ProPack Pro April 2022 by The Intermedia Group

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A FOCUS ON:

Insights at FPLMA Technical Forum Labels and packaging forges ahead at the recent FPLMA Technical Forum

Winners shine at FPLMA awards

FPLMA names the best of the best in labels and packaging at its awards ceremony

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Corrugated ticks all of the boxes Corrugated leads the way as the box-drop revolution re-defines the needs of global packaging ALSO INSIDE...

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EDITOR’S NOTE HAFIZAH OSMAN

Be a packaging innovator Breaking the traditional mold and being an innovative business is probably what every packaging business aims to do to stand apart from the crowd. Disruptors can change the market and create new trends, as well as carve out a niche where they can have a pureplay in. But like Spider-Man’s uncle Ben puts it, “With great power comes great responsibility”. Businesses that choose to be innovators need to think out of the box and take steps that are outside of the norm. As vendors look for unique ways to extend their customer reach, while also meeting national and their own sustainable targets, the innovators

have forged ahead and created opportunities from mobile-engaged, flexible and sustainable packaging. This was one of the key messages from the recent FPLMA Technical Forum, which had a theme of Challenge-Change-Opportunity. Speakers at the forum addressed the challenges of the labels and packaging industry, as well as how smart packaging, sustainable packaging and flexible packaging can and will change the ways of the industry. They also stressed the need for disruptive thinking, as it leads to the creation of successful and new innovations. One of the speakers, Mark Truelson, summed it up perfectly

saying, “First, you must understand the challenge without judgement and then ask ‘what if we could shake up this industry?’ You need to change fear into control”. It seems to me that of all industries, packaging is one of those that needs to live and die by the mantra of ‘disrupt, or be disrupted’. Have a read of ProPack.pro’s extensive coverage of the FPLMA Technical Forum in this issue for more information. This issue also examines the latest in the corrugated segment, provides some insight into transit packaging guidance, and delves into the benefits of using blockchain and a connected experience. Enjoy this read. Hafizah Osman Editor hosman@intermedia.com.au Ph: +61 431 466 140

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Managing Director & Publisher: James Wells Editor: Hafizah Osman Design: Carrie Tong

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ProPack.pro is published by Printer Media Group, registered in Australia ABN 47 628 473 334. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. While every care has been taken in the preparation of this magazine, it is a condition of distribution that the publisher does not assume any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage which may result from any inaccuracy or omission in the publication. DISCLAIMER This publication is published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (the “Publisher”). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher’s endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information. All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages. While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication. Copyright © 2022 — Charted Media Group Pty Ltd

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CONTENTS

IN THIS ISSUE...

P10-22

Kissel + Wolf Australia remains committed to growth in the corrugated printing market P6 The company’s recent investment in the HighJet 2500 digital inkjet corrugated printer for its showroom in Melbourne shows its commitment

How to optimise transit packaging: Smithers P8 Smithers distribution testing experts share the basics of transit packaging and distribution testing, alongside current trends within packaging

FPLMA Technical Forum Labels and packaging forges ahead P10-22 With a theme of Challenge-ChangeOpportunity, the forum identified the current challenges and opportunities for the labels and packaging industry in areas such as recycling, sustainability, and supply chains, amongst others

P24-25

Excellence in packaging showcased at the recent FPLMA Awards P24-25 FPLMA names the best of the best in packaging, with the announcement of the FPLMA Gold Award winners including Multicolor Corporation, Andrew Kohn, Rollspack, Amcor, James Print, Corrugated Carton Products, and more

Gallery: Industry celebrates the best of the best at the recent FPLMA Awards P26-29 The industry gathered in Melbourne at the recent FPLMA Awards to celebrate in-person gatherings and the cream of the crop in labels and packaging at the recent FPLMA Awards. Some of the biggest winners for the evening include Multicolor Corporation and Andrew Kohn

Corrugated ticks all of the boxes P30-33 With the box-drop revolution re-defining packaging, we look at the latest solutions from Agfa Oceania, Böttcher Australia, HP PageWide, Kissel + Wolf Australia, Koenig & Bauer Australia and Sappi Trading Australia

Pack Diary

P34

A guide to the upcoming packaging industry events globally

PACKAGING + PROCESSING One all encompassing show

THIS ISSUE SUPPORTED BY PACKAGING + PROCESSING

17 20 May 2022 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre Register Now auspack.com.au

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April 2022 ProPack.pro 5

FOCUS KISSEL + WOLF AUSTRALIA

Kissel + Wolf Australia is committed to the corrugated printing market

ith supply chain challenges, demand for faster turnaround and cost pressures, the traditional way of producing corrugated boxes needs to adapt. The packaging industry is changing. The global market will continue to rise as consumers purchase more things online, which will drive demand for specific types of packaging and packaging products. There will be a greater role for packaging in helping brand owners to engage with customers and establish a memorable brand. Companies will need to address sustainability issues alongside an increased demand for better packaging, driven by demand for more convenient and portable products. As such, Kissel + Wolf Australia sees a tremendous opportunity to help converters in their analogue to digital transformation. Kissel + Wolf Australia has been servicing the print and packaging industry in Australia and New Zealand for over 30 years. As a leading equipment and consumable supplier, it offers sales, local service and support, of only ‘Best in Class’ digital printing

Kissel + Wolf Australia’s Jamie Weller with the company’s new HighJet 2500 digital inkjet corrugated printer

equipment and workflow tools. Kissel + Wolf Australia has earned its leading reputation by building enduring relationships and achieving success through in-depth, marketspecific knowledge of its customers’ products, targets, and business needs. It offers a range of end-to-end digital printing and workflow solutions, ranging from entry to high volume digital inkjet printing. The company’s recent investment in the HighJet 2500 digital inkjet corrugated printer for its showroom in Melbourne, shows

the level of commitment Kissel + Wolf Australia is making. This will allow box converters to get an in person or virtual demo and run customer test prints. The HighJet 2500 is the perfect solution for converters looking for an entry into digital printing. Capable of producing basic to premium boxes, on demand printing, versioning, customised print, to retail ready displays and food packaging, supported by food-safe aqueous ink. By implementing a water-based digital inkjet printing solution for corrugated converters, it eliminates traditional processes such as plate making, make-ready and ink mixing, offering a sustainable solution. In addition, it results in savings in time, ink, labour, plates, and the associated storage costs, improving supply chain challenges and making you more profitable. This allows for more agile production and being more competitive. To learn more about the HighJet 2500 and Kissel +Wolf Australia’s workflow solutions, please visit www.kissel-wolf.com.au/corrugated-board/

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FOCUS SMITHERS REPORT

How to optimise transit packaging Smithers distribution testing experts share the basics of transit packaging and distribution testing, alongside current trends within the packaging sector

ackages often face significant physical and environmental challenges throughout the supply chain. This means that extra considerations are required in the packaging process to ensure that your product arrives at its destination without any damage. Smithers’ distribution testing experts share the basics of transit packaging and distribution testing, alongside current trends that impact the packaging sector.

Typical packaging hazards to consider

These are the most common hazards that Smithers experts see: • Physical shocks and impacts from manual handling (e.g. packers and couriers) as well as from mechanical handling (such as forklift loading and unloading) • Vibration from road and air transit • Compression experienced during storage and stacking in transit • Climatic hazards – high temperatures and humidity levels can affect the compressive strength of corrugated materials. Colder temperatures can cause packaging materials to become brittle. All of the above considerations are crucial – failure to factor in these requirements leads to a lack of confidence in packaging, and can increase the likelihood of failures. Many supply chain routes will include at least two of the above hazards. A package needs to be designed and then tested to meet these requirements.

Packaging needs to appear ‘like new’

Consumers and brand owners demand a high standard of visual appearance. Typically, if a package looks like it has been bashed, squashed and faced challenging environments (which most packs do), consumers are likely to 8 ProPack.pro April 2022

Extra considerations are required to ensure that your product arrives at its destination without damage

assume the product is damaged too. This is true even if the package has done its job and protected the product within. This could lead to a loss of revenue for brand owners if consumers either don’t purchase the product in retail environments or return the item if it arrives in a box that does not appear to be ‘new’.

Packaging needs to stand out

In a competitive retail environment, packaging needs to be visually attractive. In some sectors, the packaging provides part of an ‘experience’ of the product. Consider the packaging for a premium smartphone for example where we are now seeing a trend towards minimalist packaging designs. These typically open and display the contents in an engaging manner. Careful design and material selection is needed to achieve this whilst still protecting the product.

Product protection – void fill and sustainability

While sustainability and material usage reduction is a key objective for many packaging companies and brand owners, there is still a primary objective that packaging needs to fulfil. That is protection. Void fill is a common way to enhance the protection capabilities of packaging. We typically see void fill such as air bags and shredded paper being utilised. As well as this, we are seeing more bespoke solutions including custom dividers and fitment solutions used successfully. As with most types of packaging materials, void fill needs to be recyclable wherever possible.

Product failures are not sustainable, especially if they can be avoided with considered packaging alterations, such as void fill and design innovation.

The rise of e-commerce and subscription services changing the way transit packaging is designed

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has become a lifesaver for many people globally. Brand owners need to ensure that their packaged products reach consumers as efficiently as possible whilst retaining the required protection levels to prevent wastage. A clear example of how transit packaging has evolved is Amazon’s Frustration Free Certification program, whereby vendors who sell certain products through Amazon receive incentives for improving their packaging. A key component of this is package optimisation and redesigning packaging using recyclable materials.

