PREMIUM TUBE QUALITY FROM NAMPAK

The latter, according to GSK, is the leading toothpaste brand for the relief of pain in sensitive teeth and the range has recently been extended with the launch of Sensodyne Total Care. This latest category, with packaging design by Sky Brand Creations, is available in five variants.

Tubes for Sensodyne Total Care are produced using a white, 120µm ABL web imported from PPL, India, printed two-up on a high-speed Ko-Pack letterpress press.

Nampak Tubes & Tubs, based in Jet Park, Gauteng, operates several Ko-Pack presses, printing in up to seven-colours plus varnish. Operated by specialist staff, these presses are situated within a controlled climate printroom. Over 15-million tubes/month are printed, a figure that increases significantly during peak production periods.

Caption: Nampak Tubes & Tubs operates a number of Ko-Pack letterpresses machines at its Jet Park facility, producing more than 15-million printed tubes per month.

‘Having a number of Ko-Pack presses maximises our production efficiencies and allows for maintenance work to be carried out without causing downtime,’ comments technical director, John Lindsay Smith. ‘We work on tight schedules and the controlled environment is essential to exclude dust and particles from other manufacturing areas during printing.’

The Total Care range requires detailed silver and ‘metallic look’ print finishes as well as vignetting from left to right. Nampak Tubes & Tubs’ UV inks and varnishes are formulated by Siegwerk, which has been a key supplier for seven years. For toothpaste and pharmaceutical applications UV inks need to be low-odour and contain no heavy metals. UV metallic inks for Sensodyne have a maximum 5 to 7% metal content, in line with international regulations, and a shelf-life between 12 and 24 hours after mixing.

High-speed laminate production

Three high-speed KMK laminate tube lines, the newest installed in 2008, incorporate a high-performance seamer, a multi-station compression moulding header and an integrated capper.

Caption: A smooth, perfect shoulder bond is produced on the three-station compression moulding header before being transferred to the integrated capper.

The flat printed web is first transformed in to a tube. The tube’s side seam is ultrasonically welded and tubes are then cut to length. The seamer is equipped with a new-generation rotary cutter to reduce ovality and to ensure a quality cut.

Each tube is accumulated from the seamer before being fed into the three-station compression moulding header that forms the neck and shoulder on to the tube body, giving it a smooth and perfect shoulder bond. 

The tube-capping system is a three-station unit equipped with an automated quality control system that ejects substandard tubes. Caps are provided by GA Plastics.

The KMK computer-controlled, high-speed laminate tube lines produce standard 25mm and 32mm diameter tubes, and are capable of reaching speeds up to 180 tubes/min. These lines enable maximum efficiency and output and free up Nampak Tubes & Tubs’ lower-speed (60 tubes/min) lines for the manufacture of short runs and plastic barrier laminate tubes.

Providing customers with an international-standard product is paramount and the management team at Nampak Tubes & Tubs is highly experienced and passionate about the branded packaging the company produces.

Caption: A flat-web printed laminate is transformed in to a tube on a high-speed KMK laminate tube line.

Nampak Tubes & Tubs
T +27 011 3971712

Siegwerk
T +27 011 4530582