Ahlstrom-Munksjö continues to expand in the packaging tape market by launching MasterTape™ Pack Green tape backing offering consisting of bio-based tape backings with greater sustainability attributes. 

MasterTape™ Pack Green is available in multiple variants and basis weights, including saturated tape backings, as well as saturated and release coated tape backings with different levels of releases that are compliant with various adhesive systems. The offering can also be fully customized based on customer requirements.

MasterTape™ Pack Green offers an alternative to plastic tape solutions, and it is produced from responsibly sourced and renewable wood pulp, certified according to Forest Stewardship Council® standards. Aligned with Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s ‘from Plastic to Purpose’ campaign that aims to raise awareness about the possibilities of fiber-based solutions as a renewable option, its bio-based contents are above 85%, and it is repulpable and recyclable according to EN13430.

MasterTape™ Pack Green is part of Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s MasterTape™ Pack product family for pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) packaging tape applications. The entire product family has excellent mechanical properties for shock-resistant tapes, making the backings ideal for light, medium and even heavy-duty packaging. MasterTape™ Pack includes a complete range of products available from saturation base papers to saturated and release coated papers. 

“We want to continue to raise awareness on the possibilities of fiber-based solutions as a renewable option to plastics. We encourage global industry stakeholders to consider fiber and paper-based alternatives for applications that today use plastic and other non-renewable materials. MasterTape™ Pack Green is the latest innovation in our unique offering of sustainable tape backings that work well with a high number of PSA packaging tape backing applications,” commented Sebastien Ferrari, Business Development Manager, Packaging Tape. 

Find out more: 

Ahlstrom-Munksjö – MasterTape™ Pack Green – Sustainable Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tape Backings (ahlstrom-munksjo.com)

https://www.ahlstrom-munksjo.com/campaigns/mastertape-pack 

https://www.ahlstrom-munksjo.com/campaigns/from-Plastic-to-Purpose/ 

For more details, please contact: Sebastien Ferrari, Business Development Manager, Packaging Tape, sebastien.ferrari@ahlstrom-munksjo.com 

Ahlstrom-Munksjö in brief
Ahlstrom-Munksjö is a global leader in fiber-based materials, supplying innovative and sustainable solutions to its customers. Our mission is to expand the role of fiber-based solutions for sustainable everyday life. Our offering includes filter materials, release liners, food and beverage processing materials, decor papers, abrasive and tape backings, electrotechnical paper, glass fiber materials, medical fiber materials, diagnostics and energy storage solutions, as well as a range of specialty papers for industrial and consumer end-uses. Our annual net sales is about EUR 3.1 billion and we employ some 8,000 people.

Read more at www.ahlstrom-munksjo.com

Trebnick Systems of Springboro, OH, just a short 30-minute drive from Nilpeter USA, has installed a new Nilpeter FA-17 to handle increasing customer demands for RFID-application. “With a major outlay of capital, we wanted the quickest response time, and Nilpeter has proven many times over the years that they are always ready.”

Trebnick Systems is a long-time partner, having purchased their first Nilpeter press in the 1990s, when they developed a non-tear tag for durable markets that eliminated the need for laminated tags worldwide.

“I looked at all the presses that were popular at the time and Nilpeter had the most durable product from my impression. I had no idea that the registration and quality were also outstanding. Our first press is still running perfectly,” says Gregg Trebnick, founder of Trebnick Systems, Inc.

Tough Jobs Easily and Repeatedly
As a competitor once said to a Trebnick customer, “they do the tough jobs easily and repeatedly”.

“When we got into the label and tag market, we were too late to get any easy jobs. All the jobs we received were the jobs no one else wanted to do – uncoated poly material with process printing, adhesives that would not come off when applied outdoors in the middle of the winter, poly tags that stretch through 99% of the presses on the market, etc. The challenging start, however, is what gave us a leg up on the competition, and what positioned our team in the expert category,” Linda Trebnick, President, adds.

Update Equipment to Handle Demands
“We already had the capability to apply RFID, but more and more of our customers are asking for it, and we needed to update our equipment to be able to handle those demands. As I mentioned, we already have Nilpeter presses and wanted to stay with them, so we went to Nilpeter, and together with Tamarack they came up with a press design for us that includes RFID-application and integrated labels,” Linda Trebnick says.

“With Nilpeter just down the street from Trebnick, that naturally played a big part in our decision, but they also have the most state-of-the-art press – the FA-17. Nilpeter came in and helped us and always responded quickly to our calls, when we were down or needed service. With a major outlay of capital, we wanted the quickest response time, and Nilpeter has proven many times over the years that they are always ready to respond,” Trebnick continues.