Expert testing is required to ensure confidence

At Smithers, our experts help clients solve packaging issues and validate the performance of their packs in transit throughout the supply chain. A distribution testing expert can help to accurately demonstrate where and when a packaged product could fail during shipment as well as both manual and mechanical handling. This information is then used to optimise pack design as well as the materials being used. For more information on how Smithers can support with ensuring confidence in transit packaging, go to smithers.com/ distribution-testing. www.propack.pro

FOCUS FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022

FPLMA Technical Forum – Label With a theme of Challenge-ChangeOpportunity, the forum identified the current challenges and opportunities for the labels and packaging industry

By Andy McCourt

he Flexographic Packaging & Label Manufacturing Association’s (FPLMA) twice-postponed Forum and Awards returned in style in February, with Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp welcoming delegates and signalling a return of face-to-face events. It was clear by the enthusiasm of FPLMA president Vince Sedunary and secretary Tony Dalleore, that two years of postponements and lockdowns would not keep Australia’s packaging and label industry down. “In March 2020, Melbourne changed,” Capp said. “First the Grand Prix was cancelled and then followed a total of 262 days of lockdown – the longest of any city in the world. What COVID has taught us is to be clever, courageous and creative.” This chimed well with the FPLMA’s theme of ‘Challenge-ChangeOpportunity’. Packaging and label print providers had to respond very quickly to the challenges that COVID forced upon them. They changed processes, supply chains and some even moved

1. (l-r) FPLMA committee member Yvonne Hackett, FPLMA president Vince Sedunary, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp, and FPLMA secretary Tony Dalleore 2. Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Sally Capp

into face-mask production, dealt with a huge spike (and subsequent rapid drop) in hand-sanitiser labelling and bottling, distancing labels and a myriad of other new ways, while continuing to support customers with unprecedented demands for packaged foodstuffs, FMCGs and the notorious toilet paper. Melbourne suffered badly. Capp noted that, normally, her city alone, accounts for around 10 per cent of Australia’s total GDP. “Melbourne’s visitor numbers dropped by 91 per cent, retail was down by 93 per cent and events stopped. Business visitors to Melbourne spend on average four times as much per head as regular visitors but now events are back and we’re not going into lockdown again,” she said, noting that Auspack and PacPrint in May and June respectively, were very welcome signs and, of course, the Grand Prix is coming back. Capp set the tone for the first morning’s theme of sustainability by saying, “Melbourne is dedicated to reducing waste and landfill. In the on-going re-ordering of Melbourne, sustainability and recycling are of paramount importance. We want to be an exemplar for recycled and recyclable packaging.”

A message from the FTA of America

After FPLMA President Vince Sedunary welcomed delegates, the Technical Forum proceedings got 10 ProPack.pro April 2022

underway with a surprise video link to the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) of the USA, who themselves were preparing for their own Forum from March 13-16 in Forth Worth, Texas. In a warm address, the FTA’s president Mark Cisternio, educational director Joe Tucitto and vice-president Brad Presco wished the FPLMA a successful conference and looked forward to welcoming the FPLMA Apprentice of the Year, who has traditionally enjoyed a fact-finding trip to the US as part of the award. Then it was on to the first session on ‘Sustainability and Grass Roots Implementation’ presented by Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) sustainable programs officer, Meredith Epp.

Collaboration is key and vital for sustainability

Epp kicked off with a Zoom presentation focussed on integration of best practice and the National Waste Policy (2019) and National Plastics Plan 2021, which aims to “keep packaging out of landfill” by 2025. “This can only be achieved by close collaboration between government, industry and community groups,” she mentioned to the attendees. “Positive environmental change involves stakeholders such as brand owners, sustainability professionals, international affiliates, governments and Covenant affiliates, with www.propack.pro

FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022 FOCUS

ls and packaging forges ahead 3

communicating recyclability to consumers a top priority.” Of interest to ink manufacturers, Epp mentioned the need to remove carbon black from inks. The problem, with carbon black, apart from its fossil fuel origin; is that it is created by combusting oil or gas, resulting in a very dense pigment that absorbs the NIR (near infra-red) detecting beams in the sorting process of recycling plants. This results in rejection of the entire item being scanned – and off to landfill it goes. Alternatives are available, such as negative-carbon Biochar, derived from recycled paper and wood pulp and more are sure to follow as ink scientists seek alternatives to carbon black. Another example of a positive environmental outcome because of close collaboration between stakeholders is the gradual eradication of stray tamper-proof tags on plastic containers. By ensuring that the tags remain anchored to the lid, once breached and opened, the entire container can be rinsed and recycled. An additional benefit is that the small tags, if dropped or discarded, do not stay around and present a swallowing hazard to pets and children. Before handing over to colleague Jayne Paramor, sustainability manager with APCO, Epp mentioned the need for consumers to read and understand the Australian Recycling Labels (ARLs) of various types of packaging and that they should be clear and unambiguous.

2025 Covenant National Packaging Targets

By definition, a ‘covenant’ is a “binding promise of far-reaching importance in www.propack.pro

3. An image of the 2025 APCO targets 4. There is still much work to be done in terms of reducing carbon in the environment 5. Austen Ramage at the “Design for recycling from inception” session

the relations between individuals, groups, and nations”. It’s like a promise not too dissimilar to marriage vows. Hence, the 2025 packaging targets as negotiated by APCO, comprises a promise for the various stakeholders to do their best to reach those important targets. Unlike a contract, it cannot be ameliorated by the payment of fines or penalties. What these are, is best explained in Image 3. A 2019-2020 audit showed an impressive 86 per cent achievement already in the ‘Reusable, Recyclable or Compostable’ upper left quartile. Other areas need more work, particularly concerning plastic packaging materials and recycling, but with three years to go until 2025 it’s a great start. In Jayne Paramor’s session, she explained how collaboration between industry, government and community groups and a ‘sectoral approach’ has gained support from industry sectors such as wine, healthcare, horticulture and dairy. It’s all about moving stakeholders up the ‘Sustainability Pyramid’ that start with denial at the base and progresses through compliance, efficiency and culminates at the apex when sustainability becomes strategic. Paramor said that the wine industry, for example, has the ‘WISPA’ program – Wine Industry Sustainable Packaging Alliance. Sustainable advances have been achieved by patient collaboration and action plans, all driven by industry itself and administered by APCO. WISPA has addressed the elimination of styrene, the recycling of problematic silicon-rich release liner from label production, recycled content of glass and other packaging and more. With full industry co-operation in a non-competitive structure and with APCO’s help, wineries such as Penfolds, Endeavour Drinks (Woolworths), Treasury Wines, Pernod Ricard and others are achieving very positive results towards the ‘no packaging in landfill by 2025’ target.

In other sectoral industries, Paramor said progress is also being made. These include horticulture where the sustainability of plastics used in pots and labels is shifting to recycled origin and recyclability of product; dairy where a clearly defined roadmap to 2025 sustainability has been developed and healthcare – a challenging sector where so much of the materials used need to be single use or security protected for public safety. Paramor summed up sectoralisation with the phrase “Find your tribe and organise” with more emphasis on collaboration for effective results. “It’s all about collective impact. Identifying the sector, evaluating the mix of challenges, planning, identifying barriers, taking actions and importantly, communicating the results,” she added. With 2025 targets in sight, there nevertheless remains much work to be done, particularly with greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and CO2. Around 45 per cent of Australian packaging is currently going to landfill with the irony that much of this is recyclable and represents around a $365 million material loss. It makes complete financial and environmental sense for businesses to work with APCO in its circular materials programs.

Real-world Recycling

The first in-person technical presentation was by Austen Ramage – group manager of plastics life cycle management company Martogg LCM, who stepped up with an informationpacked session on the circular economy and how to achieve it. Martogg & Company is Australia’s largest supplier of Polymer resins and ABS (styrene) compounding. Martogg LCM (for life cycle management) was established in 2006 specifically with recycling in mind. It is Dandenong, Continued on page 12

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FOCUS FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022 6

Continued from page 11

Victoria-headquartered with operations in Sydney and Melbourne and is allAustralian owned. Some surprising facts came out of this, such as how easy it is to recycle and keep recycling PET products for example. He also touched on a future initiative called RCTS – Recycled Content Offset Trading; like carbon offset trading but with recyclables. Ramage began by asking the rhetorical question: “Why do we need packaging?” While to the FPLMA audience this may seem obvious, many ill-informed consumers still question the need. Ramage used the shrink wrapping of cucumbers as an example. “It keeps them fresh and they last longer in the supermarkets,” he said. In the supply-chain challenged current environment, this is more important than ever.

6. Mark Truelson during the “Why not disrupt?” session 7. Pure Blonde’s six-pack of Ultra Low Carb Lager 8. Mark Sammut at the “Snacking and healthy food consumption is rising” session

Martogg LCM’s mission, according to Ramage, is to be passionate about diverting post-consumer waste from going into landfill, and recycling or down-cycling it into other usable foodgrade products. “Down-cycling is not always a bad thing. Consumers are the key to the circular economy and a major challenge is to develop markets for recycled plastics, as virgin plastic is quite inexpensive,” he noted. Martogg LCM continues to invest in the life cycle, from design – “We need to design plastic packaging for recycling from its inception” – to collection, processing and re-selling the recycled product, which can then go into 100 per cent recycled or blended virgin/recycled packaging, from 30 per cent upwards. Clearly, Martogg LCM is well on its way to contribute to achieving the 2025 APCO targets. While this first morning was the official Sustainability session, it was a recurring theme throughout the FPLMA conference – such is its importance towards 2025.

