Packaging Europe Issue 12.5 by packagingeurope

VOLUME 12.5 – 2017

CROSS-FERTILISATION:

DUPONT ON THE EVE OF MERGER RETAIL FORMATS ON-THE-GO CONSUMPTION TRACEABILITY

LAMINATED WITH COSMO FILMS’S VELVET THERMAL LAMINATION FILM

BIOPLASTICS

VOLUME 12.5 – 2017

CONTENTS 3 4 8 12 16 18 20 26 32 36 41 46 48 50 50 52 54 58 60

Editorial Tim Sykes DuPont The power of cross fertilisation Alvey Group Masters in automation services New retail formats Retail in Flux Preview FEFCO Technical Seminar Plastique Plastique offer global supply following TEQ investment Print Digital vs analogue On the go Innovations to feed the trend Tracability Two perspectives Labelling Scanning latest developments Interview European Bioplastics Events Fakuma 2017 raring to go Smart packaging Looking ahead to the AIPIA Congress Compamed Preview Events Empack Madrid Gulfood Manufacturing Automation takes center stage at Gulfood Manufacturing Blow Moulding Looking back at 2017’s key event Sonoco Display and Packaging Sonoco delivers scalable retail customization with Barberán Digital Press CPhI Worldwide The world of pharma returns to Frankfurt

62 64 65 68 71 74 76 78

Industry profiles ProPhotonix ProPhotonix solidifies its status in the printing industry Sarten Ambalaj Sarten shines with high quality, fast and economic service AW Masterbatch Masters MagneMotion, Rockwell Automation Smart motion systems: Simpler is better Tubettificio Favia Aluminium specialists: Leading the way in design and quality Steadfast Machinery Making the case for used equipment Nissei ASB Machine One-Step to premium cosmetic containers W Müller Extrusion blow molding: Everything under control

Packaging Europe | 1 |

ADVERTISERS INDEX A ACG Alvey Group AW

35 11 67

P PakTech Plastique ProAmpac Pro Photonix

31 19 43 63

B Barberán Bericap Beverage Packaging

59 31 58

R Repsol Robatech RPC Group

47 57 29

C Cosmo Films CPhI Worldwide

63 61

D DS Smith

S Sarten Ambalaj Sealed Air Smurfit Kappa Squid Ink Steadfast Machinery Sulzer Mixpac Ltd Systech

E Ecolean EFI Euromac Slitters European Bioplastics Exxon Mobil

27 21 33 43 Outside back cover

F Ferro G GEA Gebo Cermex

33 5

I ILLIG Maschinenbau

M Mitsubishi Electric Europe

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T TSC Auto

U Uflex

V Videojet

H Heat and Control

N Netstal

53, 64 55 14 23 37 61 Inside front cover

W W Müller

Inside back cover

Tim Sykes

EDITOR Editor Tim Sykes

Senior Account Managers

News Editor

Kevin Gambrill Jesse Roberts

Elisabeth Skoda

Journalist

Account Managers

Libby White

Dominic Kurkowski Colin Osbaldstone

Art Director

Administration

Gareth Harrey

Amber Dawson

Art Editor

IT Support

Paul Holden-Abbott

Andrew Wood Levi Gant Syed Hassan

Production Manager Kayleigh Harvey

Packaging Europe Ltd Part of the Rapid News Communications Group Alkmaar House, Alkmaar Way, Norwich, Norfolk, NR6 6BF, UK Registered Office: Carlton House, Sandpiper Way, Chester Business Park, Chester, CH4 9QE. Company No: 10531302. Registered in England. VAT Registration No. GB 265 4148 96 Telephone: +44 (0)1603 414444 Editorial: editor@packagingeurope.com Studio: production@packagingeurope.com Advertising: jr@packagingeurope.com, kg@packagingeurope.com Website: www.packagingeurope.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/PackagingEurope Twitter: www.twitter.com/PackagingEurope

ast month Dow and DuPont came together in one of the largest mergers in global corporate history. Shortly before the deal went through I visited DuPont in Geneva, interested in comparing its approach to innovation and collaboration across the packaging value chain with that of its future partner. What I found was a similarly imaginative corporate culture that takes a wide and strategic view of the marketplace, but also one that is driven by a particularly DuPontian technological cross-fertilisation and which chooses its market interventions with care. Read the inside story overleaf. In this edition of Packaging Europe magazine we also look at the increasing diversification of the offline retail scene, with smaller formats and cost cutters still growing in market share, and the challenges this brings about for packaging, and especially for secondary packaging cartons. Elisabeth Skoda explores the growing on-the-go consumption trend and the pack innovations that are feeding it. We also scan through the latest developments in labelling, and in digital / analogue print technologies. Packaging Europe has been wearing out multiple pairs of shoes at the countless exhibitions and conferences taking place this autumn. We’ve already had magazines on the shelves and boots on the ground at drinktec, Labelexpo Europe, PPMA and Interplas, and in the coming weeks Packaging Europe will also be present at Empack Stockholm and Madrid, the FEFCO Technical Seminar in Vienna, and the AIPIA Congress in Amsterdam. We preview all of these events in the coming pages. In addition, we preview the autumn’s big pharma happenings, COMPAMED and CPhI, along with insights into traceability from InfinityQS’s Jason Chester and Kezzler’s Thomas Körmendi. Finally, ahead of Berlin’s European Bioplastics conference I talk to Kristy-Barbara Lange about the landscape in renewable polymers and what to expect at this year’s forum. We’re planning to travel to all the events where the key conversations and disruptive product launches take place over the coming year, reflecting our commitment to join the dots in packaging technology. For a glimpse of our big plans for 2018 email our team to request our new media pack.

Tim Sykes ts@packagingeurope.com @PackEuropeTim

Packaging Europe | 3 |

THE POWER OF

CROSS FERTILISATION ©DuPont

On 31st August 2017 Dow and DuPont came together in one of the largest mergers in corporate history. On the eve of the transaction, Tim Sykes visited DuPont in Geneva to profile one half of the new power couple looming over the packaging value chain.

©DuPont

Bernard Rioux, EMEA strategic marketing manager and global packaging marketing leader

Chris McArdle, regional business director, Packaging & Industrial Polymers

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uPont’s European Technical Center and Geneva Innovation Center are co-located in Meyrin – 220 km along the Swiss Alps from Dow’s analogous base in Horgen. The facility combines fundamental research and product development, where a portion of DuPont’s annual $1.6 billion R&D budget is spent, under the same roof as a collaboration space to which partners are invited to come and discuss the requirements of the value chain and where training is provided to customers and brand owners. Part of a global network of Technical Centers and one of ten international Innovation Centers, Meyrin is a major hub for polymer formulation, compounding, converting and testing.

Collaboration isn’t just external At first glance the Geneva Innovation Center has the eclectic appearance of a museum of curiosities: exquisite perfume bottle caps and a stab-proof vest; packaging film and golf balls. The displays reflect and emphasise the breadth of markets served by the Performance Materials division – and everyone at DuPont seems conscious of the asset that this scope represents. “Collaboration is an internal as well as external process at DuPont,” observes Bernard Rioux, EMEA strategic marketing manager and global packaging marketing leader. “When we bring packaging people to Meyrin we like them to see what else we can do with our polymers. Sometimes this stimulates people to think outside the box.” Internally, products for packaging have benefited from cross-fertilisation of knowledge across the DuPont business. For instance, use of amorphous polyamide for improved oxygen barrier borrowed from work in an industrial automotive application. The Nutrition and Health business unit has lent its expertise in bacterial processes to inform R&D in meat packaging, while its insights into the preservation of vitamins fed into the development of the celebrated dual compartment pouch which starred in the Virtuous Circle project. Speaking of which, the compatibilisers used in recycling these multilayer film pouches were developed for the Engineered Polymers business in order to modify engineered plastics. Meanwhile, the external dimension of collaboration has been occupying DuPont for some time. “We’ve been striving to collaborate with the value chain for a while and we’ve learnt a lot of lessons along the way,” reveals Chris McArdle, regional business director, Packaging & Industrial Polymers. “Around ten years ago we started approaching brand owners to talk about their products. To be honest, this approach didn’t really resonate with them. So we began positioning ourselves as their packaging solutions provider, inviting them to ‘tell us your problems’. This led to lots of good discussions but in many cases we weren’t equipped to meet their demands. Since then we have refined our approach. We don’t attempt to solve every problem. Instead we present solutions where we have them. Having undergone this learning process, we can speak the brand owners’ language and we talk to them about solutions that we know we can provide via our customers.” According to Bernard Rioux, access to brand owners has made an important difference in how DuPont engages with the packaging market – though it’s a journey that required a degree of delicacy. “At first we had to walk on egg shells vis-à-vis our customers,” he says. “Converters aren’t always happy at the idea of us talking directly to their clients! However,

I believe we have gradually won them over by demonstrating that we can educate brand owners about market opportunities for them to differentiate, with the benefits of added value shared by the converters.” Collaborations across the value chain have access not only to DuPont’s chemistry, but to converting and laboratory facilities comparable in scale to Dow’s at Horgen. The production floor boasts, among other equipment, an extrusion coating line kept busy both for internal R&D and to prototype new ideas arising in collaboration with customers and brand owners. In addition, on the day of the visit a five-layer blown film line was being used to carry out a series of tests on sealants. One of the benefits of collaboration is that a big player at the start of the value chain operates on a scale at which it can carry out testing and prototyping for customers – without disruption to their production schedules. Around the corner from the converting machinery, the labs at Meyrin are engaged in testing stiffness, sealing performance, moisture, perforation resistance. Being wedged between France, Italy and Germany – three world leaders in cosmetics – it’s perhaps inevitable that Switzerland has also become DuPont’s global hub for this market. As such, Meyrin accommodates blow moulding and hot stamping facilities, and frequently hosts discussions with the brand owners’ leading designers to realise and occasionally lead their creative imagination. The perfume or cosmetics cap is an area where DuPont™Surlyn® comes into its own. As Chris McArdle says, “in the luxury end of the cosmetics market, Surlyn® has become almost synonymous with the clear plastic cap.” There has been a lot of recent innovation in the creation new effects, including the fruits of a collaboration with hot stamping specialist Kurz. Meanwhile, Surlyn® offers a full palette of grades for a variety of cosmetics applications, with a new series set to be launched at Luxe Pack Monaco, including PC3000 offering better optics and PC500 for improved productivity.

fundamentally incorporated into our business and informing everything we do. Many metrics exist to gauge sustainability – food waste, energy consumption, materials use, etc. The objective is to optimise performance in these criteria while simultaneously reducing costs. Sometimes there’s a dichotomy set up between wasting food or saving food by having more packaging. However, the aim has to be to reduce both food waste and packaging waste. Or to reduce weight without reducing stiffness.” Once again, Surlyn® – not a new polymer in itself – has come to the fore in the development of new multilayer structures delivering the downgauging combined with performance key to much of the sustainability agenda. For instance, a new film consists of outer layers of Surlyn® and PA (providing stiffness) and sandwiching Nucrel-LDPE-Nucrel inner layers. The Protect+ pouch produced by Huhtamaki has delivered weight reduction while also reducing the sealing time, converting at lower temperature and at the same time actually increasing perforation resistance. Another downgauging technology has been coex biorientation, which can achieve more than 50 per cent weight reduction thanks to Triple Bubble® technology developed by Kuhne Anlagenbau GmbH: co-extrusion, bi-orientation and annealing combined with innovative products from DuPont assuring interlayer adhesion, shrinking and sealing. The result is a biaxially oriented multilayer structure suited to both shrink and stable films. “This offers packaging users the opportunity, for example, to redesign laminates for easier recycling,” explains R&D fellow Karlheinz Hausmann. “In the case of coffee packaging a 67 per cent weight reduction was achieved in relation to the conventional laminated structure previously used, accompanied by lower carbon emissions and simplification in manufacturing processes. As for food waste, DuPont sees a clear environmental and cost incentive for brands to invest in packaging that protects and preserves more effectively. According to a 2015 Denkstatt study of Austrian retailers, 1000 times more CO2 can be spent producing food than protecting it and carbon-intensive meat can cost every year to European retailers up to €35 million in waste. DuPont is bringing to market possible solutions in the form of vacuum skin packaging, extending shelf life by up to five times,

Sustainability + Questioned on the key drivers of innovation, everyone at Meyrin puts sustainability at the top of the list. However, it’s rarely sustainability on its own. A recurring theme of the discussions is the need to make packaging solutions more sustainable while ticking additional boxes. As Sarah Perreard (global packaging sustainability value chain leader) puts it, “Sustainability isn’t just a trend, but is ever-present in the background, | 6 | Packaging Europe

©DuPont

Sarah Perreard, global packaging sustainability value chain leader

Karlheinz Hausmann, R&D fellow

and barrier shrink bags, which extend the life of the product by 35 days at the same time as being ten times lighter than alternatives. Finally, as chronicled by Packaging Europe earlier this year, the other element of DuPont’s environmental focus, and a key differentiator within the multilayer film market, has been on the challenge of recycling complex films. DuPont has been pioneering the use of compatibilisers to effect recycling of heterogeneous plastic waste (another technology indebted to internal synergies: the Fusabond® compatibilisers used in recycling being exactly the same as those in industrial applications). The widely publicised Virtuous Circle initiative has pointed the way to commercially viable recycling. “Following our introduction of the programme at interpack we have had numerous requests from brand owners, recyclers and NGOs to work on pilot scheme extensions,” Sarah Perreard reveals. “We have big developments of the project in the pipeline – with a focus on housing materials.” “It has been received wisdom for a long time that PP and PE are incompatible in the waste stream. We’ve made it possible to combine them,” says Bernard Rioux. “People listen to us thanks to this project, because we have concrete examples. Having real data from field tests gives us credibility.” With regard to future R&D, sustainability will continue to loom over DuPont’s activities. Sarah Perreard reveals that initiatives addressing the problem of marine waste are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, Chris McArdle foresees continued attention to those typical packaging dichotomies where DuPont can perhaps neutralise the trade-off. “For example, I think there will be a focus on the tension between convenience and sustainability in food packaging. Smaller pack sizes and on-the-go demands are not always good for recycling. How do you tie the two together? The market can expect more work on this.”

“Surlyn® is back!” As suggested above, packaging innovation at DuPont has a focus on tactical interventions in specific areas where a difference can be made. “From a chemical point of view, most of the products we’re dealing with are a few years old,” remarks Bernard Rioux. “So we can say that the market drives R&D more than pure science. We’re analysing where the demands are. Where are the opportunities? What are the sweet spots?” One of the consequences of this strategy has been a revitalisation of Surlyn® over the past five years. “We did our homework and identified the right market applications, in particular noticing how the specific properties of Surlyn® answered the growing emphasis on downgauging,” Bernard Rioux continues. “Surlyn® is back!” “Surlyn® never went away and has always done well,” Chris McArdle adds. “However, growth in packaging slowed a bit as new applications emerged. The new emphasis on sustainability, downgauging and food waste have driven new growth – along with the surge in innovation in the cosmetics market.” Surlyn® is used across so many market applications – its lightweighting ‘honeycomb’ property providing exterior stiffness in everything from packaging films to shoes to golf balls – that it could be viewed as the perfect symbol of DuPont’s habit of cross-fertilisation. Strolling out of the Technical Center in Meyrin (upon floors coated, inevitably enough, with Surlyn®), I reflect that there are a lot of similarities in the philosophies and the corporate cultures of DuPont in Meyrin and Dow in Horgen. As the merged businesses begin to explore the points of synergy we can expect to see a new level of cross-fertilisation. Packaging Europe | 7 |

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

MASTERS IN AUTOMATION SERVICES Renaud Vanrysselberghe, Director Services, Alvey Group, explains how the company prides itself on the support and services it provides for its customers.

ore than 50 years ago Alvey began to build its knowledge in the world of palletizing and logistic processes. Nowadays Alvey is an established name on the market and a reliable partner to help you realize your new projects. But, is that enough? How would you feel if you have the best car on the market but no service point, you don’t know how to get your spare parts, and you have nobody to ask for advice?

