Packaging Insight

Sustainability Initiative

Increase Your Sales

with the 
STAND UP

Cube Packaging Concept.

Results speak for themselves!

Smartcube versus Pail;

• Lower packaging costs by 40% to 70%
• Increase efficiency of handling unfilled packaging
  • 1 truck of Smartcubes can replace up to 60 trucks of pails.
  • Warehouse space is can be reduced by up to 60 times.
  • Trucking coordination, unloading and handling can be reduced by up to 60 times.
• Increase stacking efficiency on the shipping pallet by eliminating all of the air spaces between containers. 20 Smartcubes (5-gallon size) can fit on each layer on a standard shipping pallet (40” x 48”). Frequently they are stacked 5 – 6 layers high and the pallets are double or triple stacked in the warehouse.
• Resealable “flip-top-lids” provide similar functionality to resealable pails.

Smartcube versus Stand-up Pouch;

• Eliminate the corrugated box. Smartcubes stack and handle efficiently by themselves without the need for a containment box.
• Eliminate crushing. Smartcubes are structurally sound and can be stacked 5 – 6 layers high and the pallets can be double or triple stacked in the warehouse.
• Stand upright without the need for rigid film. The non deforming square shape of the Smartcube is derived from its structural design and not the film’s rigidity allowing the use of the full gambit of available film structures and not just PET. Whether you need oxygen, moisture or puncture resistant properties, we have the most efficient film structure available for your packaging needs including metalized films.

Smartcube versus Bag n Box or Corrugated box;

• Eliminate crushing. Smartcubes are structurally sound and can be stacked 5 – 6 layers high and the pallets can be double or triple stacked in the warehouse.
• Increase efficiency of handling unfilled packaging
  • 1 truck of Smartcubes can replace up to 13 trucks of boxes.
  • Warehouse space is can be reduced by up to 13 times.
  • Trucking coordination, unloading and handling can be reduced by up to 13 times.
• Packaging can be stored outside.

Sustainability. The reduction in packaging, trucking, warehousing and handling has a positive impact on the environmental footprint throughout the supply chain.

• Smartcube derives its strength from its design and not just the rigidity of the plastic film. Therefore film gauges can be reduced and in the case of a pail replacement, significantly less plastic is required.
• Due to the unique stackability of the Smartcubes® the need for shipping cases is eliminated.
• The compactness of Smartcubes filled and unfilled reduces trucking, warehousing and handling.
• Smartcube can be 100% recyclable.

Features and Benefits

• Standup Bill Board presentation
• Sell directly from a pallet
• Eliminate pallet overhang and damage
• "Cube out" the truck to maximize trucking and warehousing
• Differentiate your product with the unique & distinctive packaging
• Reduce/eliminate secondary packaging
• Replace pails and jugs with considerable cost savings
• Beverage "Cooler Bags" for golf courses & promotional event

 

Understanding Flexographic Printing

Flexographic printing is defined as a method of direct rotary printing that uses special rubber or photopolymer material. The printing plates are affixed to plate cylinders of various repeat lengths, which are inked by a cell structure (anolox roll) which is used to meter the flow of the ink on roll. It carries a fast drying fluid ink to the plates that print on a variety of substrates (paper / plastic / nylon / polypropylene / cellophane / LDPE / LLDPE / etc.).

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Plastic Materials Used In Laminations

Lamination For Plastic Materials or Pouches

CPP

Description: Cast polypropylene (CPP) is extruded in-house, and can be used for a variety of applications, including, twist film, flow wraps, bag film, and a myriad of special applications. CPP extrusion is very common in Europe and Asia, but is more of a specialty film in North America.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, scratch resistance, heat seals, and hot tack. Good stiffness.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: Ranges from 60 ga up to 4 mil.
Applications: CPP is an excellent alternative to PE for bags with less than 1 lbs of content. CPP has significantly better heat seals than OPP and easily seals through contamination for dusty products. CPP is an excellent sealant web, laminated to OPP, PET, Paper. It is also often used for Twist Wrap applications.

 OPP

Description: Oriented polypropylene (OPP or BOPP) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, and stiffness. Good heat seals.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: We generally stock 70ga, 80 ga, 1 mil, 1.2 mil, and 1.4 mil.
Applications: Sealant web or outer web in laminations, or a stand-alone film for certain applications. Most grades of OPP is sealable on 2 sides, and can in most cases be fin sealed or lap sealed.

