Sappi's Fusion premium white topliner and TRESU Flexo Concept workflow provide quality and efficiency advantages for corrugated packaging

This Autumn, TRESU Group demonstrated the productivity, speed and efficiency of its Flexo Concept press for corrugated packaging, when it collaborated with Sappi to promote the ultra-white and strength properties of the speciality paper manufacturer's Fusion topliner.

Designed specifically for use with and on corrugated board, Sappi Fusion is an ultra-white virgin fibre topliner, for bag-in-box and gift-box packaging applications. Fusion features an extremely bright white and flat surface after lamination. Prints and all types of print finishing are reproduced with an unprecedented level of quality and brilliance. Fusion consists of primary fibres, providing further advantages in addition to whiteness and glue savings. With precise folds and no discernible breaks, homogeneous packaging and displays can readily be constructed. In addition, Fusion is fully ISEGA-certified for direct contact with food. Fusion's industry-leading ISO whiteness values of up to 125 make it ideal for food, beverage and cosmetics applications.

To demonstrate these benefits, TRESU Group and Swedish converter FrontPac worked together to respectively print and produce samples of three-layered gift boxes featuring Sappi's 180gsm high-white Fusion topliner. The topliner was printed at TRESU's Technology Centre in Kolding, Denmark, using five colours plus UV spot-varnish, then cut into sheets inline on TRESU's Flexo Concept press. Running at speeds of 400m/min, the press maintained precise register while achieving 175lpi with minimal calibration or waste.

The sheets were then delivered to the Malmö (Sweden)-based printing house FrontPac, where they were litho-laminated on to a 110gsm E-flute liner and a 180gsm inner board and converted into gift boxes. Wiebke Perrey, marketing communication specialist at Sappi, comments, "With their proven expertise in high-performance presses for folding cartons, TRESU was the natural partner in our mission to demonstrate Fusion's aesthetic benefits and potential for supply chain savings. The TRESU Flexo Concept press exploits Fusion's printability to the full. The result is a pristine corrugated package presentation with flexographic quality that is indistinguishable from offset, and produced in a simplified workflow."

TRESU's Flexo Concept is a high-speed flexo press for web applications between 900 and 1400mm in width with a wide range of complementary print and converting processes according to customer needs. These can include cold-foil, laminating, embossing, rotogravure and rotary sheeting. Configured as either a roll-to-roll or roll-to-sheet press, the Concept provides a high performance single-pass solution for a host of high end packaging applications.

Allan Sander, vice-president, TRESU Solutions, states, "Our collaboration with Sappi has enabled us to demonstrate the Flexo Concept's versatility as a web-fed single-pass inline solution for many high-end board converting applications. We are delighted with the outcome of this project and are excited to be sharing it with attendees at FachPack 2015."

Each of the Concept's flexo stations comes with TRESU's sealed chamber doctor blade systems that ensure direct, uncontaminated and pressure controlled ink transfer, resulting in optimised drying efficiency, uniform ink deposits and higher gloss values. Setup times are reduced thanks to long-life doctor blades that are exchangeable in one minute. Martin Enocson, managing director, FrontPac, comments: "Fusion has generated strong demand from our customers in such diverse markets as bag-in-box beverages, luxury goods, cosmetics and automotive parts. It brings stunning looks on the shelf and runs smoothly on the filling line. We're excited by this collaboration as it gives us the chance to show this paper's potential for strong branding and reduced system costs."

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