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The goal of the Services department of Alvey is to keep you comfortable and let you focus on the management of your production lines without worrying about the working of the logistic and palletizing installation. Don’t worry! At Alvey, we take care of your installation! The Alvey’s Services Team is composed of 40 highly trained and experienced staff (technicians, sales engineers, controls engineers,

Renaud Vanrysselberghe, Director Services, Alvey Group

Packaging Europe | 9 |

administrative collaborators) based in our multiple locations in Europe (Belgium, France, United Kingdom and Czech Republic). This team has one goal: to support you – 24 hours a day, all year round – to keep your production equipment running properly and to help you in case of problems. We make this possible thanks to our Hotline system. Research has shown that preventive maintenance – as opposed to reactive maintenance – is the best way to reduce overall costs. Preventive maintenance carries inherently a lower cost in itself, but it also reduces or prevents costly unscheduled downtime of your production. The Alvey team can advise you on preventive maintenance through inspections, or carry it out on your behalf. The world is constantly changing and improving. Whilst Alvey installations may run during decades, your business is very likely to change during this period and so does the industry. Thus, we can upgrade your installation with new PLC software versions, better and more userfriendly touch panels, adapt sensitive parts of installation to current safety norms, improve speeds, make adaptions to the layout or move parts or whole installations to a new location. The Alvey service team does not work in isolation. For us, it is of utmost importance to understand your needs and we need your valuable experience with the installation. We can only achieve this by listening to you, our customer. | 10 | Packaging Europe

In addition, the Service team works closely with the engineering departments of Alvey, ensuring that what we do for you is state of the art. Last but not least, we work very closely with our suppliers. Alvey participates frequently in major Trade Exhibitions. You’re obviously very welcome to visit us there. In addition, our facilities in Deerlijk (Belgium) and Podivín (Czech Republic) are always open for you. Just give us a call and we’ll show you around. Visit: www.alvey.eu

Exhibition Dates PPMA

Europack Euromanut

Date: September 26 - 28, 2017 Location: Birmingham, UK Stand: H50

Date: November 21.-23. 2017 Location: Lyon, France Stand: Hall 6, Stand E16-F15

Empack

Logistica

Date: October 11.–12. 2017 Location: Mechelen, Belgium Stand: B050

Date: November 28.-30. 2017 Location: Utrecht, Netherlands Stand: 04.B089

RETAIL FORMATS

RETAIL IN FLUX

We’re undergoing a transformation of where and how consumers doing their shopping, with the greatest variety in physical store formats in a generation under the shadow of the unrelenting rise of e-commerce. Tim Sykes looks at the demands these shifting patterns are placing on packaging.

he last few years have seen a proliferation of store formats across Europe. There was significant growth in low cost supermarkets in the aftermath of global recession, while the old trend towards out-of-town hypermarkets has reversed. “There has been major investment in the small shop convenience market since the 1990s, especially by the leading grocery retailers,” Ben Mitchell, research fellow at The Retail Institute, told Packaging Europe. “The grocery convenience market has grown significantly and is now more than one fifth of the total grocery market. This growth is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. A significant proportion of convenience stores are also very small and provide an essential service in locations where they are the sole provider of essential groceries.” Substantial growth in online ordering for home delivery of groceries has accentuated this trend, opening up a market for ‘top up’ purchases in between the weekly shop. Meanwhile the discounter trend also has the effect of providing groceries on a smaller scale. “Discounters offer around 1500 SKUs, rather than the tens of thousands offered by the larger supermarkets,” continued Ben Mitchell. This can be a very

“The trend toward smaller convenience shops has continued throughout Europe – certainly across the French, Dutch, German and UK markets. E-commerce has also played a significant role in changing consumer behaviour.” (Neil Osment, managing director of NOA-PRISM) | 12 | Packaging Europe

successful model as the discounters have been enjoying an increasing market share. Taken together, these two trends mean that customers are increasingly enjoying smaller shops with less time-consuming choice.”

Packaging impacts Many of the immediate effects of these trends on packaging can be observed in the secondary and tertiary formats that deliver SKUs into stores with an increasingly diverse profile. “A retail channel specific approach will become the way of business as we move forward,” predicted Neil Osment, managing director of NOA-PRISM. “Hypermarkets are jostling with Limited List Discounters, Convenience Stores and the Internet. In turn, standard shelf ready packaging (SRP) are jostling with High Sided Displays, SFSRPs (single-facing shelf ready packaging) and LCDPs (low cost distribution packaging), with no single clear winner. As a result, the brand owners are feeling the squeeze and are having to undertake different packing solutions for each different retail channel. In many instances brand owners are solving this demand by ‘off-line’ repacking of

Neil Osment, managing director of NOA-PRISM

Ben Mitchell, research fellow at The Retail Institute

RETAIL FORMATS product for their different retail customers (particularly the Limited List Discounters, who require several SKUs in the same corrugated case).” Taking these phenomena, together with retail shifts toward smaller stores, lower volumes and more targeted promotions, are we believe that SRP may have peaked? “Shelf-ready packaging is doing well but levels have slightly dropped in traditional formats,” Neil Osment commented. “A lot of this gap has been filled by the emergence of SFSRP. Our research indicates that over the next five years we’re set to see a lot of development in the SFSRP market, with increasing use of decoration, perhaps using litho, as well as greater use of smaller flute profiles.” Ben Mitchell added: “Logically, it may the case that SRP is peaking, as SRPs may not fit into the tighter shelves of smaller stores. However, well designed SRPs which offer supply chain advantages – such as fitting more on a pallet and protecting the stock while still being presentable in stores could still have a role.” As for larger SRPs, Neil Osment points out that they are often decanted before they reach the shelves. “In the context of the growing variety of retail store formats, there’s the likelihood that some of these SRPs will be displaced by distribution packs,” he said. “Significant growth potential in what we’ve termed ‘low-cost distribution packs’ is further boosted by e-commerce. There’s going to be a bit of a feeding frenzy in packaging design, with lots of work around opening and resealing functionality (for consumer returns).”

With regard to primary packaging, a decisive factor in current trends could be the increased intensity of competition in what is already a highly competitive market, according to Ben Mitchell. “This places pressure on retailers to limit their costs and for packaging that means cheaper formats and reductions in the use of materials,” he suggested. “However, the relative quality of the discounters’ private label packaging means that other grocers’ own brand packaging needs to be good enough to compare favourably with those products. Being displayed in smaller spaces also means that smaller formats for single or multipacks have to be considered by brand owners and their packaging providers.” NOA-PRISM’S has released its recent research ‘Internet and New Generation Retailing Report’ and ‘Strategic European Corrugated Report’. For more details: https://noa.uk.net/research/packaging-market-research Details of The Retail Institute’s research activities can be found here: http://theretailinstitute.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/ourresearch

FEFCO TECHNICAL SEMINAR

he nineteenth Technical Seminar hosted by FEFCO, The European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers, takes place this year on 11-13 October at Messe Vienna, Austria. The Technical Seminar is the only platform in Europe dedicated to the corrugated industry offering an incomparable combination of high-level seminar sessions, supplier presentations and exhibition. After the successful events in Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen and lately Barcelona, Vienna appeared to be one of the most central and easy to reach destinations offering high standard infrastructure as well as excellent connections to other European cities. This year the theme is ‘Corrugated Processes Complexity – Challenges and Solutions’. The programme will cover a wide variety of topics and sessions, exploring the main challenges and limitations facing the corrugated industry and the opportunities derived from them. Some of the highlights will be on the best use of “big data” in production, progress made on industry 4.0, and results of the new FEFCO Health & Safety working group since the last seminar. Delegates will also gain insight on corrugators and the expected future (r)evolution and get an extensive overview about digital printing. The Spotlight Sessions are one of the highlights of the FEFCO event and have become over the years a must-attend programme. They consist of short presentations of the latest technological innovations

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from suppliers. These are usually met with great interest by delegates, they give suppliers the opportunity to promote and share information about their company’s latest technical developments. These sessions also reward innovations to a large professional audience. More than 82 companies, choose to join us in Vienna to share their best products and experience with the attendees taking advantage of a unique opportunity to get hold of hundreds of the industry key decision makers all at once and in such ideal set up to make business. The last Technical Seminar in Barcelona was attended by almost 1000 participants, including delegates, exhibitors, visitors and guests. The attendance this year is projected at similar levels and the seminar promises to be the key forum for sharing corrugated industry intelligence this year.

PLASTIQUE OFFER GLOBAL SUPPLY FOLLOWING TEQ INVESTMENT Plastique are trusted by a number of Europe’s leading organisations to manufacture innovative thermoformed packaging, engineered to maximise revenue, reduce cost and increase speed to market. Production centres in Nottingham, UK and Poznan, Poland are certified to ISO9001, ISO 14001 and BRC/IOP and manufacture packaging for a wide variety of sectors, including cosmetics and toiletries, personal care, pharmaceutical, food, drink, electronics, component handling and retail.

addition to thermoformed plastic, the group manufactures smooth sided, thin walled moulded paper packaging using the latest cure-inthe-mould technology. Feedstocks are locally sourced 100 per cent renewable natural fibres with chain of custody certification and at end of life products are recyclable with mixed paper. Plastique’s operations are part of ESCO’s Thermoform Engineered Quality LLC (TEQ) operating subsidiary, headquartered in Huntley, Illinois. TEQ is a market leader in the development and manufacture of highly technical thermoformed plastic packaging with a significant position in the Medical and Pharmaceutical markets utilising cleanroom technology. The group has recently installed a state-of-the-art ISO Class 7 cleanroom at its Nottingham manufacturing plant. The design, build and commissioning of the new cleanroom was undertaken by pharmaceutical cleanroom experts and is certified to ISO 13485:2016. With the new UK cleanroom the group can now offer European customers precision made thermoformed medical packaging, designed to meet medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers’ most rigorous packaging requirements. And, with TEQ’s production facilities in the US, it is able to offer supply on a global basis.

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Further investment has been made at the Poznan manufacturing facility, which designs and manufactures innovative thermoformed plastic and smooth sided moulded paper packaging for many of the world’s leading organisations. The site has been doubled in size to 7000 m2, incorporating an upgrade to manufacturing equipment and installation of a dedicated area for the dry pressed fibre operation. The expansion also houses a 2600 pallet capacity warehouse, allowing for the storage of materials and finished product prior to shipping. Visit: www.plastique.eu

DIGITAL VS ANALOGUE

DIGITAL VS CONVENTIONAL PRINT COMPETITION OR COLLABORATION? Digital printing may be playing an increasingly important role in packaging but conventional technologies are holding their own. Elisabeth Skoda spoke to Esko, Flint Group, Xeikon and Heidelberg.

r Eva Freudenthaler (VP Technology, Flint Group Flexographic Products) observes that strengths and weaknesses of digital and traditional printing for packaging often complement each other, and therefore the two technologies are frequently used in combination:

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Traditional print technologies in packaging production shine because of their versatility with respect to packaging substrates, the high print quality they can deliver and their industrial scale, allowing mass production at high speed and quality.â&#x20AC;? She highlights the versatility of flexo printing for packaging applications, which can be used for printing on very thin to very thick substrates including corrugated board, on different synthetic substrates, papers and cartons.

DIGITAL VS ANALOGUE

Bernhard Schaaf, digital product manager at Heidelberg

Kilian Renschler, from Heidelberg’s Key Account Packaging

“It can handle a wide variety of printing inks – solvent based, water based, UV and EB curing, that are formulated to adhere to the wide spread range of packaging substrates.” However, the strength of these technologies with respect to industrial scale is also their weakness when it comes to short print runs and customisation of design. “Once set up for a specific print design these technologies on average still require higher print lengths to be economical than digital printing due to the higher prepress and set up costs.” The primary strength of digital, on the other hand, is its capability to change the print design for every single packaging unit without extra effort and the absence of pre-press cost for printing form production and setup cost at the press.

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“This makes digital printing unique when it comes to individualisation of packaging and gives digital printing technologies an advantage when only short print runs are required,” Dr Freudenthaler remarks. “Weak spots on the other hand are the printing costs for long print runs, and the print consumables like printing ink in average is still higher compared to conventional print consumables. Furthermore, digital printing inks are still not as versatile. Adhesion on the substrate as well as gloss or colour strength can be a challenge.” Bernhard Schaaf, digital product manager at Heidelberg, highlights the advantages of digital printing. “Lead times are going down, time to market becomes more important, and big data plays a big role. There is a trend towards more personalisation and pack variations to address customer needs. Personalisation allows companies to add value and charge a higher price for a product as every box can be unique. For example, a muesli with a custom designed pack commands a higher price than the same muesli in a generic box. Codes, vouchers and other additional information items can be integrated. Digital printing offers a range of possibilities for short runs and can also play a role in anti-counterfeiting by including codes to assure traceability.” Ease of operation is another important point. Automation is the key behind making operation of a complex machine easy, as he explains. “It makes sense to connect a digital world with a digital machine. There is a new level of automation and easiness of process. This trend is going to grow towards smart print shops powered by Industry 4.0.

In the future, there will be less and less needs for operators when connecting the digital machine directly with the web shop.” Kilian Renschler, from Heidelberg’s Key Account Packaging, points out that traditional sheetfed offset printing offers great flexibility, offering both long and short runs ranging from simple to highly sophisticated print jobs. “Heidelberg’s B2 size machine offers an ideal sheet size for smaller cartons and short runs, and special finishing options for embellishing cartons.” David Harris, Esko’s product manager, adds that for digital print, that the agility to print very short print runs enables the creation of personalised/one-off items with close to zero setup/makeready. “This is achieved through a simpler process, without platemaking, opening the market up to new players. There is also lower cost for short print runs,” he explains. He lists the advantages of digital print as high productivity and low cost over long print runs, great flexibility in choice of inks and the ability to print on almost any substrate, adding special effects such as metallic inks.

Digital print on the up Filip Weymans, VP Global Marketing at Xeikon, points out that there are both market and technological drivers behind the increasing popularity of digital print in the packaging market. “On top of increasingly looking for customisation and shorter production runs, marketers are looking for opportunities in product differentiation and segmentation. This results in an increase of SKUs for stores and warehouses, and means that stock volumes need to reduce to cope with the extra costs.” As a technology, digital production offers a set of unique features supporting the need for customisation, for example digital embellishment or complete individualisation of a product which is impossible using traditional production techniques. These features increase dramatically the added value of the printed product. David Harris agrees that a greater number of variants and just in time ‘lean’ production as well as zero-inventory are driving brand owners to order smaller quantities. This is perfect for digital print. | 24 | Packaging Europe

“It supports the desire to produce more innovative personalised packaging to connect with the consumer, exemplified by the success of named packaging, for example the ‘share a coke’ campaign or unique packaging such as the recent ‘Nutella Unica’ campaign, and how QR codes link to online content.” Mr Renschler adds that a new generation of machine and production systems means that there are impressive capabilities for digital on an industrial scale. “With the new generation of industrial digital printing machines you can work on a large scale and not just personalise a few boxes, but thousands of them. Key points are standardisation, simplification and automation of the printing process. In addition, he explains, that digital print offers consumers the possibility for self-expression by ordering individualised cartons. “There are today possibilities to get a picture of yourself on a pack and then have it distributed via social media, which opens up new marketing possibilities.

Opening potential A lot of the current innovations in digital production revolve around workflow and finishing possibilities, as Mr Weymans points out. “An interesting use for digital production techniques are applications requiring security features for different types of products. The driver in this case is very often the need for better brand protection. “With digital production, there are many possibilities to include security features ranging between unique tracking codes and even custom-made security toners for 100 per cent traceability,” he explains. Mr Harris says that there are some exciting press developments that address more types of packaging, in particular new presses for corrugated pre-print and post-print that address the complexities, quality limitations or high costs of conventional printing. “We are seeing more combination printing, or the integration of digital and conventional print. This allow digital to be used for variable data along with conventional for what it does best such as special inks and metallic. We are also developing simple turnkey workflows like Esko’s Automation Engine for Labels that enable printers to more effectively realise the benefits of short run digital printing. There is no point having a press that can handle 100 plus jobs per day, if the bottleneck is prepress or admin,” he highlights. Digital print offers many possibilities for future development, Mr Schaaf agrees. Integrating further processes, such as digital coating, digital embossing and die cutting will make the process chain grow further. “An automated production line with a continuous flow could be created, without an interruption of manual work. Heidelberg supplies machines, front and back end management, software, pre-press and post press equipment. The future is not just an efficient machine, but the whole print shop working as being one single machine.” He is keen to highlight Heidelberg’s recently launched Primefire 106, which offers customers new opportunities for digital print in folding carton production. “Its innovative digital printing system combines the best of both worlds: The flexibility and versatility of digital printing, and the reliability and precision of the peak performance class in offset printing.

DIGITAL VS ANALOGUE

This is made possible through cutting-edge drop-on-demand inkjet technology and Heidelberg’s best in class sheet transport system. Primefire offers an ideal option for quality control: If a sheet and quality is not ok, it will be immediately detected, ejected reprinted on the fly – fully automated.”