A Perfect Match for Trebnick
“Our first order on the press is a 750,000 feet long cast-and-cure hologram label. Being long-run and unique, plus being sheeted, makes it a perfect match for Trebnick to produce on our new press. We need the capacity to keep up with our current growth, and with the add-on unit from Tamarack we will be doing RFID, integrated labels, and high-quality colour work.”

“Now that the FA-17 is up and running and we see the ease of running this press, we definitely would like to add another one of these presses to our production floor,” Linda Trebnick concludes.

About Trebnick Systems
Trebnick Systems is a global supplier of flexographic specialty tags and labels based in Springboro, OH, USA. Trebnick provides permanent, removable or repositionable adhesive label and tag solutions for some of the toughest environments in these markets: Consumer Packaged Goods, Consumer Durables, Lumber & Building Materials, Steel/Rebar, Chemical/Drum, Concrete, Food/Seafood, Horticulture, Mattress/Law, Product Identification, Packaging, Safety, Health & Beauty, Shelf Markers, Medical and Warehouse Floor Marking Systems, printers and printer supplies including thermal transfer and Epson Inkjet printers. Whatever the customer’s labeling needs, Trebnick Systems has a specialized solution they can depend on.

Pressure-sensitive adhesive provider acquires CSI – SoCal

Stow, OH – Mactac®, a LINTEC Company, has acquired CSI – SoCal, a custom slitting and distribution center for roll label printers located in Ontario, Calif., under an asset purchase agreement.

A $2.5 million investment, the acquisition is the latest in a major Mactac operational expansion plan. The strategically located West Coast finishing center provides Mactac a turnkey, high-performing roll label slitting and distribution center with a talented operations team and newer world-class slitting assets.

Mactac is also investing nearly $10 million in expanding its slitting and service capability, including installing five new world-class slitters across its North America network beginning this summer. The strategic move is part of an ongoing commitment by Mactac to deliver the roll label market and customers’ enhanced products and services, supply chain continuity, and added reliability.

“This acquisition is a continuation of our commitment to the industry and represents our mission to be a full portfolio provider to the market with the highest level of service excellence,” said Ed LaForge, Mactac President, and CEO. “Purchasing CSI – SoCal further expands our production network and distribution footprint in alignment with our strategic growth plans for pressure-sensitive films, graphic products, and specialty coating and service programs.”

Throughout the last two years, Mactac has been focused on growth initiatives in support of market needs. Mactac recently acquired Duramark Products Inc. (formally Ritrama USA) and Spinnaker Coating, LLC, expanding its adhesive coating capabilities and advanced automation technology, as well as production capacity and specialty label offerings. Mactac is dedicated to supporting its North American customer base and expanding its onshore capability during a critical time of global supply chain constraints.

“Mactac is a highly reputable company that is truly committed to meeting the needs of the market and its customers,” said Michael Noble, Distribution Manager at CSI – SoCal. “We are excited to be a full-time Mactac slitting operation and an important part of the company’s growing distribution network.”

As part of LINTEC, a global leader in the field of adhesive materials, Mactac is one of the largest, most diversified global PSA suppliers. In the year ahead, Mactac and LINTEC will continue to invest heavily in R&D and operational enhancements to deliver customers unmatched technology, capability, service, and value, and offer needed market diversification and capacity beyond labeling.

For more information on Mactac, its products, and growth strategies, visit www.mactac.com. 

About Mactac
For more than 60 years, Mactac has served the PSA material market supplying label printing, graphic design, packaging, retail display, fleet graphics, automotive assembly and medical device assembly customers, among others. It is known for providing exceptional support to customers to help them grow their businesses and diversify their product offerings.

About CSI – SoCal
CSI – SoCal, located in Ontario, Calif., is part of CSI Group, LLC, a nationwide network of contract slitting and warehousing for roll label printers. CSI – SoCal provides distribution and custom slitting of flexible films, label stocks, laminates, and papers.

The Bobst Group is seeking to transform the labels market in the US with its range of digital label presses delivering high-quality labels with high productivity at the lowest TCO in the industry. Today, BOBST revealed how one early adopter company in the US has benefited from one of its core innovations in digital label production – the LB701-UV. 

Aptech Graphics, based in North Providence Rhode Island, is a specialist label printer committed to four cornerstones of business: quality, value, time to market and service. To ensure it could continue to deliver on these values at the highest level, the company was keen to upgrade its digital offering for its customers, in particular by providing the highest speed and productivity while maintaining optimum quality. To fulfill this need, Aptech Graphics opted for a BOBST Mouvent LB701-UV.

