Package printing makes its presence felt at Labelexpo Americas

Package printing makes its presence felt at Labelexpo Americas
Package printing will have a strong presence at Labelexpo Americas, taking place in Chicago on September 11-13. David Pittman reports
 
Package printing made its official debut at Labelexpo Europe 2011, where the dedicated Package Printing Zone drew crowds to listen to presentations from leading industry names, such as EskoArtwork, Xeikon, Comexi, Gallus, Heidelberg, ExxonMobil and others.
 
As well as presenting to attendees, Xeikon demonstrated its 3050, a web-fed, five-color, dry toner digital press in the zone at the Brussels, Belgium show.
 
Package printing will continue this presence at Labelexpo Global Series events during the next leg of Labelexpo Americas in Chicago this September, with dedicated workshops, conference presentations and a masterclass on digital printing all relevant to the market.
 
Workshops
Package printing workshop sessions being held at Labelexpo Americas 2012 will see digital printing expert Xeikon, origination and pre-press specialist EskoArtwork and die cutting technology manufacturer RotoMetrics provide insight into the production process for folding cartons, plastic buckets and high-quality decorated tubes.
 
Three sessions will run each day during the show, each looking at one of these applications.
 
The carton application encompasses a carton wrapper to go around two jars of a My Moments food product, with the presentation carton wrapper printed digitally on a Xeikon 3000 series press, converted in-line with a Xeikon DCoat including RotoMetrics carton cutting dies, and roll-fed through to the finished cartons.
 
The heat transfer tube workshop will be using a Beaute product design. The product design incorporates a carton box, a seamless plastic tube and the required promotional material communicating the product range expansion. During the workshop Xeikon will digitally print, roll-to-roll, on a wax-coated heat transfer material, finished on-roll for subsequent transfer to seamless plastic tubes.
 
The plastic bucket workshop sessions will elaborate on the potential types of decoration for buckets/pails. This can involve heat transfer printing or in-mold decoration. During the workshop in-mold labels will be digitally printed by Xeikon from roll-to-roll and finished ready for in-mold labeling of the buckets.
 
Preceding each of these sessions, EskoArtwork will take workshop attendees through the pre-press stages and use 3D visualizing to show how the products have been created to final format before any printing has been agreed, including rotating through 360 degrees, visualizing the finished product on store shelves and placing jars/bottles inside cartons.
 
The workshops will be ideal for label converters looking to diversify into other applications, for package printing companies interested in seeing what digital technology can offer, for label and pack designers, and for brand owners and retail groups looking to understand what digital can provide in terms of short runs, different versions and variations, personalization, faster to market and enhanced supply chain solutions.
 
Sample folders of all the printed products will be available and a Q&A session will take place after each workshop.
 
Conference program
Labelexpo Americas 2012 will also feature numerous streams and presentations relevant to the package printing market.
 
Day 2 of the conference program sees WS Packaging Group chief executive officer Rex E. Lane take part in the CEO round-table discussion, which will be moderated by Avery Dennison’s label and packaging materials president Don Nolan. CEOs will discuss topics including differentiating yourself from the competition, addressing capital and employee investment, and job creation.
 
Later in the day, Steven Haedrich, owner and president of New York Label & Box Works, will address package printing opportunities for label converters. He will offer practical advice on getting started, explore potential entry strategies for both cartons and flexible packaging, and look at the advantages of a completely integrated workflow for labels and package printing.
 
Various other presentations on the conference program are also of interest to the package printing market. Flexo printing, ink technologies, security and brand protection, and waste reduction are topics covered elsewhere on the program.
 
Masterclass
In addition, a three and a half hour digital printing masterclass will take place on the final day of the show, and provide packaging and label converters with a “how to” guide covering technology, materials and performance.
 
Key industry experts will: analyse the main digital printing technologies, highlight the importance of digital pre-press, evaluate workflow and color management, identify in-line and off-line finishing options, and consider the changing role of management, sales and marketing in a digital environment.
 
Representatives from HP, Xeikon, EFI Jetrion, EskoArtwork and Labeltraxx will address various facets of digital printing through panel discussions and presentations, while Mike Fairley, director of strategic development for Labelexpo Global Series and Package Print Worldwide international publishing director, will provide insight to the overall trends and requirements for converters to adopt digital printing.
 
Exhibition presence
A number of exhibitors at Labelexpo Americas will be showcasing technologies and products relevant to the package printing market. Click here for more.
 
For more information on Labelexpo Americas 2012, click here