Innovations in traditional print As a supplier of printing inks for a variety of conventional printing technologies as well as flexo printing plates Flint Group is at the forefront of innovation, as Dr Freudenthaler points out. “Flexo printing is a very versatile packaging print technology, but compared to other conventional print technologies it is often said to be more complex in pre-press and lower in print quality than offset or gravure printing, so this is a focus for product development. With our flat top dot flexo printing plates nyloflex® FTF for flexible packaging, winner of the 2016 Flexographic Technical Innovation Award, and the recently launched nyloflex® FTC for corrugated post-print we now offer plates that can provide increased ink densities and improved ink laydown and in case of the nyloflex® FTC reduce the unwanted fluting effect in corrugated post-print.” With regards to food packaging, low migration technology is crucial. Most ink suppliers, including Flint Group, manufacture and sell inks which are safe for food packaging. Flint Group’s ANCORA family of inks and coatings are tested and certified for label and flexible packaging applications,” Dr Freudenthaler explains. Most recent is the marriage of low migration with UV LED. “Flint Group offers a UV LED ink system which is also safe for food packaging. EkoCure® ANCORA, the winner of the 2017 FTA Technical Innovation Award, is the latest technology for label and package

printing. This technology coupled with traditional printing methods truly transcends the traditional boundaries of narrow web.” Mr Harris suggests that traditional print is responding to the digital challenge by becoming more agile for shorter print runs, which is making it more economically viable for short print runs. “For example, extended gamut printing is a process that reduces or avoids ink changes on press, so greatly reducing make ready time and increasing equipment utilisation.” Platemaking is being simplified with enhancements such as integrated imaging and exposure for flexors as in Esko Crystal XPS. This reduces the manpower needed and opens the possibility to bring platemaking in house at the converter, reducing press make ready times. Traditional printing methods still have an important role to play in the modern printing industry, as Mr Renschler agrees. “At Heidelberg we are addressing the trend for shorter runs. We are adding new control technology to offset to make it even more efficient. Automation increases and for example the machine is driving the make ready process automatically. Flexibility in configuration is key to keep offset attractive for short and long runs by adding embellishing possibilities.” In conclusion, he explains the importance of quality for successful printing, embodied in latest product development: “With the Speedmaster XL 106, we can deliver a zero-defect product. Faulty cartons can damage the brand image. It includes quality measurement and colour measurement devices, and full image checks are done while machine is operating. The machine will identify defects and eject bad sheets. This is especially important for the pharma market, where a box has to be prefect and no errors are allowed in critical areas like product name or dosage, catering for the trend for more and more inspection, not only for the printing press, but later in the process.” Packaging Europe | 25 |

ON THE GO

A TREND THAT IS HERE TO STAY On-the-go packaging has enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. Elisabeth Skoda spoke to representatives from Parkside Flexibles, Sonoco, Ecolean and Tetra Pak to find out more about the latest innovations balancing consumer convenience and sustainability.

hil O’Driscoll, head of innovation and NPD at Parkside Flexibles, points out that convenience and ease of use are significant factors across contemporary packaging design and new product development. “Anything that makes life easier for the consumer – whether that’s easy-open, ease of portability or portioned food packs – added pack functionality is the key to satisfying the modern on-the-go consumer,” he says. “Brands and retailers are always looking for unique, innovative packs that offer good on-shelf presentation, deliver fresh appeal and drive sales by making their products stand out from the crowd. Consumers are seeking products that meet the needs of their busy lifestyles.” More specifically, on-the-go packs need to fit consumers’ individual habits and lifestyles. “Consumers are always on the move today, picking up snacks at a kiosk or in the supermarket and then consuming them in smaller portions on multiple occasions,” observes Séan Cairns, Sonoco’s VP and general manager for the European consumer products division. “They transport food for on-the-go consumption in handbags or backpacks, throw it into the back of their car or strap it to their bike’s luggage rack. We know that packaging plays a crucial role in spontaneous purchases at the Point of Sale. Products must not only stand out at POS with a cool, stylish design. Consumers also choose products based on

| 26 | Packaging Europe

pragmatic criteria like: Will it fit into my pocket? Is the packaging sturdy and reclosable? So, the ideal on-the-go product and its packaging are simple but attractive, easy to use, and reclosable, and fitting the personality of the individual consumer.” Similarly, Riccardo Castagnetti, product director at Tetra Pak, also highlights today’s consumers busy lifestyles as a driver for innovation: “Peoples’ eating routines are less fixed than in the past. Many people opt to skip breakfast to go to the gym or for a few extra minutes in bed. This means many people now have their first meal of the day

while on-the-go. They are also increasingly likely to snack between lunch and dinner. The rise of this out-of-the home, on-the-go consumption creates demand for packages that are comfortable to hold, have re-sealable caps, and fit in handbags and backpacks.”

Keeping food safe So how is the industry translating these needs into concrete innovation? Parkside has developed several single portion, easy-open and reclosable packaging solutions in recent months to help their customers enhance their brand through packaging. “We developed an innovative snack pack for the Walls sausage rolls range for Pork Farms, part of Addo Foods Group. The multi-cavity pack design taps into the on-the-go snacking market, offering the option to snap off one of five individually wrapped trays as required, while keeping the remaining sausage rolls sealed for later, giving consumers the ability to snack as well as exercise portion control. The tray also keeps the contents fresher for longer and can help to reduce food waste,” Mr O’Driscoll explains. Easy opening and reclosing are also key for Sonoco. Both Sonoco’s composite cans and plastic packaging solutions are easy to open and reseal thanks to their flexible snap lids, as Mr Cairns points out. Plastic packaging with Sonoco’s PermaSafe technology allows consumers to transport perishable foods such as spreads or fish outside the cold chain. Safe shelf-stable products are a growing sector as it brings so much more convenience and enables the consumer to eat anywhere. “With composite cans, both the inner lining and membrane protect the contents from external influences such as moisture and oxygen. We can tailor the barrier to each application, limiting the materials used to only those that are absolute necessary. For composite cans, we use different barrier properties from membranes and liners, in the IML sector, we apply our PermaSafe technology. On top of this, our composite cans are very strong, retaining their form even when they are pushed on from all sides,” Mr Cairns says. Anna Annerås, marketing director of Ecolean, highlights the novel technology of supplying hermetically sealed and sterile packages from Ecolean’s factory as the biggest innovation, from a technology perspec| 28 | Packaging Europe

tive. It creates huge opportunities for dairy and beverage producers, as the complexity is moved from the customer to Ecolean. “The Ecolean aseptic pouches for ambient distribution come ready-sterilised and pre-converted to the producers. To ensure the highest food safety, we’ve chosen a non-chemical sterilisation method, e-beam, to make sure food contact surfaces are never exposed to any chemicals,” she adds. Ecolean recently announced the launch of its EL2+, an upgraded filling machine for chilled distribution portion-sized packages, with a clean, modern design that doubles capacity – all in the same footprint, enabling customers to produce even more on-the-go packages with less. Another development she is keen to highlight is a 125ml package, available in the Ecolean® Air Aseptic product series for ambient distribution, with or without a straw. “As with all Ecolean packages, the ease of use when opening, handling and pouring, together with its unique ability to be microwaved, attracts consumers, and liquid food producers worldwide.” Smaller portion size is also a trend that Tetra Pak is catering for. In April, Tetra Pak extended its portfolio in the fast growing on-thego beverage market with two new portion size packages, the Tetra Prisma® Aseptic 200 and 250 Edge with DreamCap™ 26. “Building on the success of Tetra Prisma® Aseptic 330 ml with DreamCap™, the new packages offer consumers smaller size options with the same re-sealable one-step closure for an optimised drinking experience,” Mr Castagnetti explains.

ON THE GO

Packaging Europe | 29 |

very dynamic growth in the next three years. Tetra Pak’s own research anticipates that worldwide demand for portion packages under 250 ml will grow to 72 billion litres by 2019, up 10 per cent from current volumes,” Mr Castagnetti adds.

Balancing convenience against sustainability

Here to stay The pace of modern life does not seem to be slowing, evidenced by several widely publicised consumer trends that suggest further growth is inevitable, Mr O’Driscoll observes. “Meeting the convenience needs of consumers should be a key driver for retailers and food manufacturers who want to succeed in this competitive sector. The need to differentiate their product offering beyond the more standard packaging choices and address changing lifestyles will only increase. The convenience channel has been one of the fastest growing grocery retail sectors globally and as a result the sector is highly competitive. We believe this fast-paced market will continue to gain traction.” He also believes that this is an ongoing, long-term trend – mainly due to the diversity of modern lifestyles and the ever-growing mobility of consumers. “While people will always prepare and eat meals at home, they’re now eating more and more food on-the-go. This is why the need for convenient on-the-go packaging will grow considerably. In addition, Sonoco is observing other trends that coincide with the rise in onthe-go consumption, such as a strong move toward healthier options. For this type of food, the packaging should convey a strong message about the nutritional value of its contents. We can customise the paper labels of our composite cans with a natural finish, giving them a look that matches the contents. Other solutions like our Vegetop® lids made from biodegradable plastics also help bring the message home.” Ecolean observes a strong demands for portion packs between 125ml and 250ml for both ambient and chilled distribution, as Ms Annerås adds “This trend, which will continue to grow, is a result of drastic lifestyle changes globally and has a complex nature with several socio-economic drivers making it very hard to predict”. The on-the-go snack market is expected to grow over the next few years as consumer lifestyle changes take effect. According to research by Roper Reports Worldwide more than 40 per cent of consumers are snacking while on-the-go at least once a week, with fortified milk, drinking yogurt and energy drinks among favourite choices. “Compass has also identified categories including coffee and tea-based drinks in 200 and 250ml portion sizes as being areas for | 30 | Packaging Europe

Mr O’Driscoll sees balancing convenience and sustainability needs as a real dilemma for brand owners, and predicts that sustainable alternatives to traditional packaging will become ever more necessary, from a resource perspective and at the end of life journey. “Demand for convenience often increases the demands on packaging, and we must be mindful that whilst people are ‘on-the-go’, they are not in as easy reach of managed waste outlets like recycling bins in the home.” Parkside has developed a pioneering portfolio of compostable paper and film barrier films made predominantly from renewable sources such as eucalyptus trees. These are suitable for a range of applications from coffee pouches to confectionery packaging and are fully compostable for both home and industrial processes. “Another example is our recent development for a home compostable pack for Yumpa, a newly launched snacking bar made from powdered cricket flour. Next Step Foods Ltd. wanted the packaging to enhance the whole brand experience, that being the natural benefits of the product and the ethical positioning,” Mr O’Driscoll says. Mr Cairns highlights that it is important to not view convenience and sustainability as being in conflict, which is a common perception, but rather as two sides of the same coin. Investment in R&D and advanced production facilities enabled Sonoco to have well-positioned packaging solutions for both. “Our composite cans are made from 90-percent recycled paper, and are already one of the most sustainable consumer packaging solutions on the market. The same is true for our plastic packaging business: We produce and decorate our plastic containers with In-mould Labelling. For this state-of-the-art technique, the labels and containers are made from the same material: polypropylene. Thus, they can be easily recycled without the consumer having to separate the label and container,” Mr Cairns says. Ecolean has found the balance between offering a lightweight package with as little resources as possible and still not compromise on food safety or convenience features of the package, as Ms Annerås is happy to report. “We see to the whole lifecycle of the package and make sure that it is produced in a sustainable way. Our pack stands steady, even when halffull. Its flexible nature makes it easy to empty completely, which means no food waste. The air-filled handle helps when pouring and handling. And once empty, it takes up a minimal amount of space in the bin.” Tetra Pak also takes its environmental sustainability seriously, as Mr Castagnetti explains. “All Tetra Pak cartons are made mainly from paper, a renewable source, and are available with FSC™ certified packaging material, ensuring that the wood fibre is sourced from responsibly managed forests. The availability of bio-based caps made from a non-food substance derivative of sugar cane also contributes to the renewability of the packages,” he concludes.

ON THE GO

Packaging Europe | 31 |

TRACEABILITY: WHAT THE DOCTOR (AND GROCER) ORDERS Jason Chester (InfinityQS): How to address the headache of product recalls?

ecalls. It’s rare for a day to go by when one isn’t announced. A quick Google search right this very instant will prove testament to this. Recalls can be large or small, mandatory or voluntary, related to food, motor vehicles, electrical goods; you name it, they come in all shapes and sizes with one thing in common: a huge headache for the manufacturer. When it comes to recalls, at best, they can materialise as minor blips that only serve to demonstrate a manufacturer’s competence and reactions when under pressure. At the other end of the scale, if they are handled poorly, recalls can mean irreparable damage for a brand, starting it on a path to its eventual demise. Social media has added a further ingredient to this. In year’s previous, a compliant might have been made directly to a supermarket, which is then escalated up the chain with often little to no fallout. Today, all it takes is someone with a smartphone to lay bare any failings across a plethora of channels and rating sites. The power of social media has now put organisations very much into the spotlight and if handled badly or get a response wrong, then you will feel the full force of the public. So how do you go about performing a ‘good’ recall as opposed to a ‘bad one? Well, many might see the differentiating element being speed. The quicker a manufacturer can detect an error, the quicker products can be removed from shelves, reducing the threat to customers. This is partly true, but not the entire picture. Traceability in the manufacturing operation is often the key element that determines whether an organisation can take this kind of action.

Tracing the source Recalls often come down to a single, or a small number, of processes in the manufacturing cycle that went wrong or failed. Whether the source is contamination of a food product by a foreign element, or a single machine malfunction affecting a specific product line of elec| 32 | Packaging Europe

tronics, traceability is vital. Being able to act with speed, precision, and decisiveness in this situation is not something that any manufacturer should take for granted. The crucial factor here is being able to identify where contamination from foreign elements occurred or where some other manufacturing error took place. For this to be effective, it is vital to have visibility across the entirety of manufacturing processes. Moreover, this overall view needs to be digitised and unified in one place, so that you don’t have to spend valuable time poring over paper records or manual data sets. When a recall occurs, you need to act quickly to prevent risk to consumers and to protect reputational damage amongst your retailer partners. Having this kind of system in place enables an alternative way to enact a recall. It allows a manufacturer to pinpoint a list of products affected with a large degree of granularity, minimising the scale of the recall and therefore the financial cost to the business. It is also less unsettling for retailers, wholesalers, customers, and consumers by enabling them to easily see if they should avoid using, eating, or selling a product. Traceability granularity should allow these entities to identify whether specific products are part of the recall. As a result, problems can be smoothly and rapidly contained without confusion. This pays huge dividends for both the consumer and retailer confidence amongst those brands that are involved. Taking control of a situation like this with speed prevents any long-term negative impact on the reputation of the company and its products while protecting consumers. A quality management system that provides complete end-to-end traceability of the whole production line is essential here. If implemented effectively, a system can offer instant insight as to which finished batches may contain outside contamination or which ones may have been affected by a malfunctioning part of the manufacturing process, for example. It can also mean that manufacturers can put additional steps in place following a recall, to prevent a recurrence, whether this be in the form of additional quality checks, inspections, or reviewing specification limits, to prevent or minimise recurrent risk. Arguably the biggest lesson a manufacturer will learn from a recall is hindsight – what you could-of/should-of done will dominate a lot of your afterthoughts post recall. Don’t let this be the case – by understanding the immediate threats today and where they lie, you can install the preventative measures needed to protect for tomorrow.

TRACEABILITY

Packaging Europe | 33 |

TRACEABILITY

Thomas Körmendi (CEO of Kezzler): Combatting counterfeiting with Authentication.

orldwide 10 per cent of drugs are thought to be counterfeit. However, regulatory requirements for serialisation in the pharmaceutical industry, such as the EU Falsified Medicines Directive, have propelled innovation and adoption on this front in recent times. By the end of 2018 it is estimated that 75 per cent of the world’s prescription medicine will be protected by legislation. The Kezzler technology solution has proven effective as an anticounterfeiting solution in the pharmaceutical industry. Our algorithm generates secure codes that provide military grade encryption and make each product digitally unique and interactive. Applied to drugs they enable companies to comply with serialisation regulations and track each item through the entire supply chain. Consumers and retailers can then use these codes to authenticate their product on the spot with no more than a smart phone and an Internet connection.

The added value of smart packaging The smart packaging market is projected to be worth US$26.7 billion by 2024. We expect the food industry to play a big part in driving this growth because while serialisation is becoming second nature in the pharmaceutical sector, there has been a growing appreciation of the value-add such technologies can provide for industries like food and drink. Assigning a completely unique identity to each and every product enables these companies to yield maximum insight into their operations, which can then be analysed to inform the introduction of cost saving measures. For example, track-and-trace technology can be used to identify hold ups and inefficiencies in the supply chain by recording the time products spend in warehouse and transit. At the same time, unique product identities best position manufacturers to identify and pre-empt any potential issues such as product recalls, even alerting consumers that scan the product code using their phone. A well designed technology platform also enables companies to connect with consumers, exchange information and fulfil research and marketing functions in real time.

Traceability in food and drink Stories of food fraud and counterfeit alcohol have become a regular feature on our news feeds in recent times. In April this year a joint Interpol-Europol operation hit the headlines when it seized fake food and drink worth an estimated €230 million hit the headlines. At the same time consumer behaviour is evolving in a fairly fundamental way, with more consumers factoring in considerations such as health and wellness, social impact, experience and transparency alongside the traditional purchasing drivers of taste, price and convenience. | 34 | Packaging Europe

These trends are combining to exert greater pressures on brands to provide full traceability. This is where serialisation technology comes in. We have been driving our work in food and drink because our technology performs best at mass volumes. We are able to digitalise billions and billions of products at speed as code generation and verification using our encryption algorithm takes place in milliseconds, avoiding the problems database systems encounter when dealing with large volumes. Kezzler is also able to offer brands the option to pre-serialise their products through partnerships with packaging firms such as global packaging giant Amcor. For example, we have developed with Amcor a joint pre-serialisation product, MaXQ, whereby a unique code integrated into the product packaging is simply activated at a later stage via the cloud. This means there is no additional time required during the production phase and serialisation can take place without slowing down operations by even a second. The platform’s ease of use and minimal operational burden provides a highly cost-effective solution to global brands.

