Departments

There’s language, terminology, and knowledge that is perfectly normal in a pressroom, but may be completely foreign to those outside the world of print, including brand owners and other customers.

As with most other packaged goods, pharmaceuticals need reliable and speedy packaging solutions that deliver a combination of product protection, quality, tamper evidence, patient comfort and security needs.

Run lengths are decreasing by an average of 7 to 9 percent each year, and as digital technology quickly evolves, digitally printed jobs are becoming more economically viable.

The creative team from a customer of Steinhauser Inc., a Newport, KY-based printer of labels and flexible packaging, was shown several bottles decorated with the same label. They were asked to determine which were printed flexo and which were digital.

Despite how important dies, anvils, and cylinders are to a package printer, many fall short of maintenance requirements.

Lest you think that RFID is limited to hang tags on clothing, think again.

On June 15, 2015, chemical manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in the United States must comply with the new Hazard Communication Standard for hazardous chemical labeling. The new standards stem from the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification (GHS). This means that all chemicals considered “hazardous” must have a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and be identifiable with a standardized label that includes product identifiers, explanation of the danger, and a pictogram conveying the danger.

As more package printers and converters obtain digital presses, deciding which jobs are printed digitally can be a challenge.

Every printer and converter knows that the best printing is tightly bound to proper press maintenance. Yet, it’s all too easy for operators to take short cuts or not pay attention to details that can make the difference between average work and that which delights customers. For flexo presses, the foremost cleaning issues revolve around anilox rollers.

Every year, in the work we do for TLMI and FINAT (TLMI’s European equivalent) and in our research for private clients, we probe what brand owners and packaging buyers want from their label vendors. Surveying hundreds of packaging buyers across North America and Europe every quarter, we often close interviews by asking two key questions: What can your label vendors be doing better? What could they do that they are not already doing?