FPT 2:2019

“We have a long term respec+ul and personal relaonship with Macchi” “Our goal is to become the #1 manufacturer of lamina ng lines!”

KBA Flexotecnica about upcoming Challenges and Emerging Markets

Did Bobst launch a game changing solu on?

Bringing dis lla on and solvent recovery In house 1

2

6

Daetwyler is explaining why bringing distillation and solvent recovery in house is important

10

“Our goal is to become the #1 manufacturer of laminating lines!”

16

We met new CEO Dr. Peter Lechner to learn more about his plans for the company and what has changed in latest years…

22

During an open house event Bobst has launched new solutions which have the potential to have a big impact on how labels are printed on narrow web presses.

28

DUO PLAST has recently installed a new Macchi 9 layer blown film extrusion line, their 5th in total from the Italian machinery manufacturer. We met Detlef Kaase, CEO of DUO PLAST to learn more about their purchasing decision and future plans of the company.

3

4

Hype vs reality

All of us have been reading the reoccurring stories about how evil plastic is and what it does to our environment. Especially since the FridaysForFuture demonstrations and the recent European Union elections this topic get even more media coverage, to a point where its almost hysterical.

I will not repeat any of the headlines here, I am certain all of us read them or been informed about it by friends and family, followed by the question how we could work in such an evil industry. Few weeks ahead of the K this is alarming to some of us to say the least.

However, SmithersPira recently published a report named “The Future of Flexible Packaging to 2024” which predicts a peachy future for flexible packaging. We can expect a decent annual growth rates of 3.3% and a total market value growth of 41 billion USD in the coming 5 years.

According to the report “Total volume consumption will rise at a greater rate of 4.0% year-on-year from 29.9 million tonnes to 36.4 million tonnes across the same period.” and “Flexible formats will continue to innovate across the forecast period and will successively penetrate new end-use applications as brand manufacturers embrace these products.”

Doesn’t sound too bad for an industry and product that has been labelled the root of all evil of the modern world. Its hard to imagine a modern world without any plastic. This versatile and affordable material has become such a big part of our life that it will be very difficult, and also disadvantageous to get rid of it. We rather will see a shift to 100% sustainable and recyclable products. Many companies from this industry are developing or have already developed future proof solutions, and more will follow.

Plastic is here to stay, one way or the other.

www.packagingnewsletter.com 5

Bringing distillation and solvent recovery in house It’s an essential fact of doing business in the professional printing, paint, or coatings industries - solvents are a necessity. Controlling viscosity, improving dry time, preventing smudges, ensuring strong adhesion, color authenticity, cleaning up parts or equipment… undoubtedly your business depends on solvents for a variety of uses.

Though they’re essential to running a successful business, there’s another universal truth about solvents - they’re a source of significant expense - not just to hold in inventory, but to store, use efficiently, and dispose of safely. In fact, solvent, and activities related to solvent,

is often one of the biggest operational expense line items for many businesses. The best way to illustrate this is by examining some typical costs in a standard professional print shop setting. (All figures based on nationwide averages.)

Unfortunately, that’s

just the beginning of what solvent actually costs the business.

Once it’s used, solvent must be safely disposed of, in compliance with environmental and other regulations.

That’s more than $4,500 per day, just for the use and proper disposal of solvents. That’s

www.packagingnewsletter.com 6

more than the average weekly salaries of a Prepress Technician, Press Assistant, and Press Operator combined*. Even if a specific solvent or specialty waste disposal service includes leasing barrels as part of their fee, it’s alarming to see how much of an operating budget goes towards an item that essentially gets thrown away.

Rethinking a throwaway cost Because of the potentially staggering costs of solvent usage, a number of third-party service companies came up with the ingenious idea to recycle solvent so it could be re-used instead of re-bought.

Sometimes called Solvent Recovery, the process works by separating useful solvent from effluents, waste solids, and other contaminants. One of the most common recovery methods is distillation which heats waste fluids to boil away the solvent, which is then collected as vapor and then cooled back down so the vapor goes through condensation to become liquid again.

The waste product is isolated and up to 95% of the original solvent is recovered and can be re -used with no decline in performance. There are other solvent recovery systems that work through liquid-liquid extraction, absorption

www.packagingnewsletter.com 7

Clearly, it’s a much more cost-effective solution.

The Real Safety

systems, film evaporation, crystallization, and membrane separation. Some processes are better suited to certain solvents, but the vast majority of solvents used in printing, paints, and coatings are excellent candidates for distillation.

vent recovery varies from company to company, but usually ranges between $85 - $175 per 55 gallon drum of used solvent, for a total daily cost of $1,400. This includes pick up of the used solvent, distillation to remove waste products, and the return of the So with a third-party now-purified solvent. solvent recovery service in the mix, the numbers change a bit.

It’s a fraction of the cost of using solvents new in each application. Because there is also less waste product, the number of barrels needed declines sharply, as does the cost of disposal. The price for off-site sol-

Cost

Of

Any time you consider bringing solvent recovery in-house, there are safety considerations.

