To support its rapidly growing sales numbers in the US, leading surface treatment manufacturer Vetaphone has added Mid-Atlantic Associates to its long list of agents.  Headed up by John Gresh, who has 32 years of experience in the converting and web handling industries, the agency offers Vetaphone specialist knowledge of the paper, film, foil, extruding, coating, printing, converting, and web handling sectors of the US market.

According to Ted Wolski, Vetaphone’s Sales Manager for the Americas: “John came highly recommended by our other successful agents in the States and plugs an important gap in our coverage of the Mid-Atlantic states, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and parts of New York.  I’m pleased to say that he has really hit the ground running in terms of sales production, which shows the benefit of his years of experience and contacts in the business.”

Along with other strategic appointments that include The Harman Company in the southern Midwest, as well as both Dotray & Associates and Jeff Messenger Industrial Sales across the northern Midwest, the addition of Mid-Atlantic Associates based in Pittsburgh, PA, gives Vetaphone direct representation in 45 of the lower 48 States, making its sales network second to none in the surface treatment sector.

www.vetaphone.com

Easton, PA – Tower Products, Inc., a leading manufacturer of environmentally sensitive pressroom chemistry has released MILLENNIUM 4500, an advanced and innovative one step fountain solution for  high-speed sheet-fed commercial and packaging presses. This product is yet another Tower technology solution helping printers produce outstanding work for their customers, while at the same time reducing their cost of operation.

MILLENNIUM 4500, has been in beta testing for 5 months and is now available throughout North America. It is a single step product that can be used on presses running up to 18,000 impressions per hour. It performs well with both paper, board and non-porous substrates. The product features an outstanding buffering system and has the ability to give the printer a much faster and cleaner roll up to color, preventing excess substrate waste.  Much of this new and innovative technology is unique materials not traditionally combined when used in fountain solution formulations. The product development was centered on maximizing the performance of the fount in an energy curable environment so that the solution does not interfere with drying. It was also tested in the conventional ink setting with terrific print results.

MILLENNIUM 4500, as well as other Tower pressroom chemical products, are only available through authorized Tower dealers. 

For more information, please contact Chris Schwab at 800.527.8626 or visit our website at www.towerproducts.com.

Cohoes, NY – Syracuse Label & Surround Printing, Macaran Printed Products and W.N. Van Alstine, announced today that their respective boards of directors have approved a merger agreement.

The new organization will provide enhanced development and manufacturing capabilities, incorporating state-of-the-art label technologies along with improved economies of scale. The new business will be led by industry veterans Nick Van Alstine (Macaran / Van Alstine) and Kathy Alaimo (Syracuse) operating as co-CEOs, with Tom Sargent as President.

“I have known Nick Van Alstine, and we’ve been friendly competitors for over 20 years”, said Kathy Alaimo. “This friendship and mutual trust evolved into a conversation about how similar our companies were, and what an exciting opportunity we had to support future growth for our employee-owners,” she added.

What is Driving this Merger

The merger brings together three strong, industry leading label and packaging companies who share common cultures, common cause and common goals. Both companies are 100% employee-owned each with rich corporate legacies. Driven by industry consolidation, both organizations found themselves in similar circumstances as the competitive landscape has shifted around them. The merger will create an organization with greater scale, capacity and capability, bringing additional value to the customers and markets it serves.

“This is a great fit for our businesses. This merger is all about our shared values; preserving corporate legacies, creating value for our employee-owners and becoming more competitive in the marketplace,” said Nick Van Alstine. “

Better Together

The merger will create a new organization with 3 facilities, 165,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space, 175 full-time employee owners and $65M in sales. It also brings together a C-suite leadership team with decades of proven experienced in the industry. The team consists of:

·       Kathy Alaimo – Co-CEO

·       Nick Van Alstine – Co-CEO

·       Tom Sargent – President

·       Gary Riley – President, W.N. Van Alstine

·       Dan Rosenbaum – Chief Financial Officer

·       Paul Roux – Chief Technical Officer

·       Thomas Faugno – Chief Sales Officer

·       Nick Noyes – Chief Operating Officer

A Win for Customers

“The merger creates a tremendous opportunity for all of us to better serve our customers,” said Nick Van Alstine. “The new organization will be better positioned to compete through intellectual property, innovation, press technology, operational efficiency and overall scale,” he added.

