This is the first time that a number of road shows in the run up to the December event, which is taking place at Pragati Maidan,
The road shows will include a networking reception as well as interactive presentations on the Indian label market and new product launches at Labelexpo
Tickets to the road shows are free of charge, but limited to printers and members of the media. Please visit the Labelexpo India website page or email the marketing team to apply for the exclusive tickets.
The Indian Packaging industry with a growth of more than 15% p.a. and accounting for USD 14 Billion shows the immense potential in the industry. This growth is expected to be doubled in next two years and figures indicate towards a change in the industrial and consumer set up. Packaging today, has grown in importance and is regarded as vital marketing tool. It enhances product value and helps expand market within and outside country. With a rapid growth in markets like Food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and textile, and with all these sectors needing specialized packaging, the packaging industry can be characterized as global and fast growing industry.
After the successes of previous three editions of Indiapack it has grown as a brand name in Indian Packaging industry and world over. Recognizing that the new trends and development are essential to the industry’s bright future, the Indian Institute of Packaging, through Indiapack, seeks to provide a perfect platform to bring the packaging industry under one roof. With this the industry has opportunity to connect at this highly specialized event where the issues of meeting the soaring demand for more sophisticated packaging together with the ever present need for increased productivity are addressed.
With the support from Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India and many Trade Association, from
For more details, log on to www.indiapack.in
EskoArtwork announces the Kongsberg XP Auto, an extended new version of the XP cutting table. This incorporates automatic loading and unloading to give the highest digital converting capacity available on the market. It is the perfect complement to a wide format digital printer, enabling a full digital production workflow for POP displays and short-run packaging work.
The XP Auto is the successor to the DCM 24 (Digital Converting Machine), which established EskoArtwork and its Kongsberg operation as a leader in fully automatic board handling for digital cutters. The new model is based on the Kongsberg XP, the company’s highest capacity cutting table, designed for high productivity up to 24/7 continuous operation. The configuration can handle a wide range of materials from high-density, rigid sheets requiring a milling tool to flexible materials that can be processed by knife cutting tools. The maximum sheet size for the large format XP44 Auto model is 2310 x 3600 mm.
The addition of automatic media handling transforms the XP into a fully automatic finishing system that can run unattended for long periods. Unattended operations are aided by the XP’s automatic tool calibration and a camera system for accurate print-to-cut registration. Exclusive for the XP Auto is the ability to register sheets with the print side facing down, most useful for processing corrugated board. This is achieved by means of a camera, located below the table top level and driven by a separate servo axis, that registers the marks as the board is moved from the in-stack to the cutting area.
"The Kongsberg XP Auto is optimized for packaging and display manufacturers that want to run production series up to about 1000 sheets or stacks of material up to one meter high," explains Naess. "It can run without the continuous supervision of an operator, thus saving considerable costs. Operators can also leave the machine working unattended overnight as a remote alert system automatically sends a message to the operator if operation has stopped."
The system is particularly valuable for producing POP display work and short-run customized packaging, with short turnaround times. Compared with conventional cutting and creasing systems for packaging, this also avoids the lead times and high cost of making cutting dies. A milling capability is optional for materials such as MDF, Forex, Dibond and acrylic panels.
"We are very pleased with the Kongsberg XP44 Auto,” says Atle Andreassen, Managing Director at SCA Packaging Norway. “The big working area compared to the DCM machines is a big advantage for us. We can produce larger boxes than before. Multiple part jobs, often needed for in-store displays, can now fit into a single sheet which saves time and costs both at the printing and cutting stage. The XP Auto can also cut the protective foam for the inside of the boxes, which we have not been able to do before. Also the increased speed of the XP Auto is a benefit when cutting multiple parts from a sheet."
With a small staff of 13 people, the ability to run unattended is very valuable. "We can leave the XP Auto unattended at night and by raising our stack of material to 100cm, we can produce till 06.00 in the morning instead of 02.00. We even already suggested EskoArtwork to further expand the automatic loading and unloading capability," adds Andreassen. "With the Kongsberg XP Auto, we can make samples for a customer while they wait and deliver the order in two or three days."
