Food and Beverage Packaging October 2012 : Page 40

Materials Technology FLEXIBLE PACKAGING PACKAGERS FLEX THEIR CREATIVE MUSCLES Innovations in ﬂ exible packaging fall into two primary categories: machinery advancement and new product development. / by JENNIFER LADUKE, Associate Editor ccording to a recent study by The Freedonia Group, Inc. (www.freedoni-agroup.com), U.S. demand for ﬂ exible packaging is projected to increase by 5.1% per year due to advantages such as aesthetic appeal, portability, reduced material use and lower shipping costs than rigid con-tainers. In order to be on top of the dynamic and evolving industry, producers of ﬂ exible packaging A F must be able to adapt an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new attitude. Two integral ways that ﬂ exible packaging manufacturers can stay ahead of the curve are using the latest and greatest machinery and en-deavoring to provide the most cutting-edge products. Before the products that utilize ﬂ exible packaging can make it to the store shelves, they have to make it out of the plant. One way companies can make this process as efﬁ cient as possible is to equip with the Flexible packaging and printing ood and Beverage Packaging interviewed Heidi Wright, North American product manager, TTO for Videojet Technologies (www.videojet.com), a manu-facturer of industrial ink jet systems for the product identiﬁ cation industry, about how printing on ﬂ exible packaging stacks up to other materials. Food and Beverage Packaging: Have you noticed more customers using ﬂ exible packaging over rigid? How does that affect printing? Heidi Wright : Yes, Videojet is deﬁ nitely seeing more customers using ﬂ exible packaging, and the increased use opens up the options that customers have for printing. For instance, pasta traditionally packaged in chipboard boxes was typically printed with an ink jet printer or laser marked. Using ﬂ exible packaging provides the opportunity for customers to use contact coding solutions such as thermal transfer overprinting (TTO). Flexible ﬁ lm is not as well-suited to laser in all cases (due to the possibility of burn through of the laser) and ink jet may have dry time issues. TTO would not typically be an option when printing rigid packages, but it is ideal for printing ﬂ exible ﬁ lms, due to its high speed capability and ﬂ exibility. FBP: What are the pros and cons of printing on ﬂ ex-ible packaging? Wright: Pros and cons vary by the type of ﬂ exible packaging and print technology being utilized. Films can be printed before they are formed onto packaging and contact coders such as TTO printers would be ideal here. They can also be printed after they are formed onto packaging with non-contact printing such as ink jet or laser. When printing before package forma-tion, printers can be integrated directly into the ﬁ lm path. Printing after the package formation most often requires a technology that doesn’t come into direct contact with the package. One of the largest issues is adhesion because it is more difﬁ cult to get inks and ribbons to stick onto ﬂ exible ﬁ lm compared to the rigid materials that we’re used to seeing in the market. 40 FOOD & BEVERA GE P A CKA GING OCT OBER 2012 WWW . FOOD ANDBEVERA GEP A CKA GING . COM

