packagePRINTING September 2014 Edition
Establishing Identity
Imagine this: You're driving through your hometown and passing the neighborhood McDonald's. But something's different. Those golden arches have been replaced with a giant Helvetica-style M. There's no doubt you'd notice the change, and you'd most likely want to know what in the world was going on.
Fabulous Folding Cartons
Jan Steiner was on a panel with several other business owners when the importance of delivering on the brand promise of their respective companies came up. An outspoken member of the panel, the owner of a car service firm, said, "Getting boxes shipped on time isn't important. But if our car isn't at the airport to pick up an executive, heads roll."
Industry News - September 2014
Industry News on the package printing industry, including Sonoco, Prisco, Badger Plug, FUJIFILM, 3C! Packaging, and Mark Andy.
Shelf Space: So you went to a trade show. What did you see?
The end of summer puts the kids back in school, adds traffic to the morning commute, and is the beginning of trade show season. And that means there will be lots of new things to talk and think about as we head toward 2015.
Shorter+Faster
Short runs are becoming business as usual for converters, with brand owners wanting more and more runs of reduced lengths. A recent InfoTrends survey of packagePRINTING readers set out to see to what extent such runs are becoming more common. We obtained responses from 69 companies, each a converter of labels, folding cartons or both. The general results indicate that respondents' print jobs now include a significant share that is less than a few thousand linear feet, and that the share is growing.
Straight & Narrow
Folding cartons are the containers of choice for an immense range of products, from pharmaceuticals and health and beauty products, to cereal boxes, frozen foods, consumer electronics, and more. Together, they account for an estimated value of $61 billion worldwide, spread over about 3,500 converters.
Thin Is In
Driven by brand owner desires for lower costs, thinner substrates—some just 23 microns or thinner—have become increasingly common on the presses of many converters. On one hand, thinner stocks can reduce material costs, require fewer reel changes, and can decrease waste and reel weight. But thin materials can also pose difficulties for converters when it comes to diecutting and trimming.