Heating solvents to flammable or explosive temperatures in lowgrade equipment is not suited for novice operators and junior team members.

The Renzmann line of distillers and solvent recovery units are meant to run independently with little or no human intervention required significantly reducing risk of injury or dam-

www.packagingnewsletter.com 8

age to machines and ings from recycling sol- • Attract top industry shop surroundings. vent. talent by offering competitive salaries.

Savings potential Return of investment • Offer customers betWhile a third-party ven- So the question beter pricing on your dor for solvent recovery comes - why let someproducts and services still saves businesses one else make money since you now have thousands upon thou- off recovering your sollower overhead. sands of dollars per vent? The quick ROI not year, it’s not the most only makes bringing • Expand your operaeffective way to reduce solvent recovery in- tion to additional locathe costs of solvents. house appealing at the tions or facilities.

The same equipment outset, but also estab• Offer solvent recovery those third-party ser- lishes a baseline for as a service to other vices use can also be profitability that lasts as businesses and estabpurchased for in-house long as the equipment. lish a whole new reveuse. Many of the distil- (Renzmann equipment nue stream. lation units are small is built to last 15-20 enough to fit in the cor- years or more under Daetwyler also offers a ner of a pressroom or normal continuous use). handy tool for estimatfactory floor space, and With thousands of dol- ing your own savings. a good number of them lars back in your oper- Visit offer automated opera- ating budget, there are www.DaetwylerCleaning tion, so there’s no need many exciting possibili- Technologies.com/ to hire any additional ties for how to use solvent-roi to enter personnel to oversee those funds to better your own data and see the recovery process. It your business. how much you can cuts out the cost of the save.

• Upgrade manufacturmiddle-man and deliving or printing equipers the same cost savment.

www.packagingnewsletter.com 9

“Our goal is to become the #1 manufacturer of laminating Lamination of flexible packaging has grown in demand in the past some years, and Comexi has achieved a market leading position in this segment. We talked to Carles Rodríguez i Nieto, Brand Manager Comexi Lamination & Offset about what measures the company took to rise to the top and what the future beholds.

How crucial are laminators for the operations of Comexi and how much is the turnover from the same?

Carles Rodríguez: Given that 25% of the total turnover of Comexi comes from laminators, you can tell how vital their role is in the company. Since one of Comexi’s goal is becom-

ing the largest dealer of state-of-the-art laminators, we invest a significant amount of time and money to design and improve the laminators, and this is proving to be a profitable

www.packagingnewsletter.com 10

venture. Since we developed the multipurpose laminators with gravure, flexo, solvent less, solvent based, water based and even holography; Comexi experienced a boost in sales doubling the units of three years ago. Unlike its predecessors, the multipurpose laminators are not only ecofriendly but also showcase unrivaled levels of performance. For instance, the multipurpose can come up with coatings that are of next-level quality optical results and high barrier properties.

Some examples are glossy surfaces, texturization, paper touch, soft touch, holography and oxygen barrier.

the market. We have more than double the sales of this kind of laminators in the past 3 years. Customer selfawareness and the new legislations are pushing the society towards a new paradigm in waste management and recyclability which at the same time is driving the industry towards reducing number of layers in flexible packaging. Given that our vision is to produce eco-friendly products, Comexi will fully commit to this and thus, to reducing layers on lamination. Owing to this fact, I can speculate a fall in sales for the triplex laminators as they contain more layers and therefore are not recyclable. As a result, I may as well surHow would you rate mise a boost in duplex the importance of dusales as they are more plex and triplex lamieasily recyclable and nations? hence, they may need Carles RodrĂ­guez: Cur- to undergo value addirently, to apply barrier tion to produce impeccoatings and optical ef- cable quality. To achieve the same level of end fects, multipurpose laminators are leading product performance

with less number of layers, we are sure the technical coatings will play a mayor role. This is why Comexi recently developed a new gravure trolley with closed and pressurized doctor blade chamber, to apply more efficiently all these broad range of coatings that will replace some layers like aluminum. In this sense, the perfect dosing and optical results, as well as self cleaning and fast changeover time have been the main project drivers.

What is the role of seminars in the overall success of Comexi?

www.packagingnewsletter.com 11

Carles RodrĂ­guez: Possibly, one of fronts that gives Comexi a more competitive hand in the market remains to be seminars, training and technical support. The Comexi CTec is the European hub of packing knowledge responsible for hosting plenty of activities such as industrial tests, operational and maintenance trainings, seminars, assessments and conferences all of them in collaboration with international global suppliers. In 2018 more than 700 converters visited the Girona technological center. I can personally testify that, in site assessment and training along with seminars are the bestadded value we can bring to our partners.

