Focus: Flexible Packaging
Pulse Roll Label Products Launches Unique UV PureFX Soft Touch Varnish
MPulse Roll Label Products Ltd has announced the launch of its latest product, PureFX Soft Touch Varnish, extending its special effects range to offer a unique UV tactile coating. Demand for tactile finishes is increasing with brand owners seeking haptic coatings that add a premium touch and feel to a consumer package or label. However, achieving a UV soft touch effect has historically presented challenges for narrow web printers due to the nature of UV free radical curing. With this new development, Pulse Roll Label Products has formulated a product to overcome this and offer an alternative for companies choosing to move away from film or water-based coatings.
PureFX Soft Touch Varnish is suitable for a range of substrates including coated PE and PP, aluminum foils and paper. The product is also food packaging compliant, formulated for non-direct food contact packaging applications, and is particularly well-suited for end-use markets including, but not limited to, cosmetics, beauty, personal care, baby care and beverages. As well as conventional UV flexo printing, the new varnish is also suitable for finishing over digital inks to create a soft, smooth effect.
Courtesy of Pulse Roll Label Products Ltd.
Focus: Flexible Packaging
Compostable Bags Solution Ends Search for Fresh Produce Growers
Strawberry Fields Organic Farm grows an extensive range of "inspirational vegetables and herbs." But, after 46 years of organic growing, it had struggled to find a supplier of compostable bags at an affordable price.
That was until the company discovered the C BAG from flexible packaging and lidding films supplier KM Packaging and its partner Treetop Biopak.
It was with great enthusiasm that Pam Bowers of Strawberry Fields recently tweeted, "After years in the researching, they're here! So exciting! All Strawberry Fields lettuce as from tomorrow will go out in these bags."
The C BAG is from KM Packaging's C-Range of compostable bio-plastic packaging with similar properties and look and feel as conventional plastic. It has proven to be perfect for packing the products grown by Strawberry Fields at its farm in the Lincolnshire Fens, 10 miles north of Boston at the foot of the Wolds. “As well as not being able to source compostable bags at an affordable price, no one seemed to be able to supply on a wicket which is essential for our way of working. The C BAG was the ideal solution,” says Bowers. “Also, what we like about the bags is they immediately look different to their plastic counterparts so the customer is able to tell at a glance they are compostable.”
Watts Farm, Kent-based growers, packers and distributors of fresh produce, is another satisfied KM customer that had been searching for some time for a cost-efficient compostable packaging solution. The company chose the C BAG due to its lower cost and compostable qualities. Both Watts Farm and Strawberry Fields wanted to replace existing packaging with a compostable alternative. And Strawberry Fields was particularly concerned about GMO in some compostable packaging during its search for a supplier.
The company was also aware that the UK Soil Association requires organic-certified growers to use compostable packaging with no GMO. So Strawberry Fields was delighted to discover that the C BAG from KM Packaging had been verified as compliant with the Soil Association Food & Drink standards. It is now being used to pack Strawberry Fields' Rainbow Chard, Red Oakleaf, Green Oakleaf, Romaine, Red Batavia, and Green Batavia lettuce.
The key features of the C BAG include:
Home compostability
Guarantee non-GMO raw materials
Meets the Soil Association Standard for packaging materials
Excellent mechanical properties
Very good impact and puncture resistance
Excellent water resistance
Suitable for manual and automatic bagging lines
Good material perforation, keeping fruit and vegetable fresh
Printable
The bio-plastic C-Range products from KM Packaging have been developed in partnership with Treetop Biopak, specializing in providing innovative compostable packaging solutions.
Treetop owner Amir Gross says, "As growers of fresh produce, Strawberry Fields and Watts Farm are very conscious about the environment. They, therefore, sought a suitable compostable packaging solution. The C BAG is ideal for them; from plant to pack and then back to compost."
Customers can compost the bag at home, including any vegetable leftovers, which will accelerate the biodegradation process.
Courtesy of KM Packaging
Ranpak Announces North American Launch of End-of-Line Automated Packaging Solution
AutoFill is a next-generation, fully automated end-of-line packaging solution designed to enhance throughput, reduce labor costs, and ensure the optimal amount of void fill in each package. Ranpak’s proprietary solution uses smart sensors to scan the package, computing the box size and the volume of objects inside, and then dispenses the optimal amount of paper needed to protect items during shipping. Finally, AutoFill’s case sealer closes and seals the box. By automating and standardizing the void fill process, Ranpak says AutoFill delivers consistently packed boxes that reduce shipping damage, while optimizing paper consumption for a cost reduction of up to 20%. AutoFill aims to redefine how customers complete their packaging process, saving money and freeing up resources to be redeployed upstream.