Companies like Autoprint, Ess Dee Nutek, Megabound, Fairprint International, Standard Printers Providers are exhibiting at the Maharashtra Print Pack Sign 2010 that kicked off today in Pune. Conducted by the Poona Press Owner’s Association & VNB International, the expo is supported By Maharashtra Mudran Parishad & Affiliate Associations that include Bombay Master Printers’ Association, Nashik Jilha Mudrak Sangh, Kolhapur Zilla Mudrak Sangh, Aurangabad Mudrak Sangh, Sangli Zilla Mudrak Sangh, Printers Guild - Nagpur and the Solapur Mudrak Sangh.Nayan Bhayani, the organiser of the Expo is very upbeat about the show. He says: "There are more than 50 exhibitors. In addition, we have planned to host opportunities to network. This is important because the print industry around Pune is witnessing a boom."
Clarifoil, makers of biodegradable cellulose film materials for labeling and packaging, packed a punch at Labelexpo Americas - the world’s largest label and product decoration trade show with its growing range of smart solutions for innovative label designs and tamper-evident label uses.
For converters and printers, specifiers and end-users, Clarifoil is an eco-friendly material that provides many efficiency advantages – it is easy to process, accepts solvent and water-based adhesives without treatment, can be glued and die cut with minimal waste, is printable by most processes without corona treatment and can be foil-blocked.
For creative designers, Clarifoil offers an entire orchestra of special effects for distinctive brands – it conforms well around complicated shapes, can be used to produce ‘invisible’ labels with only print or foil blocking prominent on a transparent background, and is available in clear, white, full matt, Satiné and Semitone finishes and special colors.
Clarifoil, the world’s leading producer of innovative cellulose acetate films for labels, carton windows and print lamination is highly active in the growing market for tamper-evident, security and anti counterfeit label material solutions. Because of Clarifoil’s low temperature manufacturing process, it’s possible to include a number of additives, including infrared agents (which can be energized with a handheld device), thermo-chromic and photochromic dyes, and fluorescent colored and optically brightened films, which produce a distinctive edge glow if torn.
Consumer awareness of environmental considerations is increasingly driving the choice of labeling materials. Consumers seek environmental friendliness in every aspect of the products they buy, including the packaging and labeling. Clarifoil satisfies this demand with its home- compostability and biodegradability, yet – unlike many eco-friendly products – there is no compromise on the quality of the label or its positive tactile qualities, with a variety of finishes available. Clarifoil has EN 13432 and ASTM D6400 accreditation as a certified biodegradable and home-compostable material.
A major contribution to the safety label market is Integuard, Clarifoil’s tamper evident film material. Integuard is specially engineered to retain tensile strength during automatic processing and high speed application but will fragment if removal is attempted when the product is on retail sale, enabling store staff to tell at a glance if the pack is intact. Integuard has been developed for tamper evidence uses in pharmaceutical packaging, cosmetics, perfume, high end food and drink products and electronic goods such as mobile phones and MP3 players.
Marion Bauer, Marketing, Clarifoil explains: “Clarifoil has made enormous leaps forward with tamper evident technology whilst consistently holding firm with our environmental credentials. The exhibition had an exceptional turn out and we received a great deal of interest from both the
Jossy Jo, a Beijing-based high-grade fashion brand, is one of the first apparel companies in
The RFID implementation covers Jossy Jo’s operations comprehensively, starting from production planning where production tasks are generated and assigned to specific plants. RFID labels are accordingly sent to each production plant and attached to every garment during the production phase. For quality control this means a significant boost, as any faulty garments can be effortlessly traced back to the point of production where the root cause of problems can be examined and resolved.
In terms of logistic efficiency, Jossy Jo reports an impressive 40% improvement since the RFID implementation. Easy traceability also streamlines cooperation between Jossy Jo and its distributors and agents as the accurate and readily available real-time information leaves little room for interpretation.
Another feature typical of the apparel business, seasonal sales, are also easier to manage thanks to RFID. The modified sales price information is included in the tags, and data concerning actual sales is always available in real time without any additional manual work.
In the fight against counterfeit products, Jossy Jo has made significant gains with the RFID implementation. Thus far, the company reports that it has been able to eliminate product forgery which has previously accounted for three percent of annual sales. “Counterfeit products are a major issue in the apparel business and product forgery causes many brands to suffer considerable losses. An item-level RFID solution is a powerful means of dealing with this issue,” says Edward Lu, Sales and Marketing Director,
Many of today’s pharmaceutical products are primary packaged in round, opaque plastic bottles. The requirement to verify a serialized code on the bottle or to check the presence of labels, the positioning of labels / logos or the presence of tamper evidence tags, makes it necessary to scan the entire body of the bottle after the labeling process.
