Shelf Appeal!
For the manufacture of aerosol cans, Hinterkopf recently
acquired the license to manufacture and supply impact-extrusion
presses from the X.S and X.L series from Schuler Pressen
GmbH.
20 Spray February 2019
changeovers and
preparations prior
to printing, such
as changing the
screens when the
motif changes.
Hinterkopf-
DigitalPrint
with the D240
offers 1,200dpi,
maximum color
coverage, a brilliant
color gradient, fine
shading, optimum
edge sharpness and
a font size up to 2pt(+) and 3pt(-). The application options for decorated
aerosol containers, tubes, bottles, cartridges
and other cylindrical bodies made of aluminum,
steel or plastic material are almost unlimited in
the pharma, food, cosmetics and technical product
markets, said the company.
Additionally, Hinterkopf GmbH recently
acquired the license to manufacture and supply
impact-extrusion (IE) presses from the X.S and X.L
series from Schuler Pressen GmbH. This helps
enable Hinterkopf to offer complete production
lines for the manufacture of aerosol cans, aluminum
bottles and tubes out of one location.
Glass & Plastic Containers
Much has advanced in the decorating processes of
glass and plastic containers as well. The same highly
stylized decorations that consumers demand in
aerosols, they also demand in their pump products,
especial in the personal care category.
Asked about decorating trends in plastic and glass
spray bottles, Richard Szoradi, VP Operations at
Cleveland, OH-based Kaufman Container, noted that the latest
decorating trends for the health and beauty segment have been
increased demands for a high-end looking package.
“This requires multi-pass screen print with ever tightening
registration requirements,”
he said.
“We find that the
customer is desperate to
distinguish their product
from their competition
and are creating more and
more elaborate designs. This
can be seen in a variety of
ways including more colors
being added, hot stamping
to accent the screen print
and tighter color ranges. All
of this is also expected to
be accomplished, without
increasing the costs of the old designs.”
According to Szoradi, printing technologies evolve around
digital print and servo-driven screen print. Digital printing can
use CMYK colors and is typically found to be good for graphical
pictures. This print is not as vibrant as screen print, he said, but
can represent graphical pictures well. The new servo screen printing
technology allows for nearly no float from pass to pass, which
greatly reduces costs and scrap. This also maintains the fine lines
required for the details needed for an upscale-looking package.
The greatest challenge for the supplier is the entry cost for new
equipment. It can be quite expensive and the payback could take
some time, Szoradi noted.
Benefits include lower tooling costs, rapid change-over, the
ability to run small quantities due to the rapid change-over, multishaped
bottles (with which one can do more than cylinders),
enhanced registration from pass to pass, ease of operation and less
energy usage because of LED lights. “The capabilities are even
more evident if you include hot stamping, which these machines
are capable of,” concluded Szoradi.
Julie Vergnion, Category Manager, Skincare Division, Quadpack,
added “We are seeing internal coatings applied to the interior
of plastic bottles to give a frosted effect for a soft aesthetic. On
glass, we’re also seeing solid coating—both internal or external—hiding
the glass material completely, for a differentiated look. Overall,
the aesthetics of decoration today are quite clean and minimalist.”
David Tanyà, Engineering Manager of Quadpack Impressions,
the decoration plant at Quadpack’s Manufacturing Division in
Catalonia, Spain, commented that the company sees advances in
three major areas, including UV LED inks for plastic bottles. Conventional
UV inks use UV light based on mercury vapor lamps
Digital printing
on aluminum
utilizing
Hinterkopf’s
D240 printer
Montebello offers smooth color transitions
According to Jay Avrett, Director of Graphics, Montebello Packaging, Hawkesbury,
ON, Canada, Montebello is seeing an increase in the number of aerosol aluminum
can jobs that use a technique to blend two colors together in one ink well to produce
very smooth transitions between those two colors. This split ink well technology can also
be used to transition from one solid color at the bottom or top of the can to no appearance
of that color at the opposite end.
Graphics continue to be pushed where specialty base coatings are used over and
above the traditional white and clear base coatings. Another trend is the use of both
opaque and transparent inks on the same job to give differentiating graphic effects.
When these effects are used over a brushed clear base coated can with gloss over varnish,
the results are very attractive.
“I would also say that we are seeing more matte over varnish projects, but this is not a
completely new industry trend,” explained Avrett.
The cans for Hask Biotin Boost Thickening Hairspray are from Montebello Packaging.
Kaufman Container decorated the pump bottle
for Lord Jones High CBD Pain & Wellness
Formula Body Lotion