Consumables-Ink - Conventional Offset

INX International, which completed a $4 million expansion at its Charlotte, N.C. facility last year, has completed the finishing touches connected to the project. Production in the Charlotte facility impacts four continents — North America, South America, Asia and Europe.

Mondo teamed up with Phantom City Creative on the packaging for its vinyl reissue of the soundtrack to the 1984 cult classic, "Gremlins." Photochromic UV and hydrochromic UV inks were used to bring the packaging to life with scenes from the movie.

Expanded gamut printing has offered package printers and converters efficiency improvements and strong graphic quality. Gamse Lithographic Co., is one example of a label converter that has benefitted from expanded gamut.

Founded in 1866, Zeller+Gmelin will host a three-day celebration in September to mark its 150th anniversary. The event will be held in Eislingen, Germany, and will feature entertainment, family-friendly events and an open house.

Agfa Graphics and GFI Innovations have entered into a preferred dealer agreement in which Agfa will represent and place GFI’s dispensers for offset and flexographic inks with its customers in North America.

Two converters, Albéa and Thoro Packaging, have saved a significant amount of money through the Sun Chemical Dispenser Program, a system that provides in-house ink dispensing and gives printers the ability to mix the exact amount of ink that they need when they need it. Package printers that participate in the program must agree to purchase a minimum annual amount of Sun Chemical bases and inks and in return receive a GFI Mx12 dispenser that provides spot color accuracy to within 0.001/lb.

Although it is difficult to define exactly what smart packaging is, one significant component of any smart package is its ability to communicate with the person interacting with it. In food packaging, some packages can communicate freshness, while others can communicate a product’s history or expiration. In terms of the pharmaceutical market, packages integrating RFID tags to verify authenticity is another example. Other smart packages combine communication with functionality, like self-cooling beer kegs or self-heating soups and coffees. According to a report from NanoMarkets, LC, titled, “Smart Packaging Markets; 2006-2013,” the global smart packaging market will grow to $4.8 billion in 2011 and reach

Conductive inks are aiding the advancement of smart label converting. CONDUCTIVE INKS ARE hitting the radio frequency identification (RFID) marketplace and everyone from printers to chip manufacturers are taking notice. They have to. Conductive inks offer many benefits, but first and foremost is cost. A finished RFID tag still costs upwards of $0.30, which—when millions upon millions are needed to meet the demands of large retailers—is a lofty price for consumer product companies to pay. Much of the cost is due to the silicon microchip, as well as the conversion/assembly process. Traditional copper antennas make up one of the relatively expensive parts at $0.3