Producers are expanding their presence and expertise

As ink producers are rethinking their strategies in order to conform to changing regulations and accommodate difficult customer applications, Converting Today investigates the current trends evident in the packaging sector.

The European packaging sector is being radically reshaped as packaging increasingly becomes a vital marketing tool for brand-owners and retailers, as well as a key source of consumer information - not only on the pack itself but also online.
Ink producers are adapting to the widening scope of packaging in the marketing of products by broadening their own role in the supply chain, particularly in the area of services.

As a result, they have positioned themselves as not just ink suppliers but as solution providers. This can mean extending their activities into areas requiring expertise well beyond those of ink chemistry. Others are building up a strong presence in niches.
While brand-owners and retail chains have been pressing their suppliers for lower prices, they are also demanding that their products have high levels of sustainability, for example by using lightweight and recyclable materials. They also want quality printing that produces eye-catching packaging.

Ink producers are working closely with printers and converters to help lower costs, improve colour management and encourage innovation. As a result, ink manufacturers are forming alliances with customers, which is not only beneficial for the development of new packaging products, but ensures their quality and competitiveness throughout their life cycle.

Rules and regulations
Many of these trends are driven by new regulations at national and EU level. Some of these are being supplemented by rules drawn up by trade associations and other non-government bodies.
Composting organisations now lay down strict limits on the types of packaging they accept. In many cases they effectively ban printed materials from their plants unless the inks are proven to be organic and biodegradable.
Regarding migration of potentially dangerous chemicals from packaging inks and coatings into the food contained within, the German government is close to finalising details of a national ordnance that will stipulate the types and amount of chemicals that can be used in food packaging.

Since the EU currently does not have any specific legislation on food packaging migration, the German regulation is likely to become effectively the EU standard.

The main focus of recent EU legislation has been consumer information on packs and packaging data to aid the traceability of products.

The Falsified Medicines Directive against counterfeiting of medicines will result in a pan-European IT infrastructure being set up to enable pharmacists to authenticate a drug when dispensing it by checking information from barcode scanners against data held in central databases.

The measure will not only radically alter printing processes in pharmaceuticals packaging but will reverberate across packaging in other sectors in Europe.

The changes will require major improvements in the quality of the inks used in the coding of drugs on the European market. The inks will have to have a higher resolution and, above all, much greater stability than at present.

The legislation will come fully into effect over the next two to three years. Pharmaceutical companies, converters and ink and other suppliers are being advised to become fully prepared for the new system over the next year in order to ensure compliance.

Labelling is not negligible
The EU's Food Information Regulation (FIR), which is considered the biggest legislative change on food labelling and packaging since the late 1980s, aims to impose more consistency in the general and nutritional labelling of food products. Its objective is to make sure that labels are legible, understandable and not misleading.

One of FIR's most far-reaching requirements is that sufficient space be allocated for obligatory information so that it is not given a minor position in small print. The regulation lays down minimum font sizes and other graphic rules.
In terms of space, priority cannot be given to "voluntary" information provided by the brand or private label owners. Even more importance will have to be attached to design, colour and other visual features.

"Every food brand-owner or 'own label' retailer will need access to specialists to help them understand what the new regulation means for them," said Phil Dalton, head of regulatory at Legal Impackt, a UK-based consulting service.

"For some, implementation will be a straightforward process," he added. "For others it will require a complete rethinking of label layout or even packaging design."

The new mandatory rules on information and traceability are providing a new impetus to the coding and marking segment of the packaging sector, which tends to have a large proportion of SMEs.

Combining capabilities
With inkjet and other digital processes predominating in the segment, expertise in printing equipment and processes is being combined with that in ink chemistry. Technological advances in portable or hand-held printers have offered the opportunity for the development of specialist inks for these devices.

At Interpack in Dusseldorf last year, coding and marking companies were emphasising their capabilities in R&D in ink.
"Innovative ink chemistry is at the core of our business and our aim is to design and manufacture inks for the most difficult customer applications," said Fam International, which also supplies inkjet printers and parts for coding and marking.

Among the larger ink producers, some offer consulting and other services that meet a broad range of needs. Often, they are so well established they have become a basis for a company strategy aimed at maintaining contact with customers on issues not solely related to ink development and application.

"We're noticing an increasing demand for consulting services in the mature and emerging markets," said Ralf Thuemler, global director for on-site consulting, in-house and colour services at Siegwerk. "Due to customer demand, Siegwerk is extending its consulting services worldwide."

The company's services business now covers on-site auditing and advice, support during application of new inks and printing machines, colour management, running of customers' ink rooms, and organisation of press-room workshops and training sessions.

improving productivity
Siegwerk's major expertise is in the optimising the printing processes.
"Our consulting team analyses and optimises the production processes, identifies possible savings and efficiency improvements, proposes actions and helps to implement them," said Thuemler. "The objective is to increase transparency in the customer's business and to improve productivity. "Our workshops with customer's employees aim to analyse and improve workflows in the ink room, pre-press, job setup and finishing to achieve higher efficiencies," he added.

Sun Chemical is already a one-stop supplier in many types of packaging inks and specialist coatings, such as barrier coatings. The company has now built up a large European-based business in packaging services through its Sun Branding Solutions (SBS), with headquarters in Bradford, UK.

Its history stretches back to the foundation of Gilchrist Brothers, a traditional graphics reproduction company in northern England, which became a leading brand management organisation and a pioneer of the integration of technology and systems to generate consistent graphics production processes. It was taken over by Sun Chemical nine years ago. Since that time, the operation has become a specialist in concept-to-consumer packaging solutions, with expertise in the entire process of launching packaging innovations and new concepts. Its current big project is to expand in the US, where it opened its first office in the country in California in 2013.

SBS has established a strong position in branding and graphic services for retail chains in the UK and Europe. Last year it reported it was involved in the launch of 35,000 products on behalf of retailers. Many of these were private label products, which have been
It also specialises in colour management. One of its biggest jobs in Europe has been helping H.J. Heinz Co, the UK subsidiary of the Pittsburgh, PA-based international food giant, to create a uniform blue on its Heinz Beanz brand.

The objective was to eliminate wide variations in the colour on paper, plastic film and other substrates, and between flexo, litho and gravure processes by using a system, developed by SBS and X-Rite Pantone, for using digital colour swatches instead of traditional physical colour ones for press-run approvals.

"The digital tools gave us unprecedented control and consistency from different print processes and materials," said Nigel Dickie, Heinz's corporate and government affairs director. "Across all our packaging formats, we saw a reduction in colour variance of 50% and saved time by establishing one colour target that can be applied to all our Heinz Beanz designs."
With the backing of the financial resources of its parent DIC Corporation, Sun Chemical has had the ability to make services acquisitions. This has enabled it to take full advantage of the need for advice and expertise by owners of national and international brands and retail private labels.