This is because the conferences incorporate the latest trends in the market given all suppliers bring forth their best work practices. The information gained is practiced on

Comexi machinery, and by doing so we get to unveil optimal means of production that lead to boost productivity and quality on lamination processes. To get a broader perspective, we host the seminars in various languages which include English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Chinese and most recently Korean. Additionally, the seminars are also done overseas to cover several markets. Most recently, it included Russia, Brazil, Japan, and Thailand.

Also, we do advanced lamination seminars, dedicated lamination courses at customer hubs to enhance quality, productivity, and color matching to mention but a few. As a part of the training and seminars, we can get customer assessment, new product developments among many other activities. Similar to any other endeavor, sharing knowledge and

helping customers to grow and do a better job leads to overall quality in the market.

At Comexi, we have established a new facility in Miami, Florida, that features top of the range machinery, comprehensive spare parts hub and highly skilled personnel. In return, this will maximize the population that benefits from the seminars and as well help the locals bring forth competitive products. As evidence of the benefits of training and seminars, we can identify areas that are having a hard time growing and come up with ways to change the results. For instance, Argentina has been undergoing slow growth.

However, specialists speculate a rise in production in these areas given the fact that they have come up with optimal means of production. All the American territory, south center and north America are

www.packagingnewsletter.com 12

on top of the list of markets that realized positive growth.

And what other tasks are credited for giving Comexi a competitive edge over its competitors?

Carles RodrĂ­guez: Given how much we value customer perspective, Comexi also indulges in innovation and customer focus platforms. The insights not only allow us to notice where potential changes to improve customer experience and make the products more relatable. Additionally, the ergonomic nature of our machines is unmatchable in the market and thus making us the ideal choice when it comes to laminating products.

In this sense, the flexo trolley in lamination is becoming extremely popular, even to apply cold seal in the most accurate and efficient way with a 2 minutes change over time and self-cleaning! Due to

the huge movement towards recyclability of flexible packaging, the reduction of layers is pushing the market to specialized and broad range of technical coating. In this sense, the Comexi Offset CI press is leading the market by using a solvent free offset ink, with a broad range of in line flexo EB coating options. This way customer achieves the fastest time to market, unbeatable printing quality and reduction of layers by front printing and in line anti scratch flexo EB coatings. Also, the recently unveiled Comexi Cloud has proved to be a fantastic online platform to control the production. The cloud provides data in real time which enable our customers to make data analytics, improve productivity, spare part ordering online, access to technical assistance, technical docs and forecast job costing in advance thanks to the job costing calculation tool.

As a result, we can determine optimal routes for Comexi lamination and then provide quality products at consumer-friendly prices.

In total how many L20000 and holographic lines have you sold so far?

Carles RodrĂ­guez: Over the past year we sold 3 L20000 water based laminators for digital printed films and 3 Futura cast and cure holographic machines. We foresee the water-based applications will have a bright future with the digital printing. On the other hand, holographic effects are becoming a trend in the market to such an extend that we launched a holographic kit to apply them in our most successful Multipurpose laminator, the ML2.

Are there specific applications for solvent or solvent less adhesive or is everything possible currently

www.packagingnewsletter.com 13

with waterbased adhesive?

Carles Rodríguez: In terms of lamination, the solvent less is a relatively top-notch technology that Comexi has provided with unwavering support. However, there are some applications that SL cannot perform, which include spot lamination and very high demanding applications like very high thermal resistance or bond strength. With multipurpose laminators, on the other hand, you can perform either using solventless, water -based adhesive and also solvent based thus does not limit one to a single choice.

and consequently require recyclable packaging and reducing the emissions of VOC. Producing eco-friendly products ranks top among the visions of Comexi, owing to both these facts, some products like the triplex may go out of the market, specially involving aluminum. In other markets such as Europe and the USA, the new coatings and the testing for compostable adhesives are slowly gaining popularity although there is a big challenge for achieving real barrier properties and composability altogether. The main driver that is already changing the sector is the recyclability, so reducing number of layers by applying technical coatings.

Are there countries that possess different requirements of operation or are the conHow do you evaluate ditions similar in all inline laminating and the markets? slitting in order to reduce production Carles Rodríguez: As I steps? Would Comexi said earlier on, most add such a line to countries are adopting laws that push towards their portfolio? eco-friendly products

Carles Rodríguez Where there is a lamination, there always is slitting downstream, however, slitting by itself usually is a different process.

You can’t say it wouldn’t make sense in certain applications but in the end, converters are usually performing many different kinds of jobs during a day and you can’t compromise the work of one machine because another one is doing changeover or have a lower production speed. Consequently, slitting inline with lamination would only make sense in applications where the same application is running day and night.

In a press release you mentioned a speed study; would you mind sharing the results of the speedy survey as well as what the research may have influenced you to change?

