Articles » 2001 » April 2001 » Feature
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In the old days it was thought that a narrow web press could print on corrugated board. Then came labels. Today, with the increased technological advancements in flexographic printing, narrow web presses can print — and are printing — folding cartons and flexible packaging, among other substrates.
In the last 10 to 20 years, the popularity of Just In Time inventory management has opened the door for narrow web printing to play a significant role in different markets, folding carton among them. As Mary Sullivan of Mark Andy explains, “Nobody wants to carry a six-month supply of cartons. They just want the carton they need that week. That in turn translates into lower volumes, and to go out and buy a $7 million sheetfed offset press to run cartons through is not economical. It would cost a lot more.” Not to mention the time required for successful wide web offset printing.
Sheetfed offset presses requires a three- to six-step process: First the fiber board is sheeted. Next the product is printed, then coated off-line. Backside printing requires another pass through the press. The product then can be hot-stamped. Next it must be diecut. These steps can involve up to 11 laborers.
The wide offset presses require long setup times, which means that they can produce folding cartons efficiently by printing long runs. Therefore, the increase in demand by customers for shorter runs is proving to be costly to offset printers.
This is where the narrow web press comes in. A narrow press can print front and back with no problem, UV coating, diecutting and sheeting can be all done inline. The ability of the narrow web press to produce shorter runs more economically gives it a huge advantage over the sheetfed offset presses. In an environment where multiple SKUs are common, and often needed immediately, the shorter turnaround time is a huge asset that can be turned into sales.
From wide to narrow
Innovative Folding Carton, one of the Impaxx family of companies, for years has produced folding cartons using wide sheetfed offset presses. But change is taking place at this converting operation in South Plainfield, NJ. Well aware of the quick setup times and the quality that can be produced on narrow web presses, this year Innovative is buying a 22" Comco MSP to dedicate to the folding carton needs of the pharmaceutical industry.
Ray Karst, general manager, explains the thought process that went into buying a narrow web converting machine. “We looked at folding carton on a web press to begin with because we wanted to be a lower cost producer. And a press that’s 26" or a 32" wide doesn’t seem to fit the pharmaceutical market, because the cartons are relatively small. You can put a lot on a 22" machine, and the payback is much better on a 22" press than it is on a 26" press.”
As for expense, he adds, “There is approximately a $1.5 million difference between the two presses. So when you’re doing an ROI on that, you have to put through an awful a lot of cartons to justify it.” Money is saved in decreased prep time, fewer laborers involved in the operation, shorter turnaround times, and less waste, says Karst.
In all, the installation of the narrow web press is going to cost Innovative $4 million, but Karst says it’s easily justified through increased business. “It enables us to offer our customers more in a price competitive market and generate more dollars.” With the economy slowed down, many converters are reluctant to make a move. Karst believes, however, that the Impaxx commitment to expansion into web cartons is the way to go.
The cost of the new press includes additional training for operators who are new to narrow web. As part of the deal, Comco offers a training program to their customers, in which personnel are trained to run the machine that is being built for them, even assisting in its assembly. Wes Harrington, sales manager at Comco, Milford, OH, describes the program. “We have found that someone like an offset printer, or a gravure printer who has never printed flexo, needs to be trained in a program specifically for their application.” Building and testing a new press for a customer usually takes four to five months; the training takes place during that time.
A special press
Some industry practitioners believe that the best folding carton presses are those specifically designed for folding cartons. Art Fields, director of the Flexographic Trade School in Charlotte, believes that narrow web application for folding cartons is limited. “It is doable for short runs. You can change a few rolls on a narrow web press and make it possible to handle thicker bond substrate, but it is not a long-term type of deal. There are many narrow web companies who convert their presses to do cartons, but I don’t suggest that everyone jump on board and try to do cartons with their current equipment. I highly recommend against that — even though it can be done.” Fields says he believes that any press that is said to do everything can’t do any one of them well.
Mary Sullivan of Mark Andy, Chesterfield, MO explains the difference between a press designed to do cartons, and a label press. “Larger idler rolls are crucial to a folding carton press. When you’re putting 20-point board on a press versus label stock, the stock can have a tendency to crack if it’s going around in very small rollers through the press. So a folding carton press has larger idler rolls, and the adjustments of the speeds help keep registration, because of the different thickness of the boards as well.”
The Mark Andy 4150 can run up to 500 feet per minute. It has an automatic tension control that maintains a constant tension in all of the different converting zones throughout the press. Maintaining tension between different print stations becomes very critical because the weight of the board can get heavier as it goes through the press. But with larger, rugged idler rolls and stronger gear boxes in place, the weight of the stock should not present any problems. The press can print 6 mil stock and up to 20-point board stock.
