SMI launches filmic labelstocks at Labelexpo India

‘We see more and more end users  moving to film,’ says Ajay Mehta managing director SMI. ‘This is especially the case in the food and beverage industry.’

At the same time the company launched an Android/IOS compatible App which walks users through all aspects of the label specifying and estimating process.

The interactive app covers a wide range of common calculations - for example working out running meters from the variables of substrate thickness, core and substrate width. 

The app has an interactive section guiding users through the specification of label stocks for a range of end use applications taking into account factors such as product type, storage temperature, whether food contact is involved etc. The app finishes by pointing users to the appropriate material type in SMI’s stock list.

One huge area of avoidable waste in the labels industry is the inability to optimise the full width of the web. The app has a deceptively simply module for working out the optimum number of Ups on a plate taking into account the print width of the press. ‘This would allow a planner to sit down with his customer and show them how much wastage is added to a job by the existing label size, and perhaps persuade them to tweak the label dimensions,’ says corporate director Rohit Mehta, who wrote the App.

‘They can say “this is what wastage which will add to the job cost.’ 

The app also contains a useful guide for converting between metric and imperial measurements, as well as microns/mil and other lengths, thicknesses and volumes.