Anniversary 25th Volume 25 Issue 3 June/July 2003 Issue 3 Volume 25 Issue 3 Volume The wider world of Narrow Web Analysis Low cost on-line THERE BETTER BE inkjet and the future of digital print Labels and Labelling MORE THAN A Technology LINER BEHIND Smart labels take YOUR LABEL advantage of breakthroughs in molecular science HARD WORK IS THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT Short runs and low minimums allow for job-shop-like flexibility within our full line of coated papers, films, 25 years foils direct thermal, thermal transfer and piggyback technologies. Faster, results-driven service is at the heart of Green Bay Packaging’s products and custom-engineered solutions. June/July 2003 Mike Fairley marks L&L’s 25th anniversary with forecasts from industry leaders The assurance of all out effort. 800.445.4269 920.337.1800 FAX 920.337.1797 www.gbpcoated.com Visit our Web Site www.labelsandlabelling.com And great ideas begin with trust. Trust gives you the courage to innovate and the confidence to try new things. It’s how you succeed as an individual and The climb to the top how your company grows and prospers. begins with a Fasson is committed to earning your trust. We’ll listen to your needs and share your dreams. And we’ll partner with you to help boost productivity, increase Great Idea. profits and grow your business. The view from the top is breathtaking. Let’s see it together. www.fasson.com eNo.103 June/July 2003 Group Managing Editor: Andy Thomas Deputy Editor: Natalie Martin Labels Group Director: Roger Pellow International Publishing Consultant: Mike Fairley, LCG MIOP MinstPkg Design Manager: his is a momentous issue Paul Lowe T of Labels & Labelling. As we Business Development Manager: Greg Bowman approach the biggest event for the Sales Executive - International: labels and narrow web industry this Tim Gordon year – Labelexpo Europe in Sales Executive: Brussels in September – L&L is 25 Glyn Richards years old. While it is tempting to look back with awe and nostalgia on Senior Vice President US publishing: the extraordinary rise of the rotary pressure sensitive industry in the Stephen Krogulski last quarter century, we should not blind ourselves to the deepseated Account Executive - North America: problems – and opportunities – the future presents. In this L&L edition, Phoukham Luanglath Mike Fairley interviews key industry leaders whose companies have been Graphic Design: James Wenman with L&L since the beginning and asks for their predictions. The key Production Manager: theme which emerges is that label converters have to reinvent them- Hayley Edwards selves in order to survive. It is no longer enough to produce superb Advertisement Production Executive: quality labels – quality is now a given by end users and cannot be used to Dan Taylor raise the price paid for Circulation Manager: labels, particularly with the Michael Hatton virus-like spread of reverse Label converters Publishers: auctions. Tarsus Publishing Ltd, We now need to address “have to reinvent Commonwealth House, 2 Chalk Hill Rd, Hammersmith, London W6 8DW the following key issues: cus- Tel: +44 (0) 208 846 2700 tomer service; investment in themselves in Fax: +44 (0) 208 846 2801 E-mail: [email protected] an IT infrastructure; tools Subscriptions:[email protected] for optimising and mana- order to survive. ISSN 1478-7520 ging production workflows; It is no longer finding value added pressure USA Office: Tarsus Publishing Inc, sensitive niches in areas like enough to produce 16985 West Bluemound Road, Suite brand protection, digital 210, Brookfield, WI 53005 USA Tel: (262) 782-1900 printing/overprinting, intel- superb quality Fax: (262) 782-8474 ligent labels; development of E-mail: [email protected] partnerships with end users labels. Quality is and suppliers of presses, USA Mailing: now a given by end Periodicals postage paid at Middlesex, substrates, inks and convert- New Jersey 08846 ing equipment; looking users and cannot POSTMASTER: Send address changes to at narrow/mid-web opportu- Tarsus Publishing Ltd, c/o PO Box 177, Middlesex NJ08846 nities beyond pressure- be used to raise US agent: Pronto Mailers, 200 Wood sensitives. Avenue, Middlesex, NJ 08846 L&L has a continuing the price paid for Printers: mission to help point the Wyndham Grange, West Sussex, UK way forward through the labels Annual Subscription Rates: challenges of the next ” UK £50, Europe €96 (£60), USA $110 decade, and our preview of the Labelexpo Europe 2003 show in the next Outside Europe: £75 See subscription card on page 105 issue will be a great place to start. You should also look out for the comprehensive range of seminars © Tarsus Publishing Ltd All material published by Labels & Labelling is copyright which will run alongside Labelexpo Europe 2003, as well as the Product & and remains the property of the publishers. No material Image Security (PISEC) conference to be held in Prague, October 