“Selecting and Getting the Most Out of Your Ink Delivery System” is only one of the sections with valuable information in Graymills’ new 2008 graphic arts catalog. In addition to being a resource for ink delivery systems, filters, tanks and accessories, the publication features new products, such as the Chicago-based manufacturer’s “Quick Change” removable head peristaltic ink pumps and the Graymills/Fasnacht viscosity control systems. Also included is the G4 series, designed for applications with higher viscosity inks and coatings.

For a free copy, call 877-INK-PUMP or email info@graymills.com.

Mansfield Board Machinery Ltd offers its on-site test creaser tool, designed to demonstrate sample crease profiles using customer board. The portable unit has interchangeable wheels and quickly shows the result of a particular profile on customer board samples. The device allows customers to make an informed decision on the best suited profile for new creasing heads for all board grades used. There are currently eight different profile variations with the tooling.

For a demonstration or more information, call 44 (0)1604 713656, email sales@mansfieldboard.co.uk or visit www.mansfieldboard.co.uk.

MAN Roland and System Brunner have developed a better way to achieve optimum color reproduction with an offset press, while maintaining color consistency throughout the entire press run. Called okBalance®, the innovation goes beyond measuring ink film thicknesses to actually gauge gray balance variations in overlapping colors and correct the press automatically.

okBalance is available as an optional software module for MAN Roland’s ColorPilot color control system. That means it can be used on a wide range of MAN Roland press models, configurations and sizes.

In operation, okBalance works in conjunction with the MAN Roland/System Brunner modules PrintConsult® and Instrument Flight®, analyzing color quality from their control strip. In addition to measuring the process colors in each zone, okBalance analyzes the overprinted gray balances of cyan, magenta and yellow that constitute the job’s midtones and shadows.

Such gray balance analysis is critical when ink temperatures increase, dampening chemistry changes, or other variations occur during a press run. Conventional solid ink density measurement cannot spot such discrepancies, but gray balance analysis detects them immediately. And when it identifies such anomalies, okBalance automatically readjusts the ink zone slides on a MAN Roland press to keep the color consistent throughout the run.

The system’s gray balance approach to color consistency applies an extra level of quality control in an area where it will be most noticed. Ninety percent of all color problems in a four-color job are caused by variations in the halftone dots in the individual colors, or in positions where two or three colors overprint.

An illustrated brochure with complete information on okBalance is available at www.manroland.com.

Sonoco launches Revo™, the world’s first recycled die board for steel rule rotary cutting dies. The boards are made almost entirely from recycled paper and water-based resin. As a joint development between Sonoco and PSC Global, the patent-pending Revo die boards are durable, cost effective, dimensionally stable, and have a lifecycle of more than 100,000 impressions.

“As rotary press runs become shorter, steel rule die tooling becomes disposable, making a ‘green’ alternative essential,” says John Colyer, division vice president, Industrial Products North America. “Revo rotary die boards are one more step Sonoco is taking to create total sustainable packaging solutions for customers.”

Revo die boards conform to the mandrel for faster changeover than with traditional die boards. Quicker changeovers give customers flexibility during short runs, yield better diecutting efficiencies, and increase customers’ ability to react to end user demands.

“Created initially for the short-run and point-of-purchase display markets as a 50,000- to 75,000-impression tool, repeated testing shows Revo die boards can withstand over 100,000 impressions,” says Mike Porter, president, PSC Global. “It’s nice to finally be able to offer the industry an environmentally friendly alternative that will help keep many plywood rotary dies from being sent to landfills.”

For more information about Revo rotary die boards, contact Porter at mikeporter@pswood.com or 815-444-0457.

HIDE-Pack and Domino Integrated Solutions Group have jointly launched radio-frequency identification (RFID)-enabled Smart Boxes through the HIDE-Pack™ system. HIDE-Pack is a patent-pending technology that eliminates the need for a paper label by incorporating the RFID inlay within the packaging medium. HIDE-Pack allows suppliers to scale RFID compliance across multiple SKUs and improve supply chain visibility.

HIDE-Pack consists of embedding an RFID inlay within the structure of a package, corrugated case or folding carton, so that the inlay is not visible from the outside or the inside of the package. Effectively, the RFID inlay becomes an integral part of the packaging medium.

The layers of packaging adhesive encapsulating the HIDE-compliant inlay preserve the inlay’s performance under detrimental conditions, such a condensation, resulting from cold storage and immersion in water.

“Looking at the RFID space from a supplier’s or Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturer’s point of view, the key to making RFID affordable is moving RFID back in the value chain into the manufacturing process of the package medium,” says Paul de Blois, vice president and general manager of HIDE-Pack. “HIDE-Pack is an environmentally sustainable approach to RFID that reduces capital costs, improves labor productivity, maintains the package recyclability, and improves the reliability of the RFID tag.”

By eliminating or reducing the need for RFID printers and applicators, HIDE-Pack simplifies RFID adoption. In-line RFID readers and antenna create a smaller footprint for encoding, verifying and validating HIDE-Pack enabled boxes. Consumables in the form of traditional RFID labels are avoided, and substantial savings are achievable by avoiding operational costs of printer-based systems.

HIDE-Pack fits to a variety of package-making equipment, from corrugated cases to folding carton boxes and envelopes. Trials run over a range of speeds of 6,000 to 18,000 units per hour on a flexo folder-gluer showed no negative effect on productivity, with a final package reject rate of 0.1 percent or less.

Domino ISG offers HIDE-Pack as part of complete suite of RFID systems and solutions. It provides RFID solutions based on its RFID Ready, Set, Go!™ methodology, to deploy solutions that range from compliance to full-scale systems. Key deliverables for all Domino ISG projects include on-site education, feasibility studies, pilot and project design, full integration, and implementation services.
For more information, visit www.domino-isg.com/hidepack or call 877-895-2896.

Unifoil Corp.’s new nonlaminated, recyclable UniLustre® and Holographic UniLustre® are brilliant multidimensional materials that spark designers’ imaginations and help printers, converters, and end users grow business. The proprietary materials are intended for packaging and security enhancement, as well as for printing applications, including brochures, annual reports, magazine covers, books, tags, and promotional items.

“End users can support sustainability initiatives and achieve a high level of aesthetic appeal on packaging and printed items,” says Joe Funicelli, Unifoil president and ceo. “Years of research and development have gone into the manufacture of UniLustre and Holographic UniLustre recyclable papers and boards, which do not have to end up in a landfill.”

Most metallized foil laminations have foil thicknesses in the range of 0.0003 inches and are not recyclable. By contrast, the metal thickness in UniLustre products is less than 1 percent of that, so the products are capable of being recycled.

Nonlaminated UniLustre products easily print with conventional high-speed printing methods. They require no hot stamping or laminating to achieve metallic or holographic effects. In addition, they offer excellent dead fold properties, are curl-free, and do not flake.

For more information, contact Balla Murillo, business development manager, at bmurillo@unifoil.com, 973-244-9900, or visit www.unifoil.com.

Following in the footsteps of ExSpect™, its patented analog plate with a completely flat topped dot, PRP Flexo has achieved the same profile within a completely digital environment, thereby enabling the same print advantages of its analog plate but with a digital workflow.

The process now allows converters to direct print onto corrugated and get results comparable to litho or preprint. This enables flexible inventory control, resulting in significant cost reductions. The same process also achieves results for flexible packaging printers, as the dot gain received from the new plates is far less than both conventional digital or conventional flexographic plates, in addition to the greatly reduced set-up times.

For more information, call 317-783-3226 or visit www.prpflexo.com.