July 2006 Issue

 

Investment Tips

When Robin Williams’ character, Mork, in the 1978 TV hit “Mork & Mindy” signed off each episode with “Na no, na no” (Orkan for good-bye), maybe he was trying to be a predictor of something more significant. Maybe, even, it was déjà vu all over again, a take off from when Benjamin Braddock, Dustin Hoffman’s character in the 1967 movie classic “The Graduate,” told us more directly to invest in plastics. Although it might be too late to get into plastics, with “Na no, na no,” more specifically, nanotechnology, the time could be right to get in the game. In the June 2006 issue

Packaging Consultants

Flexible packaging represents a dynamic market for growth. Substantial opportunities exist in many of its sub-categories, with pouches ranking right up there at the top of the mix. While many package printers are positioning themselves to get a piece of this action, there are any number of companies that are already well established in this arena. CLP, an Israel-based company that does business in 26 countries around the world, happens to be one of them. Rooted in plastic CLP was founded in 1971 in Kibbutz Negba, Israel in a regional effort to diversify the area’s economic base by getting into the plastics industry. The

Packaging With Smarts

We unknowingly ingest more stuff than we would ever like to imagine. Between the microscopic bugs, bacteria, and viruses that find their way into the food we eat, we are walking hosts to a menagerie of living things—some of which can make us sick or even can be fatal. The good news is that there are layers of protection built into food production designed to keep what we eat safe from pathogens that cause food-borne illnesses. A growing part of this safety system is smart packaging. Smart packaging 101 There are several kinds of smart packaging that serve the food industry and protect consumers.

Pitching Plates

Plate mounting demands accuracy, and today’s plate mounting equipment and tapes help operators achieve just that. With available state-of-the-art equipment, what was once a painstaking manual process can now be done with computers and machines. According to Paul Zeinert, product manager, Anderson & Vreeland, the biggest change in plate mounting procedures has been “doing things automatically and using computers to make it repeatable.” These advances lend themselves to the pinnacle of plate mounting—a precisely, consistently, and easily mounted plate. In view of today’s plate mounting tapes, operators are now better equipped than ever to mount, demount, and reposition plates for accurate positioning. Some tapes

Preflight: Will Your File Fly

In the beginning was computer-to-plate, which begat digital files, which begat much confusion among graphic designers, printers, and prepress service bureaus because customer files were full of errors and omissions. And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth until lo and behold, the miracle of preflighting came to pass. And there was great rejoicing because, henceforth, all digital files would be automatically checked and corrected before proceeding to the next step in the workflow, saving many costly remakes and much labor. Hallelujah. There’s no denying that preflight software has been a godsend for printers and prepress professionals everywhere since the concept was

Workhorse With the Goods

Adhesives are by no means a component of packaging selected on a whim. The sticky substances are an integral element in packaging projects, and differ depending on a variety of factors that are important to the structural integrity of the packaging and, ultimately, to a consumer’s experience with a product. Even still, adhesives aren’t exactly big headline newsmakers and they beg the question, “What’s new?” According suppliers of adhesive materials, that’s a question with good answers. The last five years have seen innovations in the raw material components that constitute adhesives. The result of these advancements has been the development of adhesives with refined