Carles Rodríguez: The success of a company

www.packagingnewsletter.com 14

cannot be tasked upon an individual or two. It is only teamwork and contribution of all stakeholders that fuel a company’s success making it rise to the top of the list. At Comexi, we highly value the insight of our customers as they pinpoint areas that we can improve and at the same time help us to identify where things are not going as expected. This very example of speed survey, lead us to increase the speed of our top of the range solvent less laminator Comexi SL2 from 450m/min to 500 m/ min. Some of our customers believed that such a machine would be ready to run at higher speed, and they proved to be right. A good example is, if you were to refill your adhesive every now and then, it is apparent that you would lose time that you could have used to produce. If you were to put automatic refilling into use, you would maximize up-time

increasing profitability.

Now this is the very standard in all our equipment. Also, we found out the need of alarm systems being integrated in the laminators to enable companies to respond fast to any glitches. What fueled this thought is the fact that a company can drive into huge losses by having production material being wasted due to a technical issue. To solve various problems that we have seen in our customers face in the past, the machines can be integrated with an online system which not only allows you to see how the devices are doing at a particular time but also aid in planning a schedule for your routine. To improve our customer's experience, we share this in the training and seminars trying to find solutions that will help to overcome these issues.

And what future developments should

we speculate for Drupa 2020?

Carles RodrĂ­guez: Comexi is working on new projects for Drupa 2020. Moreover, we are always unveiling new projects that will lead to cutting edge products that tackle new challenges. One of the areas that the company aims to improve is the multipurpose laminators.

This is in an aim to bring forth better coatings and finishings leading to the production of topquality products. Additionally, the development will lead to better visual effects that will allow our customers to cover any application in the flexible packaging market. This flexibility and modularity is what we are aiming for. Also the cost modeling so converters will be able to forecast the cost of a job in advance thanks to the machine learning and the sensorization of all the machine elements.

www.packagingnewsletter.com 15

KBA Flexotecnica about upcoming Challenges and Emerging Markets About 5 years ago KBA took over Flexotecnica and recently implemented changes in management. We met new CEO Dr. Peter Lechner to learn more about his plans for the company and what has changed in latest years.

Please tell us about our implemented changes in management and your related company objectives.

A crucial reason for change was our sales structure: Previously we had no sales- and marketing director, everything has just been operated by the sales managers directly.

Companies do need a sales structure inside and out: Own subsidiaries and independent representations need to be served. Koenig &

www.packagingnewsletter.com 16

Bauer’s priority now is corrugated cardboard and flexible packaging and the results speak for themselves as we are one of the leading printing machine manufacturers. The industry seemed to be a little surprised as we took over Flexotecnica as people rather connected us with the commercial print segment. But with the acquisition we gave a clear statement. We will invest further, own huge building lands and plan on expanding our sites.

markets and our target is definitely to focus on these.

gravure is still the dominating technology, but in total that’s already a decent flexo market Where are these fuwith growing numbers. ture key markets?

Moreover, Italian- and German manufacturer We expect an aboveaverage growth in gen- expertise is wanted eral Asian region. China there. is very vital and does However, India is grownot have issues with ing also and even supelanguage modification rior with a strong tenand a fairly huge indency to high-quality stalled base of flexo facilities. Both markets machines, so one does not need to explain technology and Our group has already characterseveral international istics of plants: Austria, Spain, the segItaly, Czech Republic ment. and Turkey. In WürzRound burg our parts manuabout 600 facturing and casting -700 CI plant is located so compresses petences are bundled– are inthat’s fantastic! Talking stalled in about objectives: There China. are several existing key markets with great col- For the laboration as in South market East-Europe and in size itself USA. However, there that’s not exist upcoming key a lot as

www.packagingnewsletter.com 17

are strategical highly valuable. You need qualified employees and Asia has a good training. In recent times Flexotecnica was not that active in Asia, whereas now we are well positioned and strategically represented with offices in China and Malaysia to establish contacts. So intensifying presence and working together with customers and local partners is crucial.

Nevertheless, you need to observe the market precisely. In regions with no such a base, like African countries, you need to start from the beginning: Neither did they have experienced print workers or certain apprenticeship, nor a relevant supporting industry – pretty challenging! Such a structure has to be built up first. Yet they have a rather poor infrastructure but definitive an increasing and interesting market with much capacity! Many

small industries but they definitely grow enormously with annual double-digit growth rates. Especially East Africa, like Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya is similar in size to Europe in some ways and sometimes underestimated, as well as South Africa and Egypt, which are remarkable.

Eastern Europe is also attractive, already equipped very well and invested funds from European Union pay off and come back as these areas are growing once more. Engineering over there, especially in Poland, is growing. These countries have great international sprit and an already existing and further increasing adeWe are working togethquate support- and er with a company that service industry, like trains companies and color manufacturers. teaches them how to handle the facilities, These developments this year we will take empower the market! part in a few of this Also countries like seminars in Africa. It is Ukraine and Belarus a fantastic concept that have a high potential transfers knowledge towards future busiand expertise into ness and are organized these countries, gener- very well. These ating such a positive emerging markets do impact – a perfect win- still learn from us. win situation. These However, development markets have a high in Japan in earlier demand on information years has slopped over so we are constantly in to China as well and it personal exchange. A will be the same with highly motivating and the upcoming meninspiring work! tioned countries. This is going to be interest-

www.packagingnewsletter.com 18

ing and exiting in future!

