Film & Foil Window of opportunity
Tom Kerchiss, chairman, RK Print Coat Instruments, says brand owners, marketing teams, designers and other interested parties expect a lot from the people charged with making a package or label design look good
R
egularly the marketing gurus engage in magical acts; they endeavour to pull something a little more relevant than a white rabbit from the hat. Those unique selling points must be maintained and new ones promoted.
What goes on the pack and labelling needs to be concise and relevant: content information must be prominent and obvious.
Colour attracts builds brand recognition and once established must be carefully managed. Recyclability and sustainability of a pack, label and its component parts are of increasing concern. Some brand owners have had moments of clarity. Breakfast cereals such as muesli, sea foods, pizzas, pasta and deli meats are marketed appearing in a paperboard carton die cut with a clear panel that enables the shopper to see exactly what’s inside before they scan to go. Foods presented in ‘reveal’ packaging has its place: some foods look unappealing when the packaging film mists up when kept on the chiller shelf or in a supermarket freezer. Even breakfast cereal producers and designers need to tinker with presentation.
Inappropriate or rough handling at the filling stage and during transportation can play havoc with presentation. No one wants to buy a cereal when all the viewing window shows is a medley of fruit, seeds, oat and nut crumbs because of poor handling. Everything must be in pristine condition. Clear packaging or packaging with a clear window is not confined to food applications. Clear packaging is used in medical diagnostic applications and for point-of-delivery purposes. The breaking of sterile seals so that catheters can be used with minimal risk of infection is an example. Other examples include drug delivery bags, the metered saline drips and chemotherapy products. Clear window pack requirements differ widely, some applications such as pizza cartons displayed in chill cabinets require barrier resistance to oxygen and water vapour; some products require chemical resistance and microbial barriers. Achieving a good moisture barrier is relatively easy; a barrier to gases can be more difficult. Barriers
and gloss. Cellulose can also be made into cellulose acetate. This is manufactured by cellulose reacting with acetic anhydride. The formulae is precipitated in water, dried and dissolved in acetone prior to being cast as a film. Cellulose-based films such as cellophane has high transparency and gloss. In its uncoated form it is highly permeable to moisture but is highly resistant to bacteria, aroma and flavour contaminants. Heat resistant and anti-static cellophane has many benefits. Most cellulose- based films are coated, metallised or laminated. Coatings can be synthetic or bio-based. Material choices abound with resin and polymers and other components being developed to meet the most demanding of applications. However, the converter faces many processing and commercial challengers, so too do the formulators and other consumable suppliers. Procedures/technology needs to be in place that enables users to meet both commercial and product viability objectives.
are defined by a general measure of the amount of moisture or gases that the material lets through at a defined temperature and pressure for 24 hours. The standard measure is the oxygen transmission rate more commonly known by the acronym OTR, which is expressed in cubic centimetres at 200C for 1-micron thickness per metre squared, per 24 hours at atmospheric pressure and with relative humidity measured at 65% and 85%.
Polyethylene and polypropylene have little or next to nothing in the way of barrier resistance to oxygen; polyvinyl chloride has some resistance; EVOH, PVdC and certain other structures such as the clear cyclic olefin copolymers (COCs) and cyclic olefin polymers (COPs). Offer good clarity and barrier resistance.
There are many bio-based materials becoming available. One bio-based material that everyone will be familiar with is cellulose, a cell wall constituent of plants. Typically associated with paperboard, fibres are separated and are then processed using small amounts of natural and synthetic binders into cellulose film or cellophane. Cellulose-based films provide high transparency
The fact that manufacturing, including adhesive coating and printing and eco-manufacturing is so complex there is a need for pilot testing/product monitoring and product development systems, custom configurable to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.
Many coating lines are designed to operate within reasonable product/process limits. The window of opportunity may be limited when it comes to functioning efficiently delivering bespoke filmic/bio/filmic materials. Coater components, applicator technology and the coater itself may need evaluating in order to meet the processing requirements of newer and alternative materials being developed as a replacement for materials made from fossil fuels. The VCM may be a solution for those companies that require a bespoke pilot/production machine. Sturdily constructed and designed so that it can be modified in the future should processing requirements change, the VCM can be configured to select a wide range of selectable print, laminating and coating applicator technology. Hot air, infrared and UV curing are available.
16
September 2023
www.convertermag.com
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