Carousel 80 Pad Printing Machine can now run SpaceFrames!

Good news for those of you that are running thick steel plates on your Carousel 80 pad printer from ITW Trans Tech.

Trans Tech is now offering our standard 60mm Redstar SpaceFrame and ExpressLiner as an option to run in a standard Carousel 80 pad printer. The only modification is replacing the cup clamp release levers with shoulder screws. These simply unscrew from the arm clamping mechanism!

Trans Tech has provided complete decorating solutions to product decorators demanding the highest quality and experienced support since 1979.

Learn More About Pad Printing at www.itwtranstech.com

Save On Capital Equipment- Use One Cap Sealer For Two Lines

Pillar Technologies for Heartland Wisconsin offers a mobile waterless cap sealer. The induction sealer, called Unifoiler, includes a flat sealing coil and a 2-kilowatt microprocessor controlled power supply that allows the unit to start automatically. The controls also allow operators to adjust output and to fine-tune the system’s loss-of-seal alarm. The entire system is mounted on a cart and includes leveling pads, a coil-height indicator, and 20 inches of coil height adjustment.
That way, it can accommodate many bottle heights as well as bottle closures of all diameters and designs.

According to Pillar customer New Life Nutrition who operates two bottling lines and shuttles the induction sealer between them based on the size of the production run, “From the beginning, it’s been just a phenomenal machine. It’s very accurate—it seals right the first time, every time. And we do products that are in 65-cubic centimeter bottles with 33-millimeter caps all the way up to products in 2,500-cubic-centimeter bottles with 110-millimeter caps.”

With the economy tight and companies cutting capital expenditures a mobile packaging machine makes a lot of sense.

Hot Stamping Defined

Many people have heard the term "hot stamp" or "hot stamping" a few times when discussing product decoration but unless you have used it to decorate products most people are not really sure what the hot stamping process is all about. In this article we will attempt to explain the hot stamp process and cover some of the machinery used in the hot stamping process.

Let's start with a basic question- "What is hot stamping?"

Hot stamping is a product decoration or marking process where an engraved image, usually in the form of a hot stamping die, is heated up and then forced down against the area of a part to be decorated or marked. The spot where the die is pressed is typically covered with a marking foil and when the die comes in contact with the part it sandwiches the foil between the hot stamp die and the part. When the hot stamp die is removed the area the heated die pressed against the part, is where the ink from the foil is left behind. Although this answer is a simplified description of the hot stamping process it gives you a good overview of what is involved in hot stamping. A hot stamp machine heats a die head and then presses it against foil and transfers the ink onto the part.

So What's So Great About Hot Stamping?

Why Choose Hot Stamping?

The biggest benefit of hot stamping is that the process is completely dry. The foil arrives dry and no ink needs to be mixed up. In most cases you just attach a die to the heated plate on you hot stamping machine, load a roll of hot stamping foil and choose the right fixture to hold your product and you are ready to mark products. The most common use for hot stamping is on plastics but the process works on a wide variety of materials.

How does product decorated with the hot stamping process hold up?

Marks made on products by the hot stamps are very durable and permanent. These product decorations and marks can typically withstand very harsh environments.

What are hot stamp dies made of?

Hot stamp dies are made of both silicone rubber and metal.

Metal Hot Stamp Dies- Metal dies are usually made from either magnesium, copper brass or hardened steel. Hardened steel is the most durable but also often the most expensive to produce. Magnesium dies are less expensive but often don't last very long.

Silicone Rubber Dies- Silicone dies are often the product decorators choice for products that are not perfectly flat. Silicone rubber dies are available in different harnesses. The harder rubber is better for detailed work while the softer rubber is often used for larger less detailed graphics.


How are the images created on metal and silicone rubber dies?

Typically the logo or product decoration is sent to the die making company where it is digitised and then a machine is used to cut the design into the die.

What is a part fixture and how is it used in the hot stamping process?

When a part is stamped by the hot stamping machine a lot of pressure is applied to the part to make the transfer work. The fixture is what holds the part in place during the hot stamping process. The fixture design is very important to protect the part from getting broken or crushed during the hot stamp process.

Learn More About The Hot Stamping Process and Hot Stamp Equipment

US Still leading manufacturer of packaging equipment

In 2007 PMMI commissioned a Purchasing Process Survey where they collected sales data from a national sample of 164 packaging machinery purchasers. The survey had a few intresting results:

American Made Still Has Meaning
North American manufacturers were found to offer significant advantages over their foreign counterparts in the areas of machine reliability, delivery from purchase date, safety, machine changeover time, machine ergonomics, total cost of operation and purchase price.

US Companies Are Exporting More Equipment
In 2007 North American manufacturers provided 20 percent of the packaging solutions sold worldwide and 77 percent of the packaging solutions sold in North America. In 2008 industry experts expect packaing equipment exports to increase due to the week dollar.

Security Concerns Are prompting companies to look a packaing more products in the US
Demand for North American equipment will continue to rise as concerns for product safety and tighter manufacturing regulations increase. This is especially important as demand for pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices continue to increase worldwide.

Packagers are looking to robotics
77 percent of packagers said they are expecting to use more robotics in the next five years in a effort to help reduce costs, increase flexibility and to realize greater efficiency.
.

Green Packaging Is In

The number of organic claims made on new products grew 273 percent from 2005 to 2007 while claims to be "all natural" grew 71 percent according to Nica Lewis, head of cosmetic research at Mintel. What's next? In my opinion it's Green Packaging. Companies with natural or organic products are steadily moving towards natural or green packaging. In addition to enhancing the company image green packaging can have some great cost saving benefits. Check out this great article from ITW Packaging Solutions

The folks at ITW Packaging Solutions are in the forefront of green packaging. for more info on green packaging check out:

http://itwpackagingsolutions.com/GreenPackaging/tabid/1676/Default.aspx

Look for more information on green packaging in upcoming blogs!

Green Packaging

Every day it seems that there is more and more interest in green packaging. Consumers seem to be driving demand but even more of a driving factor appears to be large retailers like Wal-Mart with their "Green Packaging Rating System". Over 60,0000 Wal Mart suppliers are now scrambling to lower the amount of packaging materials they use by five per cent, use more renewable materials and slash the energy use by machines that package their products. Wal-Mart estimates cutting five per cent out of its suppliers' packaging materials will stop millions of pounds of trash from reaching landfills and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere by 667,000 metric tons. This new green packaging push by Wal-Mart seems to be change in direction from their usual lowest price wins mentality.

So What's the Benefit of Green Packaging for Wal-Mart and other major retailers?

Less packaging material = lighter weight and more items per truckload cutting distribution costs. According to Wal-Mart- "This is equal to taking 213,000 trucks off the road annually, and saving 323,800 tons of coal and 66.7 million gallons of diesel fuel from being burned. This initiative will also create $10.98 billion in savings, just from a 5 percent reduction in 10 percent of the global packaging industry."

Earth Friendly Consumer Campaigns- If done properly Wal-Mart has a huge opportunity to promote Green Packaging to consumers and perhaps soften the opinions of the consumers that feel Wal-Mart is a corporate giant that is only concerned with profit.