Challenges to overcome Low cost, cloud-based mass serialisation for the food industry has made full value chain traceability and transparency and two-way communication between brand owners and consumers possible. However, to unlock the benefits of the technology there needs to be greater dialogue and coordination between the various stakeholders across the value chain, from suppliers and manufacturers, to retailers, technology providers and, importantly, consumers. Often this also means a great deal more internal coordination within brands as well. Digitalisation can deliver benefits for functions from logistics to marketing so a comprehensive approach to its adoption is the best way for companies to yield the full benefit.

LABELLING

MORE THAN JUST A LABEL Four experts share a wide view of the factors driving innovation across the European labelling market Packaging Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Libby White.

SHELF APPEAL Ralph Olthoff, global director for the wine, spirits and craft beer segment for Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials, gives us an insight into the importance of shelf appeal when it comes to labelling.

rends differ across Europe, for example in the southern region there is a trend towards wet strength materials and luxury and premium coated materials. In Italy, there is a trend towards using black materials, (using pure black material rather than coloured black). We are seeing a trend towards bigger labels in Portugal and Austria, and in Spain. France, specifically in the Bordeaux and Burgundy areas old fashioned styles are popular, and expected from consumers. For example, it is typical to include an image of the chateaux on the label of Bordeaux wines. In regions such as the Provence there is a big trend towards using new kinds of materials and designs. When we look at consumer groups, such as the millennials, they expect to see the story behind the product on the label. They are looking for authenticity around the product they are serving on the table. Most significantly, is how the wine makes an impact on the shelf in the supermarket. We see trends such as towards extra light materials, black materials, bigger labels, embossing, hot foils in order to attract the attention of the consumer.

| 36 | Packaging Europe

To address these trends, we have launched ranges such as extra white and black materials, and a range of heavy structured materials to ensure a haptic, sensory experience. We have for example a velvet material, and one with heavy fibres that feels very thick in the consumers hands, and another made out of wood veneer which is not only visually striking but also gives the feel of the structure of wood, all designed to give a premium and special look and feel. When it comes to labelling, Avery Dennison also has a strong focus on sustainability. For example, we focus on FSC certification and more than 70 per cent of our materials are FSC certified. We aim for this figure to reach 100 per cent in the next three to four years. We also aim to source material with either recycled content or produced from the waste of other processes, for example one material we use is made from the residuals of sugar cane. We also encourage and implement recycling programmes for the end users of our labels whereby we collect the liner waste and recycle it into new materials We have an agreement with a paper company who recycle the waste into paper which is used by Avery Dennison.

LABELLING

IN-MOULD LABELLING Meech, specialists in static control and web cleaning technologies, shares its white paper on in-mould labelling and the role of static generation.

he label of a product acts as the corporate face of a brand, which means that poorly applied labelling (whether it is creased, inadequately aligned or displaying poor quality) can affect the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of product and brand. IML is an increasingly popular technology for increasing consumer appeal and protecting against contamination and counterfeiting. One of the most common challenges encountered in the IML market is dealing with diminutive containers and labels. The solution to this problem is the creation of a miniaturised IML pinning system specifically designed for use in applications where small items are being moulded. The Meech 994 Hydra is a system of this kind, providing powerful, repeatable pinning with no degradation over time. The components of the 994 Hydra system are easy to mount, as well as being straightforward to connect and disconnect during mould tool changes. The design eliminates the chance of sparking and the risk of expensive damage to

the mould tool. The choice of materials ensures the problem of potential contamination of the container, sometimes seen with conductive foam based IML systems, is eliminated. The standard 994 Hydra system consists of resistively coupled distributors connected in series to the new 994CG, a compact generator designed to meet the greater demands of the IML sector. The 994CG is a miniature generator with four 4-25kV outlets, making it the most powerful of its kind on the market. With feedback indicating that 24V DC power is the preferred supply voltage for ancillary equipment, the IML generator reduces power consumption, removes the need to route high voltage cables next to signal wires and low voltage cables and has a small footprint, with dimensions of 150 x 38 x 40 mm. Adding further to the 994CGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s versatility is the ability to connect four six-headed Hydra miniaturised IML pinning systems directly to the compact generator, allowing it to be configured for multiple cavity applications.

MARKET TRENDS Nikhil Pampatwar Senior Research Analyst from the MarketsAndMarkets research company gives an overview of the European labelling market.

he demand for labels has grown in Europe because of increasing demand from various consumer product manufacturers to meet the growing demand in the market. Key manufacturers are focusing on innovating materials and technologies to improve their product portfolio and to tap into the emerging countries. Brand owners are looking for higher performing label options that permit them to retain low manufacturing costs. For instance, heatshrink and stretch sleeve are new label technologies that have been gaining popularity recently because of their advanced features. Consumers in Europe are raising environment and sustainability issues against packaging manufacturers. Increasing environmental concerns have led to more emphasis being placed on the sustainability of the environment, the use of recyclable materials in labelling (especially plastic), and the use of resins derived from renewable

| 38 | Packaging Europe

resources. Hence, vendors are increasing investments in the development of eco-friendly label products and promoting environmental sustainability. For instance, Spear, a major label converter in Europe, has started recycling groups that collect used-up release liners after application. Other major suppliers, such as Avery Dennison, are also launching recyclable and biodegradable label products in the market. These solutions also enable OEMs to improve their brand image and reduce their environmental footprint. Increased demand for sustainability is therefore prompting businesses to explore the introduction of biodegradable products into the market. In highly cluttered markets, creating shelf appeal and visibility is the most important strategy for manufacturers. Hence, manufacturers are prepared to invest in high quality labelling to create brand awareness and attract consumers.

LABELLING

MEETING REGULATIONS Faye Louch, Trainer at the OAL Group focuses on how to meet regulations and why to automate.

abelling is a legal requirement and there are regulations surrounding what must be declared on the packaging. As consumers, we all want to know what the ingredients are in the product we are intending to buy/eat; as there may be some ingredients which as a consumer we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like, therefore, we would choose not to buy that product in this instance. It is also particularly important that any allergens are clearly identified due to the risks their presence may pose to people who are susceptible and may suffer an allergic reaction, these reactions can be mild or worst case if the allergy is severe, life threatening; The labelling of allergens is a key issue, particularly where the packaging could become detached from the product meaning the information could be lost. You must think, worst case scenarios, where people might remove sleeves in store, for example, to look at the product and then replace them, what if they replace them on the wrong packs? This would mean the information is not right for that product. As a safety measure, in these instances, any allergen information should be printed onto the film of the product to ensure that any known allergens present in the product are still known even if the product sleeve gets lost or mixed up. The OAL Connected system is a central database where all product profiles are set up which then allows reporting by line and by product.

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The system inputting is usually controlled by the technical function and the day to day running and setting up of jobs is controlled by the operational function. If the system is presented with any code other than the one it is programmed to see, the system will alarm and the line stops. This enables the site to control all their packaging very easily identify any issues; reducing and eliminating product recalls. By scanning 2D barcodes on the packaging, manufacturers can ensure they are running the correct version of the packaging including being able to identify promo labels and slight changes of artwork. This is the most basic package; however, the system does has other additional functionality, for example, traceability which makes the audit process smoother when establishing how much of a product has been made as well as providing downtime and efficiency data to allow sites to get an understanding of the problems during production that are causing a loss in efficiency. For me, the control of allergens is an area where we can really help businesses as packaging ranges tend to use artwork that is very similar in design to make it look more aesthetically pleasing to the consumer and to make the range fit together on the shelf. It is getting increasingly difficult for operators to spot the difference between the different products and packaging. With the OAL Connected Autocoding system, we can ensure the product is packaged correctly by proactively verifying and scanning every product to ensure itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the correct packaging. All food manufacturers are facing increased pressure from their customers to guarantee that all packaging and date coding on products is correct. Manufacturers face penalties such as heavy monetary fines and the potential loss of business for incorrect dates, packaging and labelling. Most customers have Codes of Practice focused around coding and labelling to ensure their products are compliant with food labelling regulations. Food manufacturers have to consider a number of points when it comes to checking their packaging and applying their date codes. Automation controls all of this key information ensuring all label, date codes, packaging and labelling is correct. This removes the risk of human errors as you are not relying on operators to ensure that all this information is correct. Having the system in place helps businesses to protect their customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; brands by reducing the number of product recalls. By checking all the system alarms and fail safes are working at the start of shift means the site can run knowing their kit is functioning effectively.

The influence of bioplastics keeps growing in the packaging market and this year Packaging Europe will again be reporting from the annual European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin. Ahead of the forum Katrin Schwede, head of communications at European Bioplastics, spoke to Tim Sykes about the key trends and challenges in the market.

Tim Sykes: The European Bioplastics Conference has become the reference point for the industry calendar. Could you please describe the aims of the event and the role it plays in the world of bioplastics?

Katrin Schwede:

In keeping with this year’s theme ‘Making the Difference’, the 12th edition of the annual European Bioplastics Conference will showcase just how bioplastics influence the plastics industry in driving innovations forward for more sustainability, resource efficiency, and functionality. Today there is a bioplastic alternative to almost every conventional plastic material and corresponding application. While offering the same qualities and functionalities as their conventional counterparts, bioplastics strive to be even better by providing innovative solutions with improved properties as well as the unique ability to reduce emissions and our dependency on fossil resources. The European Bioplastics Conference has evolved into the leading business and discussion forum for the bioplastics sector in Europe and worldwide. It has been both witness and supporter of some of the biggest achievements of the industry and it brings together all stakeholders along the entire value chain to shape the future of bioplastics. The impressive speaker line-up and diversity of the conference delegation – 350 strong in 2016 and expected to grow – reflects that. The twoday event will demonstrate how far bioplastics have come and highlight some of the latest and most innovative developments in new bio-based materials and applications.

TS: May we have a glimpse of some of the highlights of this year’s conference?

KS: Every year, the European Bioplastics Conference features a wellrounded conference programme attracting senior executives from across the bioplastics value chain, policy bodies, NGOs, and brand

owners. The agenda of the 12th European Bioplastics Conference will cover a wide range of important areas, including the EU policy landscape, the latest technological innovations in new building-blocks, alternative bio-based feedstocks and process routes, advances in endof-life solutions outside industrial composting, bioplastics food packaging, as well as the brand perspective on the use of biopolymers. And in keeping with a well-received tradition, European Bioplastics will publish the latest bioplastics market data update during the conference. Some of the highlights of this year’s programme include Kevin Vyse from Marks and Spencer, speaking about the sustainable use of biopolymer packaging, Marie Hélène Gramatikoff from Lactips, sharing insights about biobased thermoplastics from milk protein, and Ramani Narayan (Michigan University) assessing whether mealworms and caterpillars are the new solution to the plastic waste problem. Besides a session on the latest R&D on marine biodegradability, one particular highlight will be a session dedicated to new building blocks featuring Synvina, Covestro, and VTT Chemical. Another highlight will be a panel discussion on the mechanical recycling of bioplastics that will explore the options for biopolymers such as bio-based PE and PLA, which no doubt will be of great interest for all delegates. Panellists include Karin Molenveld (Wageningen Food & Biobased Research), Steve Dejonghe (Looplife Polymers), Helmut Schmitz (Grüner Punkt), and Jasmin Bauer (Knoten Weimar). The conference programme will be complemented by a number of networking opportunities, such as social evenings, interactive conference formats, exclusive networking areas and a digital partnering tool, and a comprehensive product exhibition alongside the conference. Following the great success of the past years, we again expect another exciting, informative, and fruitful conference in 2017.

TS: Speaking about European Bioplastics as an organisation, what has the focus of your activities been this year? Packaging Europe | 41 |

KS: This is a critical time for our industry as the European Union confirmed its commitment to the transition from a linear to a circular economy in Europe and the assessment of the plastics economy. European Bioplastics has been involved in the consultations to help shape a policy and economical landscape for our industry to strive in. European Bioplastics has been an active partner in the debates around the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and the Waste Target Review, which brought about the decision by the Plenum of the European Parliament to increase the use of bio-based plastics in packaging, to enforce a separate biowaste collection, and to include organic recycling in the definition of recycling. Moreover, the European Parliament’s IMCO Committee supported the use of biodegradable mulch films in a report on the revision of the EU Fertilisers Regulation, which we follow very closely in the debates leading up to the final vote in the Parliament. As the leading industry association, European Bioplastics is also committed to raising awareness and educating consumers about the nature of bioplastics. This summer, we’ve launched a campaign to increase the knowledge about bioplastics and to clear up some of the most common misconceptions. For this purpose, we’ve developed a series of infographics that we rolled out on social media and plan to produce a number of shorter video clips to help share the potentials and benefits of bioplastics. We are very excited about this since the reactions so far have all been very positive.

TS: How do you see the present regulatory climate in relation to bioplastics? Do the Circular Economy package and the EU roadmap for plastics strategy support the further growth of the industry? Is there anything these formulations could improve upon?

KS: The European Commission’s commitment to the transition from a linear to a circular economy model in Europe has certainly accelerated the momentum of growth and development of the bioplastics industry in Europe. Bioplastics will play a key role in this transition by replacing fossil with renewable resources and by increasing recycling targets and waste management efficiency. We also welcome the priority the Commission has given in the EU Roadmap for a Plastics Strategy to assess how to decarbonise the plastics economy and to increase efficiency of plastics recycling, and we hope that this will remain a main pillar of the upcoming Strategy on Plastics in order to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time, namely climate change and resource efficiency. One important point missing in the roadmap, however, is the need to consider recycling as both organic and mechanic recycling. Only if the separate collection of bio-waste and organic recycling is encouraged can the quality of other waste streams and the overall efficiency of waste management be increased. Organic recycling (industrial composting and anaerobic digestion) is a well-established industrial pro-

cess ensuring the circular use for biodegradable plastics while creating a strong secondary raw material market and opportunity for renewable energy generation. The greater part of bio-based plastics can easily be recycled in existing recycling streams. This way, bioplastics contribute to keeping carbon and valuable resources in the loop.

TS: How is the market for bioplastics in packaging growing?

KS: Over the past ten years, the bioplastics industry has flourished and developed into a fast-growing innovative sector. We recently witnessed a growing number of major brands switching from fossil-based to biobased materials or to offer biodegradable solutions for their products or packaging. They respond to the increased consumer demand for more sustainable products and an overall change in awareness about the impacts of consumption choices on the environment. There is a growing demand for packaging made from bioplastics. This trend was confirmed by this year’s interpack – the world’s biggest packaging trade fair – which was dominated by three major themes: innovation, resource efficiency and sustainability. Besides the 30 bioplastics companies presenting their innovative materials, many other – if not most – traditional packaging companies at the trade fair also offered bio-based or biodegradable alternatives or options additional to their conventional packaging solutions. This clearly shows that bioplastic packaging is not a “nice to have” but highly demanded by clients, brands, retailers and customers alike. Packaging is and will remain the strongest market segment for bioplastics, with currently around 40 per cent (1.6 million tonnes) of the global bioplastics production capacities being used in packaging. This share is predicted to increase even more to up to 44 per cent (2.5 million tonnes) in 2021.

TS: What challenges do supply/demand factors, such as fluctuating fuel prices, increasing capacities, demand for renewable feedstocks from other sectors, and increasing volumes of recycled feedstocks, create for the industry?

Kristy-Barbara Lange, Deputy Managing Director, European Bioplastics, presents the latest bioplastics market data report at the European Bioplastics Conference in 2016 in Berlin © European Bioplastics

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TITLE

Packaging Europe | 43 |

KS: As more companies and brands are switching to bio-based plastics, and as production capacities are rising, supply chains and processes are becoming more efficient, and prices have come down significantly. Even though the currently low oil prices are making it difficult for bioplastics to achieve competitive pricing levels compared to conventional plastics at present, we are confident that this is not a long-term trend and that the bioplastics industry will continue to grow given the positive signals from Brussels to support the biobased economy in Europe.

TS: Are there any areas of technological progress which are accelerating the uptake of bioplastics in packaging?

