The Complete Package

By Cory Francer

Get Schooled at Flexo Tech

When AWT Labels & Packaging, and Computype, another Twin Cities-based package printer, noticed a severe lack of up-and-coming flexographic press operators, they took matters into their own hands.

After some internal discussions involving both companies, Flexographic Tech was born, which has since become a Minnesota nonprofit corporation geared toward educating the next generation of flexo press operators.

“There was a major, gaping hole in terms of a feeder system for our flexographic press operators,” Ted Biggs, VP of manufacturing at AWT Labels & Packaging, says. “That goes not just for our area but around Minnesota and really, all over the United States.”

The 12-week comprehensive program takes students from having little to no experience or knowledge in the printing industry to being able to run a press at a basic level with a strong knowledge and understanding of general flexographic competencies. Classes are held at AWT’s Minneapolis facility, where students get hands-on experience on one of the company’s eight-color Mark Andy 2200 presses that has been specifically set aside for Flexographic Tech. The press features UV and hot air drying, cold foil, diecutting, sheeting and other capabilities.

To lead the educational endeavor, AWT and Computype brought Shawn Oetjen on board, a well-known educator in the flexo industry. Prior to joining Flexographic Tech, Oetjen spent five years teaching at Dunwoody College of Technology, also located in Minneapolis.

“The main push and main focus is around developing operators,” Biggs says. “We’re into our second class right now. The first class graduated right at the first of the year. We are extremely pleased with how the students progressed and transitioned to operating on their own shortly after graduation.”

Visit www.flexographictech.org for more information.

To develop an ideal packaging solution for a customer, AWT Labels & Packaging strives to be involved from the moment a project is born. Jim Lundquist, CEO of AWT, explains that early involvement provides a streamlined process where his company’s team of designers, engineers and printers can produce a final solution to the customer’s liking. But it’s not just about the beginning stages of a package. What differentiates this pressure-sensitive label and flexible packaging specialist is the company’s ability to understand the full lifecycle of a product — an essential element in delivering a well-crafted result.

“One of the keys to finding effective solutions for customers is to understand more about what our customers want than [they do],” Lundquist says. “The game, whether it is making flexible packaging or labels, is that those products perform in the field and they meet their desired results.”

Full Lifecycle Partners

AWT Labels & Packaging consists of two facilities. Its main facility in Minneapolis focuses primarily on pressure-sensitive labels, while the second facility in South Elgin, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, produces most of the company’s flexible packaging.

From left, VP of Manufacturing Ted Biggs and Daniel Johnson at work in AWT Labels & Packaging’s Minneapolis location.

While many package printers specialize solely in printing, AWT Labels & Packaging takes on a much deeper involvement that begins from the packaging’s conception. Chip Fuhrmann, senior VP, sales and marketing, explains that when the sales staff receives a packaging development inquiry, they will fill out a research and development request that asks several questions to help identify the scope of the needed packaging.

Ted Biggs, VP of manufacturing at the Minneapolis location, explains that with input from R&D, the project management department and others within the organization, various packaging ideas can go through press testing for customers, allowing them to make the appropriate tweaks until they receive the desired result.

On the flexible packaging end, Mike Gallagher, VP of the South Elgin location, explains that getting involved early in the package design process can have benefits down the road when it’s time to go to press. He says that AWT will be involved in the design of the structure of the package and will want to have as much input on the artwork as possible. Having that information, he explains, can help determine if the design can be feasibly reproduced.

“When we’re not involved early in a project, whether it’s a marketing group or a private label, some of the designs that are made are simply not printable in a flexographic world,” Gallagher says.

Because of the company’s expertise in both packaging construction and graphics, there are often times when a customer’s work carries over between the multiple locations. For example, Gallagher recalls a customer who brought in a packaging application that required a label. The customer started the process with AWT’s Minneapolis staff and realized that they wanted to improve the packaging’s barrier properties. At that point, South Elgin got involved to redevelop the entire structure, boosted the barrier properties and assisted in testing to ensure the new construction would work with the labels the customer originally requested.

“When we sit with our customers, we try to get a full understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish across the board,” Gallagher says. “Even though we started a project on the label side, it quickly developed into something where — yes, they had label issues that needed to be addressed — but as they talked about the product, there were definitely some openings and needs for somebody to come in from the packaging side and work with them to solve these issues.”