“We invested in the LB701-UV because we knew that it would be very beneficial for our business,” said Mark Mader, President of Aptech Graphics. “It has exceptional quality and color consistency, which means we can guarantee our customers the accuracy and exceptional finish that they need. It is simple to use and has a very high productivity, enabling us to deliver with greater speed and efficiency than ever before. We can now turn around jobs of 330,000 linear feet in one week in a single shift operation, which is outstanding. Best of all, we can deliver high-quality outputs in a timely manner and at very competitive prices. Our customers have been more than satisfied.”

The LB701-UV enables digital label production for short and medium run prime and commercial labels, with no trade-offs. It is associated with very high productivity, exceptional print quality and the widest color gamut in its category – printing with up to 6 colors plus optional white with 70% opacity. The machine has an extremely compact and ergonomic design, which does not compromise on print resolution (1,200 x 1,200 dpi), printing speed (up to 230 fpm – 70 m/min) or productivity (up to 800,000 square feet -75’000 sqm) per month with just one operator), all at the best TCO (total cost of ownership) in its category. Elements contributing to its excellent TCO include low initial investment, ongoing operational costs, quick set-up time and high productivity, allowing for higher profitability. 

The BOBST Mouvent LB701-UV was installed at Aptech Graphics in February 2020 with a CMYK configuration, and after a smooth and short set-up period, the company has been printing consistently with the machine since March, with output increasing month-on-month. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the company was able to easily pivot its output to industries experiencing exceptional demand (e.g. food, beverages, pharma). 

“Nowadays, after two years with the LB701-UV, Mader affirms: “It’s checking all the boxes that I had envisioned. The press has had an exceptional uptime which is very important from a digital standpoint, because it’s a sophisticated technology and has proven itself to be fairly low maintenance”.

As well as benefiting from the adaptability afforded by the BOBST self-developed Mouvent Technology, Aptech Graphics is also taking advantage of the option to simply upgrade the press with additional colors at any time. The company has recently upgraded the press with BOBST’s digital white ink and is now looking to add the two supplementary colors (orange and violet) as well. This will enlarge its capabilities and flexibility even further in terms of extended printing gamut and the variety of substrates that it can process, such as metalized and transparent label stock. 

The Bobst Group is pioneering a new printer category where customers experience all the benefits of digital production without any trade-offs. In a world where technologies are rapidly evolving, it is more important than ever for companies to constantly assess their partners and suppliers to remain competitive.

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.

www.bobst.com

Long-time Nilpeter print shop, Seneca Label, has installed a new Nilpeter FB-Line to increase speed, efficiency, and quality. The Cleveland-based prime and customer-facing label print shop has a key focus on high quality standards and quick response times, which the new FB-Line will help them further accomplish.

Solutions That Stick With You
Family-owned for three generations, Seneca Label has decades of label printing experience with companies of all sizes and industries throughout the United States. In that time, Seneca has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and expertise, which they share with customers, making sure that their labels look great and stick right.

“The core of our business is prime and customer-facing labeling, which can be found on product packaging in big-box stores across the USA. Second to our customer-facing labels, we print many pharmaceutical and chemical labels,” says Kyle Hoopingarner, VP, Seneca Label, Inc.

High Quality and Short Response Times
“We’ve been a Nilpeter print shop for years, and while still printing via equipment from other manufacturers, we liked Nilpeter’s quality, robustness, and parts availability the best,” Hoopingarner continues.

“Our quality was already a top-priority, and something we are locally known for. Speed and customer response time are what win us new business, and this press accomplished that. With the new FB-Line we can print more of the labels we currently print, but faster, more efficiently, and with better quality,” he adds.

“We’re not planning to add any additional new equipment at this moment, but we’ll definitely consider Nilpeter first, when we get there,” Kyle Hoopingarner concludes.

Sophisticated Workhorse
The FB-Line is a sophisticated workhorse offering high ease of operation and superior printing quality. Available in 13” and 16” widths, the FB-Line is the perfect choice for the flexible label printer. Innovative automation features can be added according to requirements and combined with value-added features such as lamination, cold foil, hot foil, gravure, and screen printing.

