Shine Baby Shine

Coatings are used for a multitude of purposes in package printing. They can provide overcoatings for aesthetic or protective finishes, undercoats that enhance ink interactions for unique looks, or anything in between. Many companies use coatings and ink/coating combinations to provide a distinct look and feel, improve product functionality, or reduce costs.

Shorewood Packaging (www.shorewoodpackaging.com) is one company that has put an emphasis on the use of inks and coatings to enhance products for its customers. Founded as a private paperboard printing and converting company in 1967, Shorewood quickly established itself as a force in the record industry when it introduced its one-piece record jacket, Shorepak®. Having established itself in the music industry, the company benefited from the dynamic evolution of the industry from LPs to cassettes and CDs.

Shorewood Packaging became a public company in 1986 and, through a series of acquisitions, diversified its markets to include in pharmaceuticals, personal care, cosmetics, and food. International Paper acquired Shorewood in 2000 and it became part of the Consumer Packaging Group. Today, the company operates multiple facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.

To compete in such highly competitivee markets, Shorewood uses what it calls "value-added packaging treatments" to its full advantage. To learn more about how the company uses its inks and coatings expertise to add value for customers, packagePRINTING talked to Linda Lombri, Shorewood's –director of marketing services.

pP: How does Shorewood Packaging use ink/coating combinations to provide enhancements for its customers?

Lombri: Shorewood Packaging has always focused on ways to enhance the packaging of our customers so that their products have high visibility and strong consumer appeal. Special inks and coatings technology is a key area when it comes to graphic embellishments. We can offer a range of special inks to add sparkle or "punch", as well as special coatings for increased visual or tactile excitement. As one of the few companies with an in-house corporate inks and coatings department, we have the ability to develop and test new inks and coating applications, working closely with suppliers, customers, and our own production staff to achieve the effect our customers want.