Noel Ward

Noel Ward
There is an "I" in Team

Infinite Packaging, the merger of MEI Labels of Tulsa, OK and TVC Labels in Dallas, leverages the capabilities of both firms and helps set them apart from many other converters.

Infinite Possibilities

Most package printers and converters are specialists, honing finely tuned skills to meet and exceed the demands of brand owners who expect perfection. But there are a few companies that see opportunity in offering a more complete range of packaging and converting services and building deep relationships with brand owners and customers.

Graymills to be Featured on "How It's Made"

Graymills, the company you probably associate with inking systems, pumps and parts washers is about to be featured on NBC’s “How It’s Made” TV program on Thursday, June 11.

Shelf Space: The Occupational Affliction

My guess is you do the same thing I do when cruising the aisles of your local supermarket. You look at packages: study how a label was made, examine the diecut on a creative folding carton, look for new ways a flexible package can be resealed.

The Leading Edge of Finishing

Just off Route 2 along the northern edge of Massachusetts are the past, present, and future of folding carton production. At Boutwell Owens, a folding carton printer and converter in the old New England mill town of Fitchburg, two massive Mitsubishi offset presses and some flatbed steel-rule diecutting machines of assorted vintages do much of the heavy lifting, while an HP Indigo 30000 and a new Highcon Euclid II digital cutting system take on a growing stream of short-run, fast-turn, prototyping and customized work.

Shelf Space: Déjà Vu All Over Again

It was—gasp—22 years ago when the first Indigo and Xeikon presses were rolled out at IPEX in Birmingham, England. The hype du jour was that digital printing was going to grow rapidly and dominate the commercial printing market. But it did not and has not.

Tilting the Playing Field

From labels to folding cartons, four companies find that digital presses reshape the way they do business.

Built for Speed

The passionate printologists at TLF Graphics up their game with digital technology.

A New Window of Opportunity for Digital

While flexible packaging has been traditionally entrusted to conventional processes like flexography and rotogravure, the increased popularity of the format, its versatility and a need to run more jobs faster is fueling the need to print more flexible packaging jobs digitally.

The Zone of Disruption

Digital presses have been taking on a growing share of the market for labels and folding cartons, and making inroads into flexible packaging. Now, corrugated containers are feeling the influence of digital printing, and as with other types of packaging, the flexibility digital presses can provide is an asset for corrugated carton printers.

The Three Foot Effect

It starts three feet from the shelf. Your eye focuses on the label, taking in the images, the colors, the brand, even the texture of the substrate and whether special treatments—such as metallic inks or embossing—have been used. And when it’s done right, the engagement begins.

Heading South: Graph Expo Shifts to Orlando

For decades, the collective print industry has been able to pencil in a trip to Graph Expo each fall. But the 2016 version of the show will be different, shifting from the Windy City to Orlando, Florida.