KS: Biodegradable and compostable packaging solutions are particularly sought after in food packaging because they offer a new route for recycling. When the packaging is mixed with perished food or biowaste, mechanical recycling is not feasible for the plastic material. The use of compostable plastic packaging makes the mixed waste suitable for organic recycling and enables the shift from recovery (incineration) to recycling and increases the volumes of valuable compost. Materials such as PLA, PHA, PBAT, PBS and starch blends are particularly suitable for food packaging. PLA is a major growth driver in the field of bio-based and biodegradable plastics. It has excellent barrier properties and is very versatile. Some companies also offer | 44 | Packaging Europe

high-performance PLA grades that can withstand high temperatures. PHA is another important polymer family that has been in development for a while and has now finally entered the market at commercial scale. PHA polyesters are 100 per cent bio-based and feature a wide array of physical and mechanical properties, including improved barrier properties suitable for food packaging. PHA is biodegradable and compostable in industrial composting plants but also in other environments such as marine waters. Another new exciting material is PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a new polymer that is expected to enter the market in 2020. PEF is comparable to PET but 100 per cent bio-based and it features superior barrier and thermal properties, making it ideal material for the packaging of drinks, food and non-food products. Currently, PEF is still at the development stage, but with more players getting involved, the future for this new material is looking very optimistic. Some of these latest developments will also be presented at the 12th European Bioplastics Conference. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC will present new functional coatings for biodegradable packaging which have excellent barrier properties against water vapor, oxygen and flavours and are proven to be suitable for foodstuffs, especially in the convenience sector. The University of Queensland will also present the latest developments in the field of biodegradable multilayer packaging. The Australian research team develops stratified materials of thermoplastic strength (TPS) and PHA for use in food packaging with high barrier properties. Investigations on the life cycle assessment of the material promise excellent values in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

TS:

How does the industry articulate the environmental case for bioplastic packaging to brand owners and consumers as superior to alternative packaging materials? Do you need to address concerns that feedstocks may be diverted away from food applications? How does the overall carbon footprint of bioplastics compare with competing materials?

How do you envisage the industry developing over the next five years?

KS: More and more companies are looking for innovative ways to meet the ever-increasing demand for sustainable plastic products and packaging without compromising on the quality and profitability of their products. Bio-based plastic packaging, for example, offers the same functionalities and technical characteristics as conventional plastic packaging but additionally has the unique ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependency on fossil resources. At the same time, the bioplastics industry has invested heavily in the development of new, innovative materials with improved properties and higher functionality. This allows companies to not only improve their products and resource efficiency but also their environmental footprint. Substituting fossil-based plastics by bio-based plastics generally leads to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil resources. Some companies interested in switching to bioplastics raise questions and potential concerns about the use of plant-based feedstocks and food crops for the production of bioplastics. These concerns are unfounded. The land needed to grow the feedstock for today’s bioplastics production is around 0.02 per cent of the global agricultural area. A recent report by Wageningen UR finds that ‘even if we base all present world-wide fossil plastics production on biomass as feedstock instead, the demand for feedstock would be in the order of five per cent of the total amount of biomass produced and harvested each year by mankind’. This estimation does not include the expected increased use of waste feedstocks as well as the development and improvement of agricultural practices for higher yields. The use of bio-based feedstocks for the production of bioplastics is by no means a competition for the production of food or feed.

KS: I have no doubt that the industry will continue to grow driven by the increasing demand for sustainable products due to a growing awareness of society’s impact on the environment as well as the continuous advancements and innovations in new materials and applications for bioplastics in packaging and beyond. One key area we will most likely see a lot of development in is a greater diversification of feedstocks used for the production of bioplastics. There are already quite a few companies and research organisations working with second and third generations of renewable feedstock. Especially biowaste will be a very interesting feedstock of the future. On-going research projects include creating bioplastics materials form coconut fibre, nut shells, tomato peel, crab shells, algae, and even cow dung. Moreover, NatureWorks just recently opened a research lab in Minnesota to develop and commercialise the fermentation process for transforming the greenhouse gas methane into lactic acid, the building block for PLA, one of the fastest growing bioplastics materials. The sky is the limit.

Bio-based and biodegradable functional barrier coatings developed by Fraunhofer ISC bioORMOCER © Knud Dobberke for Fraunhofer ISC

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EVENTS

FAKUMA 2017 RARING TO GO When the doors open at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre on Lake Constance on the 17th of October, the region where three nations meet will once again be focused entirely on plastics technology through the 21st of October, 2017.

ith the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing, being held this year for the 25th time, private trade fair promoters P.E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG will set the next new record on the occasion of the upcoming anniversary event! For the first time ever, more than 1800 exhibitors from 37 countries will participate. A full house with more than 1800 exhibitors and full occupancy of all exhibition floor space, as well as the foyers of the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre, in order to provide as many technology and market leaders from all over the world with a platform for the presentation of their products – with 915,000 square feet of overall exhibition floor space, maximum occupancy has been reached with the current hall layout. And 25 editions of Fakuma are above all 36 years of industrial development for the processing of plastics as well, which have lived through numerous technological highs – as well as acceptance lows – during this period of nearly four decades. Without a doubt, the innovations and optimisations presented at the respective Fakuma trade fairs, for example rising levels of production efficiency and at the same time the conservation of resources and reduced energy consumption, as well as increased recycling, have made a strong contribution to objectivising discussions concerning all aspects of plastics. Fakuma’s exhibition portfolio, which is clearly regulated by its nomenclature, has reflected this fact in the past and continues to do so today – by presenting the entire process sequence for industrial plastics processing from raw materials to product design, as well as tool and mould making, right on up to documented quality production and highly developed recycling systems. As opposed to in the past, the term plastics technology is now no longer associated with negative notions, because serious efforts of the

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plastics processing industries targeted at efficient use of raw materials, high levels of functionality, longest possible service life and consistent recycling are bearing fruit in many places. Highly significant technology and industry events like the Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing, and others too, have played a considerable role in this positive development, and have thus have made their contribution to broad-based acceptance of plastics in private settings as well as in work environments. The fact that a trade fair should be, and is per se a pivotal point for the presentation of products, solutions and services, but nevertheless should also make it possible for customers/users to take the all-important look beyond their own horizons, could be mentioned here as an example – namely to the effect that an adequate supplementary programme is organised at the respective event for whose alignment and execution world class speakers and contact persons are made available for all concerns associated with plastics processing. As a logical consequence, and as a matter of being consistent, Fakuma’s anniversary edition will offer an interesting supplementary programme including, amongst other things, the well-known exhibitor forum, as well as a Recruiting, Basic and Further Training Day (Wednesday the 18th of October, 2017). Throughout the four days of the trade fair there will be 38 individual presentations (including six on the issues of recruiting, basic and further training), which will deal with aspects such as requirements for high-performance polyamides, close-to-contour mould temperature control and increased productivity with tool coatings, as well as the benefits and opportunities of digitalisation. In keeping with the anniversary motto, “Plastics Meets Business”, the supplementary programme will round out the exhibition offerings by presenting Fakuma 2017 as an integrated information, communication, procurement and business platform, and as the industry event of the year. For more information visit: www.fakuma-messe.de

EVENTS CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT AND SAFETY DRIVING A&IP DEVELOPMENT

Active & Intelligent Packaging is now being seen by Brand Owners and Lawmakers as one of the key elements to help them engage with consumers to build stronger relationships with products, while, at the same time, ensuring their safety from spoilage, contamination, counterfeiting and tampering.

n particular, the news that Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s iPhone 8 would be NFC enabled, instantly bringing another 120 million users into the scope of digital packaging, was greeted enthusiastically. The new iOS 11 system allows the iPhone to read any NFC tag. Overall, by 2020 it is anticipated there will be six billion smartphone users globally and the number of connected products will exceed 30billion by the same date. This welcome news from Apple could even bring these numbers into play earlier than the forecasts predict. The food sector has a clear focus on food safety and security, so there are several projects with strong EU funding behind them which are developing new materials to prevent microbial contamination or to slow the ripening or decaying process. There is also enormous pressure building from regulators to improve food safety and security. Recently announced EU funded projects include: NanoPack, which will develop state-of-the-art antimicrobial packaging solutions for perishable foods based on natural nano-materials that will prevent food-borne illness outbreaks and reduce food waste caused by early spoilage. While FLEXPOL brings together a consortium of research and industry partners to develop a pilot line for cost-efficient antimicrobial adhesive film manufacturing. Currently these films are applied to large-area surfaces around hospitals in order to reduce the risk of contamination. But the ambition is to expand the market to food packaging, to preserve and extend the shelf life of fruit, meat and processed foods. In pharmaceuticals, where serialisation and traceability are top priorities, it has been announced that allowing QR codes on medicines packaging is being EU considered by EU regulators, reflecting the shift | 48 | Packaging Europe

towards digital communication between drug makers and patients. The move shows that regulators are in favour of using on-pack codes in a way that extends beyond compliance with the drug authentication principles enshrined within the Falsified Medicines Directive. Several smart devices can also greatly improve patient compliance and reduce waste. The huge increase in smartphone use means more and more companies are looking to use on pack devices to interact with customers. The development of mass produced printed electronic devices, and tags will only speed up the implementation of smart labels and packaged products connected to the Internet of Things for authentication, security and consumer engagement. Many A&IP leaders, such as Thinfilm Electronics and PragmatIC leaders in the development of NFC mobile marketing and smart product solutions, are addressing the issue of mass production. Both have recently opened new production facilities to scale up production for mass market and cost effective use â&#x20AC;&#x201C; enabling printed electronics and NFC (near field communication) to spread the use of interactive packaging. All these important issues will be discussed and debated at the AIPIA Congress and Hackathon in Amsterdam on 2-3 November 2017. Two Hackathons are now confirmed, one for each day. NanoPack is organising the first on the acceptance of nano-technology in packaging, while Thinfilm will host the second, on how to encourage consumers to scan products. In addition, 36 speakers will cover almost every aspect of A&IP, from smart labels, active solutions for increasing shelf-life, Internet of Things and how connected products work, including digital marking and printed electronics as well as nano-tech. Details and registration: www.aipia.info

Packaging Europe | 49 |

EVENTS

COMPAMED

Medical technology has become one of the most exciting industries in the world. This is because health is one of the most important elements of life, above all others. Therefore, advances in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are followed with particular interest.

he number of applications for patent from service providers is keeping pace with these expectations. The European Patent Office has recorded that more applications for patents come from medical technology than any other branch. All experts agree that the constant market growth of the past few years is set to continue into the future. The true speed of the growth rate cannot be precisely estimated as a result of certain economic and political development, as a result of trade protectionism. Alongside acceleration in innovation from service providers and skyrocketing enthusiasm for and interest in good medical care, superior technology trends also provide extra fuel for this boost. Digital transformation must be mentioned here. All industries have had to come onboard with digital transformation, and also miniaturise components to elicit better handling and easier application for their products. Both service providers of medical technology and their suppliers profit from these positive factors. They will present their full range of services and expertise at the N° 1 international industry platform COMPAMED in Düsseldorf from 13 to 16 November 2017. COMPAMED has been a parallel event for the world’s biggest medical trade fair, MEDICA, for 25 years, and has become a portal into the future of medical technology, allowing you to access futuristic technology and make it

EMPACK MADRID

CELEBRATES 10TH BIRTHDAY The leading packaging, packing and logistics show on the Iberian Peninsula will be held in Madrid on 7-8 November in Feria de Madrid.

ver two days, professionals from the packaging industry will meet to keep up to date in the latest trends of the sector. Empack has become the annual reference for this industry and new companies will be joining regular exhibitors such as Tecnicarton, DS Smith Carton Plastico, Fromm Embalajes, FANUC Iberia, PLAESA, MIL-TEK Global Spain, V.L. Limitronic, Videojet Technologies, Surjet,

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into reality today, with over 750 exhibitors. Be it product development, production and marketing or the desire for comprehensive solutions: COMPAMED constitutes the starting point for close collaborations between suppliers and their customers. Often, suppliers’ ideas are aired here, and these lay the foundations for huge advances in development in the world of medicine in some cases. This can be demonstrated by taking the example of diagnostic applications for ‘Point-of-Care Testing’. These are analytical procedures for patient-proximate and rapid yet favourably priced and uncomplicated laboratory diagnostics. The equipment used in diagnostics and treatment must function reliably and automatically for the benefits to be fully exploited. Samples must be taken for analysis in precisely defined quantities and then processed and tested. Drugs must be adapted and dosed according to the individual disease patterns presented by each patient. Microfluidic systems play an important role in this. The development of tiny components and parts to this end has turned out to be highly complex but it does provide the necessary basis for definite progress, for example in the field of ‘lab-on-a-chip’ technology. Visit: www.compamed-tradefair.com

Trebol Group Providers, Liderpack, Labelmarket, Marcopack, Eticoll and Tecnipesa Identificacion. All in all, more than 200 companies fill the exhibitors’ catalogue this year. A congress held across eight conference rooms and the four areas of the show is offered in parallel to the exhibition. There, national and international speakers will be delivering specialised talks to upgrade the visitor experience. This year, some winning participants in the Pentawards contest will be introducing their innovative design ideas to the audience on the second day of the show. To further enrich the visitor experience, there will also be dynamic areas such as the Virtual Reality experience zone. Meanwhile, Packaging Innovations organises the Inspirational Packaging Awards, which reward innovation and originality in packaging and POS terminal design, and after the success of previous years, the fourth edition is taking place currently and the Trophy ceremony will be hosted on the afternoon of 8 November. After record-breaking results in 2016, with more than 11,500 visitors, the organisers are projecting further improved numbers once again this year. Online registration is open and free of charge until 6 November here: http://www.easyfairs.com/empack-madrid-2017/empack-madrid-2017

EVENTS

AUTOMATION TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT GULFOOD MANUFACTURING As the rise of robots gathers pace across global industries, Gulfood Manufacturing, the Middle East’s biggest ingredients, processing, packaging, and logistics exhibition, will shine the spotlight on how automation is revolutionising the world’s food supply chain when it returns for its fourth edition at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) this 31 October to 2 November, 2017.

ccording to the Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) 2016 report ‘Middle East Industry 4.0’, companies in the Middle East anticipate significant gains with the adoption of digitisation and integration over the next four years, witnessing increased annual revenues of up to USD 17 billion across various industries, including product development and purchasing, manufacturing, logistics and service. Automation and Controls will be one of five dedicated sectors at Gulfood Manufacturing this year, as the spin-off to Gulfood enters its fourth year. The show, which will span more than 80,000 square metres of exhibition space across 13 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, and which has cemented Dubai’s reputation as a major player in the global food supply chain, provides the perfect platform for industry leaders to demonstrate the latest automation innovations alongside complete food and beverage solutions reshaping the global food manufacturing industry. Other dedicated sectors within the mammoth exhibition include Ingredients, which will cover the latest in taste and flavour solutions – from amino acids to yeast nutrients; Processing – featuring the latest answers to all needs from baking to water treatment; Packaging; and Supply Chain Solutions – covering everything from cold storage to forklifts. “Gulfood Manufacturing offers a unique, tailored platform for international food producers and companies across the global food production value chain to connect and network with local and regional partners,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Senior Vice President, Exhibitions & Events Management, DWTC. “The show is a conduit for industry stakeholders eager to accelerate their regional distribution and sales potential, and develop new routes in the food manufacturing sector.” “The continued growth in the show’s participation emphasises how the world’s leading equipment, ingredients, logistics and supply chain solutions providers view Gulfood Manufacturing as the preferred platform to leverage an operational foothold in the regional market, specifically via Dubai. Despite global political and economic chal| 52 | Packaging Europe

lenges, Dubai continues to offer a supremely stable base in which to do business, backed by a visionary leadership and a government that is committed to investment and diversification of the economy as part of its long-term future growth strategy.” Gulfood Manufacturing 2017 will present food and beverage manufacturers with the unique opportunity to connect with more than 1,600 local, regional and international, suppliers and industry service providers, while creating easier access for these exhibitors to meet new customers to boost their business potential. With consumer tastes and preferences constantly changing and with experience, sustainability and affordability now more in focus than ever, exhibitors will be eager to show that they have the answers to address the latest demands. Exhibitors from more than 60 countries will be showcasing their latest innovations, including 30 national pavilions, with first-time participation from countries including Poland and across the CIS. To ensure participating companies can connect with the right partners and investors, Gulfood Manufacturing 2017 will host the ‘Big Buyers’ Programme, which will host more than 2,000 pre-qualified serious buyers at the show from across the Middle East and Africa, with a pre-determined budget to spend with participating exhibitors. Also new for this year are the Gulfood Manufacturing Awards, which will recognise industry excellence in a glittering ceremony on the evening of October 31, while the Innovation Tours will offer visitors a memorable journey showing real-life innovations within some of the region’s top, award-winning food factories. An industry-leading conference will also be held on the sidelines of the exhibition featuring in-depth analysis, debate and discussion on topics including digitisation in the industry, smart manufacturing, big data and analytics. Visit: gulfoodmanufacturing.com

