Printers looking to evolve from brown boxes to multi-color print did well to attend Forum 2019‘s first session, titled, fittingly “Transitioning from Brown Boxes to Multi-Color Flexographic Printing – Join the Growth.” The session was co-chaired Geoff Roznak, Great Northern Corp and Mike D’Angelo, AICC. This session included presentations from a brand owner customer, two converters and a plate maker who, starting with the original idea at the converter’s customer to change how a product was printed, walked through the steps of delivering a high-quality package or display at lower costs than the normal litho laminated corrugated process, as well as the personal stories from each speaker elaborating on their own journeys.
A Different Direction
Michael John, design operations print quality manager at 3M Co, opened the session with a look at a project from his perspective as a brand owner. After explaining how 3M uses corrugate in shipping containers, shipper displays and display trays, he detailed the need that arose to move a project to direct print without changing its design.
His first steps were to find a print partner who could take on the project and then hold meetings where that printer offered ideas on how to achieve its goals. Together, they reduced the number of spot colors, and identified challenges that included traps, fold rollovers and even tempering expectations.
Proof generated, John closed the first half of his presentation optimistic about the results ahead, before ceding the stage to three print partners to share their own stories.
Transition to Color
Ed Nusslein, general manager at McLean Packaging Corp, told the story of pushing corrugated print’s quality from the view of a converter well on its way to running high-end direct print flexo.
“Everyone has to be drinking the same Kool-Aid—everyone has to be on the same page,” he said of the transition. McLean Packaging started five years ago pursuing higher-quality direct print flexo. Nusslein stressed any printer looking to make the same transition to collaborate with experts and understand not only what is needed (substrate, lpi and the average number of colors per job as examples) but also that there is business committed to supporting the investments to make that transition.
Nusslein explained the investment and commitment part of the process, discussing how managers and supervisors must drive engagement through processes and procedures. He added that vendor and supplier engagement are critical, to develop and maintain quality standards and specifications. Discussing what training looks like, he said to develop standardization through work instructions so supervisors and machine crews perform all critical tasks during startup.
“Are existing customers driving you there, or are you attempting to capture new business?” he asked. “The proper tools, support and knowledge will allow your new multi-color business to grow.”
Nusslein discussed how McLean Packaging has learned to sell its new and improved capability: With an alignment of management and sales, an abundance of print samples shared with customers (to visually show its lpi range and color gamut), and being prepared to offer solutions to potential obstacles.
“The sky’s the limit!” Nusslein ended by exclaiming, pointing to a promising future for direct print corrugated. “It is our opinion that even with digital making its push into the corrugated industry, there is enough multi-color printing that litho, digital and direct print can all be successful. The speeds, lines per inch, and minimum traps that are now being realized in direct print on corrugated allow for our industry to be competitive within the litho and digital markets.”
A Prepress Perspective
Jake Kraus, account executive at Printron, gave a prepress provider perspective to the session’s topic.
Kraus explained how his company manages the much more complex prepress and plate making processes that come with multi-color, higher-end corrugated. He began by talking about why most people fail in achieving goals like New Year’s resolutions: they have unreal expectations, goals that are too vague, a lack of planning and the wrong mindset, positing a corrugated printer could find itself unable to achieve goals for the same reasons.
He then discussed three key elements to succeeding in the transition:
- Communication: Communication directly impacts the ability to successfully print high-quality graphics on direct print corrugated. Having a print champion is important to form partnerships with key suppliers. And commitment from top management, supervisors, press crews and supplier partners is vital.
- Preproduction meetings: In preproduction meetings, define the expectations of the brand owner, prepress providers and print providers. Establish procedures like the workflow and chain of command (“Who is responsible for changes?” Kraus asked). Determine color standards, the condition of the press, the specific ink’s properties and the specific substrate’s characteristics.
- Process control: Everything needs to be consistent—the same plate, the same ink set and the same level of dot gain.
A Colorful Disruption
David Diroll Jr., general manager, Jamil Packaging told the story from the perspective of a converter newer to the transition, explaining what it recognized as opportunities, what it sees happening now, and where the future may take it.
“No matter what, we say ‘yes!'” Diroll explained, a mentality that helped lead Jamil Packaging to, in 2006, purchase a new corrugated press. With new machinery and increased capabilities aligning with brand owner demands, Diroll’s company evolved from 1- and 2-color boxes to 2-color boxes with inside flood coats, and then to increasingly complicated and multi-colored boxes. “The package became part of the process” to have a positive impact on customers,” Diroll said.
He explained that engaging in a culture of professionalism with your associates and your supply partners is key, as well as educating your customers as to what your new or improved capabilities are.
Key questions to ask include: “Can our equipment do what the customer is asking?” “What tools do we need? What plates, inks and processes need to be involved?” and “Who is involved? Staff, plate maker, ink supplier, corrugated supplier.”
Diroll echoed Nusslein in saying that being educated on the capabilities of your company—your software, your print and converting capabilities, your people—is extremely important. He extended that line of thought to include sales staff, saying they too need to know what can be done with the tools you have.
“We’ve got this asset that sits outside my office, and it’s a constant reminder of this piece of machinery I pushed us to buy.” As the company has made customers aware of its new capabilities, that machine, which Diroll says ran once each month, is running three to five times every day.
“I’m very sure that on the horizon, we’re going to see a move to high-end flexo graphics,” Diroll said in closing. “We are going to be there, and we’re going to need our peers and our supply partners to help us get there.”
Print Day
Emboldened by the printer’s confidence as well as his own, John returned to the stage to finish his brand owner story. After overcoming some small color obstacles on press, the final printrun went well, appeasing even those who were apprehensive about the project.