could work with other UV printers, adding:
“There’s no way the ink could offset to the
inside of the pouch because of the way we are
handling the web.”
This process appears to be mainly down to
the materials used and the finishing rather
than the press. The key element of these
pouches is that the printing is done directly
to the surface of the material, where most
other companies are reverse printing to the
back of the pouch and then laminating it.
The process uses two layers, with the
image being printed onto the facing surface
of a polyester layer, which acts as the barrier
material. The second layer is made of polyethylene,
which is laminated to the polyester
and melted to form the shape of the pouch. Hine Labels has
designed and commissioned a purpose-built finishing
machine to form the printed material into a pouch and heat
seals them ready for filling, where a ziplock or other closure
can then be added. Warne says: “We have put a lot of work
into developing the materials and a hell of a lot of work into
designing the finishing equipment.” Consequently, the
intellectual property belongs to Hine Labels and so, unlike
the other vendors here, Screen is not in a position to offer
this solution to its other label printer customers.
Houp.com offers pouches up to 260mm tall and 200mm
wide, as well as sachets up to 210mm high and 150mm wide.
Warne says most other processes are using three layers, so that
the two-layer Houp.com pouches use less plastic and can be
seen as a more environmentally-friendly option. Warne says
that Houp does not see the other digital toner-based pouches
as competition, noting: “We are targeting smaller volumes
than they are. We have very little set up waste and disposal
waste, so we can produce volumes from 500 and upwards.”
In conclusion, there’s little doubt that brands are becoming
more interested in pouches because they are an
extremely efficient way of protecting and transporting
products with a minimum of waste, which both saves
money for the brands and appeals to today’s more environmentally
aware consumers. They’re waterproof, tamper-
resistant and reasonably durable. They allow for vibrant
designs with good shelf impact and can include clear
windows to display their contents, something that many
customers now expect. Digitally-printed pouches tick all
the same boxes as for labels, allowing for shorter runs,
which can be used for targeted campaigns, or for market
testing, or simply to frequently refresh the packaging
design to catch the eyes of busy shoppers.
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April & May 2020 Printweek
ing, so we’ve been planning this for a couple
of years. Making the equipment investments,
designing the factory refurbishment, and the
training and educating of our staff all took
meticulous planning and a lot of time, but it’s
been a brilliant journey and we’ve had great
support from HP, ABG and Karville along the
way. I’m more than confident that it’s the
right decision for Bakers and I’m excited
about the future.”
CS Labels, based in Wolverhampton, has
also moved into pouches, setting up a new
brand, CS Pouches. CS Labels has been a
long-term Xeikon user, having several Xeikon
presses. The company is using a Xeikon
CX500 dry toner label press and has developed
the laminating and conversion lines itself. There’s a
choice of different materials that can be combined with a
polyethylene barrier, depending on the product and the
degree of resistance required for water, oil or odours. It can
cope with a variety of sizes up to 214mm tall and 200mm
wide. There’s a choice between different types of pouch,
including a doy-style that has a domed bottom gusset, for
lighter products that won’t otherwise stand up, or a K-seal,
for heavier products, as well as a three-sided seal flat pouch
that’s simple to fill.
Xeikon has subsequently developed its own pouch solution
that it calls FlexFlow. This combines a Xeikon dry
toner press with a Xeikon LCoat500 for inline thermal lamination
and packaging construction. Weymans says: “We
have developed Xeikon fleXflow for stand-up pouch production
to answer the growing consumer trend for
‘on-the-go’ consumption of food and drinks.”
Working with inkjet
It’s perhaps not surprising that both Xeikon and HP Indigo
would have developed digital pouch solutions, since toner
generally prints well to a wide range of media stocks.
However, most narrow web digital presses use inkjet,
which can be a bit more fussy over substrates in general,
and flexible films in particular. We contacted several inkjet
label press vendors about pouch solutions, all of whom said
that it was not currently possible to use inkjet for pouches.
However, Hine Labels has developed a process that does
work with inkjet, and has established a separate division,
Houp.com, to market it. Hine Labels is using a Screen
L350UV+LM, which uses low migration UV inks. However,
Richard Warne, general manager of Houp.com, says the low
migration inks are just a precaution and that in theory it
POUCH SOLUTIONS
Pictured, top left
and right: HP
demonstrated this
laminating unit at
last year’s Label
Expo - which was
then installed at
Baker Labels
HP has approved
the Karville pouchmaker
for use with
its B2 Indigo 20000
Pictured above: Bill
Hine, managing director
of Hine Labels,
and Richard Warne,
general manager at
Houp.com
Images: Nessan Cleary