BLOW MOULDING

BLOW MOULDING 2017 REVIEW The Blow Moulding Conference, which took place 19-21 June in Düsseldorf, brought together all the main links in the supply chain, from brand owners and packaging companies to blow moulders, preform suppliers and suppliers of ancillary products, raw materials and machinery, as well as the research community. Blow Moulding Blow Moulding 2017 Review

he event drew an up-to-date picture of the industry, including recent developments and unmet market needs, while providing participants with ample opportunity to network, exchange opinions, discuss issues of common interest and initiate new collaborations. Below are some of the most significant topics and presentations raised during the event. Noru Tsalic, ‘Trends & Developments in Global Blow Moulding Markets’. In 2017 circa 31 million MT of polymers will be processed by blow moulding. Globally, this volume is expected to grow by circa 4.5 per cent per annum in the next five years, reaching around 39 million MT by 2022. In terms of applications, consumer packaging holds the lion’s share of demand, followed by industrial packaging and nonpackaging applications (the latter includes automotive, toys, etc.) The main polymers used in blow moulding are PET (57 per cent) and PE (39 per cent). Blow moulding is an increasingly sophisticated industry and is part of a relatively complex supply chain. The key to success is innovation – in product design, process, materials, machinery and logistics. Anna Trunas Josa (Global Preform Buyer with Danone), ‘Make or Buy: What’s Next?’ Danone aims to use the most appropriate technology for the job, while improving quality and reducing costs. Describing advances in PET technology, she mentioned that in the last 15 years cycle time was shortened by 34 per cent and energy consumption dropped by 40 per cent. Danone pursues additional routes to a more sustainable packaging – for instance the use of bio-sourced materials. Using examples from other industries (Uber, AirB&B), she encouraged suppliers to think creatively and not hesitate to take innovative approaches. Stephen Mancey (managing director with Logoplaste), ‘Blow Moulding: It can be a world class science and not an art’. The blow mouding industry, he claimed, invests millions in materials, machinery and technologies, but not enough in quality workforce. It ‘loves’ the CEO and the senior management, but does not ensure that the lower level employees have the necessary scientific and technological knowledge. The industry needs to design the complete product (for instance bottle + closure) and

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take a Right-First-Time approach. Only employ highly skilled technicians, not ‘artists who button-fiddle’. He pleaded for employment of a scientific approach, rather than the trial-and-error one. He showed examples of the benefits when such scientific methods are employed. Karlheinz Hausmann (R&D fellow and sustainability leader with DuPont de Nemours International) talked about Specialty Polyolefins in Blow Moulding, especially in Decoration, Adhesion and Recycling. DuPont produces speciality, functionalised polyolefins for use as tie-layer resins, polymer blend compatibilisers, coupling agents for fillers and impact modifiers for polyamides. In addition, ionomers are used to provide improved scratch resistance in decoration elements. They can be overmoulded on top of extrusion blow moulded polyolefin bottles, resulting in special decorative effects and excellent scratch and abrasion resistance. Compatibilisers allow recycling of mixtures of incompatible polymers, with the resulting blend having much improved properties. This results in low-value recyclate streams being usable in the manufacture of high-value products. Romain Luijkx (Technical Service & Development Engineer with Braskem Europe) talked about New blow moulding HDPE from Latin America. As global leader in biopolymers, Braskem produces polyolefins (PE, PP) starting from sugarcane, rather than crude oil. Blow moulding is an important application for Braskem. With improved logistics to Europe, the company offers a broad range of grades for this process. Several such grades are offered both in ‘traditional’ version (based on oil) and in ‘Green’ version (bio-based). Umberto Credali (marketing & asset manager with LyondellBasell) presented his company’s 40 years of commitment to the Blow Moulding industry. The company’s latest innovation is the Hyperzone technology, which enables very tight control of the polymerisation process, resulting in the production of grades with precise molecular design, customised molecular weight distribution and final product composition. Christopher Lohr (rigid packaging market development manager with Sabic Europe) presented Innovative SOLUTIONS FOR challenging

BLOW MOULDING

requirements in blow moulding. He presented several case studies in which careful tailoring of the raw material structure and properties resulted in significant improvements at the level of end product. For instance, a 30 l jerrycan could be made 5-10 per cent lighter, while maintaining or improving properties. An innovative dairy product bottle was manufactured by extrusion blow moulding using PP, resulting in a superior product. A LED electric bulb was manufactured by ISBM using polycarbonate (replacing glass). Sabic favours a collaborative approach to innovation. Sarah Schäfer (research fellow with IKV-RWTH, Institut für KunststoffVerarbeitung), talked about Enabling the processing of silicone rubber in extrusion blow moulding. Silicone rubber has unique properties such as extreme flexibility, very broad temperature range in use, etc. It is used, for instance, in the manufacture of tubes and containers for medical, technical and automotive applications. As a crosslinked rubber it is, however, relatively difficult to process. The process developed by IKV enables it to be blow-moulded by performing the crosslinking in two stages: an initial partial crosslinking before the blow moulding, followed by final curing. The process is being further fine-tuned, with the influence of various parameters being examined. Dr Shiyong Yan (research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast), ‘Optimising Stretch Blow Moulding through Simulation’. The chosen research methodology used an instrumented ISBM machine and high-speed imaging to determine the material behaviour during the process. Several case studies were presented in which the use of simulation resulted in material benefits for the converter and user. A new instrument was introduced, which enable preform characterisation. It will help companies to speed up the prototyping process, to be more flexible to the new design and new material, and to introduce more digitalisation. Markus Juppe (Sales Director) and Klaus Schönhoff (Technical Director) from Intravis presented Novel Technology for non-destructive mapping of Layer thickness in multi-layer Bottles & Containers. The technique replaces the destructive and profoundly imperfect manual sampling and measurement with a 360 degree, non-destructive ‘total’ scanning. It is applicable also in preforms and colour does not hinder the measurement. Benefits include a more reliable quality, less dependence on the human factor in manufacturing and quality control and financial economies resulting among others from less need for safety factors to compensate for possible imprecisions. | 56 | Packaging Europe

Sven Sängerlaub (Fraunhofer IVV) presented Novel gas and water permeability testing in plastic bottles. He started by reviewing barrier requirements in various applications, the barrier properties of the various polymers, as well as permeation mechanisms in polymers. He then reviewed and compared various methods of measuring permeability. In oxygen permeability, the carrier gas measurement method can be substituted by optical methods. Using helium rather than oxygen accelerates the test, but the permselectivity between helium and oxygen needs to be known. However, the latter is a constant for each class of polymer. Water vapour transmission rates can be determined by simple sorption experiments. Frédéric Chivrac (packaging manager with Danone Nutricia Research) talked about iBOTTLE: a Case study for Activia drinks relaunch in Brazil. He described a drive to re-design the bottles for Activia drinks in Brazil. In keeping with the brand message, it was decided to adopt ‘Dynamic Woman’ as the inspiration. The design for the bottle attempted to mimic the dynamic lean of a woman’s body reaching upwards. The initial design polarised reactions between the ‘realists’ which cast doubt upon the possibility to produce such a bottle and those who loved it. The bottle was then developed from concept to technical drawing. Using simulations and virtual pilot methodology, some 20 iterations were performed to determine the optimum final design. Commissioning trial have then been undertaken in an actual plant, where various practical limitations had to be overcome. There were quality issues in the beginning, which had to be eliminated – for instance by tweaking the design of the bottom. This process not only resulted in a successful bottle design, but also served for learning, to derive knowledge and experience for the future. Ferran Deola (packaging cluster leader North & South with McBride) presented Trends in use post-consumer recycled PET. His presentation started by comparing post-consumer PET collection systems in various European countries, analysing their advantages and disadvantages. He then described how the collected stream is processed to obtain usable flakes. There are differences between the requirements for food and drinks on one hand and for household products on the other. Pressure for increased use of R-PET is coming from retailers and consumers. Until recently, many bottles for household products were based on 25 per cent R-PET, but this is increasing to 50 per cent, 70 per cent and in certain cases 100 per cent. In McBride’s experience, up to 50 per cent R-PET in the composition does not generate any issues in processing. The packaging team has developed, in close collaboration with the other departments, a protocol to check the compatibility of a particular formulation. The use of machines with differential heating devices is essential. Didier Houssier (global business development manager with Kuraray/ EVAL Europe) discussed Multilayer EVOH/HDPE Packaging In Processing and Performance of Recycled HDPE. He disclosed results obtained through an experimental study using rHDPE, which was found to contain 20 per cent of coloured product and 0.42 per cent EVOH multilayer. The results presented show that there is no reason not to include HDPE/EVOH structures in the recycling of HDPE packaging. Levels of up to 5 per cent will have no significant deleterious effect on properties or performance of rHDPE. Daniel Libert (Total Research & Technology Feluy), ‘Towards a better End-of-Life: the role of the virgin plastics industry’. He showed

statistics for plastics end-of-life in various European countries. In some countries landfill is almost eliminated, with the plastic being either recycled or used for energy recovery. In other countries there are still quite high ratios of landfill. Next, the developments in European regulation were reviewed. By 2025, circa 60 per cent of plastic bottles will be recycled. This needs the active involvement of the entire supply chain. Total has launched the concept of Circular Compounds. These contain 25 per cent or 50 per cent of post-consumer recycled PE, the balance being virgin resin used to boost properties. These compounds have guaranteed properties and consistency. By launching these products, Total aims to act as a Circularity Enhancer in the supply chain. Marco Bellotti (sales & marketing manager, CMG S.P.A.), presented Innovations and sustainability in size-reduction solutions for the blow moulding industry. He presented a number of engineering innovations which result in more efficient granulation, lower energy consumption, lower heat and dust generation, reduced wear and tear of the blades and ultimately, lower costs. Examples of practical applications were given. Günter Ausserwöger (sales director Kavo with Greiner Packaging), presented a novel ISBM bbarrier bottle. Greiner used the Kavoblow platform, which employs a single-stage ISBM machine consisting of a vertical IM machine and a highly efficient blowing station. This has been equipped with a an additional co-injection unit, with adds the barrier material (e.g. EVOH). The result is a novel PP/EVOH bottle that exhibits transparency, excellent barrier properties and hot-filling resistance. Almudena Domínguez (TS & D blow moulding & fibres specialist with Repsol) talked about Improving HDPE grades: providing solutions for

increasingly demanding customers’ requirements. Substituting traditional materials with plastic reduces the weight of packaging by 360 per cent on average. Greenhouse gas emissions decrease by a factor of 2.7, equivalent to 21 million less cars on the road. Repsol offers grades for the production of IBCs, Jerrycans and bottles. Recent improved grades for these applications were reviewed. Additional improvements were made in response to increasingly stringent regulation – for instance phthalate-free PP. Davide Bartoli (regional sales manager with Agr International) presented Novel Process Automation Technique in Reheat Blow Moulding. He started by reviewing the sources of of process variation in PET bottle manufacturing: resin, preforms, blowmoulder and environment. Agr has adopted a 3-step approach: measure, control and optimise. The resulting system enables manufacturers to use variable grades of raw material, to process preforms of various quality, age and source, to efficiently manage start-ups and to reduce energy consumption. All this should translate into improved profitability. Dieter Rothe (key account & sales manager with Kautex Maschinenbau), talked about manufacturing Specialty Blow Moulding products for Automotive, Consumer and industrial packaging and other applications. He showed innovative concepts implemented in a number of machines. One such machine has been used in the production of a 7-layer filler pipe. An additional concept is the use of a glossy outer layer to decorate bottles n=made of regular HDPE. Three layer-blow moulding can be used to reclaim post consumer resin, which is sandwiched between layers of virgin polymer. There are also 4and 6-layer containers, each serving particular applications. Packaging Europe | 57 |

SONOCO DELIVERS SCALABLE RETAIL CUSTOMISATION WITH BARBERÁN DIGITAL PRESS Sonoco Display and Packaging contributes to surge in US manufacturing growth through its investment in the Barberán Jetmaster, direct to corrugate, single pass digital press. The state-of-the-art press is slated to be installed in the autumn 2017.

ollowing a rigorous global search, Sonoco identified the Barberán Jetmaster as the best technology to meet the future needs of the retail POP display and graphic packaging markets. Its combination of quality, speed, and reliability was unmatched by the competition.“Our customers can now provide unrivalled retail customisation. The Barberán Jetmaster is the perfect complement to our multiyear effort to modernise our equipment base, offering both increased capability and productivity.” said Jeff Tedder, Director US US Manufacturing at Sonoco Display and Packaging. “Adding Sonoco to our growing list of North American customers validates the relevance of this amazing digital platform. It will be our 5th US installation

in the past two years, demonstrating the acceptance of this technology in the marketplace, remarked Garrett Bradley, President of Gemini North America (North American Distributor of Barberán). “At Barberan we are very excited about where the corrugated and packaging markets are heading. We believe our unique platform where you are able to control your consumables is revolutionary thinking. You are not locked into the same supplier for ink as your press. We have multiple approved suppliers to help drive costs down.” More info: www.barberan.com

EVENTS

THE WORLD OF PHARMA RETURNS TO FRANKFURT CPhI Worldwide takes place 24–26 October 2017 at Messe Frankfurt, Germany. After last year’s recordbreaking event, the world’s most prominent pharma executives are ready to gather again for three days of collaboration, information dissemination, and discussions that will define the future of the industry.

he 2016 CPhI Worldwide event in Barcelona saw an all-time record attendance of over 42,000 people, with 2,550+ exhibitors from 156 countries. Building on this success, CPhI Worldwide 2017 will host over 20 dedicated zones covering ingredients, APIs, excipients, contract services, packaging, biopharma, machinery, and many more. Running concurrently is InnoPack which connects buyers and specifiers from the packaging and pharmaceutical industries, showcasing all the newest innovations in pharma packaging. Beyond the exhibition, the Pharma Forum is CPhI’s go-to space for all pharmaceutical professionals looking to explore specialist areas and new business opportunities, as well as sourcing non-biased information on trends, innovations, developments, and the latest regulatory insights – all in one location. The Pharma Forum includes the latest innovative products and services in the Innovation Galleries, free high value content at the Pharma Insight Briefings, and the chance to share your experiences and recharge your batteries in the Pharma Insight Lounge. CPhI is a key advocate of female executive empowerment, and on the second day of CPhI Worldwide, the Women in Leadership Forum will take place. Here, female executives will get a chance to meet and discuss with their peers about promoting diversity in the workplace. It serves as a space to share their experiences, exchange expertise, and discuss effective leadership strategies. The Pharma Insight Briefings will offer participants the chance to access a diverse range of content through succinct 45-minute sessions. These in-depth seminars on specialist topics and regional updates will take place during the course of CPhI Worldwide. All content is free to access and open to all visitors with topics covering pharmaceutical packaging, market entry, mergers & acquisitions,

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mHealth, new technological developments and the latest innovations in pharmaceutical ingredients and biologics. As well as the many free-to-attend industry seminars, the Innovation Gallery will provide a showcase for some of CPhI’s most exciting new products. This is where visitors can see innovative pharmaceutical developments in ingredients, finished dosage formulations, contract services and packaging. The CPhI Live Pharma Connect is your online business match and meet tool at CPhI Worldwide open to both visitors and exhibitors to prearrange their meetings. The system is very easy to use and automatically finds the best matches for both visitor and exhibitors needs. This year’s CPhI Pre-Connect Congress will take place on the 23rd of October, the day prior to CPhI Worldwide, and offers its most exciting and comprehensive agenda to date. This platform gathers experts and thought leaders from the entire pharmaceutical supply chain to provide insights into the latest developments. In particular, the first keynote will feature Samsung Biologics President & CEO, Dr Tae Han Kim. He will provide an in-depth presentation addressing uncertainty in the industry, as well as the future outlook for pharma. The second regulatory keynote will be given by Ajaz Hussain, President, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology & Education, Inc. & Former Deputy Director, Office for Pharmaceuticals, FDA. Mr Hussain will give a special address covering the US and European regulator’s intention to mutually recognise one another’s pharmaceutical manufacturing inspection procedure, and the urgent need to reduce regulator heterogeneity in the cGMP inspection process. Free registration for CPhI Worldwide closes on 15 October 2017. Register here: www.cphi.com/europe/

PROPHOTONIX SOLIDIFIES ITS STATUS IN THE PRINTING INDUSTRY ProPhotonix, specialists in the design and manufacture of custom laser and LED solutions for the most detailed and exacting application requirements, will be underlining its commitment to the printing market at Labelexpo Europe 2017. Ken Reynolds, Business and Technology Manager explains to Libby White how with over two decades of experience in providing custom solutions to OEMs and system integrators worldwide, ProPhotonix is well prepared to address the challenges of the printing market.

stablished in 1951, ProPhotonix offers a proven development process, and meeting customer requirements is a key focus. Headquartered in the US, with two ISO-certified manufacturing facilities in Europe, ProPhotonix has a global sales and distribution network. Ken Reynolds shares that the company has been serving the industrial sector with LED solutions since 1995, and UV LED products for fifteen years.

Responding to customers’ needs He explains why the company sees the printing industry as the next logical step, “Following requests from our existing customer base for an off-theshelf UV curing system, ProPhotonix initiated a new product development process and following years of customer trials has launched a number of configurable UV LED solutions.” At Labelexpo, ProPhotonix will display its full range of UV LED Curing systems for the first time in Europe. “Our brand is very well known for our expertise in LED lighting in the industrial space, and we have now brought these capabilities to the printing industry,” says Dr Reynolds. The company will showcase how it offers flexible and scalable solutions, optimised for specific applications. On display will be the COBRA Cure FX1, COBRA Cure FX2 and COBRA Cure FX3 UV LED curing systems. Built on a well-established platform, these products offer progressively higher

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power levels and are available with a range of optical outputs as well as a number of unique features to offer improved performance over the lifetime of the lamp.

