| Our cover is flexo printed! |  | Our cover is flexo printedGill Loubser tracks the progression of a fascinating print experiment; and Emma Rowberry attends a ‘trial run’ to take the photographs! It was no ordinary flexo job at J Ryan Printers in Cape Town when the covers of this month’s PACKAGiNG & Print Media magazine went on to the press! This momentous event followed much animated discussion between the several players in this experiment. Although the ringleaders were Derek Murison and Gavin Jones at Syreline Process, and Sean Bell at J Ryan Printers, the rest of us (designers, publishers, ink suppliers, foil suppliers, press manufacturer, and so forth) were soon inspired and keen to climb aboard the bandwagon. The starting point was a similar scheme, carried out in the US last October, when the covers of Flexo magazine, the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA)’s journal, were flexo printed in a stunning demonstration of award-winning technologies. That venture showcased two FTA 2011 Technical Innovation Award winners – MacDermid Printing Solution’s LUX platemaking system and Mark Andy’s Performance Series P7 press – as well as the capabilities of Publishers Printing Company, named the 2011 Narrow Web Best of Show printer.
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| Second digital print revolution |  | Second digital print revolutionA new digital printing category uses water-based ink to print on off-the-shelf coated/uncoated stocks and packaging films with game-changing performance.
Nanography – that’s the latest name in digital printing technology for commercial, packaging and publishing printers recently announced by the Landa Corporation in Israel. At drupa (Hall 9, Stand A73-3) the company is unveiling its line-up of Nanographic sheetfed and web presses.
Led by the father of digital printing, Benny Landa, who started the digital printing revolution in 1993 with the launch of the iconic Indigo press, he’s now set to ignite a second digital revolution.
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| Reaching the summit |  | Reaching the summitThe first-ever Label Summit Africa was highly acclaimed by 300-plus delegates and an impressive number of exhibitors. The PPM team was gratified to be associated with this successful event, writes Gill Loubser.
Label Summit Africa, held in Cape Town in mid-March, was a text-book exercise in how to compile a tantalising conference programme, how to attract an impressive number of delegates (more than 300) and an enviable number of top exhibitors, how to bring together the entire label industry supply chain, and how to organise an event that ran on well-oiled wheels. But then, of course, the Tarsus group has had plenty of practice!
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| Cigarette carton is winner |  | Cigarette carton is winnerThe US-based Association of International Metallizers, Coaters & Laminators (AIMCAL) bestowed its Product of the Year Award on Unifoil (US) for a series of cartons for Camel cigarettes from RJR Tobacco.
Unifoil relies on its Unilustre technology to transfer-metallise the solid bleached sulphate (SBS) stock supplied by International Paper. The barrel-corner cartons are produced on a litho web press. Compared to non-metallised predecessors, the metallised designs attract greater attention on-shelf. The non-laminated SBS provides a bondable surface and excellent embossability and also die-cuts and scores precisely – essential features for high-speed cigarette packaging lines. The transfer-metallised paperboard not only delivers acceptable performance for taste and odour, but is also recyclable and repulpable. Alternatives such as metallised film/board laminates are said to be more likely to warp and harder to emboss, while metallic inks yield a less reflective surface.
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| Originality and technical innovation take centre stage |  | Originality and technical innovation take centre stageContenders for the Alufoil Trophy 2012 showed great originality in developing advanced forms of familiar products and some ground-breaking new ideas.
The competition, organised by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), attracted 52 entries across five categories and ranged from household goods and packaging to automotive applications and a remarkable survival product.
‘The diversity of applications and multiple functionality of alufoil were clearly demonstrated by the entries for this year’s Trophy,’ observes Antoinette Devine, global packaging consultant for SABMiller, who headed the judging panel. ‘We were particularly impressed by the original thinking that went in to some traditional items, taking them to a new level of performance and technical innovation,’ she explains.
Ultimately the judges awarded 13 entries with Alufoil Trophies. The competition is open to products that are either made from alufoil or contain alufoil as part of a laminate or structure. Categories cover almost every market for packaging, as well as many other technical uses, encompassing Consumer Convenience, Marketing & Design, Product Preservation, Resource Efficiency and Technical Innovation.
The product awarded an Alufoil Trophy for its Overall Excellence scored highly in various categories.
The judges were also impressed with entries that improved the appeal, openability, stability or security of the products through design or the innovative use of alufoil.
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| Second round finalists announced |  | Second round finalists announcedThe second round of finalists for the Pyro Inspiration Awards has been announced, with four finalists selected from two categories.
In the Informational Category, criteria taken into account include the originality of the on-pack device (its readability, layout and creativity) and the clever use of space (amount of information, relevance of information to product and functionality).
In this category Bob Martin’s Vetcare and In Our Green House Olive Fix-a-Form Leaflet Labels were selected for their creative and innovative designs.
Entries in the Promotional category are judged according to their originality (innovation, freshness and design), impact (wow factor and selling power) and clever use of space.
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