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FlexoGlobalTM

September 2010

Flexography & Sustainability

Features

FlexoGlobalTM

FlexoGlobalTM

FlexoGlobal’s mission is to deliver top-notch technical articles authored by industry experts, industry updates on an international level, and business practices overviews to

improve operating efficiencies.

PublisherLaura Wayland-Smith Hatch

[email protected]

Volume 3, No. 1

FlexoGlobalEditorial, Advertising, & Circulation Office

Salmon Creek Publishing7580 Salmon Creek Road

Williamson, NY [email protected]

315.589.8879

Copyright © 2010 Salmon Creek Publishing

All rights reserved. None of the materials in this publication may be used, reproduced, or transmitted, in whole or in

part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or the use of any

information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Would you like to join the growing list of contributing authors to FlexoGlobal?

Increase your visibility in the industry as a flexo printer/converter, supplier, or educator and increase your business

on a global basis. Your articles will appear online and in the downloadable and printable PDF file so that you can print copies to use within your organization or with customers.

Whether you have any potential articles or just ideas for what you would like to see covered, we would certainly like

to hear from you.

Table of Contents

Flexography & Sustainability: The Great Plate Debate ...........................................................6

By Eastman Kodak CompanyThere can be no doubt that environmental impact is a hot topic in the packaging industry today. All players in the supply chain are continually challenged to take action to improve their sustainability scorecard, and flexographic printing is no exception; attention to environmental issues has been steadily increasing over the last decade as the flexographic printing process has grown in importance in the packaging market.

Has Your Packaging Gone To The Dogs? ..........10By JoAnn Hines, Packaging Diva,Founder & Supporter of Women In Packaging

Whether it’s for Fido or for Morris, the market for pet products in “nontraditional” outlets (specific to retail outlets outside the traditional pet store venue) should reach nearly $4.2 billion by 2010, according to Market Trends. This area is expected to grow as pet products move into the luxury and “lifestyle” category such as diamond-studded collars or designer duds for your pet.

Flexo Brings Profit$ In-line! .............................14By Steven Leibin, Gallus Printing Machinery& Dr. John Anderson, Eastman Kodak Company

In today’s challenging business environment, packaging manufacturer’ profits are getting squeezed. Customers demand better quality, lower quantities, just-in-time delivery, sustainability, and more point-of-sale “POP”—all at a lower price! Yet, many converters are trying to meet today’s challenges with yesterday’s manufacturing process causing profitability to suffer. Unfortunately, many end users look at packaging as a commodity.

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Technology

Flexography and Sustainability: The Great Plate DebateFlexography & Sustainability:

The Great Plate Debate




BackgroundThere can be no doubt that environmental impact is a hot topic in the packaging industry today. All players in the supply chain are continually challenged to take action to improve their sustainability scorecard, and flexographic printing is no exception; attention to environmental issues has been steadily increasing over the last decade as the flexographic printing process has grown in importance in the packaging market.

A large portion of that attention has been focused on the flexographic plates themselves and, more specifically, the processing methods associated with imaged plate production. The Great Plate Debate, which has been running for the last couple of years between some of the key long term plate suppliers*, has been squarely focused on the merits of solvent vs. thermal processing for flexographic plates, with both camps declaring their preferred technology victorious; an outcome that has left the market somewhat confused.

This paper offers a new perspective on the debate and discusses how Kodak believes that making a plate choice for maximum impact on sustainability should consider the bigger picture for the overall flexographic printing process, and how other factors can easily dwarf the single element that is plate processing.

A New PerspectiveThe impact of the plate on printing performance cannot be ignored A great danger exists in considering plate making (imaging and processing) as an isolated element from a sustainability perspective. The simple fact is that the product of that plate making process, the imaged plate itself, has the power, through its unique characteristics, to impact the printing performance and thus the contribution that the printing operation itself makes to the sustainability picture; rest assured, it’s a large contribution.

In its Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), DuPont specifically stated that their study assumed that “imaged plates perform equivalently in printing, regardless of which process was used for plate processing and imaging,” thus eliminating

the impact that different plates might have on the overall sustainability ‘big picture.’

