All set for the off

16 November 2010



Offset’s track record for quality and flexibility has made it the favourite selection for carton print – so much so that spare capacity standing idle in the commercial sector may soon give packaging manufacturers a run for their money, reports Sam Cole.


The speed of the press and the consistently high reprographic result achieved has made offset litho the natural print partner to carton manufacture. Whilst alternative processes either might have superseded it in other application markets, namely flexo for narrow-web PSLs and flexible packaging solutions; or otherwise challenged its cost-effectiveness – for example, digital over shorter runs – it still remains as the benchmark standard against which they must always invite comparison.

“The quality that litho can obviously produce is difficult to surpass,” says Chesapeake Marketing & Communications Manager Bob Houghton. “We’ve looked at digital but it hasn’t yet rivalled offset litho for folding carton production. In fact, we also use it to print a whole series of different labels too: self-adhesive; wet applied, for example, as well as swing tags, patient information leaflets, and even some commercial print such as booklets and promotional items for sectors such as beverages.

“With modern presses you get very fast changeover, so you can print relatively short runs as well as larger volumes – sometimes going into millions of impressions for just one order that can run over two or three days on the press,” he says.

It is an extremely versatile process too, as evidenced by the 3D effects that Chesapeake’s East Kilbride site produced for the Bombay Sapphire carton: printed in seven colours plus a satin varnish, with reverse print on board to board laminate. “Bacardi wanted a pack that was eyecatching but reinforced the brand’s qualities,” notes Divisional Design and Development Director Janet Shipton.

“3D techniques have been used on packaging before but this takes the effect to a new level,” she says. “The results have to be seen to be believed; it’s very difficult to hold the gift pack without trying to push your finger into one of the bubbles or rub your hand across its surface.”

Pressing ahead

Speeds of up to 18,000 sheets/hour are the norm for current B1 offset presses, with a capability to handle substrate thicknesses from 4 – 1,000 micron. While each of the major manufacturers offers a particular spin on configuration and specification, the ability to switch time and cost efficiently between jobs is an overriding point of focus common to all.

Komori’s most recent addition to the Lithrone range, the SX40RP (reverse printer), will handle a larger sheet size of 750 x 1,050mm and its automatic plate changing system combined with patented software enables the printer to move from job to job in around five minutes – also reducing wastage to under 30 sheets in the process.

With three different settings between 0.04 – 1mm inbuilt to the cylinders on its Ultima range, manroland estimates changeover time to be within one minute on each of the press’s six stations. Mitsubishi’s solution to saving time through changing colours is to allow for wash-up to be done offline.

Arguably, most ambitious of all is KBA’s ‘flying job change’ technology, which enables plates on its Rapida 106 system to be changed while the press is still running – technically incurring no downtime at all across a varied 18,000 sheets/hour production run.

While offset printed cartonboard still lags behind flexo in achieving the full quota of special effects across a single run, the process is continuously finding new ways in which to compete more effectively – for example, a new inline foiling feature available on manroland’s Ultima system.

“This technology allows you to put the foil down on a sheet ant to print on top of that inline,” explains General Commercial Manager Andy Rowbotham. “On a 6-unit press you use a conventional plate and an adhesive ink on the first unit, with the foiler placed on the second unit and supported through the third where there’s a rewind. Thereafter, you foil in specific areas or the entire sheet if needs be and print CMYK on top.

“You no longer need to use metallised board; also an indexing function allows for up to a 30% saving of foil by automatically bridging the cylinder gap. While it may reduce the running speed to say, 12,000 sheets/hour, it’s still faster than competitive foiling solutions.”

At around £300,000, it equates to about 15 – 20% of the cost of an Ultima B1 system, but opens the door to special effects hitherto only achievable via secondary process.

An additional feature of all current manroland offset presses is that they’re ‘future proofed’ for retrofitted upgrades over a five-year period post-installation. “For example, our presses used to be sold with a standard clamping device that would take 10 minutes to change a blanket, or else a quick-change clamp (1 minute),” says Mr Rowbotham.

“If you had the conventional system, you’d have to take out the whole cylinder and that could cost up to £70,000. For customers changing the blanket once or twice a week, no need; but if you were doing it once or twice a shift, then quick-change makes sense. We’ve recognised that production procedures can alter post-purchase, so cylinders are now designed to take both systems.”

Offset in application

According to Bob Houghton, there are in excess of 75 offset presses in operation throughout the Group’s worldwide plants, of which over 50 are Heidelbergs including an 8-unit plus twin coaters XL 105 system installed in April at its Newcastle, UK, site serving the confectionery and premium foods markets.

“The XL 105 is one of the most advanced presses supplied to a UK packaging company,” says MD George Clarke. “The integral Autoplate XL simultaneous plate changing and logistics system facilitates non-stop supply of board to the feeder and the automatic removal of finished work from delivery. It has closed loop colour control with interface workflow between prepress and press. This, together with the Image Control spectral measurement device, ensures colour is adjusted throughout a run and from run-to-run. It’s also the first installation in the UK of our Inspection Control facility, which ensures high quality throughout the run as it automatically checks for any inconsistencies.”