Have you planned to construct offset machines for flexible packaging?

This question is quite complex with regard to our company group. We have bundled offset technology in-house as we print offset and digital. We are focused on ability to implement both of them, but that does not mean we need to cover any segment.

In history there have been technically exiting developments that have failed to establish itself on the market in the long term, so you need to monitor the progress.

in upcoming years there surely will be plenty of progress but it needs to be executable - with our new machine generation we will again move a major step further.

What is your view on the topic sustainability and recycling and resulting changes within packaging industry?

From my point of view a change of thinking will come in lamination and recycling area - but not as pronounced within our segment. In several sectors it is certainly legit: Of course a plastic cup can and should be replaced by a paper cup! Several countries give an example: Italy In my opinion the inalready uses many pastalled base is a crucial per packaging for its figure: One cannot exnoodle industry and change facilities within Scandinavia is now usone night, as also preing more and more pasent customers need to per bags. be served. I think we are perfectly positioned However, as a flexo as we offer 100% CIprinter we anyway utiflexo and WĂźrzburg lizing paper and you 100% digital print. So need to focus on the

entire supply chain. The question is: What is economically good and what is ecologically acceptable? You need to balance and it should make sense. I am optimistic - there will unquestionably occur changes as government and the society exert pressure. But in the packaging sector it is almost impossible to entirely omit plastics – because it is not practicable for final users due to damaging and conservation of products.

Willingness is definitely there as in convenience packaging industry and plastic bags for shopping produced on flexo machines will even further disappear. Naturally, manufacturers will miss work then but there will be other solutions for these segments - industrial development has been this way all the times. A nice example from optimization rigid plastic packaging material from real life is the rec-

www.packagingnewsletter.com 19

tangular margarine tub.

At the time it was launched on the market, it seemed like the perfect answer due to space utilization, stackability and transport – almost all factors have been optimized! The old round packaging of was rather inefficient with 50% rejection rate and non-exploited spatial volume.

So everybody thought: That’s it - the round one can be withdrawn from the market. But in this case: So much easier said than done – it did not work out! Industry totally underestimated the installed base of the filling machinery for round packaging. Nowadays the two variants are available on the market, in creative coexistence! In my opinion it will be the same with flexo printing - existing facilities will be retrofitted. Whereas in earlier days you bought a machine and produced the same products on it for decades, lifetime of facilities is much shorter

these days. Now everyone wants a quick amortization; therefore upgrade will be a major topic.

sult our four standard series vary on printing width from 820 until 1600 millimeters. On DRUPA we will introduce another machine from What will KBA Flexour new generation, otecnica present on most likely in a different the upcoming trade print width. It is a logifairs DRUPA and K? cal consequence on what customers will see We are going to introduce a new generation on K as we have treon K. This will be an op- mendously advanced our program. timized CI-flexo with adjusted visual design Would you like to tell and raised technical levus something about el. Driveline technology your sales figures has been completely reand general compaarranged and all faciliny’s future plans? ties are now Bosch. This new generation is Last year we start to standardized and modu- build CI flexo presses as larized and basically well in our plant in able to build up variants Wuerzburg in Germany, within the machines so whereas here in Italy they can be equipped depending on their comsimpler and be offered plexity we can build 20 at a more favorable to 30 machines. All in price. all we generated 40 million Euros revenue in Starting from K, we will 2019. Nonetheless we present the new fourth want to reach significant range in a modular sysgrowth, therefore it is tem. First prelaunch will reasonable to launch be in September where and offer our mentioned we will present our new modular and standnewest developments to ardized machine generour customers. As a reation. The necessary

www.packagingnewsletter.com 20

sales structure has been created for the most part and will be expanded further.

We absolutely have planned to extend our portfolio. But then again, our focus is currently to produce state of the art and then proceeding step by step.

From my point of view in food packaging flexo will play as well an important role in the future. However, digitalization and sophisticated personalization is growing and wanted!

material we can benefit from this know-how.

Let’s see what future will bring – we are looking forward to it!

We have so many exiting ideas as we are not only a machine producer, but also ordinary customer in the supermarket, right? We all have personal expectations, so further research and development is required as in area of application, seasonal offers and much more.

Historically Koenig & Bauer has its origin in paper segment. Consequently we have according expertise and in regard to imprint plastic

www.packagingnewsletter.com 21

Bobst launches some possibly game changing technoloTechnology has completely revolutionized the way things are being done in recent times. From the things we see, to the food we eat and even as subtle as the things we think, technology has greatly transformed the landscape of this world. In the manufacturing and packaging world, one can see that the new 'saviour of the world' - technology, has gradually become a phenomenon of repute in the industry. Furthermore, with new innovations and strategic ideas being implemented, there are little or no barriers left for companies to shatter. However, a certain packaging and label company in Switzerland is pushing the limits of the manufacturing industry.

