, Marketing Manager of Durst North America commented, “We are always happy to take part in the Pinnacle Product Award competition, as it allows us another opportunity to highlight our exciting technologies – and we couldn’t be more proud to have won so many awards this year.”

“The Pinnacle Product Award competition represents the best of the best among commercial hardware, software, consumables, and industrial and screen equipment,” Weiss said. “Congratulations to all the winners.”

www.durstus.com

Century Printing & Packaging (CP&P), a family-owned label converting company located in Greer SC, has invested in one of the newly launched Mark Andy Digital Series iQ digital hybrid presses. The Digital Series iQ combines the servo platform and technology from Mark Andy’s popular Evolution Series with the Domino N610i UV-inkjet engine and is firmly targeted at the middle section of the label market where it offers a perfect blend of speed, print quality, and cost-effectiveness.

Established by Neil, Ben, and Don Waldrop in 1997, CP&P started with a Comco Cadet producing two and three-color flexo work. Don and Ben were originally in a textile related business together, and Neil joined after working at the PrintCon Center at Clemson University. Neil recalls: “It was very basic at the beginning, working from a converted bathroom, but it gave us a glimpse of what the future might hold and the confidence to invest and grow the business.” Hopes and plans were nearly brought crashing down when the company’s move to a new 16,000 sq.ft. factory in 2001 coincided with the tragic events of 9/11. “Nobody knew how this would affect the country or the business world, and it was a case of digging deep and focusing on a supplying a quality product with customer service to match,” he added.

 From these humble beginnings, CP&P has grown into a leading converter of quality labels for a range of markets including newspapers, nutraceutical, chemical, and the food and beverage sectors. From a staff of eight in 2001 the company has grown to employ 26 and now has five Mark Andy flexo presses: three 10” 2200 models and a 13” Performance Series P5, in addition to the new Digital Series IQ. All the flexo presses are eight-color and use water-based technology with UV on the last station for lacquer. “We prefer to work with water-based inks because of the labels we produce for the food industry – and our products are now supplied to 34 States in the US as well as exported to Canada and Australia,” he explained.

The new Digital Series iQ is CP&P’s second Mark Andy digital press, the company having installed a Digital One toner-based line back in 2019. The Digital Series iQ can be configured with up to seven UV inkjet colours (CMYKOV +WW) and converting components integrated to meet each customer’s specific requirements. Print stations, semi rotary vertical die cutting, cold foil, and inline slitting are common options. The CP&P press has a four-color digital capability with three flexo units and Mark Andy’s award-winning QCDC die-cutting unit. It has a production speed up to 230ft/min (70m/min) in high-speed mode and 164 ft/min (50m/min) in high-quality mode, while print resolution is 600 x 600dpi across its 13” (330mm) web.

Though seasoned professionals now, with 25 years of hard work and experience in-house, Neil Waldrop says one of the company’s assets has always been an open-minded approach. “We had no previous print industry experience to draw on so had no pre-conceived ideas. We just kept investing in the latest and best technology we could afford and the Digital One and Digital Series iQ are the latest examples of that.”

Speaking for Mark Andy, Sales Manager John Baer explained the logic behind CP&P’s investment in the Digital Series iQ. “Basically, we focused their attention on the cost to print/job estimation data that we had on file and made available to them. In simple terms, we took their book of business from the previous year and compared all the jobs they ran on their flexo presses with the same jobs costed on a Digital Series iQ. Long story short, running most of the jobs on the Digital Series iQ proved to be more profitable than traditional flexo – even on a Mark Andy flexo press!”

The decision to consider digital capability was based on CP&P’s assessment of a market that was showing clear signs of a shift in demand. Shorter runs lengths, JIT delivery, faster turnarounds, consistent quality, and more added value were among the pressures the company was feeling from its customer base, which is diverse in both size and number. “We invested in the Mark Andy Digital Series iQ press to give us a more competitive space where digital printing is becoming a requirement. It allows us to combine our flexo knowledge with the new technology of inkjet to get vibrant colors with UV inks that provide a high level of consistency and durability,” he explained.

