Flexo Technology
The incredible shrinking pack By Tom Kerchiss of RK Printcoat Instruments.
R
emember the film, ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’? A sci-fi black and white film that became a cult classic when released way back in 1957. Film critics of that era claimed that the story was one of existential anxiety and that the film could be regarded as a metaphor for the human condition, particularly in a modern industrial context. So, what piqued my interest and what in 2022 has this too do with printing and packaging converting?
To put the film in context, a scientist has a boat which he sales through an all-enveloping mist. Over time he becomes progressively smaller. Bearing in mind that relations with Russia then as now were difficult. The Hungarian Uprising of 1956 were dark days, and indeed they now are for the people of the Ukraine. All of which brings us back to the film itself. The Incredible Shrinking Man provides some interesting parallels, especially with regard to what appears to be happening with some food and beverage packs. Some packs are like the scientist on his boat - shrinking.
Manufacturers, brand owners, retailers and consumers are coming to terms with the new economic and environmental realities of the here and now. The rise in energy costs; off the scale in terms of what has been experienced before means that food and beverage producers, packaging technologists and others are looking at ways to keep costs manageable. For the package print and label converter the ability to react, adapt and adopt to new ways of working will assume even greater importance
Presumably the decision or at this stage at least the intention to reduce the size of the carton, or filmic pouch or make other changes is finance driven. Have the food contents become too expensive so the product must be packed in a smaller container with a lower food content to avoid processing or storage problems such as compression or sidewall collapse? Is it just one product line or a line within a specific food category? Will modifications need to be made at processing points such as filling jaws? Marketing managers, psychologists and focus group’s need to hunker down and give serious thought to whether reducing the size of the pack will harm the brand image long-term? It can take a lifetime to build the right image; one wrong decision can undermine everything that’s gone before.
Flexography is highly adaptable and is a master of the quick changeover. It offers quick changeover capabilities and is the print process of choice for printing flexible packaging, flexible laminates and various grades of paper and paperboard, One of the most recent development concepts is the hybrid press concept which pairs the inline print and decorative capabilities of flexo with established digital. By integrating the two processes in a single unit you have a dual-purpose machine with a small footprint. This will make it possible for printers to explore and experiment and open up the market for niche application electronic/automotive labelling. Flexo is making much more of automation and of reactive and remote press monitoring and control. The use of precision new generation servo-drives point the way forward towards the more precise setting of process tolerances including anilox pressure adjustments, plate sleeve pressure adjustment, etc.
Brand owners and marketers expect their business partners to become fully engaged from discussions that take place from point of entry to the completion of the print or converted project. Pre-press can function as a distinct process that lies between design and printing. Pre-press systems and equipment can be used
to determine process and product viability and address many operational concerns, for example, those associated with colour.
Pre-press colour communications devices can be used to produce accurate presentation sample that printers, designers, marketing personnel can evaluate and sign off on once everyone is in agreement. By doing so disappointment over results are avoided.
With so much riding on appearance RK Print Coat Instruments provide a wide range of colour communication or proofing devices that help printers and converters to meet colour targets and make the product look as inviting as possible. The FlexiProof family consisting of the original FlexiProof 100 and variants, FlexiProof UV and FlexiProof LED UV enables users that are involved with the flexo process, including ink and substrate producers to determine elements associated with printability such as gloss, durability, chemical resistance and rub resistance.
As the FlexiProof is essentially a scaled down but component critically exact version of a flexographic press it can be used for pilot runs, the processing of unfamiliar product materials, product monitoring and many R & D projects.
Xwww.rkprint.com
28
June 2022
www.convertermag.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
