IML | decoration
Packaging innovation drives IML ahead
Packaging industry interest in IML is growing fast, driven by changing end user formats and developments in both processing and decorative technology. Chris Smith reports
Interest in IML (in-mould labelling) technology is growing fast. And while application of the technology is most developed in Europe, which also continues to be the predominant source of IML systems expertise, North America is catching up fast. “The US is not as well developed as Europe but it is relatively well developed compared to Asia - it is moving forward,” says Wolfgang Czizegg, CEO of German moulding automation specialist Waldorf-Technik. However, while IML is gaining traction in the North American market he says the rate of adoption is held back by the packaging preferences of end-users. “If you look at the packaging geometries in central
Europe you have a lot of non-round shaped packages. On the one hand, that is for transport savings but also for marketing reasons. In the US you still have many round shaped containers and that means offset printing because it is so much faster,” he explains. IML offers a higher decorative quality, but Czizegg says it simply cannot compete today on volume or cost with offset printing on round containers. IML, however, makes much more economic sense for non-rounds and Czizegg sees a visible trend in that direction in North America. “It really depends how much Walmart in the US presses for non-round packages for economical and logistical reasons. The more they press the more the Americans will turn to IML,” he says. Last year, Waldorf-Technik set up a partnership with German mouldmaker Roth Werkzeugbau under the name IML Xperts to deliver turnkey solutions for customers in markets less familiar with IML technology.
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The move recognises, says Czizegg, that different global markets require different levels of support. “We really have two different markets for IML. One is
the markets of developed countries like Germany, where customers have their own well trained technicians and feel comfortable to buy the moulds, automation and injection moulding machines separately and put them together in their own plants. But there are customers and regions where they are not so familiar with the technology and they prefer a complete manufacturing cell. They want to buy the most complicated parts - the automation and the mould - from one source,” he says.
Turnkey solutions Czizegg says Roth and Waldorf-Technik have worked together on IML projects for some three years but the IML Xperts partnership puts that relationship on a more formal basis. “The plan is for IML Xperts to become a separate company in the future but up till now it is a brand. One of the two companies takes the lead in a project, depending on who brings in the customer,” he says. The partners have already completed two turnkey projects for customers, including one for Germany- based IML packaging producer Weidenhammer. One area that IML Xperts aims to target is barrier
IML, where the partners claim to be the only supplier able to deliver a turnkey 3D full cover IML solution based around a standard automation system. ““What you have today is wraparound plus bottom and you still have a label gap in the foot area and the corner where the labels are not overlapped. You can physically see
June 2015 | INJECTION WORLD 21 Main image:
Pack or pouch? IPL’s Skinny-
Pack uses IML technology to
create a “rigid pouch” that cuts resin content by half (more on page 25)
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