Supplier News - January 2012
10,000th GEW UV Curing System for AB Graphic International
Production at the AB Graphic International factory in Bridlington, East Yorkshire was temporarily suspended to celebrate the arrival of the 10,000th UV curing system manufactured by UV supplier GEW (EC) Ltd.
The arrival of the 10,000th UV curing system in November marked a milestone in the business relationship between the two companies with 140 AB Graphic International employees gathered in attendance as GEW Managing Director Malcolm Rae made the official announcement and hand over. "Over the years our two companies have worked together on many projects that required a UV solution," said Rae. "This delivery is especially significant for us. GEW started production in 1991 and AB Graphic International was our first customer. We supplied them with our first UV system for installation on a Kopak 170 rotary letterpress printing machine and since that time we have sold them over 600 units for digital printing applications and in excess of 100 for the flexo, semi-rotary, and rotary letterpress processes."
GEW presented a commemorative plaque and provided celebratory wine for all AB Graphic International personnel. In thanking them for their business, Rae said, "What stands out is that both GEW and AB Graphic International have grown and developed products that have enabled our businesses and the label industry to expand. This could not have happened without good management and people. Without the right people and work ethic there would be no business, no suppliers, and no industry."
Mike Burton, managing director of AB Graphic International said, "It has been a pleasure to work with GEW over the years. They have a fantastic product and are one of the nicest suppliers we have had the pleasure of working with."
RotoMetrics Hosts Avery Dennison Technical Meeting
RotoMetrics recently hosted one of Avery Dennison's Customer Technical Support meetings its UK headquarters in Aldridge, West Midlands. The company's newly enlarged UK operation employs 220 at the 76,000 square feet facility.
During the two-day meeting, David Torley, technical sales manager for Avery Dennison, commented: "We hold these team meetings twice a year to establish a closer understanding with leading technology manufacturers. If we have a grasp of each other's products, we have a better chance of helping our mutual customers to solve any problems they encounter."
By visiting board mills, ink, and press manufacturers, the concept for Avery Dennison is to avoid unwelcome surprise complaints from its users. With the trend towards diecutting of increasingly thinner materials, the need to understand how accuracy of the die-strike can be guaranteed is invaluable. As Torley concluded: "Die-strike is the final action between our substrate and the RotoMetrics die, so we need to be speaking the same language. I liken their sophisticated production techniques to Formula 1—it is real science in action, and takes the subjectivity out of testing. In today's market, that's critical."
Toray Plastics (America) Intros Matte BOPP Film
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—Toray Plastics (America), Inc. has introduced Torayfan® KMS1 70-gauge biaxially-oriented, heat-sealable matte polypropylene (PP) film designed to be used as an outer web in food packaging applications requiring a premium appearance. The KMS1 film offers a low seal-initiation temperature (SIT) for lap seals—20 degrees lower than what typical sealable matte films offer—and a broad heat-seal range, which enables faster processing on high-speed form-fill-seal equipment. In addition, it has a low-gloss surface with excellent haze and a print adhesion layer that produces high-quality printing using water- and solvent-based inks commonly used on rotogravure and flexographic presses.
KMS1 film also has a low coefficient of friction (CoF) and excellent ability to bond during the manufacture of adhesive and extrusion laminations. The low CoF, along with the reliable bonding and printing, contribute to faster, more efficient processing and package manufacturing.
"KMS1's low SIT marks a significant development for premium snack food manufacturers," says Franco Chicarella, product manager, Torayfan Polypropylene Film Division, Toray Plastics (America), Inc. "The ability to increase line speed and seal with less heat transfer allows end users to increase output. The matte aesthetic is also a big plus to brand managers who want to attract a discerning customer."
acpo Constructs New Laboratory
OAK HARBOR, Ohio—acpo ltd. recently completed the construction of a new laboratory inside its 125,000-square-foot facility. The newly built lab was designed to accommodate continued customer growth and support new equipment, personnel, and storage requirements.
Technical Director Nathan Storfer-Isser Ph. D. states, "We are growing and needed additional workspace and a location within the plant to facilitate our testing and quality procedures. We designed the laboratory to optimize work flow and improve efficiency. We are now conveniently located in a centralized workspace easily accessible to plant operations, our production teams, equipment, raw materials, and end product."
Comexi Adds Midwest Rep
Comexi Group announced the addition of Jones Printing Equipment as its exclusive representative in the Midwestern United States. Jones Printing Equipment will represent the Comexi line of flexographic printing presses, rotogravure printing presses, solventless and solvent-based laminators, slitters, printing sleeve storage systems, and solvent recovery systems. Mathew Jones, the owner of Jones Printing Equipment, has more than 20 years in the flexible packaging and converting industries focusing on sales and marketing.