The W.N. Van Alstine team brings critical expertise to the new organization as well. “With our experience, we can work with customers to provide leading-edge, ‘end of line” packaging equipment, systems and related materials,” said Gary Riley, Sr, President, W.N. Van Alstine. “This knowledge helps round out our full-service offering, solidifying our stance as custodians of their brand,” he added.

Employee Owners

A critical aspect of the merger is the continued development and support of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The ESOP ownership structure was adopted by Syracuse Label & Surround Printing in 2007 and Macaran/Van Alstine in 2017.

“The ESOP is an incredibly powerful and supportive culture,” said Alaimo. “It gives all employee-owners a voice, as well as an opportunity to benefit from the organization’s continued growth.” she added. “The main reason our ESOP was instituted was to protect and reward our employees who have played such critical roles in crafting our success,” said Van Alstine. “We are thrilled to be able to continue this ownership structure along with Syracuse Label,” he added.

Moving Forward

Customers will not see any changes to the day-to-day operations of Syracuse, Macaran or Van Alstine. All sales, service and accounting procedures and contacts will remain intact, and all divisions will continue to use their branded visual identities and logos.

In addition, effective December 31, 2022 both Kathy Alaimo and Nick Van Alstine will retire and assume roles as Co-Chairs of the Board of Directors. Tom Sargent will assume the CEO position effective January 1, 2023. This announcement is the culmination of a well-planned and orderly succession process to ensure the continued success of the organization.

About Macaran Printed Products
Macaran Printed Products is a third-generation, employee-owned supplier of high-quality label and packaging solutions for the spirits, craft beer, non-alcoholic beverage, household products, health, beauty and medical markets. Headquartered in Cohoes, NY, the company provides a “cradle to grave” product development system, and the latest in label printing and converting technology to ensure your brand image is delivered to the market just as you intended. As the “custodians of your brand” we take the time to understand your vision, ensuring consistency and reliability across every project, every time! Our offerings include pressure sensitive labels, extended content labels, peel & seal labels and promotional labels. For more information please visit www.macaran.com

About W.N. Van Alstine
W.N. Van Alstine & Sons was founded in 1950, as a paper and packaging distribution firm by William Van Alstine. Today, the employee-owned company is one of 3M’s most valuable distributor partners, supporting some of the region’s most respected companies with leading edge, end-of-line packaging systems, equipment, service and related materials. The company is led by an experienced senior level management team including Gary J. Riley Sr (43yrs), President, Will Dwyer (33yrs), VP Sales and Greg Kelley (23yrs) VP Operations. For more information please visit www.vanalstineinc.com

About Syracuse Label & Surround Printing
Syracuse Label & Surround Printing is a 100% employee-owned company and one of the largest and most versatile independent label converters in the Northeast. We offer digital and flexographic printing solutions with a product portfolio that includes Flexible Packaging, Shrink Sleeves, Pressure Sensitive Labels, Cartons, Hang Tags, Roll-Fed Wrap Labels, and other custom-made printed products. Our advantages include cutting-edge print technology, a complete in-house Art Department, and a large, experienced staff of technical advisors, production people, and sales service personnel. We offer superior quality at competitive prices, fast turn-around times, exceptional service, and unparalleled solutions. For more information please visit www.syrlsp.com

Louisville, KY – What is the secret to long-term success with a Flexo Wash cleaner? For this company it was pairing the highest-quality cleaning system with a consistent preventative maintenance program and dedicated employees. 

Interprint (a Toppan company) operates in the decorative gravure marketplace where they develop and print designs used in the laminate decorative surface category for products such as flooring countertops, cabinetry, furniture and other like items. Their print surfaces uncannily resemble wood, marble, stone and granite, just to name a few. Interprint works with renowned designers to create some of the most popular decor surfaces. 

2008: Interprint Buys a Flexo Wash Gravure Cylinder Cleaner

In 2008, Interprint transitioned to in-house laser engraving of gravure cylinders to support their internal design development. This process uses zinc as the engraving medium. The zinc is galvanically plated directly over a copper base then laser engraved, cleaned, polished and a final layer of chrome is plated over the zinc to seal the porosity and provide a durable exterior for printing. 