Kodak’s position is that while this is a convenient assumption to make to enable a direct comparison between plate processing technologies, it actually, by design, ignores the greatest impact that a plate technology can have on sustainability: how it performs on press.

It’s time to stop focusing on one small part of the picture and consider the big picture.

Explaining the Big PictureThe Truly Significant FactorsWhen reviewing the flexographic printing process, it is important that we consider all of the key contributors to environmental impact.

Figure 1, based on data published as part of the DuPont LCA in 2008, illustrates the significant components involved, and indicates that substrate, ink, electricity, etc. used in the printing process, are all far more significant than the plate in the overall picture. The plate is shown as being typically 1% or less of the overall impact. This is no great surprise, of course, when we stand back and think about it. Presses are great energy consumers and every print run utilizes considerable volumes of ink and substrate.

Figure 1: The Big Picture

*Flint Group Eco-Efficiency-Analysis (EEA) report, 2008; DuPont Life Cycle Assessment: Flexographic and Rotogravure Printing Comparison & Flexographic Plate Imaging Technologies, 2008.




Technology

But what this chart reveals is that in order to have the maximum positive impact on the sustainability of the flexo printing process, we really need to focus on those ‘big ticket’ items. It tells us that if our plate has the power to drive optimum performance and reduce the substrate and ink waste on press, it has the power to have a much larger impact beyond the plate component itself.

Next, if you consider the plate element of the overall picture in more detail, the photopolymer plate itself is the more significant contributor to environmental impact. FIGURE 2 indicates that raw materials comprise about 75% of a plate’s environmental impact; plate processing comprises about 25% or less.

Reduction of ink and substrate waste is the single biggest contribution that a flexo

plate can make to improve sustainability.

From this data, upon which the published studies both generally agreed, it is clear that the next best way to have a positive environmental impact is simply to use fewer plates. It might seem glaringly obvious, but it’s undeniably true. Not only does using fewer plates reduce the impact from the manufacture of the photopolymer itself, but one less plate used is one less plate processed. And every plate that is eliminated reduces:

• Mountingtape• Mountingtime• Cylinder/Sleevecleaning• Disposalcosts• Ink• Setupwaste

Reduction in the actual number of plates made is the next biggest contribution that a flexo plate can make to improve

sustainability.

So Where Does That Leave Plate Processing?Putting it all in perspectiveFrom the data that we see above and the observations we read in published studies we learn that the whole plate and platemaking element contributes less than 1% of the total non-renewable energy used in the flexo printing process; and only about one quarter of that 1% is the plate processing element. So, while every impact counts, it is important to put into perspective that The Great Plate Debate between solvent and thermal processing is focused on making small changes to one quarter of 1% of the total impact.

Let’s compare that to the impact that you could make by reducing on-press waste by 25%. The study published by DuPont quotes a figure of 8% scrap for flexo printing. That scrap comprises both substrate and ink.

If we study Figure 1 again it would be reasonable to conclude that:

• Overallinkandsubstrateaccountsforabout75%of the non-renewable energy produced in the flexo printing process.

• If8%ofthatisscrap,thenscrapinkandsubstratemust contribute about 6% of the non-renewable energy used.

• Ifyoucanreducethatscrapby25%youcanlogically impact 1.5% of the total

Figure 2: Plates vs. Plate Processing




Compare the 1.5% that can be impacted by waste reduction to the fraction of one quarter of 1% that can be impacted by plate processing choice, and you can start to see the benefit of considering the big picture.

For maximum impact on sustainability choose a flexo plate based on its power to reduce on-press waste and the number of

plates per job.

