Flexpack Tech Tour: Avery Dennison, DuPont, MPS & More Talk Shop

Flexpack Tour 2014SOMERSET, NJ—The 2014 Flexpack Tech Tour made its stop in the Northeast Wednesday, bringing a collection of supply chain leaders and their customers together for a day of presentations that covered new technologies, trends, and methods to deliver better product and satisfy customers. Participating in the Tour were:

  • Avery Dennison
  • DuPont Cyrel
  • MPS
  • Zeller+Gmelin
  • Karlville
  • Screen
  • GEW
  • Keller & Heckman LLP

The event drew roughly 50 attendees. Tabletop exhibits from presenting companies offered those in the audience the chance to examine printed samples, unique packaging sizes and shapes and a variety of substrates.

Flexpack Tour 2014 SwagDennis McGee, from MPS, served as emcee of the day and gave the first presentation. He discussed narrow web presses for flexible packaging converting. McGee offered an analyzation of challenges in the flexo market and how they’ve been solved. “Flexo matching offset quality, while delivering the lowest cost per 1,000 labels” was his company’s promise.

DuPont’s Mark Mazur spoke next, providing four printed samples to attendees. Examining deficiencies in the first sample, he gave a step by step progression through the benefits of his company’s DFP and DSP performance plates, illustrated in the visual improvements each sample provided.

Cindy Collins, of Avery Dennison, discussed opportunities in the flexible packaging world. She noted that the flexible packaging market is “here to stay,” citing growth statistics and consumer preferences for easy to use shapes and sizes. Collins also noted that, while the market overall continues to grow at a steady rate, the stickpack niche is expanding at twice that rate.

Flexpack Tour 2014 CloseupCollins was followed by Mitzi Ng Clark. She gave a presentation on establishing flexible packaging compliance with various government and regulatory agencies. Not all printers are aware of the myriad approvals needed or the multiple ways a package can adulterate its contents, she explained.

Les Watkins, from Zeller+Gmelin, gave insight into low migration inks and the tenets of low migration printing. “The burden of proof for low migration printing rests with the converter,” he stated.

DSC05922GEW’s Brian Wenger spoke about UV curing, covering technological advancements that have allowed inks to cure faster while bulbs use less power. He said that low migration inks have presented new challenges to overcome.

The day’s final presentation came from Maria Caparosso, of Karlville, to discuss package processing. She spoke briefly about her company’s history before discussing its range of machinery offerings.