20-22. may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. The publishers do not necessarily agree Both these events will cover all the key points outlined above. with the views expressed by contributors, nor do they accept any responsibility for any errors of interpretation in the subject matter of this publication. Andy Thomas Group Managing Editor Delicate workmanship – extreme durability! Kocher + Beck flexible dies set the standard. In terms of quality. In terms of the highly complex geometries we are able to implement. And in terms of long running performance – far outstripping those who seek to emulate us. Kocher+Beck GmbH+Co. Kocher+Beck UK Ltd. Kocher+Beck USA L.P. Rotationsstanztechnik KG Brunel Way 10308 W. 79th Street Dieselstraße 6 Stephenson Industrial Estate Shawnee, KS 66214 D-72124 Pliezhausen Coalville, Leicestershire LE67 3HF Tel. +1-913-529-4336 Tel. +49(0)7127-9785-0 Tel. +44(0)1530-812400 Fax +1-913-529-4343 Fax +49(0)7127-978555 Fax +44(0)1530-815055 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.kocher-beck.com www.kocher-beck.de eNo.113 Labelexpo moves with industry trends This year’s Labelexpo Europe 2003 held in Brussels this September 24th-27th will showcase all that’s new in added value pressure-sensitive applications, while opening a window on a whole new range of packaging applications for narrow web printers. Andy Thomas reports The narrow web converting industry is undergoing an undercutting sheetfed suppliers on price, delivery time and evolution, as the full potential of in-line processing starts to run length and adding significant value. dawn on converters, suppliers and – utltimately – end users. Most significantly, end users brought up on print-buying Pressure sensitive applications will remain at the core of manuals which stated cartons are ALWAYS sheetfed offset, the narrow web industry for the foreseeable future, with have accepted the print and creasing quality of in-line flexo growth rates around 6 per cent in Europe and in double digits cartons. At the same time, sheetfed carton printers could see in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and South America. But more business shifting to narrow web, and will need to con- cartons and flexible packaging – the wider world of narrow sider how the technology could complement – not replace – web – will grow as a complement to this core. their existing operations. It was long ago realized that if you could put a web of pres- However, before moving into cartons, printers need to sure-sensitive laminate through a printing and converting understand the complexities of selling cartons as well as the line, there was no reason, in theory, why you shouldn’t send technical side of converting board (make no mistake, it’s a rolls of any material down the same line. steep learning curve). The demands of the primary packag- Converting cartons in-line – printing, embossing, foiling, ing market can be radically different from supplying cut/creasing, sheeting, stacking in one pass – makes obvious secondary packaging – for example in terms of cleanroom sense. We start with rolls of cartonboard and end up with fin- production environments. ished product at the end of the line. Short runs of high quality product delivered on-demand. Film Already in the pages of Labels & Labelling, you will see the Similar comments apply to unsupported films. Up to now first label converters diversifying their pressure-sensitive products like stretch wraps, shrink wraps, sachets, pouches ▲ business by shifting to carton production, where they are and flexible packaging have been converted primarily on If you have a foaming problem and want to control it – visit www.alphasonics.co.uk Advertisement e No.176 Register now: www.labelexpo-europe.com “Who makes the decision?” VISIT US AT LABELEXPO 2003 SEPT. 24 – 27 BOOTH 12X 30 It's you who decides whether you want release values that are stable and consistently reproducible. You can rely on silicone coating experts who know what it takes to get the job done. Liners coated with DEHESIVE® silicones adhere firmly to labels and release cleanly at high speeds – exactly when you decide. We can deliver solutions for all your applications. Let’s talk about it. We’re just around the corner, in more than 100 countries. Visit us at: www.wacker.com INTELLIGENT INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS Wacker-Chemie GmbH Wacker Chemical Corporation Munich WACKER SILICONES Business Division Germany 3301 Sutton Road Silicone-Info Service Adrian, MI 49221, USA Tel. +800-6279-8000 Tel. +800-248-0063 Fax +49-89-6279-2888 Fax +1-517-264-8740 No.132 [email protected] [email protected] e 006 ● Win, win win! it be great to have a map that pick the floorplan option. Then There will be an opportunity to showed exactly where to find all choose the product you want win a home entertainment the suppliers of the products you from the list of over 130 and system.