An ink for all films

15 June 2005



Multifunctional packaging inks have helped EBR put retailers first


Retailers and supermarkets such as Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury and Wal-Mart place tremendous pressure on their suppliers to keep costs down. This poses a great challenge to packaging converters in a market where rising raw material and energy prices are putting upward pressure on costs. How do printers keep costs down for their own customers without compromising on quality?

"That is the great conundrum of printing life," says Norman Jackson, operations director of Sunderland, UK, based EBR. Having worked in the industry for over 25 years he spends the better part of his working day ensuring that the £18M flexo company's customers receive the highest quality at the lowest possible cost.

Recently he turned to ink supplier Flint-Schmidt to help him out. Last summer, Flint-Schmidt introduced Astrathane MF inks, a nitrocellulose based, multifunctional liquid packaging system, to European flexographic and gravure printers. The ink is claimed to offer all the production and performance benefits of top quality conventional inks with a significant added value: they print on virtually any film.

"We print and convert a wide range of substrates in many combinations and our average print runs have reduced significantly in the past few years. That creates a great need to streamline production to keep costs down. For some time we've been searching for a universal ink system that we could run on all these films," adds Jackson. "We tried, unsuccessfully, to work with other ink suppliers who claimed they had universal systems. Flint-Schmidt's Astrathane MF system, however, has far exceeded our expectations."

EBR has been a strictly flexographic shop since it was founded in 1978. 138 employees operate out of the 90,000ft2 facility, which runs 24-7 and prints about 182M linear metres of packaging a year. EBR offers printing, laminating and finishing services to customers that include some of Britain's largest food manufacturers, such as Northern Foods and United Biscuits.

Equipment comprises two six colour and four eight colour presses, including, most recently, an eight colour Flexotecnica machine. Two solventless adhesive laminator/coaters, high speed slitter rewinders and specialized bag machines complete the armoury.

Such a diversity of equipment enables EBR to convert an array of films, including PVC, PS, PA, PE and cellulose. To help meet customer need for innovative packaging designs, the company also offers more demanding substrate combinations using metallized films, specialized papers and holographic films.

"Over the years we've added to our capabilities in order to provide our customers with options and innovations," explains Jackson. "We're offering our clients creative, powerful designs using a number of different films to help their products really stand out on the shelf to consumers."

Indeed, EBR was the first flexo printer to introduce the strip laminate, an innovation being used by a major bread baker. EBR combined a delicate 21g/m2 paper with its traditional OPP to create packaging that evokes freshness. This packaging design features a clear see-through window enabling consumers to see fresh product inside.

Flint-Schmidt approached EBR to begin testing its Astrathane MF ink in spring, 2004. The new multifunctional ink is said to provide optimum bond strength and low solvent retention, while achieving superior print quality. Unlike typical lamination systems, these inks are claimed to create high gloss, high colour printed images on a wide variety of lamination films and surface printed applications.

"I figured if we could print all of our offered substrates with one ink system, without compromising the quality of our printed products, we'd have hit the Holy Grail of ink buying," Jackson says. "Having previously worked with Flint-Schmidt, I felt very comfortable trying the Astrathane system. We knew their personnel and had trust in their technical people and products."

To ensure a smooth transition to the new inks, the supplier implemented a wide ranging trial process. Flint-Schmidt graphic technicians conducted an audit of EBR's operations, then worked closely with pressroom staff for nine months, testing the inks on all of the substrates, including those deemed "worst-case scenarios" (most challenging to print), and on its various laminating processes.

Flint-Schmidt also upped the colour strength of the inks. "Our customers have come to expect gravure quality print from our company. In the food industry, the images of food products on the packaging must look fresh and inviting, and they have to stand up to the exigencies of the laminating process," says Jackson. "Flint-Schmidt worked closely with us to ensure the colour strength of their inks gave us the durable, vivid and sharp colours our customers demand."

In the end, the benefit of using the system has gone well beyond the excellent print quality, runnability and adhesion of the inks. Because the ink is being used for all of EBR's printing needs, the company has calculated tremendous savings, in terms of reduced ink waste and ink storage, and, most important, pressroom efficiencies. The results speak for themselves.

Nine months ago the company stored eight different ink systems, each blended on-site with the appropriate technical varnishes in order to achieve desired performance properties and colour match for each print run. (It is standard in the industry that about 20 per cent of ink used in any given print run goes to waste. Printers store the residual ink in the hopes that it can be re-worked into inks for additional print runs.)

Today, EBR prints almost exclusively with Astrathane inks. Because it is a finished system, it requires blending only for proper colour match, not performance requirements. Since residual ink can be stored and reworked into new inks for any print run, the company expects to reduce waste ink significantly - at a saving of about £2,500/t. Stored ink is anticipated to shrink by two-thirds over the next 18 months, down from 20t to seven tonnes of ink.

At EBR, press runs can range anywhere from 1,000 - 750,000m. Shorter press runs mean more set-ups and increased room for inefficiencies, which, in addition to large stockpiles of ink, can add significant operational costs to the business. "Set-ups are also easier now, because the inks are compatible. We've been able to realise tremendous gains in overall performance due to reduced time for set-up and reworks," adds Jackson.

The company expects the trend toward shorter, more complex print runs in flexible packaging to continue. As brand owners bring more new products to test market, and even seek to offer regional packaging, retailers will continue to demand that these products remain affordable to their customers. n

Contact

Flint-Schmidt Tel: +49 221 350910




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