In early 2019, BOBST, in a bid to go the extra mile, collaborated with Mouvent and 12 REVO partners to redefine the era of packaging and manufacturing.

The relationship led to the establishment of two solutions guaranteed to reinvent the Flexo process. These solutions will be highlighted and further expatiated.

eliminates ink trays and press with the highest chambered doctor print resolution. blades INK ON DEMAND DigiColor+HAL System (IoD) which performs "on-the This new system seeks -fly" job changes of colto improve the flexoor Delta E. graphic process. It simMouvent LB702-UV plifies and optimizes which is regarded as printing, increases comthe most productive fort and allows for fast narrow web digital label draining.

The new ink on demand (IoD) system which www.packagingnewsletter.com 22

In addition to these amazing features, the IoD system allows for minimum amount of ink in the print unit whilst ensuring ink stability at high speed.

Consequently, the color is dispensed directly on the rubber roller which allows the color come in contact with the surface necessary for printing.

The new Ink-onDemand (IoD) system Amazingly, this is just eliminates ink trays and the tip of the iceberg. chambered doctor Some other essential blades. It only requires features to further elab30 grams of ink in the orate the essence of print unit to operate. T this system will be examined below. he IoD sensor detects the level of ink and MINIMUM QUANTITY keeps the right amount OF INK in the ink gap. The meter roller and the anilox Interestingly, BOBST do not come in contact does not just want to bring ideas but it aims with each other as there is an aquato implement those strategies to change the plaining effect that eschews wear at anytime. way printing is being done. With that in mind, the company has created a whole new system of inking called Disruptive Technology.

This system entails the IoD meter roller going in the same direction as the anilox thereby creating the IoD ink gap which eliminates the ink tray and the ink return pipes.

CLEAN HANDS This is one major area that companies seek a change or a revolution if you will. Ink on demand has simplified this process by minimizing the contact between the operators hands and the ink. A short rubber pipe which is less than 1m long is connected to the ink tank to prevent ink from leaking to the ground or touching the hands of the operator.

As a result of this system, there would be a smooth changeover which will only require change of pipe to alter the entire print unit.

www.packagingnewsletter.com 23

INK STABILITY Other benefits of AT HIGH SPEED the new IoD system include: The traditional system is prone  Automatic to some defects. washing One popular set  Fast color back is the huge matching amount of leakage and small  Best print flying ink dropquality lets. The IoD system seeks to  DigiColor+HAL alleviate this is- Digicolor is yet sue among other another solution things. Further- innovated by more, with this BOBST. It is the new BOBST solu- solution for extion, only 30g of tended color ink is circulated gamut REVO colin the print unit or matching. This coupled. In addi- Digicolor system tion to this lifeis based on sevsaving technique, en colors that resince the rollers produce 100% of and the anilox the extended colturn the same or gamut pubway, there will be lished by Pana drastic reduc- tone. In Digicolor tion in ink leak- the inks become age. Only a thin 14; the ink tray consistent layer is replaced by ink of ink is pushed tanks per print back into the ink group. A light gap at low and and a dark shade Hugh speeds. of ink are prepared. These

shades of ink are accurately mixed in each print unit to match the color Delta E . A color sensor monitors the Delta E and sends an impulse to the mixer to adjust the proportion of the two shades of ink.

Digicolor has other immense benefits that certifies the system to be revolutionary in printing, one of which is Substrate Flexibility. With Digicolor, Delta E always stays consistent regardless of the print media. It can also be replicated in any part of world and also re -digitalized to be sent back to the brand owner. The printed substrate can become a digital twin which adds value to the

www.packagingnewsletter.com 24

brand owner and the converter.

partners with Mouvent to reshape the dynamics of packaging in the HAL, an acronym for world. BOBST therefore Highly Automated liqtaps into the avid world uids, is the offline ink of machines that Moumixing unit to prepare vent provides. These mini doses of 30gr of machines are charactermixed ink for the IoD ized to have minimalist color matching. It also designs and maximum helps to prepare the acperformance. curate quantity of ink necessary for producThe Mouvent LB702-UV tion. Furthermore, HAL is one of such machines allows for a faultless that stands out above creation of the Pantone the rest. BOBST has colors using 14 basic been able to harness inks which are in large the resources of Mouand small quantities. vent in changing the With HAL, color creation landscape of designs, is no longer assigned to performance and overall the operation and it can production. The Mounow be replicated in dif- vent technology affords ferent places. Inevitacompanies such as bly, HAL is the solution BOBST luxuries in so to PMS spot color many areas. matching.

Fast and easy industrial MOUVENT label production for printing on a wide BOBST has always range of substrates sought to be excellent such as paper, selfin all that they do. With adhesive labels and state of the art maflexible materials. chines and productions, they never settle for  Better total costs mediocrity. This is why than that of the trathe Swiss company ditional processes.