Marketing and assessing end-user perspectives

The next session started with Mark Sammut, technical manager with Fine Food Holdings/Gourmet Foods that specialise in snacking entertainment dishes and health foods. Starting up only in 2015 with premium crackers, by 2018 Fine Food Holdings (FFH) won Top Ranked Supplier, in the Australian Grocery Deli Category of the Advantage Report. His message was to be a packaging ‘Innovator’ and not ‘Me-too’. In 2019, the company moved into a new $10 million facility in Melbourne’s 12 ProPack.pro April 2022

Dandenong South. His company’s brands can be found in most of the big-name supermarkets and speciality stores, brands such as OB Finest, Olinas Bakehouse, Crispic, Ocean Blue and Gullón. Sammut revealed a startling statistic that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, over two million people in Australia had turned to online purchasing of snack and health foods – and the retention rate is very high in a postpandemic environment. “People are snacking more and more,” he said, “and the winners are premium products and those promising well-being. An example of this is no-sugar Kombucha, which has surged by 26 per cent.” Paleo, Keto, wholesome snacks and chemical-free trends are all surging, Sammut said, adding, “It is important to present these products with innovative flexible packaging”. “We aim to supply packaging from artwork to delivery in three-to-four weeks and this means close, symbiotic partnerships with our suppliers is necessary,” he said. “Consumers are demanding endto-end sustainability – it’s consumers who ultimately drive the APCO 2025 targets, retailers must follow.” According to Sammut, the future may involve a requirement for packagers to ensure collection and re-processing of their waste. There is also a move to reduce multi-layer packaging to facilitate recycling. Sammut noted that cost pressures are a fact of life, saying, “We are expecting a further 10 per cent increase in materials over the next 12 months. This only means that strategic partnerships become even more important”. www.propack.pro

FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022 FOCUS With the ‘premiumisation’ of snack product categories, further growth for Fine Food Holdings is assured – driven by innovative packaging.

The disruptive packager

Mark Truelson calls himself a ‘Brand Story-teller and Disruptor.’ In an entertaining session, he gave examples of how disruptive thinking had led to successful new innovations. He opened with the story of luggage – once upon a time we all carried suitcases, if we were lucky enough to find a trolley at airports, we heaved them onto it and rolled it around. Then strapped-on wheels became available before someone came up with the idea of built-in castors and a telescopic handle (an airline pilot in 1987!) – this disrupted the entire luggage industry to a point that, today, you’d be hard pressed to find a suitcase without wheels – 5,000 years after the wheel was invented! Packaging and brand development is Truelson’s forté and he advocates: “First, you must understand the challenge, without judgement, and then ask yourselves ‘what if we could shake up this industry?” He believes in breaking the rules and cited a saying from US pilot Chuck Yeager (the inspiration behind Tom Wolfe’s ‘The Right Stuff’), who is famous for breaking the rules – and the sound barrier. “You need to change fear into control,” Truelson said. He did just that while with Carlton & United Breweries – CUB – in 2005. Charged with developing and rolling out a new brand of beer in 90 days, he and his ‘maverick team’ did it in 76 days and came up with CUB’s third best selling beverage – Pure Blonde. The brand’s success itself tells the rest of the story.

9. Ryan Sharrat at the “Brand consistency is 90 per cent of brand judgement” session 10. Different flavours, one ‘purple’ – SGK’s work with Mondelez in A/NZ will ultimately ensure brand consistency in APAC, South Africa and Egypt 11. Michael Dossor presenting at FPLMA

What are printers and brand owners looking for?

The need for smart packaging and brand protection

Schawk’s Ryan Sharrat was next up for FPLMA delegates. An experienced prepress and flexo production specialist, he is now head of technical consultancy and performance, APAC for Schawk, now known as SGK and part of the global Matthews

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International Group. His opening message was, “Brand consistency is 90 per cent of brand judgement and print quality management is based on correct colour.” He went on to say that SGK uses CFx profiles distributed to all stakeholders in the supply chain, using its ColorLab data across processes and materials. Colour standards such as ISO12647-6, Fogra and G7/Idealliance are employed. ColorLab defines, measures and controls colour using science and technology and instruments such as Techkon and X-Rite spectrophotometers. Mondelez, owner of the Cadbury confectionery brand, is a case in point, Sharrat said. SGK partnered with the global food giant, to achieve brand colour consistency of the famous Cadbury purple across all products, in all APAC markets, especially for the re-launch of a new fresh look for the Cadbury Dairy Milk products. SGK’s team in A/NZ undertook a detailed process of preparing scatter proofs, working with printers and educating them on technical aspects during the production process to avoid costly interruptions on press. Evaluating the print execution helped reduce the overall print costs for Mondelez, created efficiencies at the print partners, and ultimately kept to the timeline for the re-launch. “The Cadbury project extended to digital platforms, social media and e-commerce as well,” Sharrat said. “With over 70 items rolled out, the team was tasked with ensuring brand consistency throughout.” Colour data is uploaded to SGK’s cloud-based ColorHub, bringing efficiency to supply chains, enabling sharing by partners anywhere and creating a knowledge base that improves as more variables are brought under control.

Michael Dossor is general manager of the Result Group of Companies and active at the ‘coal face’ of smart packaging. Of his brands, Herma would perhaps be the best known. He began by explaining how: “Mobile phones

have changed our lives forever.” By this he means how smartphone access to an almost unlimited knowledge about things, products and brands has created ‘informed consumers’ or at least ‘influenced consumers’ today, if persuaded by the emerging influencer phenomenon. QR codes linking to further information started the ‘smart packaging’ movement. “It’s moving from QR codes to active, intelligent packaging where shoppers can find out about a brand’s sustainability, origins and safety. Over 71 per cent of shoppers use their mobile phones while in supermarkets,” he noted. Dossor added: “Smart packaging in 2020 had a global value of US$38.16 billion. By 2026 this is expected to reach US$48.72 billion.” He identified four key goals of intelligent packaging as: • Sustainability – no packaging should ever go to waste • Personalisation – establishing a brand relationship with each and every customer • Smartphones – reaching the 71 per cent of consumers who use them while shopping • Traceability – for food security, anticounterfeiting and waste tracking Dossor noted that, as packaging codes and product ID systems evolved, starting with the scannable UPC 1D barcode in 1974, we have seen the introduction of 2D codes that carry more data, such as QR and GS1 Datamatrix codes, GS1 Digital Link, RFID, NFC, Digital Watermarks and proprietary symbology (symbols). “The aim of GS1 Digital Link is to bring all of these together into a sort of digital databank, so that all codes can be combined into an interadaptable pattern – making every product individually identifiable,” he said. “This is particularly important with the direct-to-consumer supply chain.” The key factor in GS1 Digital Link is that it uses the worldwide web to create unique URLs that supply the right information, in the right context and not just stock-standard ‘brochure’ type information. Continued on page 14

April 2022 ProPack.pro 13

FOCUS FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022

12 Continued from page 13

It’s like a gateway to creating trillions of ‘Digital Twins’.

Cloud Printing – distribute the data then print

HP solution architect Daniel Blau presented his session on the benefits of using Cloud Services to distribute then print, rather than print then distribute. With supply chains heavily disrupted due to the pandemic and conflicts, this model offers great appeal to brand owners. “Print service providers can be part of a multi-site ecosystem using Software As A Service (SAAS) in the Cloud,” he said. “There can be multiple manufacturing sites in multiple countries, using a variety of printing presses and processes.” “This includes geo-location and tracking and being built-in from the inception of design. In addition, traceability is a natural advantage of a digital data ecosystem.” To achieve this, data is king, he said. “Once you have all the data in the Cloud, you need to know what to do with it and how it is used,” he noted. HP has been at the forefront of the distribute-then-print model with its exclusive supply partner arrangement with ePac Flexibles, Using the HP Indigo 20000 (now called 25K) 760mm digital web press for flexibles and, particularly, pouches converted on Karlville equipment.

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12. The key factor in GS1 Digital Link is that it used the worldwide web to create unique URLs that supply the right information 13. Daniel Blau from HP at the “Data is King” session 14. Flexible packaging coming off an HP Indigo 20000

If designs must be printed using flexo for longer runs, data can also be sent to a flexographic CtP device. Established only in 2016, ePac now has 17 sites across North America, four in Europe, one in Africa, two in Asia and a recently opened site in Melbourne’s Coburg. In the calendar year 2021, combined sales were expected to pass US$200 million. In April 2021, Amcor made a $15 million equity investment in ePac and is to provide funding for further expansion with remote sites globally.

Windmöller & Hölscher on digitalisation of production

Day one of the FPLMA Technical Forum closed with a video link presentation by Alexander Frenk, regional technical manager for Windmöller & Hölscher (W&H – represented in Australia by FPLMA board member Paul Garside). W&H’s interpretation of ‘digitalisation’ differs from digital print press vendors in that they see the digital dataflow as the point in question, not the output process. With W&H flexographic presses capable of running at around 600 linear metres/minute versus digital’s average of around 30 metres/minute – it’s easy to see how any efficiencies in managing job data can result in a major impact in press hall production. “A smart workflow will make decisions to optimise production from design and prepress, to press and

converting and deliver quality reports with data analysis,” Frenk said, whose message focussed strongly on the Internet of Things (IoT) and the adoption of Industry 4.0. “Industry 4.0 is all about connectivity between machinery, so operators of the future will need more IT skills,” he said. W&H’s answer to digitalisation of the flexographic workflow is Ruby Go, which: “uses data to monitor, automate and improve packaging production.” You’ve heard of ‘Big Data’ but W&H says that Ruby enables flexo packagers to ‘Dig Data’. This means that masses of data collected from production runs can be mined, contextualised and put to use in making the entire operation more efficient. Frenk explained that Ruby is modular, with extensions named Ruby Gain, Ruby Check, Ruby Track and the new Ruby Flow. With Go as the bedrock production monitoring platform, if Gain is added it improves film quality at the extrusion stage. Add Check and this targets and improves print quality at press level. Ruby Track makes all the data transparent and connects the ‘office’ with the production hall. It is particularly useful for tracking and minimising scrap and waste. W&H Ruby Flow completes the integration of data control from the ‘office’ all the way downstream to finishing – identifying waste and inefficiencies along the way. It is applicable for extrusion, printing and converting. “Slitting can create a lot of waste and Ruby Flow will identify and quantify this for each slitting/rewinding unit,” he said. With ‘Digitalisation’ commonly thought to apply to digital processes such as inkjet and liquid toner; W&H brings all the benefits of Industry 4.0 and the IoT right to the heart of Continued on page 16

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FOCUS FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022

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flexography. When a press is thundering along at up to 600 m/min, this is exactly what is needed.