OEM Experience ProPhotonix has the expertise and experience in addressing challenging applications, and Dr Reynolds emphasises that it has the ability to offer optimised and highly configurable products: “We have a team of optical, electronic, software, and mechanical engineers in-house. We build from the chip level up which allows us to maximise performance, with products tailored to specific requirements.” Testament to the company’s partnership approach is ProPhotonix strength in retaining its customers. “A number of our customers will be celebrating their 20th anniversary with us soon, and we feel we have maintained these long term relationships as a result of our ability to work flexibly and continuously deliver innovative solutions,” adds Dr Reynolds. He concludes that the future looks bright, “ProPhotonix expects another record year in 2017. For ProPhotonix, the UV LED curing market forms a key pillar of our growth strategy.” More info: www.prophotonix.com

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SARTEN SHINES WITH HIGH QUALITY, FAST AND ECONOMIC SERVICE With an unblemished reputation for 45 years, Sarten continues to create added value in the global packaging industry.

a major player both in Turkey and Europe, Sarten has been providing its customers with high-quality metal and plastic packaging for food, industrial products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1972 in Çorlu, Turkey, today Sarten has 17 factories; 15 of which are located in Turkey, one in Bulgaria and one in Russia. To better serve its customers, the company also has offices based in Serbia, Romania, and Greece. Its products are exported to a total of around 80 countries in Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Russia, Central Asia and America. Sarten employs around 3000 people and appreciates the dedication of every one of them. The company knows that its employees are the indispensable part of its success on the packaging market. Using the latest technologies in packaging production, Sarten also meets high printing qualities. Sarten Design Office has come on stream to meet client’s immediate needs and expectation. However, quality and reliability are not the only reasons why many companies all over the world use Sarten’s products. Due to its significant geographical advantage, the producer also shines out with short delivery times for customers mainly located in Europe. The company emphasises its fast response time to client’s demands, | 64 | Packaging Europe

without compromising on the high quality, economy and eco-friendly aspect of its packaging solutions. With an expected turnover of 350 million USD in 2017, Sarten is determined to continue its growth with continuous investment plans. With an investment of a new line located in its Manisa Plant, the company’s capacity of twist off cap production has increased by 25 per cent. Sarten has also recently opened a new facility in Manisa for ‘Easy Open End” with an investment of 15 Million USD. With its new Easy Open Cap facility, Sarten has doubled its capacity. Sarten’s investments in 2017 are not limited to Turkey. A new plant for aerosol can production with an investment of 3 Million Euros in the Netherlands is also on its way. The new plant which is expected to open by the end of the year will be located between Rotterdam and Antwerp so that Sarten will be closer to both the major ports of Europe and its customers. In parallel with its facility investments, Sarten keeps expanding its R&D activities. By having recently gained the status of the first R&D Centre of Packaging Industry in Turkey, the company continues to add value to the packaging industry with innovative products and services. Visit: www.sarten.com.tr

MASTERBATCH MASTERS Packaging Europe profiles family-owned German company AW Kunststoff Farbkonzentrate GmbH – a highly flexible and innovative producer of masterbatches for packaging industry.

was founded by Hans Aussem and the current managing director Andrea Weiss in October 1989. Both had long experience in the field of developing masterbatches for plastics. When Mr Aussem retired in 2000, Mrs Weiss became sole proprietor and managing director. Since 2014 she has been supported by her daughter Jasmin Weiss. With only a few employees – but with a willingness to operate in the small-quantity sector of below 25 kg and with high quality and service standards – the firm soon succeeded in acquiring new customers. Additional benefit for its customers was created by establishing a delivery service which is still highly rated today. In 1999, after just one year from initial planning to construction, AW moved from rented premises to its own fully equipped new business facility in Lichtenfels-Schney. Since the company’s relocation, the number of employees has doubled to 80 while its turnover has quadrupled.

Ethos of excellence Since a chain is only as strong as its weakest piece, AW makes sure that its products never let the side down in the raw material to end product supply chain. An assurance that applies to both the development stage and the production stage of new colours. Swift response times and exceptional flexibility in all areas are essential requirements on today’s markets and they form the basis of AW’s work. The company feels it as part of its mission to support the customers in all aspects of plastics processing. As AW continually expands its capacity, it is in an excellent position to deal quickly with any requests and orders. The company´s aims and objectives in terms of quality and quantity are subject to constant improvement and control. Fully committed to its philosophy, all of its employees are actively involved in translating it into reality. Any shortcomings spotted are remedied immediately. Production as a whole is checked for efficiency all the time and improved on a sustainable basis. In 2007, for example, by initiating a four-shift system, it was able to boost production capacity substantially. The

machinery was fully restructured to streamline production orders according to batch size. As early as 2005, the development section began to work solely with the kind of extrusion systems deployed in the production section. This means that results achieved in the laboratory can be transferred to volume production scale more effectively. AW has been developing colour concentrates at the Lichtenfels location for the plastics industry since 1989. In addition to masterbatches, its product range includes additives which boost the product properties and act as processing aids in customer´s production. It also supplies its customers with compounds made in small quantities as well as in high volumes.

Customised products AW’s masterbatches are always produced on specific polymer systems fitted to customer´s requirements und base resin for the final product, contributing to optimal downstream processing. Universal base resins with all their disadvantages are not used. In addition to single coloured batches, the AW product range also includes transparent and translucent colorants as well as sophisticated and exclusive effects. AW works solely on an order related basis. The work flow is transparent for its customers, as it creates an individual formula tailored to customer requirements; provides masterbatch in trial quantities; adjusts the formula in the event of any customer wishes; and delivers the specified masterbatch in the quantities desired. In that process, the entire development stage at AW does not create any extra cost for the customer. Therefore, it is possible to use AW’s sample formulas to assess complete series in advance and then integrate the result into the development of new products and range of colours — again at no any extra cost. The overall development and production process is carried out according to the specifications and objectives of its quality management system which, in turn, operates strictly in accordance with ISO 9001. Implementation and Packaging Europe | 65 |

compliance are subject to internal control procedures and regularly verified by external inspectors.

Innovative expertise The development department at AW focuses on the creation of formulas for the production of specified colour tones. This proceeds in tandem with the specialist know-how of its six colourists who work in a two-shift cycle to create exactly what the customer wants. If necessary, they have a colour library of more than 80,000 colour formulations at their disposal. These specialists can solve the most complex of tasks — and that, usually, within a timeframe of seven working days. Not only do they keep themselves updated about latest market trends, they are also experts at turning new ideas into reality. New or innovative products such as special effects and high-end pigments available from mayor European suppliers are put into the product portfolio without delay and thus made available to the development department. Moreover, in addition to following national and international guidelines, its colourists regularly attend special training programmes so they are in the position to respond to any special requirements its customers have. One colourist manages all stages of colour matching from analysis of a given product to first formulations to finalisation for the customer even at the customer´s location. Even then, the laboratory team remains at the customer’s side for any advisory support. In addition to the ever-growing library of colour formations, the colourists can count on technical tools and assistance. The laboratory itself is equipped with state-of-the-art colour measurement technology and special software for checking colour tones and formula progress. Sampling takes place under Illuminant “D65”. However, the company also has light cabins with Illuminants ‘D65’, ‘D50’, ‘TL84’ and ‘A’ at its disposal.

Production quality At the end of the development stage, each formula receives its own code and can be called up at any time for production purposes. If a customer subsequently orders that colour number, the formula is set to the quantity so ordered and produced to the time schedule stipulated. Production planning and internal controlling procedures ensure an optimised production process. The high degree of flexibility also guarantees that deliveries can be dispatched anywhere in the world at short notice. Production at AW is subject to constant quality controls by four colourists supervising the production process on a shift basis. | 66 | Packaging Europe

Each batch is subject to a series of checks based on the criteria of colour tone and any special customer requirements. Where necessary, adjustments can be made. To do so, production quantity is compared with the archived example of the master sample and with existing quality agreements.

Outstanding service AW goes to serious lengths to give customers the royal treatment. It’s service package includes free sampling within just a few working days; sampling in bottle form, shade cards, caps and twin-layer tube; colour setting on customer’s machines; advice in all areas of plastics processing; advice as to the use of additives to boost production; own delivery service within a 50-km radius; supplying production volumes within a few days; delivery anywhere in the world; and joint colour setting on its premises. However, beyond the catalogue of stand policies, service is tailored to the task at hand. Just like the market itself, AW’s services change as they adjust to new challenges, close to the customer – and always a bit more than expected.

Future visions based on innovative traditions Spotting developments on the market early on, adapting to emergent structures and presenting one’s own ideas… this is how AW sees itself responding to the challenges of the future. In the past, the business provided its customers with several catalogues in different styles. Whether to help check out an exclusive combination of colour and effect pigments or function as a decision-aid for cost-efficient standard lines, the catalogues were designed to have a long and useful service life. Indeed, most of them are still in use at its customers. Visit: www.aw-color.de

SMART MOTION SYSTEMS: SIMPLER IS BETTER Todd Webber, President and CEO, MagneMotion, a Rockwell Automation company, shares that a more flexible approach to motion control abandons complex mechanical systems to speed up changeovers and boost productivity.

esigners of conveyor systems and other motion control systems have long been forced to choose productivity over flexibility. That is because conventional motion systems use a strictly mechanical design approach, involving rotary-driven chains, belts and gears. These systems are not only complex, but also rigid, inflexible and challenging to maintain. So while a machine or line may achieve a desired throughput level, changing to a new product can require extensive mechanical retooling. These systems may have sufficed in the days of continuous production runs, but no longer. Manufacturers today are producing a wider variety of products and packaging sizes. They need more flexible systems that can | 68 | Packaging Europe

accommodate added production variety while minimising changeovers and other downtime. Smart motion control systems offer a new way forward. They use new hardware platforms with advanced control algorithms that allow manufacturers to make changes by reprogramming a system rather than retooling it. They also provide greater control when transporting and positioning products to help increase production performance. One example of smart motion is an intelligent track or conveyor system that uses programmable independent movers on a straight or curved track. These systems can be scaled to a wide range of needs, from highperformance, in-machine production to the transport of products between

facilities. And they are already helping reimagine motion applications, from packaging and pharmaceutical production to 3D printing.

Boost Productivity Smart motion systems can run and accelerate faster than conventional motion systems, and their independent movers can further speed up operations. One packaging equipment builder incorporated a smart motion system with independent movers into its high-speed collating machine. The new system reduced the number of mechanical components and doubled throughput from the previous-generation machine. Another machine builder used a smart motion system in a new highspeed case-packing machine that packages pouches in a variety of shelfready formats. The machine uses the motion system’s high-speed movers to pack up to 60 cases, or 300 pouches, per minute. Most legacy pouch case packers cannot exceed 20 cases per minute. “You have to see it to believe it,” the company’s president and CEO said. “Packaging stand-up pouches at these speeds really benefits from the use of this new technology.”

Improve Flexibility Smart motion systems are designed for flexibility. Manufacturers can take advantage of software-configured profiles that make toolless product changeovers possible with the push of a button. The systems’

independent movers can transport multiple payloads of varying weights, and manufacturers can add, remove and orient the movers in a wide range of ways based on production needs. All of this can help manufacturers reduce changeover-related downtime, accommodate a larger variety of product and packaging sizes, and improve the profitability of shorter production runs. Cama Group used a smart motion system on its new high-speed carton-filling machine. The system uses two carriers to handle products of any size without tool changes. This enables automatic changeovers with no need for manual intervention. Machine builder KHS also used a smart motion system on its Innopouch K-400 form, fill and seal (FFS) pouching machine. The machine is “pitchless,” with each pouch independently controlled and changeovers completed with the press of a button. “Instead of using mechanical elements to move product through the machine, we’re now using a magnetically driven device that can adjust its geometry through software,” said Roger Calabrese, research and development manager for KHS.

Increase Uptime Faster changeovers invariably lead to more uptime, but smart motion systems also help increase uptime in other ways. For instance, they have fewer moving parts than conventional systems, resulting in reduced maintenance demands and downtime. They also make Packaging Europe | 69 |

information more easily available to operators, which can help prevent jams and reduce troubleshooting time should an issue occur. Smart motion systems also can recover faster in the event of an emergency shutdown. In conventional mechanical systems, motors need to return to a home position. Smart systems, however, use absolute encoders on each mover that hold position data and can restart immediately after a shutdown.

Additional Benefits and Savings In addition to supporting more productive and flexible operations, smart motion systems also offer other key benefits. For one, they can significantly reduce energy costs. In conventional systems, a whole conveyor must run regardless if it is carrying one product or hundreds of products. Smart motion systems, on the other hand, only apply energy to the specific movers that are being commanded to carry products or hold a position. Smart motion systems also can help reduce machine footprint on the plant floor. They can combine continuous and intermittent processes – such as printing and assembly – into one machine. And they can use highly configurable design elements, such as straight and curved tracks, to optimise a machine’s size on a plant floor. Altogether, these design benefits can reduce a machine’s physical footprint by 10 to 50 per cent. Lastly, they can help workers. Fewer moving parts, easy-to-use controls and toolless changeovers all help reduce operational complexity. This can | 70 | Packaging Europe

be especially valuable for less-experienced workers, who are not only less familiar with production systems but also increasingly expect operations be more software-driven.

Smart Motion and the Future of Manufacturing Adoption of smart motion systems will likely grow in the coming years, as more manufacturers embrace smart machines and seek to make better use of their production information. Smart motion systems can intelligently manage the flow of a wide variety of products to maximise throughput. They can use built-in self-diagnostics to quickly troubleshoot and resolve stoppage issues. And they allow operators or technicians to quickly implement production improvements via software profiles rather than through long, laborious mechanical changes. Smart systems also can support greater traceability in industries like life sciences, food and beverage, and automotive. The systems can track and record each product’s journey through the production process. Operators can use this information to know where products are at all times, while quality and compliance personnel can use it to confirm products went through the necessary processes. All of these capabilities show that smart motion systems can do far more than free designers from being forced to choose productivity over flexibility – they can help motion control be entirely reimagined. Visit: www.magnemotion.com and www.rockwellautomation.com

ToBEUnique: the amazing results of Favia’s digital printing on an aluminium tube

Quality Control Team

ALUMINIUM SPECIALISTS: LEADING THE WAY IN DESIGN AND QUALITY Tubettificio Favia, producer of collapsible aluminium tubes for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and industrial sectors, was established more than 80 years ago. Packaging Europe spoke with Mr Renato Favia, CEO, to find out about the company’s impressive story and progress since 1934.

Favia sets the scene, “In all these long decades we had the opportunity to witness the most important changes of industrial history, in Italy and in Europe: World War Two; the Reconstruction; the Italian economic miracle and the great social movements of the 60’s and 70’s. The most important year, for us, was 1956, when we moved to our current headquarters in Milan’s neighbourhood and, in the years of plastic’s rise, we decided to focus only on aluminium packaging.” This specialisation has led Tubettificio Favia to meet the highest quality standards and conquer 45 per cent of the Italian pharmaceutical packaging market. Mr Favia adds, “Our next challenge is to increase our international presence: more than 70 per cent of our production is dedicated to foreign markets, mostly pharma and cosmetics.”

A parade of Favia’s aluminium tubes

Favia counts on 95 employees. Its manufacturing plants have seven production lines, active and fully automated, working five days a week on three work shifts, with production capacity of more than 110 million tubes/year. The production can be increased through the intensive use of the existing facilities and/or installing new facilities in the already arranged areas. The aluminium tubes can also be stored in the company’s warehouse, waiting for shipping or pick up. Its team is ready to support new clients in both productive and administrative operations.

Visionary approach The company’s greatest difference to its competitors is in its approach to the market.

The soft nozzle (in the middle) among traditional ophthalmic nozzles

Favia Production

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Favia’s soft nozzle is perfect for veterinary use

Soft nozzle: ophthalmic use

“We consider our packaging as a solution that enhances the product, as well as protecting it. Packaging helps to dispense the product; packaging informs; packaging can also be part of a communication strategy. This is our vision,” underlines Mr Favia. In this vision, the company is not solely a supplier of aluminium collapsible tubes but a strategic partner with decades of experience in the field that can support any product’s growth. Tubettificio Favia also prides itself on offering the highest specialisation. It produces only aluminium collapsible tubes in a dimensional range from ∅13.5mm to ∅35mm. Finally, quality is an important factor. The company’s processes meet the highest quality standards of the pharma industry, and are applied constantly as a part of its everyday work.

simple login, they can access a reserved area which allows to check the status and progress of orders, download official documentation and quality, organise production plans, and control the goods delivered,” adds Mr Favia.