How Can You Reduce On-Press Waste and Use Less Plates?Flexcel NX Plates in actionThe Kodak Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic System was designed with maximum print production efficiency in mind. Through unique imaging technology and patented plate making processes, Flexcel NX Plates have finished plate characteristics that are in a class of their own. Kodak’s evenheight flat-top dots go all the way down the tonal scale, providing unparalleled impression latitude, superior plate robustness and expanded color gamut. As a result, they:

• Cometocolorfaster• Lastlongeronpress• Canbere-usedmoreoften• Enablethereductionofspotcolorsthroughbetter

four color process performance• Eliminatetheneedtosplitlineandtonework

Indeed, it is common with wide web flexible packaging users of the Flexcel NX System to eliminate the practice of splitting the solids and tone and have all on one combination plate. They reduce the number of spot colors and make greater use of process printing and report that plate life compared to comparable traditional digital flexo plates for like jobs, increases 2 to 5 times. And these plates really do come to color faster—just ask any press operator that works with Flexcel NX Plates.

In fact, on average, printers that use Flexcel NX Plates tell us that:

• Theyhavereducedsetupwasteonpressby25%• Theyhavereducedthetotalnumberofplatesthey

use by 20%

This puts them in a position where they can make a SIGNIFICANT impact on their sustainability goals. By the way, reducing waste and using less plates is not a bad thing when it comes to those all-important cost control goals as well.

Make an Informed Plate ChoiceMaking decisions for maximum impact on sustainability is all about looking at the big picture—that’s what all the environmental gurus tell us. Making a flexo plate choice is no different.

Consider the flexo plate as a tool that has the power to make a significant impact on sustainability improvement in the pressroom. If maximizing sustainability is important to you, we have learnt that you should look first to the factors that have the greatest impact. Make it your priority to choose a plate that can help you reduce on-press waste and use fewer plates, irrespective of processing method.

Take a new perspective on The Great Plate Debate and consider the big picture.

To learn more about packaging solutions from Kodak, visit www.kodak.com/go/packaging



http://www.kodak.com/go/packaging


Business

Recently, Packaging World explained the pet industry is recession proof.

So along this theme I decided to reprise an earlier article Has Your Packaging Gone To The Dogs?

Whether it’s for Fido or for Morris, the market for pet products in “nontraditional” outlets (specific to retail outlets outside the traditional pet store venue) should reach nearly $4.2 billion by 2010, according to Market Trends. This area is expected to grow as pet products move into the luxury and “lifestyle” category such as diamond-studded collars or designer duds for your pet. Companies such as Eddie Bauer and Louis Vitton are making luxury pet accessories and “must have” pet products. After all, your pet is the most important part of the family. ( Just kidding!) But seriously, there is more money spent on things for pets than on babies—a lot more.

Remember when I asked, “What’s In You Bottle?” Well, it turns out that dogs have special bottled water too. “PetRefresh® is the only water available today that is specifically designed for the daily hydration needs of pets.

Not a treat, but a core nutrient for better health.” Also a new water product for dogs, OOH’s “Pup Cups,” is water in a cup for dogs on the go. They got great brand recognition by donating water to the Humane Society for Hurricane Katrina canine victims.

I just love this one: K9 Water Co., a Valencia, California-based company, is selling a line of vitamin-enriched bottled waters for dogs over the Internet. http://www.k9waterco.com/. A four-pack comes in four flavors—Toilet Water (chicken), Gutter Water (beef ), Puddle Water (liver) and Hose Water (lamb).

The humanization of pets is more than just as part of the family; they are living longer and healthier lives. There are all kinds of innovations in pet “goodies.” The list of packaged things for your dog is endless. In fact, there is even a new word coined, “pupperware,” to describe this niche.

Pupperware n. Dog accessories and toys, particularly ones demonstrated and sold at in-home parties. [Blend of pup and Tupperware.]

By JoAnn Hines, Packaging Diva, Founder & Supporter of Women In Packaging!

Has Your Packaging Gone To The Dogs?




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But just innovation and being trendy doesn’t tell the whole story. People are concerned about a dog’s health too. Vitamins and minerals for Fido present a huge new segment. The big thing in “packaging” is ease of dispensing and use for DIY pet medications. There are a lot of new DIY products offered for when you can do it yourself instead of carting your dog to the vet. Just remember—make the instructions simple and easy to read if you want people to buy your product.

Recently “Greenies” (a top-selling dog treat) got in trouble with consumers because purchasers claimed the product packaging was not informative enough about the potential choking problem. I don’t know the outcome, but it’s important to note that the consumers blamed the package labeling as part of the problem.