The economy, supply chain and Industry 5.0

Day two of the FPLMA conference began with NAB economist Taylor Nugent reflecting on the pre-and postpandemic economic situation; and it was better than expected. “Some businesses are coming out of the pandemic in better shape than they went in,” he said. “Household income was covered by the various assistance packages and savings went well up. In the USA, consumption is running at 26 per cent higher than pre-pandemic level, especially for durable goods.” Nugent identified some aspects of concern, the highest of which is shipping. “Containers are just in the wrong places, creating a shortage,” he said. “Some inbound ships are skipping Adelaide altogether.” On inflation, he noted, “Inflation is still edging up and could reach 3.5 per cent by June and the forecast is for it to ease down after that. Employment levels are above the pre-pandemic level and, when students and other workpermit visitors start arriving back, is expected to move lower still.” “Interest rates are expected to go up as the economy strengthens and wages growth is starting to improve over preCOVID levels.” Of importance to printers and packaging converters considering

16 15. A typical Windmöller & Hölscher Ruby Track data screen 16. NAB economist Taylor Nugent at the “We’re in better than expected shape” session 17. Chart: GDP is heading up, according to NAB economist Taylor Nugent 18. David MacNamara CEO, Foodbank 19. A supply chain case study by Foodbank on how it provided 18 million meals during the pandemic

capital investments, Nugent was generally positive: “Capex is up 12 per cent in 2021-22 and we expect similar for 2022-23. Consumer confidence drives business investment and the outlook for ‘on-shoring’ some sectors of manufacturing remains strong,” he said, adding, “Of course the geopolitical situation is an uncertainty at the present time.”

Supply chain issues: How to provide 18 million meals during a pandemic

David MacNamara is the CEO of Foodbank, the largest hunger relief charity in Australia. As if the pandemic was not enough, floods and bushfires added to the disruption of people’s lives, requiring an urgent supply chain of nutrition for families in need. Working with more than 500 charities across Australia, Foodbank sources its produce from farms, manufacturers, supermarkets, wholesalers as well as retailers. “Foodbank supplies over 70 per cent of the food rescued for hunger relief nationwide,” MacNamara said. Using buses, trucks and transport partners – even families’ own cars – food relief is provided for over one million Australians each month, many of these children whose families can’t make ends meet. “Many children are turning up at schools having not eaten any breakfast,” he said. “So, we started Breakfast for Kids to make sure they start each day with a full belly. An unexpected upside is the educational outcomes – kids learn better if they are not going hungry.”

During the pandemic, international students were added to the list of those requiring urgent food relief. “Many were stranded in Victoria so we set up pop-up kitchens to reach out to them with meals,” he said. “There should be no stigma nor shame in reaching out for food relief help as it saves tonnes of food from going to waste and provides meals for vulnerable people, for a variety of reasons.”

Coming to the sharp end of supply chains

The session on ‘Building Resilience and Supply Chains’ was moderated by FPLMA committee member and managing director of Catalyst Chemicals, Yvonne Hackett. First was a lively session from Jack Ahern, sales manager of West’s Packaging, an independently owned flexible packager in Carrum Downs, Victoria. He opened by saying that the pandemic had presented significant opportunities for packagers. People’s behaviour changed at the start of the pandemic – we saw hoarding of items such as toilet paper, foodstuffs and rocketing demand for hand sanitiser and PPE. This all placed pressure on supply chains. “A main staple film used in flexible packaging is 12 μm PET and there is no Australian manufacturer – it’s all imported. When containers became hard to find and shipping rates went up, supply became a big issue. There is a move to PP, which has some Australian Continued on page 18

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Continued from page 16

manufacturing and APCO 2025 preference,” he said. Ahern gave an example of how getting caught short on sudden demand – such as facemasks – sparked a resurgence of local manufacturing. Med-Con of Shepparton, Victoria went from one shift a day, four days a week to three shifts a day, seven days a week, making face masks to fulfill a government order for 60 million of them, headed to the national stockpile. “They re-commissioned mothballed narrow web converting machines and ordered three more. Materials and skilled staff were in short supply, so members of the ADF were drafted in to make up the labour shortage and work on re-commissioning the machinery.” But demand can drop as quickly as it surges. With mandatory facemasks on the decline, three of Med-Con’s six machines are now switched off again. Ahern delivered a strong message for manufacturing independence: “Once a manufacturing industry is lost, it won’t come back,” he said. “Independence and self-reliance is essential for critical items. The

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20. FPLMA committee member and managing director of Catalyst Chemicals, Yvonne Hackett 21. Jack Ahern, sales manager of West’s Packaging 22. Experienced logistics expert and educator, Suzanne Crowe 23. Maritime lawyer Alison Cusack 24. Shipping containers falling off a vessel

companies that did do well during the pandemic were already well-run and had good cash flow.” His parting shot was about the need for more training. “Kids don’t come out of school saying: ‘I want to be a flexographic printer.’ There is a severe shortage of skilled printers and converters and we need to make the industry look more appealing to school-leavers.”

Pain in the chain – risk management in logistics

The next session was shared between experienced logistics expert and educator Suzanne Crowe and maritime lawyer Alison Cusack. Crowe, who has vast experience in the petroleum, mining and pharmaceutical industries, began by highlighting the shortage of truck and rail drivers, made worse by absenteeism due to COVID issues. She also mentioned the essential diesel fuel additive (AdBlue), which Australia’s truck and train fleet almost ran out of last December. With only a single Australian manufacturer and most AdBlue imported from China, disaster was averted by begging for supply from the Middle East and

New Zealand, while the sole local manufacturer, Incitec Pivot in Brisbane ramped up production by a third. “It’s become hard to guarantee lead times across a raft of materials,” Crowe said. “Add to that all the things that can go wrong such as floods, delays, payments and insurance issues and it’s a potentially chaotic situation.” This is where Cusack stepped up with an entertaining presentation about a serious topic – what to do when ‘ship happens’ with container freight. “A lot of debate surrounds legal responsibilities when things go wrong along the supply chain,” she noted. “There can be at-port issues, quarantines, strikes, accidents and handling issues – who or whose insurance is responsible?” Cusack mentioned cases where ships had lost containers during storms, such as happened in NSW and Queensland waters last year. If the containers wash up, can they be claimed as salvage? If containers were purposely ditched to save the ship – who pays? Such issues are all part of international maritime law that began formulation 870 years ago by Eleanor of Aquitaine – wife of Henry II. Thus evolved Admiralty Law

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FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022 FOCUS 25

and International Maritime Law. Other issues can involve spoiling of cargoes due to extensive demurrage waiting times to unload. Pharmaceuticals in tropical zones can go out of date and spoil, mentioned Cusack – how do the insurers respond? More relevant – if containers of BOPP film on their way from China to Australia’s flexo packagers is lost at sea – what level of compensation is due, would it include lost production and who pays it? This and more is why, Cusack said, you need to have proactive strategies to avert risk in the supply chain – and not just react when ‘ship happens!’

Investment in the industry and education

The next session was presented by Mitch Mulligan the vice-president of Visual Connections, gold sponsor of the FPLMA conference. Mulligan is also managing director of Böttcher Systems, a supplier of print rollers and sleeves. As acknowledged by FPLMA president, Vince Sedunary, sponsors and patrons make FPLMA Forums possible, with the Patron being The Collie Print Trust, established in 1967 by the children of printing ink manufacturer R. Collie & Co., to provide scholarships, technical and further education in the printing industry. DIC is platinum sponsor. Visual Connections is a not-for-profit association resulting from the 2015 merger of the Graphic Arts Merchants & Manufacturers’ Association and signage industry association VISA.

27. FPLMA partner FTA Europe joined its American cousins in congratulating the association on staging its first post-COVID Technical Forum

“It’s worth noting that the Label & Packaging Expo is a part of the PacPrint exhibition from 28 June to 1 July this year, here at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre,” Mulligan said. Visual Connections strongly supports education and training via its partnership with AusSIP, which connects schools and students with career opportunities, as well as the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation’s international design competition F1 in Schools where teams of STEM students design and manufacture an F1 racecar model.

28. Jon Moore of LeadEdge

European FTA on ink viscosity

25. Mitch Mulligan is the vice-president of Visual Connections, gold sponsor of the FPLMA conference 26. F1 in schools model created by Australian STEM students

FPLMA partner FTA Europe, joined their American cousins in congratulating the association on staging its first post-COVID Technical Forum. Technical committee member Giuseppe Gianetti appeared in a prerecorded video presentation on ink viscosity. He said flexography is the largest and fastest-growing print process in Europe. Gianetti was also director, product management liquid inks Europe at Huber Group Italia. He began by saying that viscosity is not all about ‘thick and thin’ inks and varnishes. “Real viscosity involves things such as shear strength/stress, interaction between molecules, pH and temperature, colour pigments and the interaction of all of these factors,” he said. “Without data on all of these, you are just another person with an opinion. Management of viscosity

in flexography involves the anilox cylinders and chambered doctor blades and laboratory measurement can differ from real production. Ink Viscosity can change during production, due to solvent evaporation which causes pH change, temperature, water absorption and room conditions.” Gianetti’s entire technical presentation is available from the FPLMA and may be of great help when it comes to diagnosing ink and varnish viscosity issues.