Pending global regulations and corporate initiatives to secure the supply chain and protect consumers from counterfeit products, are leading packagers to apply serialized 2D codes to their bottled products, when those bottles are the lowest unit of sale. Tracking those serialized containers to the bundle or case, in order to capture aggregation data for full traceability of products at all packaging levels, pose a unique challenge on the packaging line.
Seidenader Vision, a leading supplier for inspection technology to the pharmaceutical industry, has met this challenge by developing a module to check cylindrical objects around their entire surface: the SV360.
With the new SV360 solution, these bottles can be checked on-the-fly, capturing a 360 degree view of the unoriented bottle on the conveyor. The inspection module can be integrated anywhere on the conveyor, typically at the infeed of the bundler or case packer, for speeds of up to 400 containers/minute. By using a six camera solution, and positioning the cameras 60 degrees apart, the SV360 locates, reads, and verifies the 2D code every time by capturing six individual images of the bottle as it passes through the inspection module.
The Seidenader SVIM, a high performance vision processor, takes these images which overlap, analyzes each individual image or “stitches“ them together to create one image to be analyzed. The codes are read, verified and documented in the database to the next level of aggregation.
Label manufacturers and other converters seeking the speed and capabilities of rotary die cutters without the bottomless lifetime costs for dies and also seeking ways to quickly and painlessly transition to short run jobs with the limitless cut configurations now in greater demand can now use the Spartanics Finecut-Plus-Rotary---Combination Laser Die Cutting and Rotary Die Cutting System.
With Spartanics Finecut-Plus-Rotary you no longer need to choose between a niche in long runs or short runs. And, you can take on any job - in limitless cut configurations. This is now possible because the world’s most accurate single source laser die cutting system, also automatically optimized to cut at the fastest web speeds possible for your designs, can now also be interchanged with traditional rotary die cutting.
The Spartanics Finecut-Plus-Rotary innovation is expected to especially be valuable for companies that are increasingly combining short run and long run work, and therefore need different cutting tools for optimum efficiency. An extension of the best-in-class laser die cutting system in the world, Spartanics Finecut Laser Die Cutting Systems, the Spartanics Finecut-Plus-Rotary is an extremely versatile cutting technology that can serve as the optimal cutting solution for diverse job requirements, with capabilities that include:
Spartanics Finecut Laser Diecutting Systems sheet, roll, combination sheet/roll, and now also combination rotary plus laser - are used in a wide array of applications - flexible circuits, membrane switches, gaskets, labels, cardstock and paperboard products, packaging, automotive and medical device components, discs, belts, and gaskets, novelty magnets, RFID tags, P-O-P display products, industrial textile applications, and more.
Madico Graphic Films, a leading
One of the key applications for the innovative thermal transfer printable film (code: 01-716) is removable labels for electrical and audio visual equipment, including TV screens. With some retailers reporting TV sales during the FIFA Cup equivalent to those during the peak trading period of Christmas, Madico says this has influenced sales of the easy-peel labelstock, which leaves no adhesive transfer or residue upon removal.
Madico’s innovative 01-716 film comprises a 50μ white polyester or 80μ polypropylene print receptive facestock that provides excellent dimensional stability combined with good solvent, humidity, elevated temperature and UV resistance. Engineered to accept conventional ink, the labelstock offers superior thermal transfer print quality with crisp definition at low burn temperatures with resin and wax/resin ribbons.
Pivotal to the film’s performance is Madico’s very low tack, and proven R51 acrylic adhesive, which offers clean removability after short and long term application. As well as audio-visual equipment and electrical appliances, this makes 01-716 perfect for on demand variable information labels in a host of automotive, electronic and laboratory applications. Madico’s 01-716 substrate also includes an 82gsm white polycoated glassine liner which is suitable for high speed dispensing and is PE coated on one side to ensure adhesive smoothness.
“The key differentiator with Madico’s 01-716 easy-peel label compared to similar products, is its removable adhesive and the reliability of that adhesive under difficult conditions”, says Gary Dixon, International Business Manager at Madico Graphic Films Ltd. “Removable labels are already available on the market, but unlike 01-716, these typically fail to perform when subjected to high temperatures or if exposed to chemicals. However, the 01-716 polyester film has been proven to function successfully at up to 200°C.
“At the point of purchase, 01-716 labels are crisp, clean and adhere to surfaces perfectly, and leave no surface contamination upon removal”, he adds. “This makes them highly suitable for point-of-sale labels on electrical and audio-visual products, white goods, or for factory tracking of products during assembly. We noticed similar peaks of the product prior to the 2006 World Cup and believe the boost in TV sales could well be the reason behind this.”
