PrintCity pleased with in-line carton tests

PrintCity Alliance has reported “excellent results” from a project within its Value Added Packaging initiative, which saw the creation of carton samples produced in-line using a Gallus ICS 670.

PrintCity is a cross-industry alliance that fosters cooperation across the graphic arts value chain.

The aim of the project is to demonstrate the interplay of design, form and finishing on the basis of a realistic example, produced by means of highly flexible and economical in-line production involving various printing and finishing technologies.

The modular press used for this work was equipped with seven EVA platforms, including five flexo modules, a cold foil module and a hot foil stamping module, in-line cutter, in-line die-cutting and embossing station, in-line waste stripping station and delivery unit.

Alongside PrintCity Alliance members Eltosch (UV driers), Leonhard Kurz (hot and cold foils), Merck (pigments), Metsä Board (substrate), Océ (digital printing), Sappi Fine Paper Europe (substrate) and Weilburger Graphics (coatings and flexo inks), numerous other partners contributed products and expertise to the project, including: AR Carton (3D design), Esko (3D design tools and visualization), Folien Company (laminating films), Gietz (embossing machines), Hinderer+Mühlich (embossing dies), Marbach (cutting dies), Reproflex (flexo plates), Reproservice (pre-press data preparation), Saueressig (gravure cylinders), Sun Chemical (gravure inks), Zeller+Gmelin (cold foil adhesives and food-safe UV flexo inks) and Gallus.

Four designs were created using the same press set-up and ink/coating configuration, and were produced together in-line on a mixed sheet.

PrintCity Alliance said the sample folding cartons created in the framework of the real-life sample project exceed all expectations.

‘We wanted to adopt an approach that was as realistic as possible, so as to create real added value for our customers,’ said Rainer Kuhn, managing director of the PrintCity Alliance. ‘Only if these different skills work together effectively can such good results be obtained.’

Intended for use as food-safe secondary packaging for chocolate, two different designs with a high degree of finishing were each produced in two different finishes versions, as mixed forms on two different substrates.

In each case, a holographic cold foil, two different hot foils, two pigment coatings, UV gloss and haptic soft dispersion coatings were applied in a single pass, with various blind embossing, die-cutting and creasing steps also being performed at the same time.

Dieter Widmann, production manager at Gallus, said: ‘In-line production gives you incredible dependability when it comes to technical realisation; the finished blank is ready after die-cutting and can be tested in accordance with the requirements – by the tape test, for example.

‘In addition to which, the modular structure of the Gallus ICS 670 makes for a very safe investment, because the machine configuration can be adapted to suit the needs of the market and the user.’

Read more news on the folding carton market here