Label & Narrow Web articles from October 2007

Label & Narrow Web archives from October 2007

Green fatigue already?(EDITORIAL)
October 1, 2007... "Maybe I am just tired. This morning I woke up with green fatigue. The vigilance it takes to make sure that all my everyday actions are helping, not damaging the environment, gets to be too much sometimes. Being a good green girl comes on top...

Pazazz invests $1 million in digital.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Pazazz, a printing company based in Montreal, Canada, has invested more than $1 million (Canadian) in digital printing and finishing equipment at its label converting unit, Phase 2. The acquisition is aimed at reinforcing Pazazz's status as a...

Spring Coating Systems acquires Ergeca.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Spring Coating Systems, of Jungholtz, France, has acquired all of the shares of Ergeca, a company specializing in video inspection systems for web printing applications. Ergeca is based in Antony, France. Spring was founded five years ago...

Mark Andy expands Europe management.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(appointments)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Mark Andy has promoted Dieter Huck to chairman of Mark Andy Europe, and has appointed Remy Hohener as European managing director at the Basel, Switzerland office. "Fueled by strong growth rates and the success of the Mark Andy European...

Harper sets records with 2007 flexo tour.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Harper GraphicSolutions, the technical service arm of global anilox supplier Harper Corporation of America, has wrapped up the most successful and well attended Harper Flexographic Solutions Tour in the company's history. At six one-day...

Avery Dennison lowers 2007 earnings outlook.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Daniel R. O'Bryant, executive VP and CFO of Avery Dennison, announced in mid-September that the company's sales in July and August were "well below expectations", and that a continuation of the trend would result in 2007 earnings below what the...

EskoArtwork installs 1,000th Cyrel imager.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... EskoArtwork, of Gent, Belgium, has announced the installation of the 1,000th Cyrel Digital Imager (CDI) at Scholler GmbH & Co in Nuremberg, Germany, a member of Matthews International GmbH. Since its introduction as the first digital imager...

English translation of UV guide now available.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(The Practical Guide to UV Technology )(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The Practical Guide to UV Technology is now available in English. The document is the product of the work of 49 enterprises involved in the supply industry, the printing industry, research, education, and various associations. The guide...

Flint Group raises printing ink prices.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... As a consequence of continuously rising raw material prices, Flint Group says that it has raised prices for printing inks in all market segments in North America and Europe. Increases in Europe take effect immediately. Price rises in North...

Apex invests in expanded production.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The Apex Group of companies, based in Hapert, the Netherlands, has embarked on an investment program of more than [euro]7 million to expand its main plant. The company, which manufactures anilox and metering rolls worldwide, has managed to...

Webex finalizes its new ownership.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Wynnchurch Capital, a private equity firm based in Chicago, has acquired a majority interest in Webex Inc., a provider of precision rolls for the web handling and converting industries based in Neenah, WI, USA. Webex has engineered and...

Gallus, BHS present folding carton seminar.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Gallus and BHS are inviting folding carton manufacturers and paperboard converters from both North and South America to attend a technology seminar at Cadmus' production facility in Charlotte, NC, USA scheduled for November 1. The event...

Two Boise plants receive FSC certification.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Boise Cascade LLC, of Boise, ID, USA, announced today that Boise in International Falls, MN, and Jackson, AL, have earned Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain-of-Custody Certification from the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program. ...

L & NW's 2007 Symposium set for November in New Jersey.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Label and Narrow Web)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Label & Narrow Web will produce another in its continuing series of industry symposiums November 14 and 15 in New Brunswick, NJ, USA. The event will feature label converters discussing current management issues, and will take place at The...

SCT International acquires Sekuworks.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Sekuworks, of Harrison, OH, USA, a narrow web printer and converter specializing in proprietary brand protection solutions, has been acquired by SCT International, a holding company focused on security printing and brand protection. SCT...

AVT to acquire GMI for $33 million.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Advanced Vision Technology (AVT), a leader in automatic inspection solutions for printing applications based in Hod Hasharon, Israel, has announced the planned acquisition of Graphic Microsystems Inc. (GMI), from Dover Diversified Inc., a...