Chesapeake has also invested in two further offset systems in the UK this year: a 6-colour Komori Lithrone S40 at Leicester; and a 6-colour KBA Rapida 106 in Greenford. The Rapida has also recently been installed at Catalent Pharma Solutions, and the Northern Ireland carton specialist MSO Cleland.

Meanwhile, Benson Box became the first European carton manufacturer to add the Lithrone SX40 to its Gateshead plant last November. Over and above what was a £1.9 million investment, which is expected to output in excess of 40 million sheets in its first 12 months of production, Benson Box has also undertaken a major upgrade of the six existing Komori systems on-site: all 6-colour with coater (one with double coater) to boost capacity by as much as 5 million sheets/year.

Market competition

With the degree of under-utilised capacity in the commercial sector, could packaging manufacturers find themselves facing unanticipated new competition in the carton market?

There is no reason why not, says Komori’s Marketing Consultant Philip Dunn. “Commercial printers are looking at packaging applications. Sometimes these come from the same clients for whom they’re supplying commercial print. Why farm it out when they’ve got the equipment and the colour management skills to deliver it?

“The machines are capable of small packaging jobs; they have been for a long time, so for a commercial printer it’s just a matter of adjusting his mind-set. OK, he’s not going to compete with the major players, but there is a demand for cartons and other packaging jobs on the heavier stocks up to 0.8mm that the Lithrone series machines can easily handle.

“Obviously, if it’s a more complex pack with many colours and special effects, then maybe commercial printers would be disinclined. But we see a tendency for some packaging to be slightly simpler than it was; in many cases, four of five colour packs are fine. Meanwhile, a 7-colour press with a double coater can do plenty; to get a house colour all you need is 4-colour process and a fifth unit.”

Mr Dunn also cites the £400,000 Enthrone - recently demonstrated at the IPEX show as being able to change over from 150g/m² paper to 0.45mm board without any need to adjust the pad bar height - as an ideal means for a jobbing commercial printer eyeing up the carton market.

Mitsubishi’s B1 V-3000 LX offset press would be well up to the challenge presented by carton printing, as the system can extend up to 14 units, including coaters and pre-coaters, and has a substrate capability of between 40 – 1,000 micron thicknesses.

Although 40% of its presses already go into the packaging sector, UK Sales Manager Gary Doman doubts that there’ll be an upsurge of commercial printers entering the market. “The challenge for anyone coming from a commercial base into say, cartons, and wanting to make it pay, is that they’re not invested in the finishing side; at the least in cut and crease machinery and a gluing line. They’re also going to need UV, the right mind-set – and in any case, how many printers these days send anything out to a trade finisher if they can help it?’

Parkers invests £2 million in Gallus partnership

Privately-owned packaging and label printer, Parkers, is moving ahead with the refurbishment of its Liverpool-based plant, enabling it to expand production in line with its steady growth despite the recession.

An important part of this refurbishment is a £2 million investment in two new Gallus EM 410S servo-driven hybrid printing presses, which will replace its current Nilpeters, boost production and help Parkers open up new markets. The first Gallus will be delivered in January 2011 and the second is scheduled for March.

“We have been a Nilpeter house for 25 years, so this was a major change for us and the decision was based on the willingness of Gallus to listen to our expansion plans and form a true partnership. Plus the presses are a fantastic piece of kit,” says Phil Hood, Sales Director at Parkers.

Parkers has three main areas of activity: printing self-adhesive labels, applying them to pots and bottles and also printing plastics and aluminium seal diaphragms. Despite enjoying over 30% growth in the past three years, the company faces ever shrinking margins due to the demands of the UK multiples. In order to continue its growth and prosperity, Parkers knew its production capability would have to be faster, more flexible and innovative.

“The EM 410 S presses are wide, and being the only true servo presses on the market, they effortlessly switch between a variety of substrates from board to 20 micron film,” says Eugene Roche, Business Development Director at Parkers.

The Gallus EM 410 S is based on a modular platform concept. The servo-driven hybrid printing units with front loading for print and anilox roller sleeves, combined with pre-setting functions, simplify working processes and ensure set-up and changeover times are kept to a minimum, making short and medium size runs more cost effective. The hybrid UV flexo printing (front and reverse) and rotary screen printing units combine with hotfoil stamping and coldfoil printing as well as finishing options which include varnishing and laminating. Processing options include rotary processing, length slitting and cross cutting as well as relief embossing.


Bombay Sapphire carton offset-printed by Chesapeake. Bombay Sapphire Green & Black’s ‘bagshaped’ carton printed up in six colours with a combination of matt and gloss finishes, by Chesapeake. Green & Black KBA Rapida 106 installed at MSO Cleland. KBA Cartons produced and printed by MSO Cleland. MSO Cleland Cartons printed on the manroland Ultima 700. Ultima Left to right: Phil Hood, Sales Director, Parkers; Neil Stephenson, Sales Executive, Gallus; Eugene Roche, Business Development Director, Parkers. Parkers

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Benson
Chesapeake
Heidelberg
KBA
Komori
Manroland
Mitsubishi

MSO Cleland MSO Cleland
Bombay Sapphire Bombay Sapphire
Green & Black Green & Black
Ultima Ultima
KBA KBA
Parkers Parkers


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