PE

Description: Polyethylene is extruded throughout North America, and is a readily available and commonly used material. We extrude PE in-house and also buy certain grades from local suppliers, depending on the requirements. PE is typically blown, but can also be cast. Cast PE is typically softer and clearer than blown PE.
Typical Features: Excellent heat seals, puncture resistance, and impact resistance.
Barrier Properties: Good water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: 1.5 mil, 2-4 mil.
Applications: PE is most commonly used as the sealant web in laminates of all kinds

PET

Description: Polyester (PET) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent stiffness, clarity, gloss and heat resistance.
Barrier Properties: Excellent gas barrier, poor water barrier.
Typical Grades: We stock 48 ga PET, which is the most common grade in North America for flexible packaging.
Applications: Polyester is almost always used as an outer web in laminations. The heat-resistance of PET makes it ideal for this application, creating a very "forgiving" material that is easy to run. Heatsealable grades of PET do exist, but they are not that common. As a result, PET laminations require a fin seal.

Metallized PET

Description:

CPP

Description: Cast polypropylene (CPP) is extruded in-house, and can be used for a variety of applications, including, twist film, flow wraps, bag film, and a myriad of special applications. CPP extrusion is very common in Europe and Asia, but is more of a specialty film in North America.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, scratch resistance, heat seals, and hot tack. Good stiffness.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: Ranges from 60 ga up to 4 mil.
Applications: CPP is an excellent alternative to PE for bags with less than 1 lbs of content. CPP has significantly better heat seals than OPP and easily seals through contamination for dusty products. CPP is an excellent sealant web, laminated to OPP, PET, Paper. It is also often used for Twist Wrap applications.

OPP

Description: Oriented polypropylene (OPP or BOPP) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, and stiffness. Good heat seals.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: We generally stock 70ga, 80 ga, 1 mil, 1.2 mil, and 1.4 mil.
Applications: Sealant web or outer web in laminations, or a stand-alone film for certain applications. Most grades of OPP is sealable on 2 sides, and can in most cases be fin sealed or lap sealed.

PE

Description: Polyethylene is extruded throughout North America, and is a readily available and commonly used material. We extrude PE in-house and also buy certain grades from local suppliers, depending on the requirements. PE is typically blown, but can also be cast. Cast PE is typically softer and clearer than blown PE.
Typical Features: Excellent heat seals, puncture resistance, and impact resistance.
Barrier Properties: Good water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: 1.5 mil, 2-4 mil.
Applications: PE is most commonly used as the sealant web in laminates of all kinds

PET

Description: Polyester (PET) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent stiffness, clarity, gloss and heat resistance.
Barrier Properties: Excellent gas barrier, poor water barrier.
Typical Grades: We stock 48 ga PET, which is the most common grade in North America for flexible packaging.
Applications: Polyester is almost always used as an outer web in laminations. The heat-resistance of PET makes it ideal for this application, creating a very "forgiving" material that is easy to run. Heatsealable grades of PET do exist, but they are not that common. As a result, PET laminations require a fin seal.

Metallized PET

Description:

Metallized OPP

Description: Metallized OPP is another common barrier material. We metallize our OPP in-house by evaporating a thin coat of aluminum onto the film under vacuum. 
Typical Features: Similar to OPP
Barrier Properties: Outstanding gas barrier and water barrier.
Typical Grades: 70 ga PET is stocked and metallized for the application. Other grades are also readily available, but since the metal provides the barrier, 70 ga typically works for a multitude of applications.
Applications: Metallized OPP is often used as the sealant web in an OPP/MET OPP lamination for a variety of applications from flow wraps for chocolate to VFFS for candy, etc. Metallized OPP can also be surface printed and used as a single web

 

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CPP

Description: Cast polypropylene (CPP) is extruded in-house, and can be used for a variety of applications, including, twist film, flow wraps, bag film, and a myriad of special applications. CPP extrusion is very common in Europe and Asia, but is more of a specialty film in North America.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, scratch resistance, heat seals, and hot tack. Good stiffness.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: Ranges from 60 ga up to 4 mil.
Applications: CPP is an excellent alternative to PE for bags with less than 1 lbs of content. CPP has significantly better heat seals than OPP and easily seals through contamination for dusty products. CPP is an excellent sealant web, laminated to OPP, PET, Paper. It is also often used for Twist Wrap applications.