Corrugated and specialised materials need precise plate preparation

LeadEdge Flexo of the UK focuses on the prepress preparation – mounting, cutting and handling – of plates used for corrugated and other specialised materials. As the name implies, LeadEdge began with sturdy solutions that locked the lead and trail edges of flexo plates, preventing skewing and other distortion and facillitating plate mounting. Directors Jon Moore and Stewart Owen joined the FPLMA Forum with a pre-recorded video presentation. “Corrugated flexo printing is growing faster than anyone expected,” Moore said. “This is being driven by the ‘Amazon effect’ and e-commerce, which has had a massive effect on the worldwide packaging industry. With corrugated, we are seeing a four per cent CAGR and it is expected to reach US$275 billion by 2023.” Moore and Owen explained how shipping of goods bought online had changed the look and feel of corrugated cartons. “Post-printed flexo corrugated can now achieve resolutions of 120lpi, with 0.2mm registration and one per cent dot on the edges. We are seeing more and higher-quality graphics on the secondary package which is delivered to the home.” In the pursuit of HQPP (high quality post print), LeadEdge introduced the Matrix Precision Mount for polyester/ mount preparation using a digital large format cutting table specially designed Continued on page 20

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FOCUS FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022

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for the cutting of large format roll and sheet materials. “It’s a new manufacturing processes specifically developed for Matrix Precision Mounts,” Moore said, adding, “Lead and trail edge strips are added under air vacuumed conditions to ensure straight and linear application. We have worked hard with suppliers to achieve this change in the manufacturing process of lead and trail edge strips/profiles, to enable tighter tolerance and critical measurements.” The Matrix Precision Mount includes a registration punch, using a digital punching system. A trail edge rule is added on the centre line for skewing measurement and QC accuracy is certificated for conformity with every 10 mounts. Matrix Precision Mount can be made with all thicknesses of LeadEdge’s award-winning cbak and cbakLUX cushion attached, giving the customer the perfect solution for corrugated High-Quality Post Print.

Industry 5.0 is coming – Australia lagging behind

Brenton King has a lot of experience in automating workflows in label and packaging companies. After many years with Agfa Graphics, he joined

29. The Matrix Precision Mount 30. Brenton King has a lot of experience in automating workflows in label and packaging companies 31. Stepping up from Industry 4.0 to 5.0 (Image credit: Frost & Sullivan) 32. Hybrid’s IC3D visualisation app can even simulate distortion and lighting on shrink-wrapping prior to production

Hybrid Software in 2019 and, following Hybrid’s acquisition of Global Graphics and Creative Edge Software, says he now has “great new toys to play with” along with Hybrid’s PackZ modules. King said Creative Edge’s IC3D is an amazing application that creates rotatable, positionable computer prototype images of packaging designs, right down to how they will look in shelf-ready trays, POP and supermarket shelves. His presentation started with a summary of the industry levels since the industrial revolution of the mid-18th Century. It followed mechanisation, steam power, electricity and mass production, computers and technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) – but did not stop there – King announced Industry 5.0, just as we were getting used to Industry 4.0! “Australia has lagged behind Europe with Industry 4.0 since its inception in 2011. Industry 4.0 is all about interconnectivity and transparency in a silo-free environment. This involves things like decentralisation, computing in the Cloud, robotics and modernising user experiences. ‘Old’ UX systems actually cost companies money,” he said. “Yes, there have been automation of mundane tasks, trade/craft losses and ‘de-humanisation’ but many new

opportunities have emerged.” Moving on to explain the nascent Industry 5.0, King explained, “It’s all about re-humanisation, more intelligent automation, merging physical and digital communication and analysing big data so that smarter decisions are made more rapidly. “It also brings more personalisation and augments buying experiences with virtual reality. “For the packaging side, Industry 5.0 will be more empowering and add value to employees as they upskill. Label and packaging producers are more likely to sell entire solutions, ensuring brand consistency across platforms. As the databank builds, there will be more personalisation and targeting to specific needs.” On greenness and sustainability, the outcome is positive, he said adding that “Industry 5.0 enables more agile decisions, shorter time-to-market and the printing only of what is needed until the next cycle of production.” Hybrid Software’s PackZ has been deployed at several Australian and New Zealand label and packaging houses and is an all-PDF workflow for editing, screening, trapping, step-and-repeat, colour management, variable data, QC and 3D visualisation of prototypes. Continued on page 22

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FOCUS FPLMA TECHNICAL FORUM 2022 33

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Flexo at 450lpi? – Bellissima!

Hamillroad Software, based in Cambridge UK is another of those companies with an impressive pedigree in graphic arts software technology. Founder Andy Cave was responsible for the Harlequin RIP which is so ubiquitous across all forms of the graphic arts. Presenting via video was Danielle Kinsella, marketing director with Hamillroad’s latest offering specifically for flexo – Bellissima Digitally Modulated Screening (DMS). Bellissima comes in two levels, standard and ECG (extended gamut) where additional colours are added to the CMYK inkset. DMS can best be described as a sort of advanced stochastic screening method, where the colour data of the original rosette screen pattern is turned into an ultrahigh-definition, seemingly random pattern with apparent line resolution of 300-450 lpi. This may sound incredible, but the print samples shown and case studies from the US clearly show considerable resolution and detail improvement over traditional screening.

33. Danielle Kinsella, marketing director with Hamillroad’s latest offering specifically for flexo – Bellissima Digitally Modulated Screening (DMS) 34. The Uteco ONYX EcoOne flexo press at a recent open house 35. (l-r) Regular rosette screening and Bellissima ECG screening

Kinsella explained that, as Bellissima creates a stochastic rosette interlinking two screens, it is always in register, with no colour shifts. “We are working on matching PMS colours with ECG printing, which will save more ink,” she noted. Other benefits include: • Increasing press capacity by ‘ganging’ jobs up • Halving of make-ready times • Replaces gravure jobs with lower cost flexo • Reduces ink and solvent use (13 to 16 per cent) • Moiré-free flat tints up to seven colours – ‘fade to zero’ • Plates last longer on press • Eye-catching print on shelves that pops! • Finer reverses and smaller point sizes • Lower cost for end customer

Uteco on Sustainability

Rounding off the Technical Forum before the Award festivities was Michael Buechel of flexo press manufacturer Uteco. “Overall packaging has increased by 12 per cent over the past five years. Of this around 30 per cent is corrugated

and solid fibre, 25 per cent cartons, 19 per cent flexibles and 10 per cent labels. COVID has shifted the focus to healthier and more hygienic packaging,” he said. He revealed that plastics are responsible for about five per cent of greenhouse gases and that by 2025 there is likely to be three per cent more plastics in our oceans. Only around nine per cent of plastic packaging is currently recycled and plastics find their way into water systems as both macro and micro pollution – killing marine and seabird life and entering food chains. Clearly there is a need to design packaging from the beginning for recycling and re-use. Plastic shopping bags and single-use plastics such as drinking straws are already on the way out but there is a long way to go. Bio-plastics and compostible plastics are in their infancy – these may help solve some of the problems by the time APCO 2025 arrives. This next FPLMA Technical Forum will take place in first half of 2023, with more information to be provided in the coming months.

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FOCUS FPLMA AWARDS

Excellence in packaging sh FPLMA names the best of the best in packaging with the announcement of the FPLMA Gold Award winners

ulticolor Corporation (MCC) and Andrew Kohn were the biggest winners from the recent FPLMA Awards event, taking home multiple gold awards each in the flexible packaging space. MCC was awarded the Best In Show – Labels award for its White Rabbit Jabberwocky Gin product, which also won the Labels – Digital – Combination award. MCC general manager Ben Testa, who picked up the award on behalf of the company, said, “It is a great honour to win Best In Show. There are a lot of great entries that go into these awards. I would like to thank the FPLMA for putting on this evening. I would really like to thank the sponsors and I would like to encourage people to enter the awards moving forward. “I don’t think there are enough entries from enough businesses. “It is something that you can use as a marketing tool and it is something you can do to benchmark yourself against your peers. It is an opportunity to give credit to people in the business who put in the hard work day in and day out and they don’t always see where a product goes and they don’t always get the rewards that the printers do. “This job is a great job – the embossing on this is bloody awesome. The people that have worked on this job have printed 20,000 of these and every label has been bloody awesome. You go to the National Gallery and you see artwork on walls and you think that is great. What we do is print ‘Mona Lisas’ one after another after another and you don’t see enough recognition for that in society in general because they don’t look at a label under an eyeglass. The people that do the judging pull your labels apart and put them back together again and they tell you whether you have done a good job or not. “So to win something like Best In Show is really an honour and something we cherish and we thank everybody for the opportunity. I really 24 ProPack.pro April 2022

1. All the gold and individual award winners at the recent FPLMA Awards 2. The Southern Style Chicken Portions label that won Andrew Kohn Best In Show - Flexo. This award received the highest score for any product in the history of the FPLMA 3. MCC won the Best In Show - Labels award for its White Rabbit Jabberwocky Gin product, which also won the Labels Digital - Combination award Image 1 taken by Robert Churchus, www.robachurchus. com.au

encourage others to put their best foot forward next year and give it a crack because it has been a couple of years of torment and hell for some and it is great to be able to stand here tonight and celebrate in front of the industry.” MCC also won in the Labels – Digital – Wine & Spirits category for the Bruxa – The Temptress Whisky product, the Innovation Award – Label for the New Oak Single Vineyard product, the Labels – Combination – Wine & Spirits award for the Devil’s Blend Wine product and the Labels – Combination – Folding Cartons Colour Process award for the Wild Bee Face Cream product. Andrew Kohn was named the winner of the Best in Show – Flexo category for its Ready Set Cook – Southern Style Chicken Portions product. This award received the highest score for any product in the history of the FPLMA. The executive, who picked up the award on the evening, said, “Members of the judging committee, it is a very great honour to be a recipient for this award. Thank you to Repro House, Brandpack. I love people that find that second best is not good enough – that is appreciated. “I should not be here to accept this tonight – that honour goes to Zoran Josic – who many of you in the room know very well. Unfortunately, Zoran

could not be with us tonight. Both the association and Zoran don’t believe in world’s best practice – they practice world’s best practice. “They do not believe in personal development – they encourage and make sure that personal development takes place. Zoran is an amazing man to work with and this award is for him. We are so honoured to be found worthy of this award, we accept it with the utmost pride and we thank you all.” The business also took home two other awards that evening – the Flexo Wide Web – Surface Print award for its Ready Set Cook – Southern Style Chicken Portions product and the Flexo Wide Web – Surface Reverse Print award for its Moccona Coffee Sachets product. Rollspack took home two awards that evening – the Flexo Narrow Web – Reverse Print award for the Manolete Truffle Ham product, as well as the Gravure Wide Web – Reverse Print award for the Kettle Chips – Chunky Flamed Steak product. Amcor won gold for the Flexo Wide Web-Surface Print Paper category for the Carman’s Product Sachet product, while QLM won Label – Flexo – Line and Process for the Kialla Pure Organics product. In addition, James Print won gold in the Labels – Offset – Wine and Spirits category for the Airs and