Supporting partners Tubettificio Favia has several ways in which it supports its partners. “We have an internal creative team ready to cooperate with the customer’s communication agency to successfully apply branding design on aluminium tubes, for the best results even on a little cylindrical aluminium surface,” says Mr Favia. Thanks to its skilled employees and a quality team, the company can support its clients whilst also supplying the necessary documents to get the certifications required by the pharmaceutical industry, saving them time and resources. “We also provide our clients with the web portal Favia online: with a Favia Online, the web portal for Favia’s clients

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Latest solutions The aluminium tube Soft Nozzle, and its digital printing solution ToBEUnique, are great examples of Tubettificio Favia’s innovative nature. The Soft Nozzle is a perfect solution when extra care is needed: it makes the dispensing and application of the product easy and totally safe, even on the most sensitive parts of the body. Mr Favia enthuses, “It is perfect for ophthalmic ointments, but can also be used with different applications in the paediatric or veterinary fields, as good as cosmetics.” ToBEUnique is a very different kind of innovation: a digital printing method that involves the aluminium body of the tube and the plastic end cap in one single process. ToBeUnique allows beautiful design effects and thanks to its unicity works also as an anti-counterfeiting method, not to mention the optimization of production time and resources. “We are deeply convinced that these two solutions can make a difference in Pharma and Cosmetics packaging,” Mr Favia states. “Both have been awarded with important prizes: the aluminium tube with soft nozzle in 2015 won the “Packaging Oscar” assigned by the Italian Packaging Institute; the next year, ToBEUnique won the same prize. 2017 is the year of international acknowledgment, with two World Packaging Organization Awards: one for the soft nozzle and the other for ToBEUnique.”

Soft nozzle

Renato Favia talking with sales director Monica Gemini

ToBEUnique and relative awards: 2016 Packaging Oscar and 2017 World Packaging Organization Award

Addressing the needs of end users

The soft nozzle and relative awards: 2015 Packaging Oscar and 2017 World Packaging Organization Award

The future of aluminium

for the environment. Pharma and Cosmetic are focused on people’s well-being, but this must also involve an extra care for the environment we live in. “People are learning that their health and the health of the planet are strongly connected; consequently, they are starting to evaluate packaging before deciding whether to buy a product or not. For now this is mostly a food packaging trend (i.e. water plastic bottles) but it will soon spread to other sectors as well.” Tubettificio Favia will continue on its already successful path of organic growth. The company plans to keep its focus on its products and innovative packaging solutions for different markets, giving special attention to the pharmaceutical industry. “This is not just because it’s part of our story as a business, but also because we think it is one of the markets that will experiment the most interesting challenges in packaging, especially with all the medications that must be easy to use and carry. Aluminium tubes, and the soft nozzle in particular, can be a simple and concrete solution in this field. But we are sure that, in different ways, they may become an interesting alternative also in Cosmetics and Food,” says Mr Favia. He concludes, “As Steve Jobs used to say, “Design is not what it looks like and feels like: design is how it works”. This sentence is perfect for packaging design as well! We are ready to face new challenges and look forward to meet new international business opportunities.”

Mr Favia comments, “In the era of plastic littering, aluminium is a valid alternative that combines the best protection for products and respect

Visit: www.favia.it

There is one big trend that everybody should take seriously, according to Mr Favia: end customers have changed during the last few years. “They are more informed, more responsible, and aware of the economical and social implications of their purchases. Consequently, they can also be more critical.” “In Pharma, this change is particularly evident: their attitude towards medicines is more functional, they should solve a problem, not bring further complications. Functional packaging can meet this need. It also works as a powerful communication tool, showing end customers we truly understand their needs.” Tubettificio Favia and its clients are totally aware of the collapsible aluminium tubes advantages: aluminium offers an excellent barrier against light; does not change properties of the product (taste, colour, perfume, texture); is non-toxic and corrosion-resistant; it’s ecologic, because it can be infinitely recycled without losing its original properties. Last but not least, collapsible tubes avoid waste, ensuring that the product inside is completely squeezed out. Mr Favia poses the question, “Are final customers aware of these advantages as well? What if they turn into a valid reason to buy? Industry only communicates the product; it’s time to enlighten packaging as well.”

Favia’s storehouse

Renato Favia, CEO of Tubettificio Favia

Ancient picture of Favia’s facilities

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MAKING THE CASE FOR USED EQUIPMENT Steadfast Machinery are brokers of used machinery for the flexible packaging industry, specializing in flexo (wide web and labels), rotogravure, converting and extrusion. The company deals with label presses, reclaim, core cutters, flexographic presses, rotogravure presses, slitter rewinders, sheeting machines, laminators, coating machines, film extrusion equipment, bag and sack machines and a range of other machines. | 74 | Packaging Europe

ut why invest in a used machine? There are several advantages, for instance the average machine loses 30 per cent of its value in the first year, making this option a poor choice for those with limited funds or those starting a new venture. What’s more, with sales prices of a used machine typically being 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the price of a new option, it is certainly more achievable. And timing? a used machine can be moved and installed within a matter of weeks whereas a new machine can take many months to build and commission. Machine manufacturers are constantly adding new features, so that new machine you have just bought is already out of date, and when you analyse what these features achieve in terms of profit, you may calculate, as hundreds of buyers have done, that it is more cost effective to invest in a good used press, than buying an expensive new one with features that are hardly ever used. Steadfast Machinery regularly customise machines to address specific issues, such as upgrading electronics, rebuilding worn or damaged units, mechanical upgrades or simply cleaning and painting.

Aftersales and training Steadfast Machinery is proud of its customer support, as a company spokesperson explains: “It has been our customers’ experience that we will stick with them throughout any of the complications associated with purchasing machinery. We have ties with several engineering companies, who can offer basic training right up to detailed computing knowledge, as soon as they need it. We are pleased to offer more than a basic service, which means our customers can buy with confidence.”

Dismantling and packing The staff have over 40 years experience in the trading of machinery to all parts of the world, understanding the customs, traditions and necessary information needed for work abroad. “We use local companies we trust to securely pack and secure your machines before shipping and do things the correct way.” Visit: www.steadfastuk.com

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ONE-STEP TO PREMIUM COSMETIC CONTAINERS Paul Atkin, Marketing Group, Nissei ASB Machine Co., Ltd. Japan talks about the benefits of one-step injection stretch blow molding and innovations the company will be showcasing at the upcoming IPF 2017 exhibition in Japan.

or those in the general PET container molding industry, the prospect of molding small containers at low outputs and extremely high weights may seem alien but the production of premium quality cosmetic containers, whose finished wall thickness may be greater than the average water bottle preform, is a lucrative segment of the market where low volumes are more than compensated for by the potential for very high margins. Due to the huge variety of container customization, extreme quality demands and relatively low product volumes, the only manufacturing method that can seriously be considered is one-step injection stretch blow molding. Furthermore, within this category, the machines of choice for cosmetic container molding tend to be at the smaller end of the range, often outputting just a few hundred to 1000 containers per hour, but with large shot sizes, the ability to handle a wide range of molding resins, and above all, capable of producing to the very highest visual quality. For cosmetic container production, one of the greatest assets of the one-step molding method is that the full molding process from raw material to finished container is performed within the same machine and preforms are transferred to the blowing station by the same mold part that formed its neck in the injection station, so there is zero chance of scuffing or visual damage. | 76 | Packaging Europe

Nissei ASB of Japan has been supplying exactly this type of machine to the cosmetic market for nearly 40 years and during that time has generated an enviable record of end-user brands that reads like a who’s who of the global cosmetic industry. At the upcoming IPF 2017 exhibition in Japan, ASB will again demonstrate their best seller in the small machine class, the ASB-12M, as a solution that is perfectly suited to the market needs. It will be seen molding a typical specification container for the cosmetic market – 46ml at a weight of 31 grams – yet with a dramatically improved cycle time of 14 seconds. Key to the ASB-12M’s suitability is the optional IU-10L injection unit that increases the shot capacity by 50 per cent over the standard model, making the machine an ideal platform for these small, high-weight products. For those cases where higher production rates are required, ASB’s mid-range ASB-70DPH model – also on show at IPF – is an equally viable solution, having the ability to mold around two to three times the cavitation of the ASB-12M for a similar sized container. And, while these machines are ideal for the cosmetic container market, they are by no means limited to it, being equally at home molding lightweight commodity containers at much faster cycles in PET and a variety of other materials. In the case of the ASB- 70DPH this includes extreme wide necked jars at capacities up to ten liters.

Molding Techniques In addition to its ideal machines, ASB’s approach has been to develop the mold design and improve the molding process with various specialized technologies. One of the major challenges for thick walled molding in cosmetic containers is avoiding the natural tendency of PET to crystallize and become hazy as it cools, but ASB’s developments have made it possible maintain excellent clarity even while using standard resin grades, while also reducing cycle times. Thick bases are a common design feature seen in premium glass cosmetic jars, so having the ability to replicate that look in PET resin broadens market opportunities. To simplify raw material selection, ASB developed and patented the thick base molding process that allows clear molding at up to 10mm in the finished container. Clarity is maintained through the use of an injection mold that changes shape during the injection process with preform thickness starting low, then increasing as injection continues to provide the necessary cooling to avoid crystallization. Machines in the ASB Series have always been renowned for their flexibility when it comes to molding specialized or non-PET resins, so where container designs or thicknesses become too extreme for standard PET, specialized copolymers or materials such as PCTA, COC, COP and Tritan copolyester pose no special problems with no requirement for machine modification.

Four Station Flexibility

top of the body is injection molded and fully cooled between the lip cavity and the top of the injection cavity. When it arrives in the blow cavity, the still-hot body of the preform is blown out and upwards beneath the shoulder profile, creating a very precise location point for caps or secondary components. This injected portion of the neck could also be used to form a secondary injection molded thread on the shoulder for an over-cap. This concept is unique to the one-step process: the design would simply be impossible using two-step molding since re-heating the preform would soften and damage the flange portion.

Final Decoration

Using the ASB machine to ensure the container is molded to the highest possible quality provides the foundation for additional downstream decoration such as frosting or gold block printing (above center), and in some cases shoulder and heel embellishments, resulting in container finishes which are completely indistinguishable from glass or ceramic. Finally, after molding, decorating, filling, capping and final packaging, the end product may retail at anything up to €100. Without a doubt, containers in this market sector are the polar opposite to the ‘average’ PET beverage bottle that sells for a fraction of the price, and this is reflected in the potential margins in the two ends of the market. For more details, visit www.nisseiasb.co.jp email to sales@nisseiasb.co.jp or see live molding at IPF 2017 in Japan at Hall 7 Booth 2202.

The ASB Series four station molding process offers special advantages because, depending on the container or molding resin, the second station gives opportunities for a variety of modifications to be performed on the preform before it enters the blow mold. Precise temperature adjustments are the simplest and the most common approach for such thick preforms is to apply extra cooling at the second station, thereby allowing shorter injection times. However, in another process patented by ASB the conditioning station can also be used to physically re-shape the preform in various ways prior to its arrival in the blow mold. It is a process somewhat reminiscent of a traditional glass blower craftsman gently nudging the molten blob of glass prior to blowing it. This process can be applied to either develop strange and beautiful PET containers or can expand the possibilities for non-PET resins to be stretch blow molded more efficiently.

Injected Body Parts The shoulder is an area of the container where end-users often have very specific demands. In the examples (above right), the shoulder profile at the Packaging Europe | 77 |

EXTRUSION BLOW MOLDING: EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL

With its upgraded MERC 2.0 machine control software, W. MÜLLER GmbH is increasing the capability of its highly specialised retrofit extruder heads and extruders.

igh-performance blow molding machines have become increasingly complex in recent years – this becomes most prominent particularly when existing machines are upgraded with extruders and blow molding heads from specialist suppliers for the purpose of meeting special technical requirements (“retrofit”). W. MÜLLER GmbH, based in Troisdorf near Cologne, a recognised technology leader in the blow molding retrofit sector, has upgraded its tried and tested control software MÜLLER Extrusion Retrofit Control (MERC) to meet increased customer requirements. In version 2.0, the MERC system is far more transparent than the previous release – the machine operator sees only what he needs to see, so that serious operating errors are effectively prevented. At the same time, cost-saving remote maintenance and further steps towards “Industry 4.0” are facilitated.

Introduction The blow molding process serves to produce canisters and containers for household chemicals and cosmetics, for which there is a very high demand worldwide: high-capacity blow molding machines currently have outputs of 60 to far in excess of 120 million hollow articles annually. | 78 | Packaging Europe

At first glance, the blow molding process looks simple: Plastic granulate is plasticised and processed to an endless tube. This tube is inflated with air pressure so that it takes the shape of the mould cavity. Despite the simple processing principle, this modern technology poses considerable challenges to the processors. To produce the highest possible piece numbers per time unit, an apppriately high melt flow must be provided, which can make costly machine heating or cooling necessary. The diverse heating zones of the blow molding machine in particular must therefore be constantly monitored.

Complex tasks require complex systems High-end packaging conforming to current industry standards frequently consists of several layers of synthetic material in order to save costs by using recyclates or uncoloured materials or through so-called functional layers with a good barrier effect against the premature spoilage of packed foods, among other things. The polymer materials used for this purpose are plasticised in sophisticated machines and processed in highly specialised blow molding heads to multi-layer tubes with different wall constructions.

The molding of different wall thicknesses requires highly precise metering of the melt, even at high processing speeds; the latest processes even allow the production of foamed intermediate layers which help to reduce the packaging weight and, in turn, minimise the impact on the environment. Also during their manufacture, all process steps must be closely interlinked. Blow molding machines – in particular the heads and extruders – are very expensive and valuable investment goods, which must function reliably for years and pay for themselves. Unreasonably long downtimes, due to the so-called “colour changeover”, i.e. cleaning and retooling of the machine for a new product, are detrimental to cost-efficiency. This applies similarly to downtimes caused by incorrect operation: excessive temperatures in the extruder can degrade the melt and negatively influence the product quality.

Retrofit challenge It is not only extruders and extrusion heads that are becoming increasingly sophisticated due to the growing demands of more complex processes: retrofitting them on existing machines requires the highest degree of expertise. These components and their condition must also be monitored by software during the blow molding process and ideally visualised. Increasingly intricate sensor systems for monitoring the normal operation of blow molding machines are gaining in importance. The control software of modern blow molding machines is therefore becoming increasingly important. W. MÜLLER GmbH is regarded by many operators in the blow molding industry as a leading machine retrofitter and retrofit expert with decades of experience. Extruders and blow molding heads from this company are used by operators who are no longer able to satisfy the requirements of their customers with standard machines or who want or need to produce less

waste or achieve higher throughputs. W. MÜLLER offers internally developed control software that has been used successfully for many years: The MÜLLER Extrusion Retrofit Control, MERC.

At first glance The new 2.0 system version features a modern, touch-sensitive 21.5” flat screen mounted on a trolley in the standard version; up to now, operators had to communicate with the control software via a much smaller 15” display. The hardware buttons that were previously arranged on the MERC console have been replaced by touch-sensitive icons on the right side of the new screen layout. Moreover, this purely software-based solution facilitates remote access by W. MÜLLER experts for service purposes: faults can be located and corrected more effectively than before from Troisdorf. Provided this obviates the need for a qualified service team on-site, this saves time and costs for operators.

More space at last! The second important, immediately recognisable change is the omission of the space-consuming tab system via which, in the previous MERC version, operators had to navigate through the individual pages. It now features a homepage which can be accessed from all submenus; this represents a global level and enables direct access to secondary system components via intuitive icons – for example, to the page that shows an overview of the parameters of the selected extruder. The most important process parameters for extruders such as speed, torque, melt pressure and melt temperature are always displayed directly on the main page. They represent the entire machine configuration; a corresponding number of icons is provided for machines with several extruders. Packaging Europe | 79 |

Touching one of the component icons directly displays a subpage showing the machine components in more detail. More space was also provided here by omitting the tabs on the generously dimensioned screen for clearer display of the respective machine section with all its controllable components.

Detailed values only on request: This provides clarity A further advantage of this approach: until now, operators found virtually all machine parameters in a separate window on the right half of the component page. As a rule, these values do not have to be constantly monitored by operators – as long as all parameters are displayed in “green”. The version 2 MERC system only displays the most important parameters on the main and component subpages. Touching the touch screen opens a small input window showing all parameters.

Other innovations The extruder flushing programs have now also been better integrated into the overall system. These largely automated programs help to ensure that no problematic material residues remain behind in the extruder after shutting down the machine. In difficult cases, they can harden in the cooled extruder, which involves costly manual removal. This function is also only visible to operators if flushing is actually required. This also reduces the complexity of the software and prevents maloperation. Notable is that the software functions without any purchased components. This offers the blow molding experts at W. MÜLLER the option to adapt the system quickly, tailored to specific customer requirements.

Future upgrades MERC control software from W. MÜLLER is already well prepared to meet future requirements. It is capable of monitoring up to eight extruders and controlling 220 heating zones. As a comparison: A state-of-the-art blow molding machine for the production of blow-molded containers with a threelayer wall construction has around 30 heating zones – about ten for the extruder(s), 20 for the head. In modern high-end machines for six-layer blow molding, there are 60 heating zones to control. It can be assumed that, despite its already high level of development, blow molding will continue to develop considerably in the future. Keeping track of a growing number of sensors, control circuits and machine components will become even more important in future. With MERC 2.0, W. MÜLLER customers are well equipped for the future. Visit: www.w-mueller-gmbh.de

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