 OPP

Description: Oriented polypropylene (OPP or BOPP) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, and stiffness. Good heat seals.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: We generally stock 70ga, 80 ga, 1 mil, 1.2 mil, and 1.4 mil.
Applications: Sealant web or outer web in laminations, or a stand-alone film for certain applications. Most grades of OPP is sealable on 2 sides, and can in most cases be fin sealed or lap sealed.

PE

Description: Polyethylene is extruded throughout North America, and is a readily available and commonly used material. We extrude PE in-house and also buy certain grades from local suppliers, depending on the requirements. PE is typically blown, but can also be cast. Cast PE is typically softer and clearer than blown PE.
Typical Features: Excellent heat seals, puncture resistance, and impact resistance.
Barrier Properties: Good water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: 1.5 mil, 2-4 mil.
Applications: PE is most commonly used as the sealant web in laminates of all kinds

PET

Description: Polyester (PET) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent stiffness, clarity, gloss and heat resistance.
Barrier Properties: Excellent gas barrier, poor water barrier.
Typical Grades: We stock 48 ga PET, which is the most common grade in North America for flexible packaging.
Applications: Polyester is almost always used as an outer web in laminations. The heat-resistance of PET makes it ideal for this application, creating a very "forgiving" material that is easy to run. Heatsealable grades of PET do exist, but they are not that common. As a result, PET laminations require a fin seal.

Metallized PET

Description:

CPP

Description: Cast polypropylene (CPP) is extruded in-house, and can be used for a variety of applications, including, twist film, flow wraps, bag film, and a myriad of special applications. CPP extrusion is very common in Europe and Asia, but is more of a specialty film in North America.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, scratch resistance, heat seals, and hot tack. Good stiffness.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: Ranges from 60 ga up to 4 mil.
Applications: CPP is an excellent alternative to PE for bags with less than 1 lbs of content. CPP has significantly better heat seals than OPP and easily seals through contamination for dusty products. CPP is an excellent sealant web, laminated to OPP, PET, Paper. It is also often used for Twist Wrap applications.

OPP

Description: Oriented polypropylene (OPP or BOPP) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent clarity, gloss, and stiffness. Good heat seals.
Barrier Properties: Excellent water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: We generally stock 70ga, 80 ga, 1 mil, 1.2 mil, and 1.4 mil.
Applications: Sealant web or outer web in laminations, or a stand-alone film for certain applications. Most grades of OPP is sealable on 2 sides, and can in most cases be fin sealed or lap sealed.

PE

Description: Polyethylene is extruded throughout North America, and is a readily available and commonly used material. We extrude PE in-house and also buy certain grades from local suppliers, depending on the requirements. PE is typically blown, but can also be cast. Cast PE is typically softer and clearer than blown PE.
Typical Features: Excellent heat seals, puncture resistance, and impact resistance.
Barrier Properties: Good water barrier, poor gas barrier.
Typical Grades: 1.5 mil, 2-4 mil.
Applications: PE is most commonly used as the sealant web in laminates of all kinds

PET

Description: Polyester (PET) is a commodity film that is typically produced in dedicated factories in North America, Asia, or the Middle East.
Typical Features: Excellent stiffness, clarity, gloss and heat resistance.
Barrier Properties: Excellent gas barrier, poor water barrier.
Typical Grades: We stock 48 ga PET, which is the most common grade in North America for flexible packaging.
Applications: Polyester is almost always used as an outer web in laminations. The heat-resistance of PET makes it ideal for this application, creating a very "forgiving" material that is easy to run. Heatsealable grades of PET do exist, but they are not that common. As a result, PET laminations require a fin seal.