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FPLMA AWARDS FOCUS

howcased at FPLMA Awards 4

Graces Malbec product and Visyflex Preprint won the highest accolade in the Flexo Corrugated – Preprint category for the NZ Tru product. Other gold winners include: Corrugated Carton Products in the Flexo Corrugated – Post Print for the Tyrrell’s Rufus Stone product; Wedderburn NSW in the Labels – Flexo – Colour Process category for the South West Octopus product; Label House in the Labels – Offset – Line & Tone category for the Huntingdale Bros Alpine Cider product; Luminar Group in the Labels – Digital – Flexible Packaging category for the Smart Protein Bar product; and Richdale Plastics Victoria in the Innovation Award – Flexo category for the Melbourne Coffee product. FPLMA also named the individual award winners at the awards ceremony, with Matilda Milligan winning Apprentice of the Year, Robert Elmer winning the Chairman’s Award for Excellence within the Print Industry, Yvonne Hackett winning the Award of Merit, and James Luttick being inducted into the Hall of Fame. FPLMA president Vince Sedunary said the Apprentice of the Year Award represents the future of our industry as without the apprentices or the

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4. The MCC team with their haul of FPLMA awards 5. Andrew Kohn wins the Best of Show Flexo category 6. Yvonne Hackett picks up her Award of Merit 7. Matilda Milligan won the Apprentice of the Year award 8. James Luttick with his Hall of Fame award All images on this page taken by Robert Churchus, www. robachurchus.com.au

traineeships, this industry would not be here in 10 or 20 years. “We are a very relevant industry, and it has provided a lot of people with careers and opportunities. During the interview process for the 2021 FPLMA Apprentice of the Year Award we had five judges and we had 11 apprentices to interview. Half were face-to-face and half were via Teams or Zoom meetings due to the restrictions that we had. During the process all the judges commented that there was an unbelievable selection of apprentices. However, the winner was an absolute stand-out,” he said. “This apprentice is that smart and that passionate and that committed – you would welcome her into any business and place her into the position of CEO, COO or director. I was gobsmacked at her knowledge and the ability of her communication. We had to pick our jaws up after the interview – we simply could not believe it. I wish this individual great success.” Milligan, who is a staff member at Fildes, said, “Thank you to Holmesglen – Andrew and Frank and everyone who has taught me what I know now. “Thank you to the people at Fildes Manufacturing – Bruce Scott, Mark Reid, Luke Fildes as well as Jurgen

White who mentored me on pre-press. I bleed pre-press. I hope to be in the industry forever – I love it.” Elmer, who won the Chairman’s Award for Excellence within the Print Industry, thanked the association for the honour. “I was talking tonight to my boss Richard Kemp and I think I attended this event the third time it was held when it was the AFTA forum in Sydney and it is now the 35th awards night. I have been in this industry all my life and I have met some great people – and a lot of those people are here tonight,” he said. “I have formed a lot of great friendships and I hope that continues. Well done to everyone for surviving the last couple of years – we all know how difficult it has been. Thank you very much for this award and it is sincerely appreciated.” The Chairman’s Award for Excellence within the Print Industry will be an annual FPLMA award moving forward. Hackett, who is managing director at Catalyst Chemicals and who won the Lifetime Achievement Award said, “Tony Dalleore – you get everyone to go that extra country mile for you. You are a gorgeous industry.”

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FOCUS FPLMA AWARDS GALLERY

2021 FPLMA Awards 2

Photos from the FPLMA Awards that recently took place in Melbourne

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1. Mark Sammut and Jane Griffiths (Gourmet Foods) with the Catalyst Chemicals Team – Yujeong An, Scott Breaker, Yvonne Hackett and Colin Hackett 2. Tracy Dixon, Trudy Brown, Bernard Labigang (MacDermid Graphic Solutions), Trent Ritson (MacDermid Graphic Solutions), Yujeong An (Catalyst Chemicals) and Scott Breaker 3. The Multi-Color Corporation (MCC) team – Tamara Collins, Ben Wood, Rae Pivac, Sean Capper, Demi, Samaras, Ben Testa, Christina Condos, Adrian Little and Tanya Little 4. Jamie Weller (Kissel+Wolf), Tony Dalleore (FPLMA), Scott Thompson (Esko) and Brenton King (Hybrid Software) 5. Mitchell Mulligan (Visual Connections), Brad Rhodes (Wing Flexible), Ian Perry (Wing Flexible), and Reno Lauriola (Flexo Australia) 6. The Fildes team – Bruce Scott, Mark Reid, Matilda Milligan, Chloe Watson, Ryan Cairns and Caleb Wilson 7. Craig McCulloch (J&P Flexographics), Gary Jones (J&P Flexographics) and Greg Spangler (Gelpack) 8. Troy Clancy (QLM), Grant Dennis (Sticky Labels) David Reece (Jet Technologies), Scott Thompson (Esko), Christopher Barry (Esko), James Montgomery (Jet Technologies) and Jeff Morris (QLM) www.propack.pro

FPLMA AWARDS GALLERY FOCUS

9. The Andrew Kohn team – Cameron Madugalle, Thanh H, Debra Sabin, Lynn Dunn and Tan Pham 10. Paul Garside (Windmöller & Hölscher), Rob Holzinger (Stripsteel), Tim Day (Stripsteel) and Ed Car (Brandpack) 11. Emily Cormack (Collie Print Trust), Mark Easton (Ecolean) and Sarah Hearn (Collie Print Trust) 12. The Result Group of Companies Team – Paul Rushton, Nolene Joiner, Paul Irwin, Michael Dosser and Sonya Dosser 13. Matt Ashman (Durst Oceania) and Andy McCourt 14. The MCC team with one of their many awards 15. Some entertainment for the evening 16. Vince Sedunary (FPLMA) hosting the awards for the evening

Continued on page 28 www.propack.pro

April 2022 ProPack.pro 27

FOCUS FPLMA AWARDS GALLERY Continued from page 27

22 23

24 17. Corrugated Carton Products picks up its award for the Tyrrells Rufus Stone project 18. Tracy Dixon, Anthony Dalleore and Trudy Brown (MacDermid Graphic Solutions) 19. Wedderburn NSW picks up its award for the South West Octopus project 20. Attendees mingling at the awards 21. Label House picks up its award for the Alpine Cider Pink Lady project 22. Anthony Dalleore and Vince Sedunary (FPLMA) 23. James Print won an FPLMA award for its Airs and Graces project 24. A large crowd was seen attending the recent FPLMA Awards Images taken by Robert Churchus, www.robachurchus.com.au

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FPLMA AWARDS GALLERY FOCUS

25 26

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25. Rollspack won an FPLMA award for its Manolete Truffle Ham project 26. Attendees let their hair down and dance the night away after the awards ceremony 27. Amcor picks up its award for the Carmen’s Porridge Sachet project 28. Matt Ashman (Durst Oceania) talking to one of the attendees 29. Visyflex Preprint wins an FPLMA award for its NZ Tru project 30. Rae Pivac, Tamara Collins and Demi Samaras (MCC) 31. Andrew Kohn wins the highly coveted FPLMA award for the Aldi Southern Style Chicken project 32. MCC picks up its Best of Show – Label award for the Jabberwocky Gin project, which also won the Labels - Digital - Combination award Images taken by Robert Churchus, www.robachurchus.com.au

April 2022 ProPack.pro 29

FOCUS CORRUGATED

Corrugated ticks all boxes With online shopping and the box-drop revolution re-defining the needs of global packaging, we look at the latest solutions in this space By Peter Kohn

orrugated board is extremely versatile and can be used in a variety of packaging applications. The material is amazingly strong and its strength also makes it reusable, a tick for sustainability. The fluting it is made from uses a lot of air between layers, making it extremely lightweight. And, of course, the humble cardboard is inexpensive when compared to some other packaging alternatives. No wonder that corrugated packaging is in high demand worldwide. Smithers research projects the global folding carton market to pass $220 billion by 2026. This has been further enhanced by the pandemic, with its explosion in online commerce and the porch ‘box-drop’ economy. ProPack.Pro speaks to suppliers and looks at some of the latest innovations within corrugated packaging.