Features variable data printing, enabling versioning and serialization



Unique print quality, optical resolution 2000 dpi



Highest net output



VDP for customization and versioning



Motorized print head calibration and cleaning



Smallest footprint available



Highly ergonomic design



Lowest TCO in the market

The specifications of the Mouvent LB702-UV is absolutely mouthwatering, with the print technology of Unique Mouvent™ Cluster Technology (DOD) and the print quality of 1200 x1200 dpi, 3 grey levels, optical 2000 dpi.

When using this machine, the operators enjoy the range the ink

www.packagingnewsletter.com 25

coverage - 16 g/sqm.

The colour configuration can be up to 7 colors with the imaging width up to 340mm. Additionally, the machine has the capacity to house 20 litres per color in the ink tanks. It also weighs 3100 kg. The LB702-UV sets a new benchmark for digital label printing, combining, quality, speed and affordability, without any trade-off .

With all the benefits and capabilities of this machine, one can begin to see why BOBST opted to partner with Mouvent.

BOBST also has a few new projects coming up asides these solutions that have been examined. It is an impressive feat to not only settle for these solutions but to push more to making packaging easier. According to a press release by BOBST in early April, the company is "providing brand owners and converters with new opportunities to increase the safety of food packaging. In col-

laboration with Flint, GEW and the UVFoodSafe Alliance, BOBST is announcing the digital control of UV energy.

This allows for the unique safety traceability of each printed meter of substrate, opening new opportunities for UV printed food packaging production with new food safety certifications".

our industry and the packaging industry as a whole. BOBST is helping to drive the industry transformation with meaningful innovation and real collaboration, which will result in solutions that fulfil the requirements of converters and brand owners alike.�

Conclusively, the need to always become better has been exemplified by BOBST through their tenacity and innovation. It is essential for any company to be as likeminded and seek for ways technology can be used to break from the norm of packaging and manufacturing. The very essence of reinvention is well explained by JeanPascal Bobst, CEO of BOBST. He says, ""The label and packaging industry is clearly going digital, in terms of processes, value creation, and new business models, the collaboration between partners is essential to the success of

www.packagingnewsletter.com 26

27

“We have a long term respectful and personal relationship with Macchi�

DUO PLAST has recently installed a new Macchi 9 layer blown film extrusion line, their 5th in total from the Italian machinery manufacturer. We met Detlef Kaase, CEO of DUO PLAST to learn more about their purchasing decision and future plans of the company.

Can you tell us some detailed information about the history of DUO PLAST, your market positon and special characteristics of the company?

DUO PLAST was founded 1983 in the German city Lauterbach and has today two production plants, Lauterbach and Suenna. We are a leading and innovative manufacturer in modern packaging film market and stretch film market in industrial-, agricultural-, and food sector.

Our target is to produce

films in the best possible level of quality. We are highly pioneering and very close to our customers, which enables us to react quickly on market changes. As founding member of the initiative ProStretch we have committed ourselves completely to supply of guaranteed quality. Moreover we have acquired several patents; and a German technology center for load unit and cargo security concepts points out our uniqueness

throughout the entire industry.

Our innovative strength mainly focuses two areas: Firstly the industrial sector, including loadsecuring packaging, pallet wrapping and transport. With a special market position, we do not only produce and deliver films, but also provide solutions!

Meaning, in contrast to other competitors we are working less with distributors but directly with final users, which

www.packagingnewsletter.com

empowers us to have access to more than 1500 customers and directly serve them throughout Europe.

Our second main area is agricultural sector: DUO AGRO silage stretch films – our bale silage production. Guaranteed free of PIB, that means adhesive deposits are no longer left behind on the rollers. Producing these by patented manufacturing methods, gives us a crucial advantage. So talking about productivity, DUO PLAST is in the perfect position. We are growing organically, every year between 5 – 10% and stretch market in general is increasing with 3%. So we are growing even faster than general stretch market. Surely, we are not the classical lowcost supplier and we do not want to be one. As, regarding TOCO and quality aspects, we are certainly the best solution on the market.

Next to film, we provide a sales system for semi -automatic and fullautomatic stretching machines. We do not produce them but are in

collaboration with Robopac, Pamminger and JĂźrgens. Our role is to project facilities, deliver them und do the services. Worldwide we are

www.packagingnewsletter.com 29

5th largest distribution partner for Robopac facilities, so we understand the individual needs of your customers from first-hand.

Another mission is to encourage environmental sustainability.

Up to now, biodegradable film cannot be technically put into practice because of the polymers and their specific characteristics.

But with our product DUO EARTH we implemented the topic sustainable packaging, as we are aware of the responsibility of environmental protection in packaging industry - to leave a smaller footprint. In detail: We are using films which are, depending on the product, 80-100% recyclable. Moreover we are researching and working together with our customers in our technology center DUO LAB. What exactly is your technology center

and its related targets?

their specific requirements.

In our DUO LAB technology center one important facility is our Horizontal Impact. This technology essentially consists of a computercontrolled driving carriage, which is applied with specific accelerations to the respective test specimen. The objective of this technology is the simulation of any interdependencies of horizontal influences to certain load units in order to prove stability.

