Wide, Wide World - Packaging Impressions

By Tom Polischuk

More wide-format inkjet printers

Carolina Container
Carolina Container Co. (www.carolinacontainer.com) uses an HP Scitex (www.hp.com) FB6700 Printer for large-format package printing applications such as custom point-of-purchase (POP) displays, shipping cartons, custom packaging, folding cartons, counter displays, trays, bins, and medical waste boxes. This wide range of applications allows the company to address markets that include consumer goods, retail, food service and hospitality, agriculture, food and beverage, biotechnology, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals.

Carolina Container chose an inkjet solution for large-format package printing based on the ability to cut its customers’ costs for test marketing. With the HP Scitex FB6700 Printer, Carolina Container has the ability to cost effectively produce short runs of one to 1,000 without the need of any tooling. Additionally, the inks used in the HP Scitex FB6700 Printer are water-based, pigmented inks that are designed to provide an accurate representation of flexo printing, allowing the company to produce full-scale samples that closely represent the finished product.

Carolina Container sees the inkjet capability as a valuable tool for supporting current customers and growing new sales. It allows the company to save its customers money in product development and short-run packaging applications.

White Graphics
White Graphics (www.whitegraphics.com) of Downers Grove, Ill. specializes in the production of flexible packaging, displays, cartons, pressure-sensitive labels, mockups, and sales samples. Included among its corporate clients are M&M Mars, Handi-Foil, and Packaging Corporation of America. The company purchased a Roland (www.rolanddga.com) VersaUV LEC-300 inkjet printer/cutter to provide the versatility to run prototypes and short-run jobs on a wide variety of substrates.

According to company president Rich White, White Graphics has used the LEC-300 to produce everything from small candy pouches on foils to POP displays on solid bleached sulfate (SBS) board. It uses Roland’s White ECO-UV ink to create an undercoat for full-color printing on foil and other materials, and uses the ECO-UV Clear Coat to provide dull and gloss finishes.

Alliance, a Rock-Tenn Company
Alliance (www.alliancerocktenn.com) has been using a wide-format inkjet printing solution since 2004 and upgraded to the Agfa (www.agfa.com) :Dotrix Modular system in 2007. The company’s principle applications include POP displays and folding cartons. According to Alliance, the :Dotrix has several advantages over traditional offset printing including minimal makeready, faster changeovers, the ability to produce short runs, and versioning of text and graphics. It has enabled the company to customize applications for regional promotional projects, event planning, and test marketing, As a result of these enhanced capabilities, they continue to expand their business.

“We are delighted with the great image and color quality of the new :Dotrix Modular Press,” said Jim Einstein, executive VP and general manager, Alliance Division of Rock-Tenn. “This advanced technology will help our customers meet marketplace demands for cost-effective, short-run merchandising solutions that address regional markets.”

Many package printers are looking for ways to expand their businesses and provide increased products and services for their customers. In today's business climate, it's more important than ever to become an indispensable provider of value-added products and services to solidify the customer base.Fairly recently, a number of package printers have turned to wide-format inkjet printing as a way to add more value for their customers. One such company is Wilmington, Mass.-based Screenprint/Dow (www.screenprintdow.com).

Screenprint/Dow is a 40-year-old company founded by CEO Walter Dow in 1969. It manufactures product identification products, graphic overlays, and membrane switch technology using a variety of printing technologies, including sheetfed screen and UV offset.

According to Dow, Screenprint/Dow expanded into wide-format inkjet printing in 2006 to provide increased versatility to supply its customers' needs. "Many of our customers were looking at more process color printing and had larger size requirements for their graphics," he says.

The company used its new wide-format inkjet technology to provide display headers for end-aisle displays. "In addition, Screenprint/Dow provides graphics for retail shelves called Shelf Art™, and floor graphics that are used in the retail stores to stimulate sales or direct consumers to a specific featured product or 'branded zone,'" says Dow. Other wide-format products include signage, window graphics, shelf talkers, and counter graphics.

Synergy

Several years after he started Screenprint/Dow, Dow founded Dow Industries (www.dowindustries.com). While the former focuses on sheetfed screen and UV offset to support graphics printing and the membrane switch industry, Dow Industries incorporates flexo, combination flexo/rotary screen, and digital printing to supply pressure-sensitive prime labels for a variety of consumer markets. According to Dow, the wide-format inkjet printing capability has further enhanced the complementary nature of the two businesses.

"We have been successful in selling both of our companies' capabilities into similar market areas and maximizing the synergies that exist between the two," he explains. "We have secured new business by offering higher definition printing that is achieved by using wide-format inkjet printing."

When Screenprint/Dow entered the wide-format inkjet arena, it did so after careful consideration of what the company wanted to accomplish. "We selected UV inkjet technology based on its versatility and a need to have at least 4-color in-line printing," recalls Dow.

In the past three years, the company jumped into wide-format UV inkjet printing with both feet. First, it acquired two Mimaki (www.mimakiusa.com) 7-color presses. In 2007 and 2008, it added two 80˝ wide efi (www.efi.com) Vutek QS2000 hybrid presses that can print both roll-to-roll and sheetfed material. Finally, it purchased a 60˝ x 120˝ Inca (www.incadigital.com) Spyder Q press.

Dow says that the company uses the Inca press for high-volume printing with variable data/image capabilities. "We also offer lenticular graphics on this press, which allows for photographic quality for lenticular optimization in both 3D and animation versions," he says.

While the investment in the presses was a major component of Screenprint/Dow's commitment to this business segment, more was needed to complete the picture. "To support our wide-format UV inkjet presses we have various converting equipment that can kiss cut, knife cut, route, laser cut, and score material 60˝ x 120˝and up to 1.0˝ thick," notes Dow.

Screenprint/Dow made a significant investment in wide-format inkjet printing because it sees a bright future for what this technology can provide. "We see wide-format UV inkjet technology as the future of printing, with strong growth opportunities," says Dow.

With screen, UV offset, and wide-format inkjet printing, along with the capabilities of its sister company, Dow Industries, Screenprint/Dow appears to be well positioned to serve a wide variety of its customers' needs. pP

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