Metallized PET

Description:

Metallized OPP

Description: Metallized OPP is another common barrier material. We metallize our OPP in-house by evaporating a thin coat of aluminum onto the film under vacuum. 
Typical Features: Similar to OPP
Barrier Properties: Outstanding gas barrier and water barrier.
Typical Grades: 70 ga PET is stocked and metallized for the application. Other grades are also readily available, but since the metal provides the barrier, 70 ga typically works for a multitude of applications.
Applications: Metallized OPP is often used as the sealant web in an OPP/MET OPP lamination for a variety of applications from flow wraps for chocolate to VFFS for candy, etc. Metallized OPP can also be surface printed and used as a single web

 

Benefits Of Using Batch Inclusion Bags To Help The Environment

Batch Inclusion film or bags derive their name from the fact the bag itself,along with contents,is actually included in the production batch or during rubber compounding. The bag, once melted and dispersed, becomes part of the product being made. Batch inclusion bags typically hold chemical additives for large scale industries, such as synthetic rubber and plastic compounding. Often the additives involved are difficult to handle, weigh to little or are used to hard to dispense automatically. These could include colorants, fillers, resins and even some polymers for large scale mixing. Because the bag and its contents become part of the batch, the user will realize a cleaner environment, along with other benefits such as reduce labor cost, reduce disposal cost and clean up cost, better hygiene. The bags or film has a number of benefits like more efficient use of raw materials and a more consistent mixtures of compounds. Also, you will find the use of material in a sealed bag allows for a reduction in storage space when compared to an open container, such as metal containers or plastic and sometimes paper bags. As sealed bags can pile in a bin, cardboard boxes, tubs, or carts.

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Cube Packaging / Reduce Your Packaging / Save Space

The Cube will help reduce your packaging and palletize for ease of transportation. Some key advantages that the Cube packaging system offers over traditional lay flat bags are as follows.

• Increase Sales due to instant billboard, stand up presentation of bag, enabling a ready made display directly from the pallet.
• Reduse waste and damage due to strong bi-axially oriented laminated structures used and the size of bags being perfectly matched to the pallet demensions eliminating over hang and therefore damage.
• Reduce transportation and storage costs due to efficiency of the cube shape enables all truck loads of finished products weigh out at the maximum allowable wieght, approximately 150,000 empty units are able to be shipped per truck load and the pallets of empty bags and finished goods are strong enough to allow pallets to be stacked, maximizing warehouse space.
• Optimize retail shelf space utilization by being able to fully stack the shelves and yet the stand up presentation style makes the bag fully visible. Customers report that 20 Cube bags enables a pallet to be sized to utilize all of the space that is present beneath a shelf.

dbanig@packflex.com

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Growth in Stand Up Pouches

Stand Up Pouches have altered the face of consumer packaging for such products as coffee, fruit juice, and soup mixes, yet they have a definite use for industrial applications as well. Using materials such as metalized films, foil lamination's, and custom blended barrier films, stand up pouches are constructed to not only be appealing but functional. Re-sealable zip lock closures; release valves, ultra clear films, and even pour spouts. Stand up pouches give retailers new opportunities to display products and maximize shelf space and manufacturers reduce their packaging costs by eliminating the "old style" bag-in-a-box method of packaging. Two types of printing of pouches are Rotogravure and Flexographic printing depending on the quantity of stand up pouches needed and the particular printing scheme required by your clients. The wide face of the stand-up pouch is perfect for an elaborate label or high quality print design.

There are three fundamental types of stand pouches:

Round bottom gusset stand pouches are one of the most common pouches in existence. In a round bottom gusset stand pouch, it is the welded edge of the material that provides the support that hold ups the package and allows it to “stand” in position. 

K-Seal pouch reaches a certain size it is not possible for it hold up the weight of the product while resting on the sealed edge of the material.

Plow Bottom is also called a corner seal. This style of pouch has grown rapidly in popularity especially among food product packagers and granular items like sugar and bath salts. In this case, the material that is in the package sits directly on the shelf. Pre-made plow bottom pouches replicate the appearance of pouches produced on automatic form fill and seal machinery, perhaps another reason for why they are gaining in popularity.