Agfa Oceania

Pressure from soaring shipping costs during the pandemic period have become a major factor driving the box market, according to Agfa Oceania managing director Mark Brindley. “This is a serious problem that continues to impact not just the print sector but all businesses in Australia,” he said, noting the global supply-line crisis that has hit the headlines in recent months. Specifically, a shortage of 20- and 40-foot containers continues to restrict the industry and is predicted to get worse before it gets better, he said. However, Brindley reported that Agfa’s packaging customer base has remained steady throughout the COVID crisis, buttressed by the rise in internet retail. Brindley said Agfa’s Amfortis solution offers a universal PDF workflow for packaging converters as well as print providers, embracing the gamut of prepress production points from pre-flighting right through 30 ProPack.pro April 2022

1. Pressure from soaring shipping costs during the pandemic period have become a major factor driving the box market

2. The function of a corrugated feed roller is to ensure uniform, non-destructive sheet transportation at high machine speeds and cycle frequencies

to rendering, covering such vital areas as step-and-repeat and proofing. One interface to manage the full prepress production and all related output devices increases efficiencies significantly and using Agfa’s Digital Quick Strip mechanism to render a single artwork, Amfortis enables the artwork to be stepped to fill a complete print sheet. Amfortis ensures perfectly consistent print quality. The box is rendered, then placed, but keeps its characteristics in all positions and orientations. The single rendered artwork can also be used for soft and hard proofing, and for remote approval. Agfa thermal digital plates are durable on the press, compatible with UV and metallic inks, and have run lengths up to 150 million copies. They are a key component of the company’s offset printing solutions in the corrugated field. The Thermostar P970 is a postbake thermal plate designed for harsh printing conditions. The Energy Elite Pro plate offers consistent printing quality, high productivity, and lower chemistry consumption. The Energy Elite Eco plate is an advanced and remarkably robust no-bake thermal printing plate for high-end, highperformance commercial packaging and UV printing. Additionally, Agfa has produced comprehensive CtP systems to image and process offset printing plates. The Avalon 8-up series and Avalon VLF thermal platesetters offer provide consistent performance and output quality up to 340lpi (Sublima screening) and throughput speed of up to 70pph, depending on model and plate. There are multiple automation options, such as a single, multi-cassette or pallet loader, and the platesetters integrate with Agfa’s Apogee prepress

workflow solution, Brindley said. Elantrix DX processors provide optimal processing of thermal plates, with highspeed processing to boost productivity, and their robust construction means stability and consistent performance over sustained timeframes. Arkana is a smart plate processor offering reliable, premium-quality processing with minimal chemistry usage and maintenance, enabling a reduction in CO2 generation. Workloads achieved on the 8-up range and VLF CtP processors make them ideal for high-production and heavyduty environments. And because of Agfa’s gum cascade process, which enables the gum to clean the plate and protect it with a finishing layer, Arkana generates only about half the collectable waste of other entrants in this sector, Brindley said.

Böttcher Australia

When it comes to corrugated package printing, pressroom peripherals are a key consideration, Böttcher Australia managing director Mitch Mulligan told ProPack.Pro. For example, the function of a feed roller is to ensure uniform, nondestructive sheet transportation at

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CORRUGATED FOCUS

high machine speeds and cycle frequencies. Frequent format changes and high workloads with small formats contribute to uneven wear-and-tear of the roller covering, which has a negative impact on sheet transport and rubber covering service, resulting in high turnover and wastage of rollers. Equally important is non-destructive material transport in the rollers, which minimises shaft compression and the resulting loss of mechanical properties. The company’s BöttcherTec brand offers a number of solutions that meet this requirement, from proven, economical single-layer constructions to dual-layer systems designed to provide enhanced wear protection. “This product helps to preserve the integrity of the corrugated carton by not crushing the flutes, enabling full-strength corrugated packaging to be maintained, which in turn offers the packaged product superior shipping as well as handling protection,” Mulligan said. Böttcher Systems is a market leader in the development and supply of elastomer-coated rollers and sleeves for a range of industries including packaging and industrial roller applications. The company also supplies a wide range of high-quality press chemistry, coating plates and printing blankets which, together are designed to optimise all parts of the printing process. Its roller supply service enables exchange rollers to be delivered to print companies within a matter of hours. “The large volume of original equipment rollers that we supply is a clear sign of the confidence that all press manufacturers place in our unique service and product quality,” Mulligan said. Meanwhile, the BöttcherTOP printing blanket line ensures optimum print results and is available in a wide range of surface qualities and carcases for all kinds of print substrate. With press chemicals, Böttcher’s washes and maintenance products meet the highest technical standards with respect to effectiveness, environmental safety, and physical and chemical influence on our roller compounds, Mulligan added. And he noted that in wider industrial applications, Böttcher offers solutions in the fields of textiles (as well as metal and timber and other applications).

HP PageWide

HP PWI South Pacific sales and marketing manager Bruce Caldwell identified digital print as a key driver in supporting e-Commerce time to market needs and varied production volumes, together with critical supplychain benefits. www.propack.pro

3. HP offers a complete digital print portfolio with its range of HP PageWide corrugated presses, such as the T1100, T400, C500, T1190 and T470, opening up opportunities for HP and its customers

“The packaging segment is indeed a growing inkjet segment; therefore, we see a growing interest and demand for HP’s PageWide corrugated presses. This opens up opportunities for HP and our customers, as corrugated packaging is definitely a growth engine to produce corrugated boxes at a lower cost, faster and better – as part of the increased requirements in supply-chain efficiency,” he said. Caldwell sees the scalable portfolio of HP PageWide digital corrugated presses as delivering speed, quality and variability to produce high volumes with high versatility through pre-print liners for corrugation or ready-to-go post-print boards. The format of each platform delivers benefits for different applications and operating models. HP’s preprint presses, including the T1100 and T400 series, have changed the dynamic in corrugated production, offering high-speed, high-quality output with incredible flexibility and unique advantages in time to market, he said. The HP C500 corrugated press, similarly, is a highly evolved innovative single-pass, digital post-print solution that helps converters to reduce the cost of making boxes at scaled volume production, creating new opportunities and competitive advantages. HP’s PageWide digital corrugated presses use true water-based inks and are the only field-proven corrugated digital presses to deliver offset-like print quality, Caldwell said. The HP PageWide T1190 web presses enable pre-printing the top liner before corrugation, while the HP PageWide C500 Press is a direct-to-board postprint solution for printing on corrugated sheets. The HP PageWide T470 six-colour press is also a webbased solution designed for digital lamination production. “Our PageWide corrugated customers see an increase in the demand for e-Commerce workflows for small business and consumer needs, and with the advantage of HP’s true water-based inks, they can offer a

sustainable packaging solution. Corrugated packaging produced with the HP PageWide corrugated presses is the right solution for those who consider the environment and the consumer demands for sustainability,” Caldwell said.

Kissel & Wolf Australia

The Australian corrugated packaging sector is well-established, with the bulk of the print production volume driven, Kissel & Wolf A/NZ business development director, industrial print and packaging Jamie Weller said. He sees general challenges around multiple touch points in production, such as prepress, print, die-cutting, and folding/gluing. In these areas, inefficiencies can result in longer lead times and waste. But the pandemic has also brought some unexpected opportunities, according to Weller. With increased shipping costs and long lead times from overseas produced boxes, the shift towards local manufacturing of corrugated boxes has increased dramatically. The pandemic changed the way consumers buy, with more people ordering online, adding more demand for corrugated boxes. Looking to the future of corrugated packaging, Weller predicted that fibre-based packaging is very much here to stay. “Many brands are moving away from harmful plastic packaging, towards a more sustainable fibre-based solution. Digital packaging is part of the total marketing mix and brand owners are using this new technology to better engage with their clients,” he said. “As digital packaging is only a small portion of the overall printed packaging, it is growing fast. This can be seen in regions such as Europe and the US, and it will only be a matter of time until the Australian and New Zealand region will adopt it.” Turning to Kissel & Wolf’s product line, Weller said, “Our product Continued on page 32 April 2022 ProPack.pro 31

FOCUS CORRUGATED 4

Continued from page 31

portfolio of industrial inkjet solutions offers printing on folding carton and corrugated board from basic to premium boxes – on white, kraft and coated (clay coat) board. Offerings range from short- to medium-run length, up to conventional production with digital flexibility. “All of our digital corrugated inkjet printing solutions offer environmentally friendly, food-safe, water-based inks which are odourless, and industrial-grade print heads which are key to lowering the total cost of ownership – and are available in a printing width of 1 to 2.5m, and are backed by local service and support.” At the entry level, Kissel & Wolf’s single-pass corrugated printer, the SPC1290, is ideal for brown and white kraft boards, with 1200dpi and running up to 30m/min. In the mid-range, its HighJet and Revo product line prints on brown, white kraft and clay-coated board without pre-treatment. The HighJet 2500B digital corrugated printer is made for converters looking for an entry into digital printing. It can produce short to medium runs, and output of up to 700sm/h over a wide range of applications on coated and uncoated board. It handles everything from basic boxes to premium, on-demand printing, versioning, customised print, retail-ready displays, and food packaging – all of it supported by food-safe aqueous ink. The Revo 2500W digital corrugated printer is the optimal solution for converters needing to produce short-to-

4. Kissel & Wolf Australia has a product portfolio of industrial inkjet solutions that offers printing on folding carton and corrugated board from basic to premium boxes 5. The CorruCUT highboard line rotary diecutter from Koenig & Bauer gives a considerable boost to productivity

medium runs. The 2500W offers a print output of up to 1,400sm/h. Top of the range offerings include the Glory 1604, a single-pass digital inkjet press capable of printing up to 150m/min or 9,000 boards per hour, with a maximum sheet size of 1,600 x 2,800mm and print resolution of up to 600 x 1,200 dpi. The 1604 has a servo-controlled lead-edge bottom feeder that is made for continuous-feed operation and a variable vacuum area belt transport system, ensuring precise feeding of boards of up to 15mm thickness. It is available in four or six colour options, with light magenta and light cyan. Applications range from basic to premium boxes, offering the widest range of packaging applications. Offering inline options for primer, varnish and stacker, the 1604 is a truly fully integrated solution for converters looking for digital flexibility in mainstream production. And in a class by itself, the highspeed Glory 2504 digital inkjet corrugated press is for converters needing to add firepower to their production – with speeds of up to 180m/min. The 2504 achieves a productivity breakthrough with print output of up to 17,773sm/h, covering a wide range of applications on range of different boards – capable of basic boxes to flexo replacement. The 2504 eliminates traditional processes such as plate making, makeready and ink mixing, resulting in savings in time, ink, labour, plates, and the associated storage costs. It also features inline options for primer, slotter, varnish and stacker.