Affluent boomers and other empty nesters are looking at Fido as an integral part of the family. They have money

to spend and plenty of it so look for an influx of products geared towards this audience. A good example is Harley Davidson. They see money in the 50+ generation and have developed the companion dog products too.

Think about this unique marketing and packaging application too. Prepared meals for dogs, sounds good enough for humans to eat.

“BENEFUL® ELEVATES PET FOOD TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH INTRODUCTION OF FIRST-EVER PREPARED MEALS™ FOR DOGS. The difference is visible, as Beneful Prepared Meals showcase the eight, mouth-watering varieties and real food ingredients in clear, ready-to-serve, re-sealable plastic containers—a new packaging innovation in pet food. The new product is being launched regionally in 2006 in 50 percent of the U.S.”

I just had to use this example, Bow Wow Breakfast Cereal



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Business

for Dogs. It is a new line of dog food intended for morning consumption. The company that makes it claims it’s specifically formulated to meet a dog’s needs in the morning. The thing is pets don’t buy this stuff; people do. So keep that in mind as you develop your product packaging. First, you have to appeal to the “human” side of the dog owner.

At the Marketing to Women conference at which I recently spoke, I used an example of packaging dog food that appeals to women. Pedigree Dog Food just implemented a reclosable zipper, something SHE will buy. So think “people” when packaging your products for the dogs. You have to first persuade the owner to pick your product up

off the shelf. Make sure that in addition to your packaging “going to the dogs” it’s attracting the people too.

All the examples of the packaging in this newsletter can be found at http://bit.ly/aSlPKn

Need more recession proofing tips for your business? Read “How To Recession proof Your Packaging” at http://bit.ly/aCKEWX

Do you have packaging innovation can shape peoples lives? Be sure and share it with me.

JoAnn Hines, the Packaging DivaYou might wonder why I am considered a DIVA but I can assure you that its really true. For a start I have been invited to speak on packaging issues around the world (including the White House twice) and showcased on NBC to discuss Packaging “Wrap Rage” and my columns about packaging are syndicated around the globe.

I can help you fix your packaging WOES. Each week I solve dozens of packaging problems whether it’s how to get started packaging your product or to understand the latest packaging technology and packaging innovations this is the place to be.

Most importantly I can help you integrate your product packaging into your brand, teach you how to make your product packaging to sell or simply get you on the right track with the right packaging message for your target audience.

Sounds simple right? But what about some of the packaging pitfalls: environmental issues, legislation, counterfeiting and product packaging security? As one of my readers or clients I will keep you advised. Each week I write on a timely packaging topic relevant to you and your business; send special alerts about hot button issues and provide insights on what’s new and exciting in the world of consumer product packaging and branding.

Best of all I do this for free because I love packaging, I want your product to succeed and it’s critical to get your product packaging right the first time because you may not get a second chance.

For more ways to utilize packaging branding, innovation and marketing concepts to “connect” with your consumer contact JoAnn Hines at http://packagingdiva.com You can also subscribe to the complimentary newsletter “Packaging News You Can Use” at the same address.

Contact Links:[email protected]

Twitter: http://twitter.com/packagingdiva

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/packagingdiva



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Technology

In today’s challenging business environment, packaging manufacturer’ profits are getting squeezed. Customers demand better quality, lower quantities, just-in-time delivery, sustainability, and more point-of-sale “POP”—all at a lower price! Yet, many converters are trying to meet today’s challenges with yesterday’s manufacturing process causing profitability to suffer. Unfortunately, many end users look at packaging as a commodity.

In a commodity market, manufacturers need to follow time-tested business practices;

• Improveyourproductionprocess–Getleananddrive costs out, and

• Addvaluetoyourproduct–ValueInnovate.Are you using the same manufacturing process as 10, 20 or 30 years ago to answer today’s production challenges?

A modern in-line flexographic production process provides packaging manufacturers the means to meet customers’ demands and maintain profit margins. Flexo is no longer a secondary citizen of the printing world. In-line flexo press and prepress technologies have advanced so much in recent years that Flexo printing is now the best solution!