Todd Luman, Laser Engraving Manager at Interprint, recommended they try a Flexo Wash Gravure Cylinder Cleaner. He states that they “gravitated toward the Flexo Wash system primarily for its minimal impact on the cylinder surface, meaning the system is less invasive to the cells (engraving structure) while cleaning compared to some other systems we have used in the past. In addition, we liked the fact we could use an environmentally safe low VOC cleaner to effectively clean the water-based ink on our cylinders.  We run a few different low VOC water-based ink systems that are designed to set at low temperatures and cure fast. In stating this, when we wash-up in the press we don’t get all of the ink out of the cells and require an off-press cleaning system.”

Luman got in touch with Joe Almeida, Flexo Wash territory manager and got a demo unit set up at Interprint. Luman states “A demo Flexo Wash system was brought in and tested on several cylinders that were severely plugged. The results speak for themselves obviously as we proceeded to purchase the system.” Interprint bought their Flexo Wash Gravure Cylinder Cleaner in 2008.

INTERPRINT IS STILL USING THAT CLEANER FROM 2008 TODAY.

Interprint has kept this machine running and continuously cleaning for 14 years. We asked Luman to share what the secret was to long-term success with this cleaner? 

“No secret really, just good old-school mentality of scheduling your machinery for maintenance before your machine schedules it for you. The system has lasted due to our preventative maintenance program and a dedicated group of individuals (operators) who take pride in their work environment and respect the equipment they use.”

Scheduled Maintenance Program

• Every other month all the sprockets, shafts, chains and rollers in the drive system are inspected for wear and replaced as needed. Additionally, the in-line oilers are inspected and refilled. 

• Detergent to clean the cylinders is added as needed to the holding tank. (Themachine lets us know when we need to make an add)

• Twice a year, the holding tank is emptied and the sludge is removed, a fresh bath is made at this time. 

Luman states “This does not mean we have not had premature equipment failures. This happens, things break. However, I would contribute a fair amount of this due to the additional demand we put on the machine. Our equipment was designed and specked out to clean 1/3 the amount of cylinders we are actually processing through the system (a lot of additional wear and tear, it may also be of interest to mention the size of our cylinders, which range in weight from 500 LBS to 2000 LBS and up to 8’ wide to 1450mm circumference). “

STATISTICS

Projected amount of cylinders cleaned per month:

The initial projection was for the system to clean an average of 150 cylinders per month. However, in reality, the lowest month was double that number since we started to track the through put data in 2011. 

Size of cylinders:

Range in weight from 500 lbs. to 2000 lbs. Up to 8’ wide to 1450 mm circumference.

Actual amount of cylinders cleaned per month:

        Year               Total Washes       Average Washes per Month

• 2011                3,580                  298

• 2012                4,207                351                    

• 2013                4,558                  380

• 2014                5,479                  457

• 2015                4,697                  391

• 2016                5,043                 420

• 2017                4,746                  396

• 2018                5,016                  418

• 2019                5,191                  433

• 2020                4,488                  374

• 2021                5,580                  465

How many days a week and days per year in operation?

Pressroom operates with three shifts, 24 hours a day/five days a week. Total of 240 days a year.

How much time do you spend cleaning each roll now? How much time did you spend before the Flexo Wash Cleaner?

“The system is not faster than our previous cleaning methods, however it is safer on the cylinders. So, it may take twice as long to clean them with the Flexo Wash (about a 15-20 minute cycle time) however, we are not damaging the cylinders which is a savings to us.

This does not mean we couldn’t use a harsher chemical and crank up the heat during the cleaning cycle to increase the speed of the cleaning process. However, the end goal is not to damage the cylinders. So, if it takes longer to clean them, we are okay with this. “

How much are your cleaning supply costs? How does that compare with before this cleaner? 

“The cost of everything has gone up since our purchase back in 2008 so we don’t have a fair baseline to compare consumable costs. Nevertheless, the cost of the cleaning supply is not a make-or-break factor for us. We need an effective, environmentally safe, low VOC cleaner and will pay a bit more to get the results we desire. “

FUTURE GROWTH FOR INTERPRINT

As their business grows, Interprint will require additional cylinder cleaning equipment in the future and will assess the market for what technological advancements have been made to best fit their needs.

Luman adds “a few things we take into consideration that weighs strongly on the final investment decision outside of the obvious (performance and price to a certain extent) has to do with the type of technical support/service provided by the manufacturer. The technical support, plus the responsiveness and willingness to listen to our concerns provided by Flexo Wash has been outstanding over the last 14 years which reassures us that Flexo Wash is a company that stands behind their product and will support their customer’s needs. 