Madico’s 01-716 can be supplied directly from stock and as well as a 50μ gloss white polyester, is also available on a 50μ clear white polyester, as well as on an 80μ matt white polypropylene facestock.
“The Domino N600 is the ink jet press that makes sense of digital,” asserts David Ellen, Senior Vice-President, Digital Printing Solutions at Domino North America, “and we’re delighted to be introducing it to the market at Labelexpo.”
Ellen’s comments follow the N600’s launch at the
“The Domino value proposition is very clear in this context,” comments Ellen. “There is a large market for four-color labels where the N600 delivers twice the productivity of other digital presses due to its high speed print engine. Combine this with utter simplicity of operation and reliability and you have the formula for very rapid return on investment.”
“This fact was not lost on visitors to IPEX, with many returning several times during the show with different customers to show them just what the N600 is capable of,” he reports, “and we’re expecting to see this repeated at Labelexpo.”
The first installations of the N600 are expected to take place around the time of Labelexpo. Ongoing development means that a fifth color option will shortly be available, while the printer’s modular design allows integration with conventional presses to deliver hybrid solutions and with a variety of existing finishing solutions.
At IPEX, Domino also announced a partnership with EskoArtwork to deliver their Digital Front End for the N600, so offering workflow integration, color management and RIP functionality from the acknowledged market leader in the packaging and labeling sectors. Also on show at Labelexpo is the N600’s single-color sibling, the Domino K600. Featuring the same high-performance ink jet technology as the N600, the K600 features double the print resolution of its predecessors in the K-Series range combined with multiple grayscales. It reproduces high quality variable data such as barcodes, 2D codes including QR Codes, numbers, graphics, logos and personalized data in a range of different image sizes. Significantly, the 600dpi K600 satisfies the growing market requirement to digitally print complete products. Print widths range from 4.25” (108mm) to 30.8” (780mm), with scalability being achieved by mounting print modules across a bar.
Like the N600, the speed of the K600 is compelling, with line speeds up to 490 feet/minute (150 meters/minute) accommodated. “Alternative binary technology, although high speed, cannot match the simplicity of the K600 piezo-based technology or indeed get close to the print quality,” continues Ellen. “There are numerous applications in the tickets, tags and labels arena where we believe this product will be seen as a significant advancement.”
Visitors to the booth of Meech Static Eliminators at LabelExpo Americas 2010 were able to learn about the latest developments in web cleaning and static control, two areas in which the manufacturer is a key global player. The recent launch of ShearClean means that Meech has both non contact and contact web cleaning systems in its product portfolio, so customers can ensure they have the best solution for the type of materials they handle. Meech has also added several products to its line up of static control systems.
“ShearClean is a non contact system suitable for sectors ranging from narrow web label printing, including litho, gravure and flexo, as well as converting, food packaging and pharmaceutical applications,” says Matt Fyffe, VP/General Manager of Meech Static Eliminators USA Inc. “ShearClean opens the door to a whole new range of applications where contact cleaning systems are not feasible.
“This could include substrates with surfaces that are prone to scratching, special coatings or decorative labels destined for premium consumer goods. ShearClean is also highly effective when used in applications involving coating. We believe its ease of installation, effectiveness in removing dust and debris from an extensive range of materials and its low running costs will make ShearClean attractive to many companies seeking to improve productivity.”
ShearClean can be supplied for use with reel widths up to 70 inches (1.8m) and web speeds of up to 1,475 feet per minute (450m/minute) as standard. Faster speeds may be achieved by adjusting factory settings. The system can be used to clean materials as diverse as paper or film. Printers wanting to remove debris from the web prior to printing could fit ShearClean before the first unit, while pre-printed reels could be cleaned before packaging.
ShearClean can be tailored to suit customers’ requirements, not just in terms of width but also in sophistication. For instance, Meech can provide different control upgrades to create a fully programmable unit. The company has also deployed its longstanding expertise in static control to incorporate the latest AC ionising bars into ShearClean, which significantly improve the effectiveness of the cleaning process and greatly reduce the risk of re-attraction of contaminants to the cleaned web surfaces.
Xeikon, a leader in digital color printing innovation, announced today that its latest label presses offer converters a much higher productivity with its ‘one-pass’ opaque white toner to create the ‘no label or label-less look’ on transparent labels.
