An ability to produce linerless labels could be a timely
development for UK label converters if some proposed
government legislation is adopted. It all stems
from the fact that siliconized release liners in the cradle-tograve
waste chain are a bi…
Launch of all-in-one
linerless UV flexo press
Perhaps some of these converters should take an interest
in the Webmaster 2400. It’s a UV flexo press with a difference:
It can produce linerless labels. Introduced at Labelexpo
Europe 2001 by…
Reports of my death,” wrote Mark Twain on one occasion, “are greatly exaggerated.” In a similar vein, Netherlands based label press manufacturer MPS, about whose future rumors were circulating, has just issued a statement saying tha…
Label presses from Brazil
The Grafitec Group in Northern England buys, refurbishes and sells used label presses, as well as manufacturing several ranges of printing and carton converting machinery. Now Grafitec has signed a partnership to market and…
Clearance sale?
News just in from Italy brings encouragement for existing and future customers of failed label press manufacturer GIDUE. The company’s assets were acquired by sister company Nuova Castagnoli and agreement has apparently been re…
Digital presses
still finding markets
UK’s Hine Labels Ltd. has announced the purchase of another Xeikon digital press, the first UK installation for this new model, the 3000, launched in September of last year. Hine Labels’ customers,…
Swiss Converter extends International coverage
Switzerland’s Pago is one of that country’s – and the world’s – leading label converters. From its corporate headquarters in the quaintly named town of Grabs, it has just a…
A challenge to IML
FESPA Digital is a trade show for digital printing, focusing on screen printing, industrial packaging and signage applications, and taking place in Amsterdam in May 2009. Digital label press manufacturer Xeikon will use the show…
Shows and conferences
Label professionals from all sides of the industry recently congregated in Barcelona, Spain, for a “Digital Label Summit,” and in Milan for the Converflex/Grafitialia show where many label machinery manufacturers we…
A glance at the Labelexpo Europe show guides of 1997 and 2007 is instructive: Labelexpo 1997 was a resolutely European show, with 83 percent of exhibitors from Europe, 12 percent from North America and just 5 percent from the rest of the world (mostl…
Gaining currency
Britain’s newspapers have been fretting about the “weakness” of the pound. Of course everyone wants to have a “strong” currency, which is seen as a symbol of economic virility. At least – not quit…
The French label market
Major automobile manufacturers may shout to the world that they are on the brink of bankruptcy, but bosses of smaller, family run businesses (like the majority of label converters) would rather be thrown naked into a vat of v…
Bullish in Belgium
Just over the frontier in Belgium are the headquarters of two of Europe’s largest label converters: Bopack and Reynders. Bopack recently wound up its labeling systems division, citing falling sales and “deadly” f…
Plastic? No, whey
First it was corn, which was suddenly discovered to be the miracle eco-ingredient for everything from gasoline to plastic films. Now it’s whey, the watery stuff that is left over when you make cheese. A group of European prin…
Is the digital label business recession-proof?
The short answer to that is, of course, no. The slightly longer answer is that label converters are still showing a flicker of interest for investing in digital presses. Clever Etiketten in the Hague (N…
Cut, cut and cut again
EskoArtwork, based in Ghent (Belgium) and one of the world leaders in prepress technology for the narrow web sector, has also not escaped the chill wind of recession. In February, the company – which employs 900 and had…
Take a trip round the websites of the principal manufacturers of conventional label presses in continental Europe and you will experience a deafening silence on the subject of new presses sold since the start of 2009. This may be a sign of discretion…
Silicone Value
Silicone represents only some 5 percent of the material cost of labelstock, but in these hard times every cost element is coming under scrutiny. Germany’s Wacker Silicones reckons it has come up with a winner.
Its latest silico…
RFID tags tap new markets
Bathroom and kitchen fittings seem an unlikely new field for RFID tags, but Hansgrohe, the company that puts its products into a substantial part of Europe’s bathrooms, now uses smart tags to control its workflow, and…
Mind your language
The phrase “Any language you like so long as it’s English” may (generally) work in North America, but each of Europe’s 70 or more languages is jealously guarded by some nation or region for whom it is part…