US demand for active packaging on the rise.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... Demand for active and intelligent packaging is projected to climb 13 percent annually to $1.1 billion in 2011. Growth will be fueled by the development of new generations of products with improved performance at more cost-competitive prices,...

X-Rite to acquire Pantone.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
October 1, 2007... X-Rite, a US manufacturer of systems to measure, formulate, match, and simulate color, has announced that it will acquire Pantone for $180 million. Pantone, headquartered in Carlstadt, NJ, USA, is known worldwide as the creator of the Pantone...

CC1 Inc.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... CC1 INC., Portsmouth, NH, USA -- The company has added a new service office located in Phoenix, AZ, USA, and appointed Rick Brassard as field service engineer for that office. He joins CC1 after a successful career with the US. Army, managing a...

Datalase.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)(appointment of Mark Muir )(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... DATALASE, Chesire, UK -- Mark Muir has been appointed business development manager for the UK. He joins DataLase to further develop the company's growth and to achieve increased sales across the UK. He will work closely with the development and...

Degrava Systems.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)(appointment of Robert Bedoar, Scott Gabriel and Robert Baillargeon)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... DEGRAVA SYSTEMS, Roswell, GA, USA -- The company has expanded its sales and technical support staff to better service its growing user base. Robert Bedoar has accepted the position of Northwest Region sales manager. He joins Degrava Systems...

Labeltronix.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)
October 1, 2007... LABELTRONIX, Orange, CA, USA -- In a move to provide health food and vitamin supplement companies with superior labeling solutions, the company has selected cofounder Dan Blair as nutraceutical label specialist. He will work closely with...

Mark Andy.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)(appointment of Dieter Huck )(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... MARK ANDY, Reinach-Basel, Switzerland -- The company recent promoted Dieter Huck to chairman of Mark Andy Europe and appointed Remy Hohener European managing director at the Basel, Switzerland office. As chairman, Huck will work with the Board...

Prism Group Holdings.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)
October 1, 2007... PRISM GROUP HOLDINGS, Wilmington, MA, USA -- The company has appointed Filip Buyse as chief executive officer and president to lead the company's global operations. He has been recruited to lead the company into a new growth phase, which will...

Rotoflex International.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)
October 1, 2007... ROTOFLEX INTERNATIONAL, Mississauga, ON, Canada -- Ralph Beier has been appointed sales manager, Europe. His business background includes more that 20 years sales/management experience leading high technology companies in machine vision,...

Topflight Corporation.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)(appointments)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... TOPFLIGHT CORPORATION, Glen Rock, PA, USA -- Michael Falco, president, was recently named to the TLMI Board of Directors. He has been a member of TLMI since 2000, while Topflight has been involved with TLMI for over 30 years. He assumed his...

Wikoff Color Corporation.(INDUSTRY PEOPLE)(appointment of Geoff Peters)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... WIKOFF COLOR CORPORATION, Fort Mill, SC, USA -- Geoff Peters has been elected president and chief operating officer. Phil Lambert, former president, will continue to serve as chief executive officer of the company and as chairman of the Board...

James Bond Coference Theme: TLMI's Tech 007 draws full house in Chicago.(ASSOCIATION NEWS)
October 1, 2007... With a solid reputation for producing informative and educational technical conferences, the Tag & Label Manufacturers Institute drew yet another record attendance to its latest, Tech 007, held in early September in Chicago's Fairmont Hotel....

Revamped Labelsco elevates MSO's position in UK labeling.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)
October 1, 2007... Labelsco Ltd., a major independent label converter, was recently acquired by the MSO Group. Soon afterward the Belfast based packaging company merged Labelsco with its Hannibal Labels division, acquired only last year. Most of Hannibal's...

British label converters finish last in profitability.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)
October 1, 2007... As in other countries, British label converters face strong competition, with overcapacity prevalent throughout the industry. However, it is still surprising to learn that they have the lowest profit margins among printers in the United...

Freeloaders hurt Germany's Green Dot recycling scheme.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)
October 1, 2007... Germany's pioneering Green Dot packaging recycling scheme is on the brink of collapse, says recycling firm Interseroh. Unscrupulous firms are apparently counterfeiting labels carrying the ubiquitious Green Dot--or Der Grune Punkt--symbol. Only...