EFI Acquires Alphagraph
FOSTER CITY, Calif.— Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (EFI) announced that it has acquired privately-held alphagraph team GmbH (Alphagraph). Alphagraph, with headquarters in Essen, Germany, is a provider of MIS/ERP (management information systems and enterprise resource planning) software products for the printing industry, including Prinance, Printy, and Primus. While financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, the acquisition is not expected to be material to EFI's 2011 results.
Alphagraph will become part of EFI's Software Applications (APPS) portfolio. EFI intends to integrate support and operations of Alphagraph into the existing APPS organization, which will continue to sell the EFI PrintSmith, EFI Pace, EFI Monarch, and EFI Radius software products to the industry, while continuing to support the existing Alphagraph client base.
SGS International receives P&G Partner Award
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Consumer packaging prepress services company SGS International, Inc. has been named "Business Partner of the Year" by The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G). P&G has more than 75,000 global suppliers and partners and only 12 received the award. The award recognizes those partners that have demonstrated partner excellence—leading the way for the growth of P&G and its objectives.
P&G has been a customer of SGS International for the majority of the company's 65-year history. SGS International and its subsidiaries provide a myriad of core services, including packaging graphics, marketing services, and cylinder manufacturing, which support a number of P&G brands.
SGS International team was honored to have been recognized with such a prestigious award. Terry Dunn, SGS vice president of sales and global P&G account manager, said: "This is the culmination of many years of hard work and dedication by a truly passionate group of employees who are obsessively focused on delivering the highest quality products and right-the-first-time services to P&G. We are finished celebrating and are now working towards maintaining our high level of service. It's back to business working towards a second "Business Partner of the Year" award."
HP Acquires Software Company Hiflex
PALO ALTO, Calif.—HP announced it has acquired Hiflex Software GmbH, a privately held global software solutions provider specializing in Web-to-print and MIS solutions for printing services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1991, Hiflex is headquartered in Aachen, Germany.
"HP wants to break the traditional barriers of how and where business customers print, making it easy for them to produce custom or personalized materials anywhere, anytime, said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. "Hiflex's technology provides a powerful platform to deliver on this goal as part of our overall cloud printing strategy."
Technologies from Hiflex will enable continued innovation across HP's imaging and printing offerings and will extend the company's portfolio of cloud-based technologies and solutions. HP also remains committed to supporting a broad range of partner solutions, giving customers maximum choice and flexibility.
PEOPLE
ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Mark Andy Companies announced it has named PJ Desai as its new CEO effective January 1, 2012. Previously, Desai worked at Monsanto Company where he managed several business groups leading to the positions of CFO, president, and CEO. His predecessor as CEO, Paul Brauss, announced his retirement effective December 31, 2011. Brauss will retain his position as an executive member of Mark Andy's Board of Directors.
LENEXA, Kan.—Kocher+Beck USA has announced the appointment of David Morris as its new senior executive vice president, effective February 1, 2012. He previously served as managing director of Kocher+Beck UK.
PHILADELPHIA—Gallus, Inc. welcomed Frank Hasselberg as the company's new western U.S. sales manager, starting January 1, 2012. Hasselberg was previously executive vice president for Kocher + Beck USA.
BRYAN, Ohio—Randy Reynolds has been appointed business development manager for Anderson & Vreeland, Inc. In his new position, he will be responsible for all external sales and support for AVantage liquid photopolymers, including corrugated, multiwall bag, and stamp resins. In addition, Garrett Taylor and Yvan Desrosiers have been appointed to key sales/support positions. Taylor will service corporate accounts and expand sales of A&V's products and services, while Desrosiers is the technical sales representative for A&V Canada and will service Ontario.
ROCKFORD, Ill.—Martin Automatic Inc. announced the addition of Bernd Schopferer to the staff of Martin Automatic Europe GmbH. Schopferer joins the company as European sales manager as of January, 2012.
CINCINNATI, Ohio—Mark Butryn has been named vice president, sales – packaging, for xpedx, and will become a member of the xpedx Sales Lead Team.
BEACON FALLS, Conn.—Goldenrod Corp. has added several new employees to its sales and engineering departments: Rob Owen, Southeast regional manager; Matt Newsom, inside technical sales; Tim Dvorak, engineering manager; and Dr. Ajit Karmaker, director of composite engineering.
PAWCATUCK, Conn.—The Extrusion Systems group of Davis-Standard, LLC announced that Michael Mitchell has joined the company as director of sheet engineering.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.— Michael Brice has joined INX International Ink Co. as director of business development.
GORHAM, Maine—The Montalvo Corporation has named Hans Bruun as its sales support specialist for its European operations.
NORCROSS, Ga.—Unisource Worldwide, Inc. announced that James Martin has joined the company as vice president of facilities supplies - national accounts. He joins Unisource with more than 20 years of senior level leadership positions in sales, marketing, and product management at Heidelberg NA. pP
