February 2004 Issue
Cover Story?Sheetfed offset, providing best overall value
Caraustar's Chicago Carton Plant uses its strengths in sheetfed offset printing to be a best-value supplier of paperboard packaging. SHEETFED OFFSET PRINTING is a specialty at Caraustar's Chicago Carton Plant. They've been doing it for the past 40 years, since the founding of the original Crane Carton Company by Alan Crane. The plant provides printed virgin and recycled paperboard materials to a variety of end-use markets, including dry and frozen foods, hardware, automotive, entertainment, and software. With Caraustar's status as one of the largest North American producers of recycled paperboard, Paul Curtis, general manager of Caraustar's Chicago and Grand Rapids, Mich. plants, says
It's a Bird, It's a Plane...It's Super UV/EB
Each year, more and more package printers are turning to UV and EB curing for their super drying and time-saving powers. TODAY'S ULTRAVIOLET (UV) and electron beam (EB) curing equipment can't fly like Superman, but with their many other super powers, they don't need to, to impress end users. For the past several years, package printers have raved about the high-productivity capabilities, easy maintenance, and low environmental impact of these drying systems, putting UV and EB curing equipment in high-demand. "I get about three or four calls a week from printers wanting to get into UV curing—they want the gloss," said Dave Douglas, vice
It's No Piece of Cake
It's not a simple two-step process, but many suppliers are offering slitter/rewinders that help converters simplify and manage all of their slitting/rewinding needs. SLITTING/REWINDING IS an everyday aspect of the package-printing job, often taken for granted as a necessary evil. But, behind this mundane reality are technologies that can impact a company's bottom line. From heavy-duty knives to wide-diameter rewind rolls, there are multiple components to each slitter/rewinder machine. packagePRINTING spoke with several suppliers about this off-press component of the package-printing job and the machines that help make it possible. Films, papers, and foils With a wide array of substrates dominating the package-printing industry,
Putting Security First
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
Quality Printing--Handling it Right
Proper web guiding, tension, and register control are basic ingredients needed for good print quality results. PRINT REGISTRATION IS one of the first things packagePRINTING's Excellence Awards judges inspect when assessing the print quality of contest entries. For our expert panel, it's an easy variable to assess, and is used as an initial culling point to "separate the men from the boys." Entries will not contend for a first-place finish if they are not produced with good print registration. This is clearly understood in the industry, but not everyone pays enough attention to some of the web-handling issues that directly impact registration, says Henry
The Armadillo of Package Printing
Synthetic labeling materials are grabbing the attention of converters with their durability and versatility. WITH ITS UNIQUE shell, the nine-banded armadillo is the only mammal in the animal kingdom with armor. Made from plates of bones, its armored shell is coated with a layer of horny skin, protecting the creature from most impending harm. Even with the armored shell, this seemingly awkward animal is very versatile, able to run and even swim. Within the package-printing industry, there is a similar anomaly. Like the armadillo, synthetic labeling materials provide durability and protection for tough applications, along with added versatility. Synthetics Converters are increasingly
The prepress renaissance
Pushing the limits of packaging graphics to help sell products on the store shelf has resulted in a new prepress art form. Today's package printers are, more often than not, required to be true creative design advisors, offering guidance and suggestions for crafting artwork out of packaging materials and pushing the limits of prepress delivery to enhance point-of-purchase appeal. The result: a new art of prepress, driven to deliver extravagant designs. Inland Paperboard and Packaging foresaw this renaissance—a change in the way its customers were expecting services such as mockups, design enhancements, and new ideas for delivering packaging. In the early '90s, these
