Increased demand for high quality, eight-colour printed graphics on fresh food packaging has led to the installation of a new wide web flexographic press to expand capacity at the Integrated Packaging Group flexible packaging business formerly known as Poly Products.
The Poly Products business was purchased by Pro-Pac Packaging (PPG) in 2013. PPG acquired Integrated Packaging (IPG) in October last year, and subsequently, Poly Products has been absorbed into IPG, fitting neatly into the flexible packaging manufacturing side of the business.
The company has recently installed a new Windmöller & Hölscher (W&H) Miraflex II AM 8 (8-colour) wide web flexographic
press at its Regency Park plant in Adelaide. This is the second W&H press at the facility, the first installed over a decade ago.
The Regency Park facility specialises in blown film extrusion, flexographic printing and converting of flexible packaging, predominantly servicing fresh food markets.
Presentation of fresh food on supermarket shelves has evolved from two colour generic images and limited packaging typical of the late 1990s to the now popular convenience packs most requiring up to eight colour designs, based on retailers’ self-generated art files. This shift occurred in the early 2000s, and saw most flexible packaging converters investing in 8-10 colour printing capability at that time. Poly Products was among them, and the company installed a W&H Primaflex 8-colour wide web gearless press in order to remain competitive and maintain its customer base.
The first press was running 24 x 5 days for over a decade, but demand continued to grow apace, and with lead times extending beyond market acceptable levels, the pressing need to increase output meant investing in additional 8-colour capacity.
The decision was taken to purchase another W&H press, this time a Miraflex II AM 8-colour, with features including increased run speed, reduced set up time and reduced waste, without compromising graphic reproduction
BIG BENEFITS
The company says the technology advances made since the last model have been significant Apart from the benefits of running
gear (aniloxes, sleeves, adaptors, chamber blades and seals) being transferrable between presses, process control has been substantially enhanced, according to the company.
Additionally, auto viscosity, ink consumption monitoring, improved drying at speed and web management overall have more than met with expectation. Importantly, the printers on the shop floor have made the transition from old to new confidently.
The company says it is now ideally placed, as part of the wider Integrated Packaging/PPG group, to take advantage of this install, which has been fully operational March 2018.
Opportunities emerging from resources and experience spread across six manufacturing plants in Australia and New Zealand will mean products will be manufactured by whichever operation is most efficient, which can only benefit customers.
This investment, combined with capital injection undertaken in product and process development throughout the operation, confirms the long-term commitment the group has made to the flexible packaging industry.
Source: “Pressed to invest”, Packaging News, July-August 2018, Page 28.
