3M

With digital assets representing a large investment by brand owners, organization and management are of critical importance. WHAT'S IN A package? Prior to the addition of cereal, hand cream, aspirin, or bug spray, the essential elements of a package or label include text; graphics; regulatory information; photos; CMYK, RGB, and 3D images; templates; line art; logos; layouts; and PDFs—to name just a few. The process of making that package involves every stage in the packaging supply chain, from engineering to marketing and legal to purchasing and production. Factor in additional legal requirements and regulatory information for food, pharmaceuticals, and other regulated industries, version

Plate mounting has improved dramatically in the past few years and can now cause less headaches in the pressroom. ONE FALSE MOVE and hundreds of dollars of substrate can find itself taking the long and winding road into the scrap bin, all because the plate was a fraction of an inch off. Any number of press operators will tell you that getting the plate on straight is frustrating, yet is a very important part of the job. Why not make it easier for your operators by offering them plate mounting tapes and equipment that practically do the work for them? Plate mounting

Plate mounting product manufacturers offer some suggestions and tips to help smooth out the plate mounting process. TRAPPED AIR BUBBLES. Plates lifting during printing. Damaged plates from residue. Constant press adjustments. Low print quality. … Plate mounting has potential to be a nightmare for some press operators, but help is here to overcome some of the stresses brought on by the simple act of plate mounting. packagePRINTING spoke with some plate mounting material manufacturers to find out some tricks and hints, and a few new products that may soothe a frazzled plate mounter. Be gentle to your plates Flexographic plates, although tough, do need

AAA PRESS INT'L Praxair™ laser-engraved ceramic anilox rolls; tint sleeve kits. Write 604, Visit www.aaapress.com, ABSOLUTELY MICRO*CLEAN Micro*Clean use a unique plastic media to deep-clean anilox rolls. The well-proven method is used off-press in an enclosed blast cabinet. The media is cleaned and recycled for reduced costs/elimination of hazardous waste. Write 605, Visit www.microcleanintl.com ADVANCED CYLINDER REPAIR Recognized leader in "In Press" cylinder repair services. We serve the offset, web, and flexo industries with the most up-to-date repair technology available. Write 606 American Die Technology Anvil rolls and printing cylinders for narrow-web flexo equipment with web widths to 30˝. Write 607, Visit

AAA PRESS INTERNATIONAL Web cleaning systems, anilox roll cleaners.Visit www.aaapress.com, ABSOLUTELY MICRO*CLEAN Micro*Clean uses plastic media to deep-clean rolls. The well-proven method is used off-press in an enclosed, automated blast cabinet. Media is cleaned/recycled for reduced costs and elimination of hazardous waste. Write 296, Visit www.microcleanintl.com BST PRO MARK Complete line of single and dual-sided "contact" cleaning systems. Visit www.bstpromark.com COMEXI GROUP/ENVIROXI Offers the EVI 2000/2600 Parts Washing unit, the EVT 1500/2000/2700 Parts Washing Unit, and the EV-25/50 VAC Solvent Recovery Unit. Visit www.comexi.com Conversource Conversource is a distributor of consumable supplies and accessory equipment for the flexographic pressroom. The company

packagePRINTING congratulates the winners of the 2000 TLMI Awards Competition, offering a special toast to Adams Label & Tag for its Best of Show-winning wine label. By Susan Friedman, Editor The 267 North American and International entries in the 2000 TLMI Awards Competition bested last year's entry draw by 33 percent—making victory even sweeter for this year's honorees. "We were glad to see the increased amount of entries," says RotoMetrics' Steve Lee, chair of the Awards Competition Committee. Quantity was up, but so was overall quality, illustrated in part by the definitive rise in multi-process label entries. "There was lots of good competition," states

Labels—Flexo (Line) First Place LSK Label Co. El Dorado Hills, CA M.G. Vallejo 750 ml Press: Gallus/Arsoma EM-280 Plates: DuPont Cyrel Anilox Rolls: Harper Dies: CompuDie Substrate: Technicote Ink: Akzo Nobel Judges' Comments: Nice combination of flexo printing with foil stamping/embossing. The sharpness of this entry's line work stood out. Second Place MPI Label Systems Stockton, CA Island Essentials Sunblock Press: Mark Andy 2200 Plates: DuPont Anilox Rolls: Harper Dies: Avis RotoDie Substrate: Fasson Ink: INX International Third Place Tape & Label Engineering St. Petersburg, FL Spring Valley Brewer's Yeast Press: Mark Andy 4150 Plates: DuPont Cyrel Dies: RotoMetrics Substrate: Green Bay Ink: Water

All indicators point to continued economic health and stability for the nation and package printers during 1998. by Dan Cray If you're having a sense of deja vu as you look at your company's bottom line this year, you're not alone. Nearly one-third of the way through 1998, economists say that with a few exceptions all economic indicators are about the same as they were last year—and that's good news. As the nation continues in one of the most drawn-out economic expansions of the post-war era, inflation and interest rates are steady, while unemployment figures are the lowest they've been in 24 years. In

packagePRINTING presents the tag and label industry's exclusive first look at the winners of the 1997 TLMI Awards competition. By taking Best of Show honors in the Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute's Awards competition, a combination offset-printed/foil-stamped front and back label solidified multi-process printing's reputation for adding value and elegance to printed packaging. Converted by Impressive Labels, Safford, AZ, the "Frescolina" wine label was tagged by the panel of judges as being superior to all 290 entries in this 20th annual competition. Overall, 49 TLMI and 18 FINAT member companies participated. Cited for its extremely exacting registration of two foils put down one

International Honorable Mentions LETTERPRESS, Rotary line—prime Walsall Labelling Systems—Clan MacGregor LETTERPRESS, Rotary line and screen/tone—prime Walsall Labelling Systems—Glenfiddich Special Reserve OFFSET, Color process—prime Tapp Technologies—Horton Vineyards—Malbec MULTI-PROCESS, Line—prime Germark S.A.—Mont-Marcal MULTI-PROCESS, Line and screen/tone—prime Arca Etichette Spa—Osmose Shampooing Vitamin Color MULTI-PROCESS, Color process Tapp Technologies—Fess Parker Winery MULTI-PROCESS, Color process Guy & Co.—Merrys Face TAGS, Unique—nonpressure sensitive Label Converters Ltd—Smith & Nephew Intasite Gel North American Honorable Mentions FLEXO, Line-prime Custom Tape & Label—Indego Pale Ale H.C. Berger Beer Label FLEXO, Line-prime Advanced Web Technologies—3M Tape Flag FLEXO, Line-nonprime MPI Label Systems of IL—Fury FLEXO, Line and screen/tone-prime Label Art—Atlantic Brass Dart Box