Benefits Of Using Batch Inclusion Bags To Help The Environment

Batch Inclusion film or bags derive their name from the fact the bag itself,along with contents,is actually included in the production batch or during rubber compounding. The bag, once melted and dispersed, becomes part of the product being made. Batch inclusion bags typically hold chemical additives for large scale industries, such as synthetic rubber and plastic compounding. Often the additives involved are difficult to handle, weigh to little or are used to hard to dispense automatically. These could include colorants, fillers, resins and even some polymers for large scale mixing. Because the bag and its contents become part of the batch, the user will realize a cleaner environment, along with other benefits such as reduce labor cost, reduce disposal cost and clean up cost, better hygiene. The bags or film has a number of benefits like more efficient use of raw materials and a more consistent mixtures of compounds. Also, you will find the use of material in a sealed bag allows for a reduction in storage space when compared to an open container, such as metal containers or plastic and sometimes paper bags. As sealed bags can pile in a bin, cardboard boxes, tubs, or carts.

Benefits of using Batch Inclusion Bags are they improve quality and batch uniformity insures 100% compound ingredients go into the mixing of the material when doing in house weighing, batch inclusion bags eliminate the risk of cross-contamination due to chemical residue in tubs and weighing containers. Will increases productivity and eliminates the need to weigh ingredients in-house through the use of having the product weighed and ready to be thrown into a batch of rubber also eliminates the need to clean out tubs and weighing containers. Reduces the amount of solid waste disposal going into the land fills. You will have less product loss due to spillage and minimizes the accumulation of costly additives in the dust collectors. The idea is to minimizes worker exposure to hazardous materials.

dbanig@prflexbag.com http://www.prflexbag.com

Understanding Flexographic Printing

 

 

Flexographic printing is defined as a method of direct rotary printing that uses special rubber or photopolymer material. The printing plates are affixed to plate cylinders of various repeat lengths, which are inked by a cell structure (anolox roll) which is used to meter the flow of the ink on roll. It carries a fast drying fluid ink to the plates that print on a variety of substrates (paper / plastic / nylon / polypropylene / cellophane / LDPE / LLDPE / etc.).

 

Flexographic printing is a rotating method for every revolution of the printing plate cylinder an image is produced. If the image is stepped several times around a cylinder several images may be produced in one revolution.

 

Due to the nature of the printing process there are factors that don’t exist with other print methods such as offset and gravure. Because flexographic employs a flat but flexible printing plate that is stretched around a curved cylinder and the image on the plate distorts when the plate is mounted on the printing cylinder. A circle shape for example distorts into an egg shape. The amount of distortion depends on many factors including cylinder size, plate size, and the amount of distortion depends on a number of factors, including cylinder size, plate size, and the amount of adhesive mounting tape used to attach the plate cylinder.

 

Another aspect of flexographic printing is the solids (line art) print differently than screens (dot patterns). That is because the printing plate is relatively soft and the ink on its surface must be pressed against the substrate to print. Thus the amount of pressure applied to the printing plate is critical For example more pressure is needed to print a dense and heavy solid than to print a screen tint.

 

Whichever method used to set up the printing press, one design implication must remain clear is that you may not be able to successfully print one color screens and solids on the same printing plate or printing station. This is very different from offset printing where the solids and screens of a given color can be printed with a single printing plate.

 

 

 

dbanig@prflexbag.com

www.prflexbag.com

dbanig@packflex.com

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainable packaging addresses performance and cost along with maximizing the use of renewable types of plastic materials or the use of recycling of other various materials like paper or cardboard. I figure the following factors would contribute to cost savings. The use of renewable or recycled source materials; able to manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices; make products from materials healthy in all end-of-life scenarios; designed to optimize materials and energy; effectively recover and utilized in biological or industrial cycles.

If we look at improving packaging sustainability it will result in less waste and will allow for fewer materials going into the land fill. Looking at the entire life cycle of packaging, the definition gives us a vision for the packaging industry all of which must be addressed if sustainable packaging is to become a major factor. It presents a challenge to those that stay status-quo but will offer guidance to identify the opportunities and the strategies to help us move forward. One of the key strategies is to challenge the product design, as it stands to point out we can prevent waste, if we optimize our use of resources, select safer materials and plan for the recycle process or some recoverability of our packaging.

However, even the most well designed packaging does not meet the sustainability test the real challenge is to be able to put effective systems into recoverability of the value of the materials. Building effective and closed-loop recycling and composting systems for packaging materials will be one of the biggest challenges to the creation of the sustainable packaging industry, but is one from which everyone stands to gain from personal use and manufacturing.

www.prflexbag.com dbanig@packflex.com