While the Digital One offered a single-pass inline process, the Digital Series iQ takes that a few stages further, and CP&P view the hybrid concept as the most cost-effective way forward in a market where a mix of flexo and digital print will continue to be in high demand. The new press offers a wider range of substrate capabilities and the possibility of grouping jobs together, whether short or long, to give more scheduling flexibility. This has been a key part of CPP’s strategy to deal with the supply-chain challenges all converters have faced in 2021 and 2022.

“We have made a significant investment in this press to position ourselves for growth and to meet customer expectations with the highest technology available in the industry. After four weeks of setup and tremendous support from Mark Andy’s technical team, our press operators were very comfortable with the new technology. In addition, our production and pre-press departments have made it a seamless effort to deliver consistent quality and results for our customers,” he added.

As product consistency is so important, Neil Waldrop has high praise for the durability of the inks used on the Digital Series iQ. With no experience of fade or rub-off, he says there is seldom a need to apply lacquer or lamination to obtain a high-class finish. With a typical order consisting of 42 SKUs in run lengths from 150ft to 3000ft, the lack of plate costs and reduced waste levels on the digital press make it a very competitive tool. Around 85% of CP&P’s work is straight repeat, so color consistency is vital, and while VDP work represents only a small part of the company’s business today, it’s predicted to grow as more customers become aware of its usefulness and applications.

One thing Neil Waldrop stresses is the need for regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure optimum performance with the Digital Series iQ. The benefit is rapid turnaround of high-quality labels with minimal waste and downtime – all of which has allowed CP&P to increase its production volume and variety. “We like to keep all our presses fully scheduled at least one week ahead – and this is no problem with the Digital Series iQ! The seasonality of some of our work is ideally suited to a digital hybrid line, and the new Mark Andy is a perfect fit for that,” he concluded.

www.markandy.com

BOBST’s Advanced Register Control for Precision Printing and ECG in Gravure has been judged “Best of the Best” in the Technical Innovation category of the 2022 Golden Cylinder Awards. The coveted award was presented to Kurt Oegerli, Sales Manager, Bobst North America Inc., at the ceremony held on 26 September, during the AIMCAL 2022 R2R Conference, taking place 26-29 September, in Orlando, FL, USA.

What makes the system unique

The new advanced register control system consists of a new set-up and advanced functions of BOBST’s automatic register control, Registron®. One of its main advantages is that the press operator can make a correction immediately after the color is printed, without having to wait for the images to be displayed on the web viewer. An additional benefit for the efficiency of gravure technology is realized during job changeovers: downtime for press set-up is greatly reduced and consequently, so is the waste that is generated in the process.

Furthermore, the new advanced function of the register control is the technical innovation that enables easy and controlled handling of ECG printing in gravure, by controlling the register on the whole printed surface, enabling a reel report of the register quality.

Commenting on the award, Jonathan Giubilato, Gravure Product Manager at BOBST said: “We are proud of this latest achievement that brings gravure to the forefront of the packaging industry transformation, and for the potential ahead to improve the operations of our gravure customers. The enhanced agility on print cycles enables the quality of gravure to become sustainable and profitable also in the case of short run production, bridging the gap that conventionally confined the quality of gravure to higher production volumes”.

About BOBST
We are one of the world’s leading suppliers of substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board industries.

Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst in Lausanne, Switzerland, BOBST has a presence in more than 50 countries, runs 19 production facilities in 11 countries and employs more than 5800 people around the world. The firm recorded a consolidated turnover of CHF 1.563 billion for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has started to operate under the business name Ahlstrom as of today, October 3, 2022. The company has completed the ownership reorganization of its Decor business and thus proceeded with its plan, announced in May 2022, to change its name to Ahlstrom. The divested Decor business continues as an independent company under the well-recognized Munksjö name.