Market Demands:For many years, packaging converters enjoyed producing long runs with few product changes and differentiating themselves on artistic talents. Well, those days are gone. Today the customer wants smaller run sizes with more market-oriented changes—holiday, language, seasonal—delivered just in time to their plants. Quality and consistency are a given factor in the sales process. Competitors are

everywhere and supplier differentiation is becoming harder and harder. Price is becoming the weapon CPGs use to separate suppliers.

So how has your manufacturing process adapted to meet these challenges?

If you are still using older equipment or a less-efficient production process to meet these demands, you are probably feeling the squeeze on your profits.

What TV do you watch?I want to use the television as an analogy. In the 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s, black-and-white TVs were what everyone used. Sitting around a black-and-white TV was amazing compared to sitting around a radio. Then around 1965, color TV came on to the scene and started becoming popular. By 1975, almost everyone had a color TV. Then, in 1990, HD TV was invented, and everyone started moving to that. LED TVs were introduced in 2004, and in 2010 3D TV was announced. Many consumers wondered why change when the TV they had worked great. But when they watched TV on the newest model, they quickly saw the benefits of this new technology. Watching standard color TV now seems crazy and old fashioned.

Yet, many packaging manufacturers are still using old technology, saying that what they have works fine. And, when they see what they can achieve with a new in-line production solution, they wonder why they didn’t make the change sooner!

So what type of TV (production process) are you using?

Flexo Brings Profit$ In-line!

By Steven Leibin, Gallus Printing Machinery& Dr. John Anderson, Eastman Kodak Company




Lean Manufacturing:To remain profitable today, packaging manufacturers need to look at their process and decide what is the best way to make money. The old argument that other processes are better than in-line flexo is no longer valid, and, more importantly, is not relevant to a lean discussion.

Gravure and web offset have tried to address current production challenges by including new features such as printing plate/blanket sleeves or gravure sleeves, which are more expensive than flexo sleeves and can increase per-job costs. The real problem is these processes still have limited flexibility or require additional steps for hot foil, laminations, and die cutting that require additional personnel, additional storage space, and additional time—additional costs.

From a lean-manufacturing perspective, being able to go from roll to finished product with fewer people, no added storage, less time, and less cost is the best solution. So why doesn’t everyone have at least one in-line flexo press in their production facility?

Years ago, in-line flexography was potato printing compared to offset, gravure, or CI-flexo print quality, and that image had been hard to shake. It was almost like changing religions to go from gravure, offset, or CI-flexo to in-line flexo. It required packaging manufacturers to step out of their comfort zone for a process that did not answer all their production requirements. Advances in in-line flexo press and prepress technologies in the last few years have changed that dynamic.

Today’s in-line flexo presses bring more science—and less art—to the production process. Completely servo-driven flexo presses eliminate all mechanical interference in the print process, eliminating gear-marking. Job changes—color and copy—can be accomplished in less than 15 minutes on a 6-color press from good product to good product. Copy changes can be done on the fly without the press stopping and generating very little waste. Job setup can be memorized and recalled for excellent repeatability and consistency. Print registration is completely automated and controlled through speed changes to further enhance

production consistency. In effect, the flexo press operator becomes a press manager more than an operator since the press automation requires less operator interference. In-line flexo presses from Gallus are available in web widths from 20-inches to 64-inches wide with speeds up to 1,600 fpm, which can provide same or better productivity than gravure, web offset or CI-flexo presses.

Modular Cassette Change

Consider that the flexographic process eliminates the need to balance water and ink like web offset and produces a thicker ink lay down which delivers better color densities—more “POP,” similar to gravure. Laser-engraved ceramic anilox provide consistent color from run to run. New on-press color management systems track and record color consistency for the entire production run and flag or alarm the operator if there is a deviation. This enables you to assure your customer that you are delivering consistency throughout the production run and from run to run

Value Added:An in-line printing press offers packaging manufacturers exceptional flexibility. The Gallus ICS 670 press is a completely modular platform. Every print station can easily be changed from HiDef flexo printing™ to screen printing, cold foiling, laminating, to rotary hot-foil embossing, and even gravure stations can be included. Reverse printing can be done in any print station on the press. This is the ultimate in flexibility, allowing you to meet any current and future production requirements.




