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The use of laminated stand-up pouch packagings is set to grow by 4.6% on average by 2014.* |
One thousand billion units per year: the production figures for flexible packagings are dizzying! Having risen steadily since the start of the century, the market is expected to increase by a further 3.1% per annum between now and 2014*. “There’s a huge variety of flexible packagings available: plastic films, transparent or otherwise, aluminum, laminated (aluminum, plastic, paper), etc. But it is the flexible, ‘stand-up’ form that is seeing the most spectacular growth,” recounts Pascal Brevier, Markem-Imaje Market Segment Manager. A success story that began back in the 1960s, when Louis Doyen, CEO of the Thimonnier sewing machine company, invented the Doypack®, a pouch that stood up by itself. It was not until several decades later, when the patent came into the public domain, that manufacturers began to develop the potential of this new packaging.
Initially made of plastic only, today the stand-up pouch is also available in laminated aluminum, an innovation that has helped boost the market. “The plastic pouch was warmly welcomed by cleaning product manufacturers, who use it for packaging refills. The aluminum version has extended its use to the food and beverages industry, where it is used for fruit purées, ready meals, pet food, fruit juice, etc.,” explains Pascal Brevier. Stand-up pouches offer a string of advantages. Much lighter than tin cans (3% of filled product weight compared to 20%), they are less expensive to transport and produce less waste. In addition, they preserve vitamins and minerals better since the pouch sterilization process is a rapid one. Finally, they protect the contents more effectively from oxygen, moisture and light.
Two technologies can be used to mark this type of packaging: thermal transfer or inkjet. “It all depends on the production method,” explains Pascal Brevier. “For fl at marking, before filling, thermal transfer needs to be used. In this case, the coder is integrated into the packaging machine. If the customer prefers the printing after filling option, we propose inkjet printing, which requires no contact with the pouch. This technology can easily cope with size variations of a few millimeters associated with filling.” Markem-Imaje is an expert in both these technologies and can supply the necessary equipment to manufacturers wishing to test this packaging of the future.
Source: Euromonitor (world data 2010).
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Two mature technologies 9232 The 9232 inkjet printer has been specially designed to adapt to harsh environments: stainless steel, IP56 protection, resistance to high-pressure cleaning and no retention zones. Thanks to its three or five-meter umbilical cable, the printhead can be located away from the filling machine, which is sometimes subjected to strong vibrations. Consumables can be changed without stopping the printer and interrupting production. Also, a specially designed ink is proposed to provide improved resistance of the marking to friction between pouches. SMARTDATE X40 The SmartDate X40 thermal transfer coder prints 300 dpi codes directly onto the film before filling at a maximum rate of 600 mm/s. The
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