Joining Forces

AWT Labels & Packaging has only been known by that name for slightly more than two years. The company’s roots stretch back to 1976, with the founding of Web Label. In 1991, Advanced Web Technologies began business and the two Twin Cities-based companies operated independently until 2005, when they merged to form Advanced Web.
For six years, Advanced Web operated out of a single Minneapolis facility, becoming a leading source of pressure-sensitive labels for a variety of markets. But seeing further growth opportunities, the company acquired US Converting in 2011, which developed into the company’s South Elgin facility. Two years later, the company rebranded as AWT Labels & Packaging.

AWT Labels & Packaging's 10-color, 51˝ KYMC solvent central impression press, located in its South Elgin, Ill., facility.

While the two locations specialize in different applications, both entities place a strong emphasis on developing close relationships with customers to understand their needs and help them achieve their goals.

“Every customer has a different requirement and every customer — even in the same industry — has some different wants,” Gallagher says. “It’s a very subjective thing and we learn these critical elements by developing strong relationships with our customers and we work to understand what they want their product to look like on the shelf and make sure the packaging protects their products.”

Minneapolis is the larger of the two facilities, at 125,000 sq. ft. and with approximately 150 employees. This flagship location features several flexographic presses including five Mark Andys, nine Webtrons and an Aquaflex. The presses range up to 10 colors and span 7.5˝ to 18˝ in web widths.

The company has also been actively adding in new technology. In February, it installed a second 17˝ Mark Andy Performance Series P5 flexo press with both LED and mercury arc UV curing systems. Though labels are its top priority, the Minneapolis plant does also take on some flexible packaging work with a six-color, 49˝ Carint central impression press.

The South Elgin facility, on the other hand, produces flexible packaging for several markets but focuses primarily on high-quality, laminated, food and food-related packaging. Printing is done with a 10-color, 51˝ KYMC solvent central impression press and a six-color, 46˝ Kidder press.

“Our business in South Elgin has primarily evolved out of the snack food and bakery business,” Gallagher explains. “Those are the types of structures that we’ve really excelled at for a number of years. However, we do everything here from plain films — simple overwraps of cookie trays and clear films — all the way up to multi-layer, highly functional, barrier packaging.”

Early Digital Adopters

In addition to the wide array of flexo printing technology AWT has at its fingertips, the company has had digital printing at its Minneapolis location since the 1990s. Currently, AWT runs an HP Indigo 6000 and an Indigo 4500, which are primarily used to run pressure-sensitive labels but have also printed non pressure-sensitive films and shrink sleeves.

Biggs says the company entered the digital world as one of the first to install an Indigo Omnius press, a pioneering digital packaging press.

From left, an AWT Labels & Packaging customer takes part in a press check with Mike Gallagher, VP of AWT’s South Elgin, Ill., location.

He explains that when AWT installed its newer HP Indigo models, beginning with the 4500 in 2007 and the 6000 in 2011, the company quickly realized it could more profitably produce much of its existing flexographic work on the digital presses.

For the most part, Biggs says that run length is the determining factor in whether a job is printed digital or flexographic, with short runs trending toward digital. On occasion though, the need for variable printing can also play a role in pushing a job away from flexo and onto one of the Indigo presses.

“At the time, we had an awful lot of work in our shop that fit the profile for the HP presses,” he says. “That’s really what pushed us in that direction. There was also … a growing need to print variable data on certain projects we had and we didn’t have any way of doing that on the flexo side. We didn’t have the proper equipment, so that was one of the other decisions.”

Colorful Commitment

Though AWT’s expertise extends beyond printed products, the company has established a reputation for its award-winning graphics. Its collection of awards includes accolades for both packaging and printing, including from a job with a major customer that resulted in a WorldStar award from the World Packaging Organisation. AWT has also won seven Star of Excellence Awards from the Printing Industries of the Midwest, a first place nod in the annual TLMI Awards, three New Jersey Packaging Executives Club awards and many more.

Students at Flexographic Tech in their workspace with Instructor Shawn Oetjen (second from right). Flexographic Tech provides training in flexo press operation.

Producing award-winning packaging is a process that requires good manufacturing procedures across the board, but Lundquist explains that much of AWT’s success comes from its dedication to consistent color.

“We are as good at controlling color as anybody,” Lundquist says. “If you do that every day and you manage your pressroom to require excellent color standards you can produce award-winning products.”

Biggs explains that AWT’s color control is a testament to the robust process the company has implemented. He says ink technicians are on the job during the company’s day and night shifts, and all have extensive training with X-Rite software and equipment.

The company’s ink is all premixed and matched prior to it going on press, Biggs says, so when a press operator receives a jug of ink, he or she will know which anilox to use in order to achieve the correct color.

“Everything is managed by numbers,” he says. “We have a pretty strict process and it just comes down to following that process every day.”