Pillar Technologies

The wide range of substrates and ink systems being used makes corona treatment a key tool for package printers. by Tom Polischuk PACKAGE PRINTERS ARE dealing with a multitude of market conditions that have them pushing the envelope when it comes to the materials they run. Because of the need to hold onto business, replace lost business, or grow sources of new business, package printers are routinely running a wider variety of substrates, along with new inking systems. This includes a continuing trend toward the use of film substrates (including thinner gauge films and conductive foils) and new inks such as UV and water-based

These products and companies were the most sought-after in 2002 by packagePRINTING readers. Top 10: Prepress Equipment 1. Creo—PDF-based packaging workflow Prinergy Powerpack, copydot scanning systems, film imagers, and CtP devices 2. Agfa—Workflow and color management systems including the AgfaScan XY-15 Plus, Sherpa 43 Inkjet system, and Lithostar plates 3. Kodak Polychrome Graphics—Offers Digital and conventional plates, film, and proofing and color technologies including the Kodak Approval XP unit 4. BASF—Offers Nyloflex® and Nyloprint® equipment combinations for processing photopolymer flexo and letterpress plates and sleeves 5. MacDermid—Broad range of sheet, liquid, digital, and water-wash photopolymer plates, platemaking equipment, sleeves,

WITH WINTER WEATHER firmly in place, warmth is something that is on everyone's mind. Here's something that is sure to add some heat to 2004. packagePrinting has put together a collection of the hot products of 2004. In categories including prepress, presses, press accessories, substrates, and inks/adhesives, converters can get a glimpse of the latest package-printing products. Prepress Creo Creo's HyperFlex™ screening is new technology aiding in the formation of smaller dots on a photopolymer flexo plate. It provides a thicker foundation of photopolymer material that allows a smaller minimum dot size to be formed and held throughout the print process. DuPont

Flexibility—via stretches in compatibility and power—is the most sought-after surface treatment. by Susan Friedman How physically fit is surface treating technology? Package printers continue to find out, as suppliers heed the push to achieve higher power, higher treatment levels, and increased configuration flexibility. Jeff Opad, V.P. of sales and marketing at Pillar Technologies, confirms converters' demand for a flexible corona treating approach—particularly in the form of "convertible" or "universal" systems—solidly outweighs extruders' demand. Marc Nolan, sales manager at Sherman Treaters, views the convertible unit—one that affords transitioning between a bare roll and a covered roll system—as a practical system for converters having to deal

Surface treating equipment suppliers are looking in-depth at tough-to-treat substrates, newer ink preferences, and more do-it-all technologies. by Susan Friedman A teeming variety of substrates, particularly films, combined with interest in UV-/water-based inks and omnipresent efficiency emphasis all add up to reveal steadily more sides of surface treating. Corona treaters remain popular for reasons that likely extend from familiarity to versatility to economics—but gas flame treaters aren't without an established niche. "Despite some of the known advances of flame treaters, I believe corona treaters will remain in the forefront," states Marc Nolan, sales manager at Sherman Treaters, Ontario, Canada. "People have reservations with the