Going green can actually save costs.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... It seems there is no escaping the environmental zeitgeist, especially in cases which show that altruistic concerns and economic expediency are not necessarily mutually exclusive. That is one way of looking at the new waste disposal project...

Raflatac RFID tags in healthcare distribution.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)
October 1, 2007... MBA Grupo, a European healthcare distributor headquartered in Spain, has adopted UPM Raflatac's UHF EPC Generation 2 tags. This type of RFID technology is expected to improve stock management, allowing product tracking throughout the entire...

Threefold boost for HP Indigo.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)
October 1, 2007... HP Indigo has notched up some noteworthy orders in the UK for its seven-color ws4500 digital press. Baker Self-Adhesive Labels in London recently installed a ws4500 following a successful move into digital label printing and only 18 months...

New linerless labelstock from Italy.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The latest development in linerless labeling technology comes from Gruppo Irplast, an Italian labeling technology firm. Besides cost savings, a major impetus has been the EU Packaging Waste Directive introduced in 1997. Unlike previous...

New approach to UV-based brand protection.(NARROW WEB EUROPE)
October 1, 2007... The ultimate aim of all anti-counterfeiting processes is to protect brands with high levels of security that are simple to handle in terms of production technology. Jura JSP in Vienna and the German firm Weilburger Graphics think they have...

Specialist vs. generalist.(MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS)
October 1, 2007... Here is an interesting ornithological fact: Certain birds of prey have features that have evolved over time which enable them to hunt for kinds of food other birds are unable to even pursue. The osprey, for example, has eyes with a particular...

'Exponential growth' in flexo label quality.(FIELD REPORT)
October 1, 2007... Rodney Strong Vineyards of Healdsburg, CA, USA, has been in business since the late 1950s and has been constantly evolving. According to John Leyden, vice president of packaging and distribution, a 37-year company veteran, the winery is...

Wal-Mart, RFID, PLA and lots of fish.(FIELD REPORT)
October 1, 2007... Beaver Street Fisheries (BSF) started as a small retail fresh fish store in Jacksonville, FL, USA, nearly 60 years ago. It was run by two brothers, Hans and Alfred Frisch, along with their mother. In a fairly short time, the business began...

Treasure maps.(PRINTING LEAN)
October 1, 2007... Last issue we explored the subject of waste and how easy it can be to get started on eliminating much of the wastes that exist in print shops today. The key, if you remember, is that in order to eliminate these wastes you must first be able to...

Companies to watch.(Industry overview)(Cover story)
October 1, 2007... Companies to Watch is a special feature of Label & Narrow Web that pays tribute to a select group of converters who are making noteworthy contributions to the health of the industry. This is not a ranking of any kind, nor is it meant to be...

Gravure printing: this printing process, though not very common in narrow web, offers certain benefits for converters.
October 1, 2007... As far as printing processes go, gravure is one of the simplest. It is a direct application process, meaning ink is placed directly onto the substrate without having to go through the more complex methods that flexo and offset require. Though...

Labels & the environment: many questions, few answers as an industry explores sustainability.(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... What if China catches up to the United States in consumption per person? If China's economy continues to expand at 8 percent per year, its income per person will reach the current US level in 2031. If we assume that Chinese consumption...

Turret rewinders: these pieces of equipment ensure that labels are placed on cores correctly for distribution. They can save converters time and ultimately money in the process.
October 1, 2007... Turret rewinders take what can be a manual and time consuming finishing process and add automatation to it. These machines take finished labels and put the desired amount on varying sized cores for the converter. Some turret rewinders have...

Labelexpo Europe 2007: record crowds and a record number of exhibitors made this year's Labelexpo the industry hot spot.
October 1, 2007... An estimated 24,000 professionals from the label industry--converters as well as exhibiting suppliers, packed the five exposition halls of Labelexpo Europe 2007 in late September, which opened Wednesday in Brussels. Tarsus, the show organizer,...