“AutoFill is Ranpak’s latest innovation in packaging automation and aligns with our commitment to deliver operational efficiencies, cost savings and sustainability benefits to our customers,” says Omar Asali, chairman and CEO at Ranpak. “AutoFill’s ability to eliminate bottlenecks in end-of-line packaging increases operational throughput and delivers precise void fill, virtually eliminating shipping damage and waste. We’re excited to bring this technology to market to provide our customers with the ideal solution for optimizing their packaging operations.”
By utilizing the patented AccuFill vision system, AutoFill eliminates over and under-packed boxes, ensuring worry-free shipping while reducing paper consumption. Capable of processing up to 1,200 boxes per hour, AutoFill can support the most demanding customers in distribution, e-commerce and fulfillment operations.
Courtesy of Ranpak
IWK Introduces Modular, High-Speed Top-load Cartoning Line for Prefilled Syringes, Vials & Other Fragile Pharma Containers
IWK Packaging Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of premium cartoning and tube filling equipment for the pharmaceuticals and health & beauty sectors, has introduced a modular, high-speed top-load cartoning line to meet dramatically increased demands for packaging pre-filled syringes, vials and other delicate pharma containers. The company’s IWK TL Series arrives amid continued efforts to produce billions of additional COVID-19 vaccine doses and offers a slew of benefits not typically found in conventional top-load cartoning equipment.
The IWK TL Series is designed for safe, reliable product handling intended to virtually eliminate glass-to-glass contact. The machine aims to build upon IWK’s reputation for cGMP-guaranteed, floorspace-conscious equipment with quick tool-free changeover, exemplary cleanability and easy line clearance.
Among other notable highlights, the IWK TL Series incorporates an intelligent transport system that is not typically found in top-load units. Instead of requiring a fixed distance between carton holders, customers get an individually adaptable setup; this allows for a variable number of items per function, simplifying operation significantly. Secure carton holding is assured throughout via mechanical hold and, since the system does not use vacuum belts or conveyors, risk of breakage-caused contamination is mitigated.
Another key facet of the IWK TL Series is its modularity. The series’ monoblock design allows for mixing and matching various stations per product-specific needs, including product feeding, carton erection and divider insertion units prior to transport to end-of-line closure, reject and discharge modules. Marking can be performed via inkjet or laser printing, and quality control features include code reading and presence verification for both products and inserts.
The IWK TL Series can form and fill carton from 90 mm - 180 mm in length, 50 mm - 150 mm in width and 15 mm - 80 mm in height, based on carton flats from 150 mm -500 mm long and 150 mm - 400 mm wide. Depending on box size and insert parameters, the machine can produce up to 120 completed cartons per minute.
“The new IWK TL Series of top-loaders is a product of IWK’s 75-year roots in the cartoning machinery industry — the longest legacy of any major company,” says Bernie Conlon, managing director of IWK Packaging Systems, Inc. “That experience allows us to adapt quickly to evolving industry needs, including the current demand for premium top-loading machinery for high-leverage, delicate pharmaceuticals containers like pre-filled syringes and glass vials.”
Courtesy of IWK Packaging
The Sana Ocean Concentrate Screw-Top Lid
Sana Packaging — a sustainable packaging brand that designs and develops cannabis packaging for a circular economy using plant-based, reclaimed and recycled materials — launched what it says is the cannabis industry's first concentrate lid made from 100% ocean-bound and reclaimed ocean plastic: the Sana Ocean Concentrate Screw-Top Lid.
"Our customers have been waiting for this product, and we're thrilled to finally be able to service the cannabis concentrates market. Across the country, cannabis concentrates sales grew more than 40% last year, and we're confident this trend will continue to grow as state markets continue to mature," says co-founder & CSO, James Eichner.
The new Sana Ocean Concentrate Screw-Top Lid is available in black and white, fits 7 mL and 9 mL jars with 38 - 400 standard threading and comes with pre-inserted foam and foil liners with other sealing options also available.
All Sana Packaging products are child-resistant certified, recyclable, food-grade certified and made in the U.S. Sana Packaging offers custom printing and labeling. These lids are available now for pre-order.
Sana Packaging aims to transition cannabis packaging away from a linear "take-make-dispose" economic model and toward a circular economic model meant to eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate our natural systems.
"With the help of their incredible customers, Sana Packaging has diverted and reclaimed over 155 tons (310,000 lbs) of ocean-bound plastic. For reference, an average car weighs 2 tons (4,000 lbs)," says co-founder & CEO, Ron Basak-Smith.
Courtesy of Sana Packaging