In June 2022, Ahlstrom-Munksjö announced its intention to accelerate the pace of its strategy execution and set a goal to become the preferred sustainable specialty materials provider through a clearly defined purpose, sharper strategic focus and ambitious sustainability targets. A new operating model and reporting structure, effective as of July 2022, was implemented to effectively carry out the work.

President and CEO Hans Sohlström says: “This is a natural step for us as the name Ahlstrom has more than 170 years meritorious history. We are serving five growing markets and are leading the development in all these areas among the top companies. We will continue to operate through 38 plants in 13 countries and with some 7,000 employees who represent more than 50 nationalities.”

“Our strategic ambition for 2025 is to become the leader in combining fibers into performance materials. All we do will serve our purpose to Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. It is now our turn to take Ahlstrom to the future and transform it to the Preferred Sustainable Specialty Materials Company.”

The change of the business name to Ahlstrom is accompanied by a renewed logo where the symbol remains the same and the name is changed to Ahlstrom.

In line with the name change, the company’s web address has been changed to www.ahlstrom.com. Email addresses will be formed correspondingly (firstname.lastname@ahlstrom.com). The legal company names will remain unchanged until they are changed later country by country in compliance with local legislation.

The name change to Ahlstrom will not affect the company’s customers or sales, strategy, structure, reporting or commitments.

The Decor business continues with the name Munksjö. Its offering consists of decorative surface materials for building material industries. Munksjö is the only international brand focused exclusively on decor paper.

For additional information, please contact:

Krista Tötterman, Communications Manager, Ahlstrom, tel. (+358) 10 8884722, email: krista.totterman@ahlstrom-munksjo.com

Ahlstrom in brief
Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibers into sustainable specialty materials. Our purpose is to Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. Our vision is to be the Preferred Sustainable Specialty Materials Company for all our stakeholders. We serve five growing and distinctive end markets, which form the basis for our five divisions: Filtration, Food & Consumer Packaging, Healthcare, Building Materials, and Technical Materials. Our pro forma net sales 2021 for continuing operations amounted to EUR 2.6 billion and we employ some 7,000 people. Read more at www.ahlstrom.com

UPM Raflatac, a global supplier of innovative and sustainable labeling materials, is solving bottlenecks for designers with their recently published dynamic digital label material swatchbook for wine, sprits and beverage (WSB). This new tool allows designers to bring the designs to life by downloading high-definition images and utilizing the selected label material in their preferred design software.

“The digital swatchbook was created with designers in mind. There are plenty of label materials available for wine, spirits and beverage, but the challenge is to find the right match to the packaging and to find it easy and fast. As we now live in a world with less face-to-face meetings, it is essential to have an efficient, user-friendly, and innovative digital tool that can change the landscape of label and packaging design,” says Stefano Pistoni, Senior Manager, Business Development, Wine, Spirits and Beverage, UPM Raflatac.

“For us at Advision, the UPM Raflatac Digital Swatchbook is a new incredible tool to support our creative and design workflow. We have already tried the high-resolution textures download and just in a few minutes we created mockups and realistic renderings. This new tool has two strengths: it greatly simplifies our work and helps us to convey our idea of the final result to clients in a realistic way,” stated Matteo Zantedeschi, Art Director, Advision.

The digital swatchbook allows users to search by visual appearance of face material or by features and functionalities of the material. As a global tool, the swatchbook is segmented by region to provide a highly customized user experience.

Click here to test this innovative new tool.

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.

Market leading surface treatment manufacturer Vetaphone will be supporting its agent Weldon Celloplast at Labelexpo India 2022 in Delhi on 10th- 13th November.  The Danish company, which invented and continues to pioneer surface treatment technology will have a number of its corona units on working demonstration at the expo.

On stand F15/17/19 in Hall 3 India-based UV Graphics Technologies will be showing two Vetaphone VE-A 520 models on its narrow web Ultraflex flexo line, and two VE-A 460 models on its Ultraflex hybrid line, where the digital element is powered by Domino. 

All Vetaphone corona treaters at Labelexpo India have the intelligent 2KW Vetaphone iCorona generators and are fitted with four ceramic electrodes in each unit.

