Thinking Outside the Plain Jane Box

Arkay Packaging, over the past 80-plus years, has become known for quality and innovation with folding carton manufacturing.

ARKAY PACKAGING IS a company on the cutting edge of the package printing industry. After 83 years of business, the folding carton printer continues to think outside the box, creating and producing unique packages for its customers.

The company began as a printing and label printshop by a Russian immigrant, Max Kaneff, in downtown New York. It has grown into a third-generation, family-owed industry leader, serving some of the largest and most respected names in the cosmetic, and health and beauty aid markets. From structural design to prepress to printing and finishing, Arkay has earned a reputation for producing value-added, innovative packaging solutions for its demanding customers.

Innovation is a way of life at Arkay and that can be chalked up to several additional factors. Most important is the company's hard-working 250 employees. In addition, Arkay has always been a leader on the edge of new technologies. And lastly, the company has focused on building solid partnerships with customers and suppliers willing to take on challenges, said Mitchell Kaneff, president of Arkay and the grandson of the company founder.

All four of those company attributes have led to proprietary technologies, such as Mica Pearls, which give packages a pearlescent appearance; and PermaWhite Stock, a white material that resists fading and yellowing. Sticking to its customer-focused philosophy, Arkay does anything it can to help further differentiate its customers' products on the crowded store shelves.

A customer-driven company

Arkay, headquartered in New York, has one manufacturing facility in Hauppauge, N.Y. and another in Roanoke, Va. The latter manufacturing plant was the recent subject of an $11 million expansion, which will bring 75 additional jobs to the Roanoke Valley.

Over the last year, Arkay has seen business grow in spite of a teetering economy. By giving customers "what they want, when they expect it, every time," Arkay has stayed at the forefront of the high-end folding carton business.

Such an operating philosophy and the ability to provide quality from order through delivery has earned Arkay several accolades. The company earned four straight Vendor of the Year awards from Mary Kay Cosmetics. Arkay was honored as one of Chanel's Eight Elite Suppliers for quality, delivery, and service. It also earned a special merit award from the Association of Graphic Communications in 2003 for excellence in printing and applying of reticulated coatings for Clinique's "Glamour To Go" box. In addition, there have been awards of achievement for designs the company has executed for Donna Karan, Cashmere Mist, Kate Spade, and Roc Age Diminishing.

Offset: The printing process of choice

For years, offset printing carried Arkay and its customers to new standards in folding carton printing. Its continued drive for excellence, as well as the addition of ultraviolet (UV) inks in the late '80s, took Arkay's quality to a new level. And now, lithography/flexography combination printing has done it again.

Arkay has the capabilities to print lithography, flexography, gravure, and screen. Along with graphic capabilities, Arkay offers decorative finishing technologies like embossing, stamping, and laminations, including aperture lamination for seamless windows and reticulated coatings for texture. But it's been the litho/flexo combination printing that's given Arkay the quality and flexibility it needs to serve its customers.

"The majority of our business is in cosmetics, following the trends of the fashion business which uses the hottest colors, shades, and textures," Kaneff said. "Our goal is similar to a clothes designer's approach—we want to bring designs or coatings or other value-added features to customers and say, 'What do you think about this for a new promo launch?' We want to be a key partner in the creative process and work closely with the customer. We consider ourselves a world-class, premier value-added folding carton company."

Offset has always prevailed over other printing processes at Arkay. It offers not only versatility, but also the ability to achieve fine detail and unmatched overall quality at reasonable prices. Still, flexo has a place at the company.

Kaneff said, "Offset lithography is considered the best alternative to other processes because it excels in delicate soft vignetted tones. This is due to a wide range of tone values controlled by plates, blankets, and distribution of ink. A range of 2 percent to 90 percent gradations are needed for skin tones, hair colors, and photo shots of consumer products on packages. In process printing, flexography uses direct inked plastic plates which come in direct contact with the paperboard and tends to leave a doughnut shaped print when seen under a magnifying glass. However, solid design print areas in flexography used on our multi-process presses allows us to carry heavy metallic, pearlescent inks, and ultra high gloss coatings.

In addition, Kaneff added, "In an effort to continue to bring our customers options we have been exploring stochastic screening as an alternative over conventional screening for lithography. Stochastic screening allows for images that are unmatched for sharpness and detail. The replacement of traditional dot formation and screen angles with randomly placed microdots creates a more realistic photo image. The wide range of microdots also gives superior results on uncoated stocks, which gives the designer more freedom to achieve that special feel to the package by using a wider range of stocks without sacrificing image clarity."

Currently, Arkay has two MAN Roland 700S litho/flexo combination presses, one configured as an eight-station press and the other a nine-station press. Arkay also has three Heidelberg presses, all Speedmaster CDs with interstation UV drying.

Most recently, Arkay invested in a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74 litho/flexo combo, nine-station press with UV interstation drying that was commissioned in January. The company plans on purchasing two more Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 74 presses in the near future.

"The Heidelberg 74 can run shorter lengths and that's what we need," Kaneff said. "Customers want reduced quantity and faster turnaround. We needed something for shorter runs and we heard great things about the 74. The run trial put out gorgeous work and held color at high speeds. It gave us what we wanted—quality and speed, and faster makereadies, great color, and speed in changeovers."

Opening career avenues

As Arkay Packaging grows, Kaneff says, it's getting harder to find qualified people who are seeking a career in the graphic arts. Arkay is doing its best to provide a solution to this problem. The company is working with Virginia Western Community College school administrators to create a curriculum that will give Roanoke Valley students another career avenue.

"We are really excited about it and what it will do for the community and Arkay," Kaneff said.

Students will work with Arkay's pressmen, learning the ropes, eventually gaining the competency to run the press through breaks and lunches, with the possibility of taking over additional shifts in the future. Kaneff hopes to kick the program off in the fall of 2005.

"We are trying to trailblaze with this opportunity," Kaneff said. "We need to train people and have apprenticeship programs because its importance is paramount. Proper training and educational venues are necessary for the success and growth of our industry."

by Kate Sharon

Associate Editor