As mentioned previously, the support from the Flexo Wash group has been fantastic. Joe Almeida in particular understands the industry, his equipment and has been pleasant to work with. Joe is open to hearing the good and taking the bad news as well in a positive, professional manner and has supported us over the years to ensure we were satisfied with the performance of our equipment. “

www.flexowashus.com

Mondi and EW Technology have partnered to create an innovative new paper wrapping machine.

EW Technology’s mechanical engineering knowledge has been combined with Mondi’s paper packaging expertise to enable companies to wrap pallets in Advantage StretchWrap paper.

New machine extends the possibilities for companies wanting to replace plastic pallet wrapping with a recyclable and renewable paper solution.

Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, has collaborated with Austrian mechanical engineering company EW Technology to launch a new machine for paper pallet wrapping that is more efficient and sustainable on small-to-medium production lines.

The two companies worked together to design the innovative machine, which fills a gap Mondi identified in the pallet wrapping market. Offering two settings, the machine can be fully automated to wrap up to 60 pallets every hour or semi-automated to wrap 10-15 pallets per hour.

The machine takes a full reel of Mondi’s Advantage StretchWrap paper, allowing customers to replace the multi-layer plastic which is currently the industry standard for pallet wrapping. Advantage StretchWrap is 100% virgin paper, created with renewable materials and fully recyclable in existing paper waste streams across Europe. It contains no plastic or coating, but still ensures excellent strength and tension absorption. Mondi commissioned an independent life cycle assessment (LCA) comparing the innovative paper pallet packaging to conventional plastic stretch film and proved that it performed better in several impact categories – most notably in climate change, with a 62% lower carbon footprint than virgin plastic stretch film.

From a user point of view there are further benefits. A full reel of Advantage StretchWrap can be applied to the new machine without any need to re-wind. The larger dimensions of the Advantage StretchWrap reel mean that a replacement reel is only needed every 400-600 pallets compared to 40-80 pallets for plastic wrapping, providing a more efficient solution.

Philipp Ertl, Co-founder, EW Technology, says: “Sustainable projects are close to our hearts and as a young team we are determined to make a positive contribution to the environment. By taking a collaborative approach with Mondi we were able to learn exactly what was needed and work together to deliver a unique new offering in paper wrapping technology for palletised goods – one that will benefit companies across many industries.”

Babicz Bartosz, Product Manager Advantage StretchWrap, Mondi adds: “We work with brands across various industries and recognised that companies seeking to be more sustainable and with smaller outputs require a customised machine for paper pallet wrapping. This machine will mean that customers can successfully and safely wrap their products in paper for transportation, work towards a more circular system and make a positive contribution to the environment.”

www.mondigroup.com

 

Technicote has appointed Ed Klene to the position of National Sales & Marketing Director. In this role Ed will continue his responsibilities as Marketing Director developing and implementing marketing strategies, pricing and portfolio management. Now, he will also be responsible for leading the company’s highly-experienced North American field sales organization. Ed sits on the Technicote’s executive team collaborating with operations, supply chain and technical teams.

Ed has spent 5 years at Technicote leading the Marketing & Purchasing organizations. Prior to Technicote Ed spent 16 years in brand & packaging management leading consumer product goods marketing teams, “Ed brings a broad experience from the food & beverage industry as well as leading Technicote through the recent challenging supply environment. He has been a key contributor to our success. By consolidating the front-end under his leadership, we are excited about expanding our value proposition to all of our customers,” said Frank Gavrilos, Technicote President. “I am excited and honored to expand my role at Technicote. We have a strong & passionate sales team with many years of experience. I look forward to working with them to provide customer solutions and drive growth,” said Klene.

Ed works at the corporate office in Miamisburg, OH where he enjoys his family of four and enjoys U.S. history & is an avid National Parks visitor.

About Technicote
Technicote, an ISO 9001:2015 certified company is privately held, headquartered in Miamisburg, OH. Technicote provides solutions to label converters seeking the best total value in material solutions. Technicote has manufacturing and distribution facilities across North America and has grown steadily from its founding in 1980 to be a major supplier to the release liner and pressure sensitive roll label industries.

For more information about Technicote, visit www.technicote.com