With a market share exceeding 80% in the narrow web sector, Vetaphone surface treatment technology leads the way in performance, reliability, and durability.  The company’s global sales and service network ensures that users are never far from after sales service and technical support, with a ready supply of spare parts.

Together with Weldon Celloplast, Vetaphone looks forward to welcoming visitors to the exhibition and showing them the benefits of a class-leading corona system.

www.vetaphone.com

The Americas’ label converting industry in robust health as over 13,000 visitors attend. 

Labelexpo Americas 2022 was hailed an outstanding success as over 13,000 attendees flocked to the Donald E Stevens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

In total Labelexpo Americas 2022 attracted 13,569 attendees from 77 countries. It was notable that attendees stayed at the show longer than in previous years, up from an average of 1.8 days in 2018 to 2.0 days this year, and that it welcomed large numbers of first-time attendees, particularly from Latin American countries. 

The key theme at Labelexpo Americas 2022 was the digital transformation of the labels industry. The focus was squarely on the latest developments in digital printing and digital embellishment, along with sustainability and workflow automation. 

There were many global digital press debuts at the show, including HP Indigo’s V12 digital press, the Durst 20in Tau RSCi and Dantex Pico 1200e. On the converting side, automation and digital replacement of analog processes were key themes, with new machine lines from a range of companies.

Sustainability was demonstrated across the show floor, with TLMI holding a series of presentations on its Eco Stage and arranging the recycling of printed rolls into fuel pellets. Labelexpo Americas 2022 featured a packed education program including conference sessions and master classes. The Digital Embellishment Trail allowed visitors to assess printed examples of tactile finishes and digital metalization. 

Reviewing the show, Haim Levit, SVP and general manager of HP’s Industrial Print Business, said,  ‘HP Indigo’s vast portfolio of solutions for label production are allowing more and more converters to capitalize on the growing advantages of digital printing. And it was clear from the event that more and more industry professionals are looking to do just that. In fact, over the course of the show, sixteen letters of intent for the HP Indigo V12 Digital Press were signed by customers around the world, eleven of which are based in North America, and five in Europe.

Matt Burton, global sales director, A B Graphic International, said: ‘Labelexpo Americas was an overwhelming success for ABG. The level of interest we received across a whole range of finishing lines was really gratifying after a few years of no exhibitions. On a personal level, it was great to be back at Labelexpo meeting customers and partners in person. It’s these moments that make the label industry a great place to work.’

Steve Lynn, director labels and packaging, Durst North America added, ‘Labelexpo 2022 was an excellent event, everything the Durst team had hoped for after not being able to showcase our company and technology for several years.’

Stated Victor Gomez, director, industrial labels, Epson America, Inc, ‘It was the most successful Labelexpo Americas at which I’ve exhibited. Labelexpo Americas continues to be the most important trade event for the narrow web industry in North America, as well as Latin America. Customers at our booth seemed to be jostling to have a close look at our SurePress digital UV label presses. More importantly, they seemed to have come with investing in mind. We came away from the show with units sold, and with many solid prospects with whom we expect to conclude business shortly.’

Linnea Keen, president of TLMI, commented, ‘Labelexpo Americas 2022 was a fantastic event for our association and our members. The energy was infectious. Visitors were eager to learn, reconnect, engage, and conduct business. After four long years of conducting business virtually, it’s clear that exhibitions like Labelexpo are vital to the health of our dynamic industry. TLMI couldn’t be prouder to partner with Tarsus Group and Labelexpo on its much anticipated, and successful return. It was the reunion we all needed!’

Tasha Ventimiglia, Labelexpo Americas show director, commented, ‘It was wonderful to finally welcome the label industry back to Rosemont. The show floor was buzzing with excitement during the three days of the show, multiple deals were done, and visitors got the chance to see close up the new presses, materials and converting equipment developed by suppliers over the four years. We look forward to welcoming exhibitors and visitors back to Labelexpo Americas 2024!’