About Seneca Label
At Seneca Label, a Cleveland, Ohio-based label company, they go above and beyond to develop innovative printing processes to make their customers’ labeling concepts a reality. Seneca Label prides themselves on fearlessly tackling label printing jobs, that other printers won’t touch, and remedying problem situations caused by competitors, who cut corners.

www.nilpeter.com

Easton, PA – Tower Products, Inc., a leading manufacturer of environmentally sensitive pressroom chemistry for the printing industry has been awarded the 2022 Innovative Application of Technology Award from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The award will be presented at the iXchange Conference at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA on May 18, 2022.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners makes investments and funds innovation in established manufacturers and supports clients with in house experts and a network of proven business resources to help companies create and retain high paying, sustainable jobs by transforming technology into commercial success.

Tower Products was the recipient of four rounds of financing in the implementation of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This has allowed Tower Products to improve the manufacturing process and data information flow and reduce manufacturing costs. The new ERP System has also enhanced customer service and sales processes to better serve existing customers and attract new ones worldwide.

Rick Principato, CEO of Tower Products Inc., will accept the award on behalf of the entire Tower Products team which spent thousands of hours preparing, selecting and implementing the new ERP system.

www.towerproducts.com

Bean Station, TN – FILMtech Inc., an industry leader in metallized and barrier films, recently completed the installation of a new Titan Slitter ER610-DT in their 120,000 sq. ft. facility near Knoxville, Tennessee.

With the addition of this compact dual turret slitter, FILMtech can process web widths up to 65 inches and maximize productivity while increasing operator safety.

“This investment continues to support our narrow web customers growth and provides a more efficient use of space within our factory,” said FILMtech VP Operations Joey Barnard.

FILMtech, provides products and services for the flexible packaging and barrier industries including food and pet food packaging, construction, agricultural, aerospace, printing, labeling and industrial tapes markets. It is the exclusive North American licensee of CeramAlox® clear barrier products.

For additional information, visit www.filmtechinc.com.

Los Angeles, CA – Action Point, Inc (“Action” or “Action Packaging”) and Signature Flexible Packaging, Inc. (“Signature” and, together with Action, the “Company”), an H.I.G. Capital portfolio company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Techflex Packaging, LLC (“Techflex”).

Headquartered in Gardena, CA, Techflex provides pouch converting capabilities to short-run, high-SKU count customers, primarily serving the food and medical end markets. The combination will allow the Company to provide a full-service flexible packaging product set to further meet the needs of its combined customer base. The acquisition strengthens the Company’s ability to provide comprehensive flexible packaging solutions and services to its customer base throughout North America.

“We are thrilled to support this strategic investment,” said Ryan Kaplan, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital. “Techflex’s pouch converting capabilities represents a natural expansion of the Company’s existing capabilities on the West Coast.”

Burt Siegelman, Co-Owner of Techflex commented, “We look forward to the strategic alliance with Action and Signature. Techflex has been doing business with the Company for over two decades and it’s extremely exciting to finally bring our businesses together.”

Neil Kinney, Co-Owner of Techflex added, “The combined businesses will offer leading regional scale and a comprehensive product offering to our customers, while continuing to offer high quality packaging solutions.” 

In conjunction with the acquisition, the Company, including Techflex and Chromatic Labels, has rebranded as DazPak Flexible Packaging (“DazPak”), a newly integrated flexible packaging platform.

DazPak fills the growing need for flexible packaging in all forms. The benefits of flexible packaging are becoming more and more relevant as companies work to bring brands to market quickly, sustainably and more efficiently. Flexible high barrier packaging gives brands marketable graphics, while also reducing storage space requirements and freight costs over rigid packaging. DazPak represents the premier flexible packaging company on the West Coast through its combined capabilities, deep expertise, superior quality, and unmatched customer service.

“We created DazPak to take the friction out of the packaging process, making it easier and faster for our customers to get their product to market in high quality packaging. We’ve integrated the significant leadership, experience and talent from these companies, to bring our expertise in design, manufacturing, printing, and converting together under a single brand that delivers more value, service and choice to our customers,” said DazPak CEO, John Attayek.

About DazPak Flexible Packaging
DazPak is a flexible packaging company operating four facilities in Southern California that print and convert a full spectrum of flexible packaging solutions for the food & beverage, health & beauty, pet food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and agricultural markets. Products include printed laminated rollstock, stand-up zipper pouches, stick packs and sachets, shrink sleeves, pressure sensitive labels, unprinted rollstock, pouches, bags and more.

For more information visit: dazpak.com 

About Techflex Packaging, LLC
TechFlex is a leading pouch converter focused on customized pouch solutions sold into the food and medical end markets, serving customers throughout North America from its manufacturing facility in Gardena, California.

About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with over $47 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

1.    H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

2.    H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

3.    H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.

4.    H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion.

For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.