Sullivan says Mark Andy makes male and female dies, which permit scoring and diecutting in the same pass, which again reduces turnaround time. “You need robust metal-to-metal dies to get through a whole roll of 20-point board stock. We recommend a solid die instead of a magnetic die, because of the length of its life. When you invest in a die, you certainly want it to last a long time, especially when you’re dealing with a heavier stock.”
More than printing
NOSCO Printing Group, Waukegan, IL, provides a full line of printed pharmaceutical packaging, information delivery and marketing support materials to its customers. The company operates three facilities, which offer a wide range of printing and converting capabilities. Printing competencies include flexography, offset and rotary letterpress.
Roll labels are produced in Gurnee, IL, and Carrollton, TX (Diversco Inc., a division of the group). Folding cartons are focused in Waukegan, a few miles from the Gurnee facility, which in addition to roll labels produces enclosures, inserts, outserts and combination products.
NOSCO’s service capabilities include full prepress support and dedicated new product design and development functions. This includes creative carton design and prototyping as well as longer range product development and material substitution. Dedicated customer service groups are located in Waukegan for the two Chicago operations and in the Carrollton plant for Diversco.
Thomas Henderson, vice president of marketing and corporate development at NOSCO, says, “If you’re a label converter trading up to folding cartons, it’s not just the press, because one of the things a label house would have to learn is how to finish the cartons.” Inline diecutting has distinct advantages over sheetfed presses, and though label converters are familiar with rotary diecutting, they will have to get familiar with the intricacies of cutting cartons.
Design capabilities also have to be considered. “You need to have people who know how to design a folding carton — to run on a customer’s line, to be sized to fit the press, and to be cost effective,” says Henderson, “so that the graphics fit the press.” In specialty markets, cartons come in a multitude of shapes, with a variety of folds and closures that must be factored into a proper design.
Narrow web flexo folding cartons got a big boost in the private label market.“It’s particularly good there because you have the same size carton, and the same die; you just change the type, change your plates and you’re ready to go,” Henderson says. For very long runs, however, a narrow web press might not be the most cost effective converting method. Wider sheetfed presses have advantages in speed that the smaller presses do not, he adds.
Some people have altered their label presses to convert cartons, but that’s something Henderson cautions against when it comes to equipment on the press, such as dies. “You can loosen the die by cutting the board. It’s more wear and tear on the press and the die.”
If a converter has a competency in a given market, folding carton presents an opportunity to expand into other converting areas. The narrow web approach, with its shorter runs and quick turnarounds, is a convenience that customers can find attractive.
“Part of what we sell is that our customers can buy an array of products from us, and I think people are using fewer and fewer suppliers,” says Henderson. A multi-substrate press allows for just that — printing and converting on a wide range of substrates. “But you don’t change back and forth with no cost whatsoever. No press is ever infinitely variable.”
Production expertise
When a label converter’s customer asks if they can also produce cartons — a small box, for instance — it’s often fairly simple. But if a converter wants to become a carton house, more than a press is needed. Expertise in production is required.
A narrow web carton press can run at various speeds, depending on the thickness of the carton substrate. Most manufacturers put maximum production speed for one of these presses at 500 fpm. Typical production speed, however, is probably around 350-400 fpm. According to Alberto Redailli, district manager of OMET, srl in Lecco, Italy, tension control is crucial to achieve proper print registration on every substrate, and it must also be for a broad press. “Great care should be given to avoid wrapping carton web on small idlers. The press should have large idlers, and especially for thick materials, a proper decurling system.”
Another important factor is diecutting. Redailli says. “Proper diecutting is the basis for the real profitability of a carton press. The goal is to minimize carton waste, and this can be achieved only with proper carton layout on diecutting cylinders.” Redailli says that OMET presses are equipped to run either with separate scoring and cutting dies, or with a single set.
Standard inks can be used in carton presses. It is recommended that converters work with ink suppliers to assure that the right ink is used with the substrate.
Narrow web folding cartons are here to stay, and will probably be more prevalent in the next five years. As Ray Karst of Innovative Folding Carton says, more and more offset printers are dabbling in it right now, and a lot of label converters getting into it as well. Competition is greater, and as long as customers keep demanding shorter runs, narrow web is a more economical solution.
“I see the carton market growing in the low volume area,” says Mary Sullivan, “which means more business for the narrow web industry. In the last five years we have seen the tag and label market maturing, and conventional label converting has leveled off. We don’t see a lot of growth in that area, so obviously we’re looking for new niches.
“The demand for shorter runs, and Just In Time inventories, in the carton and flexible packaging industries — e.g., shrink wraps and sleeves — has opened the door for narrow web. The higher quality of flexographic printing rivals offset. There is no compromise in quality. You can’t tell the difference between an offset and a flexo job, but the investment and capital in the equipment is so much less than a large offset unit.”
Converters and manufacturers alike agree that as long as the runs are kept short, narrow web will prevail in the folding carton industry.