Technology

Lamination Module

Now the best of print technologies can be combined in-line on a press to take advantage of the benefits of each technology;

• Gravureformetallic,fluorescentandspecialtycoating applications,

• Rotaryscreenfortactile,texture,Brailleapplications,

• Coldfoilforcost-efficientfoilapplications,• HiDefflexoprinting™forexceptionalprintquality

and color density

Screen Cassette

Adding value to your customer’s project can now be achieved quickly and easily. You can “Value Innovate” to differentiate your packaging manufacturing capabilities from the competitors!

The ICS 670 press also has the flexibility to run a wide range of substrates from thin films to carton and hold registration as good as a CI-flexo press, further enhancing production versatility.

Additionally, the Gallus in-line production solution includes the Gallus FCL 670, the flagship of the Gallus flatbed cutline portfolio, to provide a high-performance roll-to-blank in-line solution for folding carton or in-mould label applications. Depending on production demands a rotary die cutting can also be integrated. The flat bed systems offer up to 300 tons of cutting pressure and utilizes servo automation to memorize job data to automate job presetting. Adjustments can even be made on the fly —adjusting the cutting-die to the counterplate—which minimizes setup times.

But questions remain. Can flexo match offset or gravure print quality, and how do I convert my files from offset or gravure to flexo?

FLEXO – The King of PrintingJust as flexo press technology has advanced in recent years, flexo prepress and plate technologies have made dramatic advancements that change traditional thinking.

For many years, offset and gravure argued over who had the best quality. Offset offered the ability to print high line screens (up to 300 lpi) with soft vignettes (down to a 1 percent dot) with low-cost plates, while gravure offered excellent print quality with better color densities (more ink lay down), but with expensive print cylinder costs.

Today, thanks to Kodak’s new Flexcel NX flexo plate system with Digicap screening, flexo can achieve up to 300 lpi with AM screening, and 20 micron FM screening—consistent dot sizes as low as a 10 micron dot, print all 256 gray levels down to a true 0.4% dot and achieve the color densities of gravure with plate costs that are less than gravure.

Essentially, Flexo can now print offset quality with gravure color density—the best of all worlds!

Even better is the fact that the new system can take an existing offset or gravure file and use it to make flexo plates




without additional prepress curves or separations (and plates).

The Flexcel NX technology allows flexo to now print an expanded color gamut that closely matches offset. Where in the past offset could build more colors from a four-color process, now flexo can match that capability while using the additional print stations to add even greater value and differentiation in-line.

The New Math:Now when we combine the latest in-line flexo press technologies from Gallus with the latest prepress technologies from Kodak, the sum is greater than the parts,

1 + 1 = 3!

Adding the new Kodak plate and prepress technology to an older press will improve print quality, just as adding a new Gallus in-line press to an old prepress system will improve production capabilities, but the two combined are very powerful indeed. The manufacturing efficiencies that be achieved with these combined new technologies is a true game changer.

Change is Good:The packaging market is changing whether we like it or not. This means that in order to survive and remain profitable, packaging manufacturing processes need to change also.

The New in-line flexo production process offers the production efficiencies, the quality, the “POP” and JIT benefits that today’s customers demand. The transition from a traditional gravure, web offset, or CI flexo process to an in-line process is actually easy, especially, with the installation/project support and training that Gallus and Kodak as a team can bring to your project.

Change is not always welcome. but low profitability or worse is not an acceptable alternative.

The in-line flexo packaging production solution has come of age!

This article was written by Steven Leibin of Gallus Printing Machinery in conjunction with Dr. John Anderson of Kodak. For more information please contact Steven Leibin via e-mail at [email protected], or call (267) 670-1735.





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FlexoGlobal TM · utilizes considerable volumes of ink and substrate. Figure 1: The Big Picture...

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