Koenig & Bauer Australia

A new rotary die-cut unit with automatic changeover system, the CorruCUT high-board line rotary die-cutter from Koenig & Bauer gives a considerable boost to productivity, Koenig & Bauer Australia managing director Dave Lewis said. “This innovative enhancement allows a die-cut cylinder that is not in use to be set up for a subsequent job during the current production run. The downtime between jobs is reduced significantly,” he mentioned. Easy access to the new rotary die-cut unit provides fast and straightforward tool changes, Lewis said, noting that the open design not only improves ergonomics for the operator but enables efficient removal of the die-cut waste. Noting that the CorruCUT has already had a strong take-up in Europe, Koenig & Bauer digital and webfed head of product management Hartmut Breunig said, “We paid particular attention to ergonomic handling of the new rotary die-cut unit and have implemented the best possible working conditions for the operator”. An Easy Job Change function, which provides highly automated preparation of a subsequent job, takes pressure off the operator by enabling full configuration of the coming job changeover, while the current production is still running. As soon as the job is completed, makeready begins and the machine is set up for the new production run. This could include washing down, anilox roll changes and format conversion in all units, for example, without any intervention by the operator.

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CORRUGATED FOCUS 6

With the new pre-settable rotary die-cutter, fully automated job changeovers are possible, Lewis said. “The multitude of new developments has achieved yet another significant increase in the productivity of the CorruCUT. Previously established features, such as the control system for die-cutting contour based on single out production for separate control of the outs length in each row, are also available for the pre-settable rotary die-cut unit,” he added. The pre-settable rotary die-cut unit has also been designed to be retrofitted to the machine at any later date, provided this option was planned for as part of the original configuration. Meanwhile, a partnership between Koenig & Bauer and Durst has borne fruit in the form of a new line-up of dedicated digital presses for the corrugated carton industry. The new presses include the VariJET 106, a seven-colour press which integrates inkjet technology into the platform of the high-performance Rapida 106 offset press. The consistent modular concept combines the opportunities of digital inkjet with the acknowledged print and inline finishing capabilities of the offset process, Lewis said. The VariJET 106 equips print providers with the ability to produce the packaging of the future, whether it is personalised and individualised print products or constant alternation between short- and medium-runs. As a modular system, the VariJET 106 can be configured to a print business’ particular production requirements. Another product out of the joint venture is the CorruJET 170, which makes it possible to post-print direct onto corrugated board sheets. Based on extensive experience gained with the digital web press RotaJET, the CorruJET was developed specifically for the corrugated industry. Operating with a maximum production speed of www.propack.pro

5,500 sheets per hour, the CorruJET can process corrugated board up to a thickness of 8mm. Another press from the partnership is the Durst Delta SPC 130, which is the result of Durst adapting its singlepass technology for the corrugated industry. The system combines a wellengineered mechanical design with sub-assemblies and selected components. The Delta SPC 130 is equipped with Durst’s SPC drop-ondemand print head technology and has a non-hazardous ink system as well as an IR/UV drying process designed for high productivity. It can be configured with up to six colours, printing any length of corrugated cardboard or paper media of up to 12mm in thickness.

Sappi Trading Australia 6. Veltins Brewery selected the Fusion Topliner from Sappi for its new Pilsner 12-packs packaging solution

Declining volumes of alcoholic beverages, in parallel with an explosion in the diversity of brands being sold, have spurred marketers into coming up with smarter, more attractive, and more practical ways to package their products. Sappi Trading Australia managing director Craig Brown sees the beer industry as a case in point. Declining volumes as well as the rise of micro-brands and craft beers have seen manufacturers take a new look at how the amber fluid is showcased. Brown pointed to a case study in Germany, where beer sales have been shrinking, even as competitive pressure between brands is growing. All marketing eyes are focused on point-of-sale (POS) and how any one of a multitude of beer products can grab the attention of consumers. This is something that the Veltins Brewery, based in Meschede, Germany, has taken into consideration in designing a new packaging solution for its Pilsner 12-packs. To ensure that its beer products stand out at the POS, it chose the Fusion Topliner from Sappi. The virgin-fibre liner is being used more and more in corrugated board applications and is known for its outstanding colour reproduction and consistently high quality. The new packaging solution was developed by German display manufacturer Knappe + Lehbrink Promotions. Veltins’ innovative new 12-pack for 0.33L bottles emerged from months of R&D with folding carton board. Veltins engaged with packaging partners that shared their sense of creativity and innovation. Partnering with Knappe + Lehbrink, and utilising Sappi’s Fusion Topliner corrugated board product, resulted in a packaging solution that is as functional as it is attractive, creating an instant impression of outstanding quality, Brown said. With its high durability and compression strength, Fusion Topliner

offers stability and excellent grip, giving the customer a sense of premium value. It is also considerably more elastic than other container-board papers, thanks to its optimised fibre structure. The material remains intact even after folding – and folded edges no longer tear. The outstanding material and processing properties of Fusion Topliner from Sappi met the customer’s requirements in all respects, Knappe + Lehbrink project manager Jochen Rudat said. The development of the packaging solution began with the technical design of the carton material. The main challenge involved creating a corrugated board packaging solution that would offer reliable load-bearing safety and resilience, despite the damp, cold environment experienced in the refrigerated section. This put the developers in the research laboratory under considerable pressure for some time, but the resulting solution speaks for itself. “Thanks to the combination of premium, sustainably sourced virgin fibre and Sappi’s longstanding expertise in the creation of high-quality packaging materials, the new packaging solution not only meets food safety requirements, it also offers protection against all of the physical challenges the packaging would be expected to face, as well as delivering a pleasant sensory experience for the consumer as they handle the product,” Rudat said. However, it is not just the mechanical properties of the new packaging solution that represent a competitive edge. The excellent surface quality of Sappi’s Fusion Topliner also made it the perfect choice to further improve brand communication at the POS. Applying the striking silver-green packaging identity to the exceptionally smooth and consistent double-coated surface of Fusion created a high level of brightness, offering faithful colour reproduction. The end-result is a smooth surface aligned with brilliant colour that perfectly reflects Veltins’ philosophy, while following the trend towards a minimalist, yet stylish, packaging design. Brown added that Fusion Topliner from Sappi is the premium solution for consumer packaging, shelf-ready packaging, trays and displays. “With its even surface and excellent brightness, the virgin fibre liner fulfils the desire for a strong brand effect. In comparison to conventional GD liners, Fusion Topliner offers impressively low glue absorption and outstanding print results. The unique formula of Topliner combines strength and flexibility. This ensures perfect folds even in complex applications,” he said. April 2022 ProPack.pro 33

PACK DIARY

UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS Durst Expo 2022: Label

Foodtech Packtech 2022

April 26-29, 2022 Brixen, Italy durst-group.com/durstexpo

September 20-22, 2022 Auckland, New Zealand foodtechpacktech.co.nz

E-PACK Asia

Labelexpo Southeast Asia 2023

April 27-28, 2022 Shanghai, China ecommercepacksummit.com/asia

February 9-11, 2023 Bangkok, Thailand labelexpo-seasia.com

IPACK-IMA

DS Printech China

interpack 2023

May 3-6, 2022 Milan, Italy ipackima.com

May 18-20, 2022 Shanghai, China dsprintech-shanghai.hk.messefrankfurt.com

May 4-10, 2023 Düsseldorf, Germany interpack.com/

AUSPACK 2022

Australian Waste & Recycling Expo

Labelexpo Europe 2023

May 17-20, 2022 Melbourne, Australia auspack.com.au

August 24-25, 2022 Sydney, Australia awre.com.au

September 11-14, 2023 Brussels, Belgium labelexpo-europe.com

Got an event? Send an email to hosman@intermedia.com.au with all the details and we will put your event on the page.

Your Specialists in Product Handling, Identification & Inspection The 1170 is an “All Purpose” solution for digital colour printing with it’s integrated friction feeder, adjustable receiving tray and vacuum conveyor. The HP FI-1000 print engine uses an aqueous pigmented ink which makes vibrant prints that are both water-proof and light fast. Perfect for short runs on boxes and bags.

Trimatt 1170

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Feed, Fold and Glue - Do more with the FoldLine 9000. Discuss with the Trimatt team how your machine can be customised to suit your specific variable needs, this compact machine will operate seamlessly with precision and optimal performance. Ideal for 'sleeves' used in FMCG. Camera systems and inkjet printing can be added helping you to satisfy even more market opportunities. 4/17 Southfork Drive Kilsyth South, VIC Australia 3137

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Sydney - Rob Crough 0423 337 788 Melbourne - Greg Knight 0411 338 855 Brisbane - Peter Erskine 0432 663 322 Perth - Alan Strugnell 0418 955 512 New Zealand - Paul Hilleard (64) 21 191 6548 Malaysia - Tel: (60) 3 7955 1668 (Kuala Lumpur) Indonesia - Tel: (62) 21 2555 8924 Tel: (60) 7 598 0771/2 (Senai, Johor) Vietnam - Tel: (84) 9 0938 9468

: 38 Victoria Street, Beaconsfield, NSW 2015 Australia Tel: (61) 2 9318 0099 Fax: (61) 2 9318 0399 New Zealand : Unit 22, Ground Floor, 6 Ken Browne Drive, Te Rapa, Hamilton 3200, New Zealand Tel: (64) 7 949 7722

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