Bobst Group – Business Unit Web-fed will present its latest technologies for printing & converting plastic film and flexible materials at the K’2010 Intl. Plastics Trade Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany from 27th October to 3rd November, on Stand 3 – D52 in Hall 3. This will include both primary and secondary slitting & rewinding from Atlas & Titan (UK) solutions in vacuum web coating & metallizing from General (UK),
Atlas has installed the world’s largest & fastest slitting machines for BOPP film and has installed more than 200 primary film slitters worldwide, exceeding 6m in width. This includes the widest machines at 10 metres and the fastest at 1500 m/min., with precise control of web and winding tension. In recent years, Atlas has increased sales of primary & secondary slitter rewinders for BOPET film. Atlas also has a range of secondary slitter rewinders in narrower widths up to approx. 4 metres. The modular design of the Atlas CW800 centre winder for both plain and metallized films enables easy change of unwind options, slitting systems and machine accessories like edge trim and finished reel handling, with a maximum speed of 1000 m/min and 1200 mm unwind / rewind diameters. There are over 100 Atlas CW800 slitters working with metallizers, CPP & BOPP film lines worldwide as it has become the benchmark secondary slitter rewinder for plain and metallized film producers globally. Information on the latest developments for Atlas slitter rewinders and roll handling solutions will be available at the show.
Titan provides secondary slitting, rewinding and reel handling solutions for plain, metallized and printed plastic film and laminates used mainly for flexible packaging applications. The versatile Titan SR8 cantilever slitter rewinder is the most successful in the Titan range with more than 250 machines installed worldwide. The capability of handling a wide variety of flexible materials up to 2250 mm (88 ins) wide at high production speeds with many options for automation, is an essential part of its huge success. The Titan ER610 is a more compact and cost-effective slitting solution with all electric, oil-free operation, no hydraulics and reduced power consumption. With up to 1650 mm web width running at 450 m/min with quick and easy installation, the ER610 extends the Titan portfolio of slitter rewinders to converters producing lower volumes of flexible materials. The Titan CT610 is an automated twin-turret slitter rewinder with very fast turret action, slit widths as narrow as 20 mm (less than 1 inch) and a distinctive continuous turret shaft support system. Turret changeovers take less than 20 seconds and the CT610 runs at speeds up to 750 m/min to meet very high volume production requirements for 1400 to 2200 mm web widths. Information on the latest developments for Titan slitter rewinders and reel handling solutions will be available at the show.
In total, 2.31 billion tags will be sold this year, up from 1.98 billion in 2009. Most of the growth in this period is due to an increase in use of passive UHF tags. For passive UHF tags, the biggest category of use is asset tracking in many closed loop systems. Such applications typically use tens of thousands of tags and more; and, rarely, a million tags or more. The paybacks of these applications are very strong but the numbers of tags is relatively small per case study. Out of this is arising apparel tagging. The
However, the biggest spenders are still governments, who are able to implement large RFID schemes such as animal tagging, transit ticketing, people identification etc where the paybacks are typically greater efficiency and improved safety. Rapid ROI is less of a concern for them. Well managed suppliers to these sectors operate profitably. For example, in 2010 178 million tags will be used for animal and pet identification, at an average tag cost of 97 US cents each. The market for all RFID interrogators grows from $0.92 billion in 2010 to $4.99 billion in 2021.
The biggest sectors by numbers and value
According to the IDTechEx research data, the biggest sectors by numbers of tags are contactless cards (HF, for transit, secure access, purchasing etc) using 450 million tags, followed by RFID tickets (HF, for transit ticketing) 380 million tags, and then apparel (UHF) 300 million tags. By value, just over $1 billion will be spent on RFID cards in 2010 and $240 million on tags for passports. $36 million will be spent on tags for apparel in total.
RFID adoption by standard
The pecking order of RFID specifications by RFID tag expenditure is shown in the chart below. The market size is given in millions of US Dollars.
Active RFID expands into Wireless Sensor Networks
Traditionally, active RFID has been tags with a battery to boost read range or add extra functionality to the tag such as sensors. Then came Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS). In 2010, these two sectors will be a total of $610 million in value, where $225 million is spent on tags and the rest on infrastructure, software and services. Now there are Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which may or may not be used to form mesh (self forming and self healing) networks. Those in active RFID and RTLS have added extra functionality to create WSN but we also have new standards emerging, such as ZigBee, which are part of the scene.
Over 20 million ZigBee tags have been sold and are used to form mesh networks for "smart" electricity meters, preventing the need for manual reading of the meters and allowing rapid response to high use. This is increasingly becoming mandated as new houses move towards having "greener" credentials.
Market by Value Chain positioning
The split of spend on RFID by value chain positioning in 2010 is shown in the chart below.
