Appleton

A growing need for security packaging opens up opportunities for converters to increase their customer base and income. THE TYLENOL MURDERS of 1982, the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and last year's Procrit® drug scare all have something in common: they're all the result of product counterfeiting and/or tampering. Once deemed relatively harmless problems, counterfeiting and tampering have turned out to be sinister crimes that threaten public safety and encumber economies around the world. The statistics are dismal. • In a blitz this past summer, the FDA and the U.S. Customs Service found that 88 percent of drug products examined at mail facilities

Thermal transfer printing is a proven, versatile printing process that continues to expand its reach. THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING is a proven, industrial printing process that can be tailored to meet a wide range of application needs. Its tracks can be found in everything from coffee bags, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, snack foods, prepared foods, and processed meats and cheeses, says Glenn Breslauer, director of IT marketing for Bell-Mark Corp. (Pine Brook, N.J.). One of the reasons for this widespread use is its ability to print variable information. "Thermal transfer allows a package to be coded with variable information in real-time," states Breslauer. "Not only