Magnetic cylinders and flexible dies.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... BUNTING MAGNETICS Newton KS USA Magnetic cylinders and flexible steel dies from Bunting Magnetics are designed to supplant hard-tooled cylinders in the production of folding cartons. The Bunting diecutting system for folding cartons...

Screen printing ink.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... CIBA Cheshire UK Ciba offers a new, ready-to-use flatbed screen printing ink, XYMARA Quicksilver SF-02, which it says offers the best combination of pinhole-free mirror effect, adhesion and print performance. It is used to produce...

Web inspection.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... TRUCOLOR VISION SYSTEMS LaGrange GA USA TruColor Vision Systems introduces a new all digital web inspection system suitable for all inspection applications. TruColor says its new system includes up to five times greater image...

Metallic film.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... INNOVIA FILMS Cumbria UK Innovia Films has introduced an improved metalized, top-coated BOPP label facestock film--Rayofoil MCPA. The latest MCPA 51 product (a 51 micron, reverse metallized, top-coated clear BOPP film) uses new...

Motor drive retrofit.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... MAXSON AUTOMATIC Westerly RI USA Maxson Automatic Machinery Company offers a dual motor drive retrofit. The retrofit replaces a sheeter's existing wear-prone mechanical transmission or older drive with a more reliable electrical...

Silicone release liner.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... BLUESTAR SILICONES Cedex France Bluestar Silicones, formerly Rhodia Silicones, offers its Silcolease silicone release systems, including its new Optima concept that enables flexible customization for fast cure, low temperature or low...

Punching system.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... SCHOBER USA Cincinnati OH USA New MicroPunching systems from Schober USA provide dust-free punching of micro-holes (as small as 0.020" or 0.50mm). The easy-to-operate modules feature a long service life. Proven hardened matched metal...

Ceramic electrode.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... QC ELECTRONICS Portage WI USA QC Electronics has introduced a high powered ceramic electrode that increases the efficiency of converters' corona treaters so that it allows them to boost their line speeds by up to 20 percent without...

Polyester film.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... FLEXCON Spencer MA USA FLEXcon introduces the newest product in its COMPUcal EXCEL Series. COMPUcal EXCEL 10442 is a UL recognized 1.0 mil matte topcoated clear polyester film designed for high performance label applications. This...

Digital plates.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... DUPONT PACKAGING GRAPHICS Wilmington DE USA DuPont Packaging Graphics has introduced a new addition to its digital solvent photopolymer plate product line, DuPont Cyrel DPR. A medium-high durometer, robust digital solvent plate, Cyrel...

Resin ribbon.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... ITW THERMAL FILMS Romeo MI USA ITW Thermal Films has announced that its newly introduced B324 Broad Spectrum Resin Ribbon has received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) approval on 11 3M performance labelstocks. B324 is formulated to...

RIP Software.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... XANTE Mobile AL USA Xante has unveiled the new OpenRIP Flexo 6.0 Professional software. This is an Adobe based workflow that delivers a new level of prepress automation making it one of the most productive flexo specific workflows on...

Rotary & Semi-rotary coater/converter.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... PAT TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS Vaudreuil-Dorion QC Canada PAT introduces Rotoworx semi-rotary and fully rotary UV coater and re-registration diecutting machine, capable of converting roll-to-roll and roll-to-sheet materials in 13" and 20"...

Printheads.(NARROW WEB PRODUCTS)
October 1, 2007... XAAR Cambridge UK Xaar has launched its innovative systems featuring its piezoelectric print-heads. The company offers its 1001 printhead with UV ink. This variable drop (grayscale) printhead is based on Xaar's patented Hybrid...

2007-2008 industry events.(Calendar)
October 1, 2007... OCTOBER 2007 18-19 Introduction to Pressure Sensitive/Self Adhesive Technology Workshop 2007 Miami, FL, USA. Presented by AWA Alexander Watson Associates and Chemsultants International Network. Call: 31-(0)-20-676-20-69 or...

Sustainable business blogs.(THE BLOGSMITH)
October 1, 2007... It seems that every time you pick up a business magazine today there is an article about sustainable business. But what do we mean by "sustainable business"? My broad definition is simply a business that operates in an environmentally...