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Published: October 01, 2008

Tape Gets a Grip

SAUNDERSTOWN, RI | DeWAL Industries is manufacturing D/W 351, a PTFE-coated foil that combines a thin layer of PTFE with 0.005-in.-thick aluminum foil. The aluminum is coated on the other side with a p-s silicone adhesive for what is said to be a tight grip on metal, glass, or ceramic surfaces.

The tape offers wide operating temperatures and a low COF. The foil backing comprises a standard 3003 grade of aluminum. Applications include high volume heat-sealing equipment in food packaging and bagging and as a limited-use wear strip.

Label Stock Facility Opens

FLETCHER, NC | UPM Raflatac has opened its newest North American p-s label stock manufacturing facility in Dixon, IL, about 100 miles west of Chicago. The $100 million plant will offer the company's full product range of paper and film label products.

The company says the facility, featuring end-to-end automation, also offers the latest proprietary technical solutions in both the coating and finishing areas.

Domtar Aids EMA & The Environment

ALEXANDRIA, VA | Domtar Corp., manufacturer of uncoated freesheet paper, has made a $750,000 contribution to the Envelope Mfrs. Assn. (EMA) Foundation for Paper-Based Communication.

Half of the contribution is earmarked to the newly established Environmental Initiative Fund. The purpose of the fund is to help educate consumers and mailers about environmental initiatives in the envelope industry, to conduct research to solidify the industry's perspective on environmental issues, and to promote the industry's efforts for a clean environment.

Schreiner Adds US Facility

BLAUVELT, NY | Schreiner MediPharm, a Germany-based provider of specialty pharmaceutical labeling solutions, has opened its first US production facility in Blauvelt.

The 50,000-sq-ft facility includes advanced screen and flexo printing technologies. Products include specialty peel-off labels, combination hanger labels, brand protection and RFID solutions, expanded content labels, and functional syringe labels.

Sirit Acquires RSI ID

TORONTO, ON, CANADA | Sirit, a provider of RFID technology, has completed its acquisition of RSI ID Technologies, Chula Vista, CA, a vertical manufacturer of antennas, inlays, and tags for specialized, passive RFID applications.

Norbert Dawalibi, president/CEO of Sirit, says, “…We will now focus our combined strengths on providing complete end-to-end solutions…as well as targeting key markets worldwide, including electronic vehicle identification.”

Wolf Bielas will remain as CEO of RSI.

RFID Partnership

GARDEN GROVE, CA | All Barcode Systems, a label manufacturer and automated data collection equipment distributor, has been accepted as an Honours Partner with Intermec, Everett, WA. Scott Steiner, president of All Barcode Systems, says, “Our partnership with Intermec gives us the added product lines of one of the most respected technology companies in the world. Their RFID products will add great depth to our current RFID offerings.”

Aquaflex Gets a Partner

DUNCANSVILLE, PA | Aquaflex reports a partnership with France's SRAMAG-SMAG. In 2004 Aquaflex was acquired by F.L.Smithe and today employs 250 split between its plant in Duncansville and an engineering office in Montreal, QC, Canada. “After acquiring Aquaflex we first concentrated our marketing on North and South America,” says Stuart Roberts, VP of F.L.Smithe. “We didn't want to take on the European market without having a competent partner able to operate Europe-wide. We plan to launch this operation in a big way with a stock of parts and a demo press installed at SMAG's plant by October 2008.”

Splicing Tape Offered

WINDSOR, CT | Scapa North America offers 571, a highly conformable, heat-resistant tape designed to splice silicone coated substrates.

Also used for high temperature masking, chemical masking, and general purpose bonding, product offers a silicone adhesive with high initial tack and shear resistance to ensure an excellent bond on a range of substrates, including those that are silicone coated.

The silicone adhesive on this single-coated tape is soft and conformable and bonds well to irregular surfaces, company says.

Award for Enterprise

BURR RIDGE, IL | GSI Technologies was recently honored by the MIT Enterprise Forum of Chicago with a First Place “Below the Radar” Award for the success of its “Lab to Fab” business model.

The award recognized GSI for leveraging “its strength in functional printing to carve out new applications in the field of printed electronics, serving customers in the medical, smart card, and solar industries.”

The award recognizes and promotes outstanding examples of innovation in the Chicago area that are largely unnoticed by the general business community. The forum looked at innovation in five categories: Business Model Innovation, Design Innovation, Technology Innovation, Innovation Management, and Product/Service Innovation.

Centers for Recycling Open

CHICAGO, IL | Channeled Resources Group reports the opening of two North American Recycling Service Centers in Hayward, CA, and Marathon City, WI.

The centers begin with specific focus on providing solutions for “spent liner” (silicone-coated release liner) and used hot stamp foil (metallized PET). Each facility supports the “one pallet” recycling concept, which allows for as little as one pallet of material to be delivered to the service center at one time.

Seeing Is Believing

REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND | PMT watched trials of the new X-Flex press at Omet's Demo Centre in Lecco, Italy, and the label converter liked what it saw.

“We tested a number of presses, and there was no doubt the X-Flex performed the best,” says PMT's managing director, Oddur Sigurdsson. “Iceland is a remote market with a wide variety of special requirements, so we needed the best flexibility available to make the investment worthwhile. After our visit to Omet, we were convinced the X-Flex is the right press for PMT.”

During the demo, PMT saw substrates from film to light cartonboard run through the press using very low screen values.

When fully commissioned, the new press will have six-color UV ink capability, movable cold foil, delam/relam and turning bar over a rail system, shock air system for window patching, and a two-layer, self-adhesive label (coupon label) capability.

Inspection Leads to Quality

DEESIDE, WALES | Label manufacturer Systems Labelling has invested in five CHECKpress web inspection systems from Surfscan Technologies. The systems have been installed on four Mark Andy eight-color 4150 presses and one Comco press.

The systems were configured using 200 hr of programming time by Surfscan's development team to meet the label company's precise requirements.

“Quality lies at the heart of everything we do here,” says Tony Exford, sales director at Systems Labelling. “When I explain to our customers and potential customers the sophistication of the Surfscan system, they are rightly impressed. By offering 100 percent validated inspection, it takes the issue of poor quality out of the equation and underpins our own quality claims. It is, in fact, a very important element in our sales pitch. And you can't argue with that.”

One of the many spinoff benefits of the CHECKpress, according to Systems Labelling, is waste reduction. The CHECKpress has been programmed to measure the density of ink using its greyscale value, and this allows advance warning before ink runs out, which, in turn, saves operator time.

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