Coating Excellence International

The term “globalization” has become one of the package-printing industry’s favorite things to talk about. It’s important enough that the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) devoted an entire study on the effects of globalization on flexible packaging, and in 2007, PLGA Global made globalization the theme of its annual operational conference. Domestically, the economic impacts of globalization are sometimes negative. But, some experts and converters believe that there are new opportunities opening by globalizing their businesses. More importantly, there may be no choice in the matter. What does it mean to you? Globalization means different things to different people. Merriam-Webster defines globalization as “the act,

WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis.—Coating Excellence International (CEI), the Wisconsin-based flexible packaging company specializing in extrusion coating, laminating, printing and woven bags, announced a new partnership with Midwest-based private equity firm Mason Wells. Mason Wells, along with Coating Excellence management and other co-investors, acquired the equity of the Company from CEI’s existing shareholders. “Mason Wells is pleased to be partnering with CEI’s management team to support the Company’s growth initiatives. Coating Excellence’s skilled workforce, state-of-the-art equipment and experienced management team are all factors that have allowed the company to consistently meet the expectations of its customers,” said Tom Smith, Senior Managing Director of Mason Wells. We believe

There’s nothing easy about manufacturing—no matter what the product. It requires a finely tuned confluence of equipment, materials, and people, along with a host of additional factors that can make the difference between success and failure. In package printing, inks play a key role in the manufacturing process—to say the least. There’s plenty of other peripheral processes required to get printed materials out the door, but inks and their “kissin’ cousins” such as coatings and adhesives, are what makes these materials a printed product. Today there is a lot of activity within the ink world. As a material category, inks have been hit

WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis.—Coating Excellence International (CEI), a Wisconsin-basedflexible packaging company specializing in extrusion coating, laminating, printing, and woven bags, has received multiple awards for its printing and SUPER-TUBE bags. For the company’s SUPER-TUBE Kaytee Songbird Blend Bag, the Printing Industries Association and the Graphic Arts Technical Association (PIA/GATF) awarded CEI a Premier Printing Award, or a “Benny,” as it’s commonly referred to within the industry. The “Benny” award gets its name from the association’s logo, which features an image of Benjamin Franklin. Given out every year since 1950, the Premier Print Awards are the industry’s oldest international awards competition. Each year, printing companies from the

The state of the folding carton industry is hard to pin down. Walking up and down the supermarket aisles reveals no shortage of folding carton containers. But as we all know, there’s far more to the folding carton market than just food packaging. The majority of large consumer electronics items come in corrugated or paperboard packaging. These items, however, are often manufactured in foreign countries, and are therefore packaged there as well. So the North American folding carton market takes a hit. Couple this reality with changes in the supply chain, and some might consider the North American folding carton market in difficult straits.

Coating Excellence International produces photo-quality images with water-based inks on W&H flexo presses. COATING EXCELLENCE INTERNATIONAL (CEI, Wrightstown, Wis.) started out in life in 1997 as an extrusion company, focusing on poly-coating and poly-laminating paper substrates using a 105" Egan Davis Standard high-speed extruder. It wasn't long, however, before the company expanded into the printing business, installing a new 8-color Windmoeller & Hoelscher flexographic press in January of 2000. Later that same year, CEI doubled its capacity, adding another 105" Egan extruder, a second Windmoeller & Hoelscher press, and support equipment. The company has continued to expand its facilities, adding two additional Windmoeller &