Flexible Packaging
The latest industry trends in flexible packaging
By Sara Alexander, marketing and communication manager, flexible packaging, at Bobst.
F
lexible packaging is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Sustainability and improved agility – the latter achieved by a strong focus on increased automation and connectivity – are major requirements of today’s industry. This makes it increasingly difficult to look at its future in terms of separate processes. Plastics regulations and consumer awareness making sustainability a priority for brands and converters, have made it imperative to consider the production end- to-end by all industry players. They have also highlighted the needs and benefits relating to the modernisation of the production value chain.
Therefore, there is a greater demand for end-to-end solutions to optimise the production cycle. This can be achieved from the seamless integration of all processes and the connectivity between processes and equipment that will talk to each other throughout the production cycle. Increasingly advanced automation of production lines is required, on the one hand to make the converting company’s operation profitable with ever shorter run production, and on the other hand to ensure the quality and consistency of packaging – regardless of the skills of the operators.
This is another important factor to help the industry offset the trend of increasing shortage of experienced machine operators.
SUSTAINABILITY, EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY The sustainability factor has spurred the introduction of new substrates that require higher flexibility in the converters’ production halls and the capability of the equipment to handle them.
It has also spurred more innovation from consumable manufacturers in collaboration
with equipment manufacturers to develop products that do not impact machine performance and are more environmentally friendly.
For several years already Bobst has been promoting the development of a new generation of packaging substrates that meet the two main megatrends in the market: the push towards delayering and the move from non-recyclable mixed polymers to recyclable mono-material structures. The latest Bobst development is oneBARRIER, a family of new integrated recycle-ready barrier packaging structures developed with leading industry partners. Work is also in progress on developing paper/fiber-based structures with high barrier functionalities, as well as compostable, biodegradable and bio-based structures.
For its sustainability-oriented projects - from the improvement of equipment to the development of new processes and new recyclable solutions for flexible packaging, Bobst collaborates with key industry partners along the value chain.
In addition to the development of new substrates, more converters are adopting new processes, such as extended color gamut printing (ECG) and increasing the use of water- based inks in printing, as well as solventless and water-based adhesives in laminating. Bobst deploys its oneECG technology across analogue and digital printing processes in label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board industries. The process decreases waste and delivers brand owners’ the guarantee of color consistency and repeatability on a global scale.
One of the latest Bobst applications is in wide-web gravure printing, which by bringing renewed efficiency to the process makes
gravure more competitive also for short run production.
Again, in terms of bringing new dynamism to gravure printing, solutions have been developed with partners for water-based ink printing. This has resulted in new ink formulas with much lower VOC content than current market offering. A solution that has won Bobst the 2021 ERA award for press enhancement and optimised efficiency with water-based ink printing.
Another field of joint research relates to new formulation solventless barrier adhesives, as well as water-based adhesives. Both processes present criticalities in terms of being efficiently processed on coating and equipment. This is where industry collaboration is key so that the validity of the formulation can be tested in terms of substrate functionality and quality, along with the capability of the equipment to process them at speed and deliver on converters’ expectations and requirements. Most projects and reserach and development trials, each with its ecosystem partners, are taking place in Bobst Competence centers. There are six of them for flexible packaging and label technologies. They feature latest configuration equipment – including the only wide-web coating pilot line for production scale trials in the industry in Italy – fully equipped laboratories, pre-press rooms and equipment for personalised live streaming demonstrations, process specialists and expert operators.
The centres enable Bobst customers to assess a product technical operations and cost, thus completing the capability of Bobst to deliver a complete package to its flexible packaging printing and converting customers.
www.bobst.com
18
March 2022
www.convertermag.com
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