Packagers Flex Their Creative Muscles

Jennifer Laduke

Materials Technology FLEXIBLE PACKAGING Innovations in flexible packaging fall into two primary categories: machinery advancement and new product development. According to a recent study by The Freedonia Group, Inc. (www.freedoniagroup.com), U.S. demand for flexible packaging is projected to increase by 5. 1% per year due to advantages such as aesthetic appeal, portability, reduced material use and lower shipping costs than rigid containers. In order to be on top of the dynamic and evolving industry, producers of flexible packaging FLEXIBLE PACKAGING must be able to adapt an out-with-the-old, in-withthe- new attitude. Two integral ways that flexible packaging manufacturers can stay ahead of the curve are using the latest and greatest machinery and endeavoring to provide the most cutting-edge products. Before the products that utilize flexible packaging can make it to the store shelves, they have to make it out of the plant. One way companies can make this process as efficient as possible is to equip with the most effectual machinery available. Two new technologies for DP Drop Packer Systems from Combi Packaging Systems LLC (www.combi.com) can aid in this process: the Product Infeed Drying System and the Pull Nose Delivery System. The Product Infeed Drying System is intended for use with sealed plastic bags and pouches of liquid products. Without this technology, products come out of a wet bath and must be dried and shingled by hand before being hand packed into manually erected cases. This system allows for automation of this entire process. Wet plastic bags are fed to an infeed conveyor which uses air blowers to dry the product before the bags are transferred to a belt conveyor that extends and retracts, shingling the product as it drops onto a Bombay door in a pre-determined pattern. This system produces 50 bags per minute and reduces labor requirements from seven people to two. The Pull Nose Delivery System, also designed to help optimize manual labor, is used for the production of 1.5-ounce pouches of salad dressing. Without the technology, an individual manually erects and seals a case, keeps count of product coming out of the machine, hand erects cases and switches full cases for an empty one. With the system, the products come out of the form fill seal machine onto a conveyor belt configured in two rows of six packets. The packets then transfer onto a trough conveyor which reconfigures their orientation and places them onto a second conveyor belt where they then pass under photo sensors that verify product count. This second belt extends and retracts to drop the product onto a Bombay door which releases the product into a waiting case, which then travels to a compression station before being sealed. Even the best machinery can only get a company so far if it neglects to note the changes in the packaging itself. Ampac Flexible Packaging (www.ampaconline. com) has garnered some attention with a few of its new contributions to the flexible packaging segment, including its Poli Paté flexible spouted pouch and the Easysnap Sachet Pouch. The Poli Paté was awarded the Alufoil Trophy for Consumer Convenience from the European Aluminum Foil Association. The threesided sealed pouch, which incorporates a recloseable spout, offers a packaging format not typically used for meat paste products. The design was chosen because the high quality print finish enhances visual appeal while the unique shape offers convenience and ease of product delivery. The pouch is made from a three layer barrier aluminum laminate and is hot filled at 185°F, increasing the product’s shelf life. The Easysnap Sachet Pouch also won prestige, taking home a silver award for Packaging Excellence and Technical Innovation from the Flexible Packaging Association. The single-handed dispensing pouch uses a sachet format that is manufactured from two high barrier films. The pouch folds and “snaps” open with one hand by squeezing the opposite edges toward each other, providing a controlled release of the contents. Benefits of this format include controlled dispensing, lower costs compared to bottles and tubes and a variety of application possibilities within the food industry and beyond. Whether using state-of-the-art machinery or contemporary product applications, it becomes clear that the key to success in flexible packaging is just that: being flexible. Flexible packaging and printing Food and Beverage Packaging interviewed Heidi Wright, North American product manager, TTO for Videojet Technologies (www.videojet.com), a manufacturer of industrial ink jet systems for the product identification industry, about how printing on flexible packaging stacks up to other materials. Food and Beverage Packaging: Have you noticed more customers using flexible packaging over rigid? How does that affect printing? Heidi Wright: Yes, Videojet is definitely seeing more customers using flexible packaging, and the increased use opens up the options that customers have for printing. For instance, pasta traditionally packaged in chipboard boxes was typically printed with an ink jet printer or laser marked. Using flexible packaging provides the opportunity for customers to use contact coding solutions such as thermal transfer overprinting (TTO). Flexible film is not as well-suited to laser in all cases (due to the possibility of burn through of the laser) and ink jet may have dry time issues. TTO would not typically be an option when printing rigid packages, but it is ideal for printing flexible films, due to its high speed capability and flexibility. FBP: What are the pros and cons of printing on flexible packaging? Wright: Pros and cons vary by the type of flexible packaging and print technology being utilized. Films can be printed before they are formed onto packaging and contact coders such as TTO printers would be ideal here. They can also be printed after they are formed onto packaging with non-contact printing such as ink jet or laser. When printing before package formation, printers can be integrated directly into the film path. Printing after the package formation most often requires a technology that doesn’t come into direct contact with the package. One of the largest issues is adhesion because it is more difficult to get inks and ribbons to stick onto flexible film compared to the rigid materials that we’re used to seeing in the market.

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