It looks like a lorry bed and we try to avoid break-downs of load units within the distribution. It accelerates to 0,5-0,8 g-force, abruptly stops and we record the movement of loaded goods with a high-speed camera.

Customers have the opportunity to join these simulations with their own goods in workshops, to analyze the gathered data step by step and find individual solutions for

You recently bought a new extrusion line.

Why have you decided for a Macchi line?

Naturally there are many big players in the sector, but we are so excited and convinced about Macchi’s technology and working together with this kind of powerful and experienced manufacturer.

We especially selected Macchi again because of the excellent collaboration: We have a long term respectful and personal relationship with the company.

They are extremely customer focused, one can say their maxim is “as good as it gets�. So five of our nine extruders now are from Macchi. Another plus that is so necessary, as we are hereby following a specific line; regarding service, interface, handling and other aspects. There are only positive experiences

www.packagingnewsletter.com 30

with their facilities: Nowadays machine handling needs to be relatively simple and they implemented that very well, additionally combined with a very secure facility. Our employees did not need initial training as their machines are rather self -explanatory and constructed clearly without unnecessary gimmicks, built with an attractive Italian design. Management of energy consumption is also essential, meaning system efficiency, cooling system etc. On the other hand, data storage and back-up needs to be utilized, so we use open sources solutions to secure all time access to machine data. Likewise flexibility is important, for instance, washout time of machine head and the extruder, as they include spiral mandrel dies and optical interfaces. We have, surely, many very good relationships with other suppliers that also have

been considered for this new order. However, because of their combined benefits, machine standardization, long term collaboration tradition and price aspects - we again chose Macchi. Regarding all our DUO PLAST facilities: All in all we have nine extruders, seven are 3-

layered, one is 7layered and another one 9-layered. Our focus is more on special films but for a minor part of food and health production, sold to customers that further process these, we need nine layers. On the one hand our corecompetency is definitely

www.packagingnewsletter.com 31

extrusion-market, but on the other hand we always keep option to even go further into other sectors, like in this case, food. Besides: There are occurring more and more challenges, but with good stuff there is no problem to meet these: Today we have more than 150 employees, including 15 apprentices and students. Our employees enjoy their work and we have always many applicants for offered jobs, which nowadays is not self-evident in industry. Young people at DUO PLAST grow up with our machines and develop within the company - that’s one reason we are very proud to have a significant proportion of apprentices and students within our staff. For the new mentioned facility we constructed a new building with a budget of 4 Million Euros and we have even more space for a smaller machine. There is also applicable property within

our subsidiaries: So we are looking forward to our company future.

The Agricultural Film Market in General In 2017 global agricultural films market was valued at US$ 9355 Million and is expected to grow 7.4% annually from 2018 to 2026, according to a new research report.

The global market is driven by the rise in usage of agricultural films to increase the agriculture output. Agricultural films are used widely by rural farmers and are also employed widely in commercial practices.

Furthermore the demand for food items has been rising due to the growth in the global population and key regions across the globe are focusing on maximizing the agriculture output.

ylene with longer-chain olefins. LLDPE possesses higher tensile strength and puncture resistance than LDPE. In terms of production, it accounted for more than 60% share of the global agricultural films market in the past years.

The Market Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific is estimated to expand rapidly, as growth in population is fueling the demand for food in the region. This, in turn, is driving agricultural developments in countries such as in India. For instance, the Government of India has been striving to support rural farmers to adopt modern techniques of farming, this encourages usage of agricultural films to enhance the production of crops, fruits, and vegetables. Increase in trend of commercial farming Linear Low Density Polyin developing economies ethylene (LLDPE) is a as China and India is a polyethylene that is major factor augmentcommonly made up of ing the demand for copolymerization of ethgreenhouse setups to

www.packagingnewsletter.com 32

control climate conditions in Asia Pacific.

Mulching and Greenhouse Applications Based on application, the global market has been divided into greenhouse, mulching, and silage. Greenhouse and mulching segments had a 75% share of the market in 2017 due to their wide consumption in farming. Mulching protects soil erosion and also helps maintain the nutrient values of soil, whereas greenhouse films provide the climate control facility.

Asia Pacific Expected to Lead Global Agricultural Films Market Based on the region, the global agricultural films market has been classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia is estimated to be the leading region of the global market during the upcoming period. Growth in popula-

tion is increasing the demand for food in the region - this also is driving the adoption of modern farming practices in Asia Pacific. More than 30% population in developing economies of Asia Pacific is dependent on farming practices. North America is a mature region of the global this market: However, rise in trend of rooftop farming and farming in urban areas is driving greenhouse and mulching application segments in the region. There exists a high degree of competition among players operating in the global agricultural films market and key players account for major share. The market is fragmented, led by the presence of large numbers of manufacturers.

www.packagingnewsletter.com 33

34