Converting Industry News
- Published: April 30, 2001
Covering the Full Spectrum of Industry News, Events & Activities
Supplier News
Mohawk Boosts Capacity with Sheeter
WEST HARTFORD, CT, USA—Mohawk Paper Mills, Cohoes, NY, reports it has installed a Bielomatik cut-size sheeter and packaging line that's boosting capacity by 350%.
Thomas O'Connor Jr., Mohawk president, says, “The sheeter has provided [us] with an instant productivity boost, and we've also discovered a new base of customers for contract converting. There are relatively few suppliers in our region that can convert the full range of new digital sizes or meet the exacting specifications of the retail market.” O'Connor adds that the sheeter, with ream wrap line, can package 100 reams/min; packages can be heat-sealed without the use of glue; and the line also provides the flexibility to package sheets in non-traditional quantities in poly or paper wrap.
Supplier Information
Bielomatik, West Hartford, CT; 860/232-2323
Blister Packaging Goes Upscale
AGI/Klearfold has a patent pending on a new concept in decorated carded packaging. BlisterPlus is similar to a conventional thermoformed blister in that it is heat-sealed to a printed face-seal or fold-over blister card, thereby trapping the product to be packaged. The new package is a flat, die-cut, and scored plastic blank that is erected on a special blister card sealer, and unlike a thermoformed blister, blanks reportedly can be decorated easily and economically to create a more upscale package.
Decoration can include any combination of offset, flexo, or silk screen printing, including four-color process, hot or cold stamping, and/or embossing. Because they are die-cut, blanks can be produced with easy-open perforations, windows, or hinged recloseable openings.
John McInerney, VP of sales and marketing, says, “We believe that BlisterPlus will provide carded packaging users with a powerful tool to help create an elegant, value-added image for their brands and to help distinguish their products in a cluttered retail environment.”
IP Orders Five More AVT PrintVision Systems
PURCHASE, NY, USA—Following the installation of an AVT PrintVision/9000NT defect detection system at its Spartanburg, SC, plant, International Paper's Flexible Packaging Group decided to install five additional AVT systems. Two more are being added at Spartanburg, and one each will be installed at plants in Hazelton, PA; Tomah, WI; and Hanford, CA.
IP's Flexible Package Group creates packaging for retailers in the lawn care, chemical, pet food, and building industries. According to Danny Hall, group manufacturing mgr., “Our objective is to provide them with a consistently superior product and do it as efficiently as possible. We recognize that one of the best ways to achieve both goals is to monitor closely the product during the printing process to ensure that it stays on spec through the entire print run.”
Printing manager Danny Ivey adds, “It was evident that the PrintVision/9000 NT system provided very formidable advantages. It makes the press operator aware of the problem and forces him to react to it. It's like having another pair of eyes.” The system is said to detect defects including registration movement, ink streaks and spots, color variations, and web wrinkles.
Hall notes, “Press operators are very comfortable with it and are running the presses faster. It's helping to make us even more productive and cost-effective, while enhancing our ability to improve print quality.”
Supplier Information
AVT Advanced Vision Technology (AVT), Hod-Hasharon, Israel; +972-9-761-4444; avt-inc.com
Smurfit-Stone Offers Reclosable Stand-Up Pouch
CHICAGO, IL, USA—A reclosable stand-up pouch has been added to Smurfit-Stone Container's line of flexible packaging products.
The pouch is said to offer high-quality graphics and upright product facings to improve shelf presence and increase consumer products' marketability. The reclosable feature improves customer appeal by extending shelf life, the mfr. says.
The substrate is engineered with a variety of barriers and laminations that provide strength as well as protection from odor, moisture, grease, and other contaminants. The pouch can be manufactured in a range of sizes.
