HELPING DIGITAL PRINTERS MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR PRESS
For digital converters in the thermal packaging space, the press is both their greatest investment and biggest liability. The press is the heartbeat of any printing business; if it stops working even for a moment, the downstream consequences can be financially and operationally severe. Beyond making sure the press is up and running, converters must also ensure the machine is being used as efficiently as possible to drive growth and maximize revenue.
However, the default workflow for thermal packaging – printing on the surface of a pre-lam and then finishing with a thermal laminate – ultimately hinders productivity. This method requires frequent changeovers on the press along with significant wear and tear on equipment due to variations in pre-lam thickness. Fortunately, digital printers now have access to an innovative new method that enables them to create thermal packaging while maximizing capacity on their press.
HOW STRATAFLEX™ THERMAL PRE-LAMS HELP DIGITAL PRINTERS INCREASE EFFICIENCY
Thermal lamination is often paired with digital printing for flexible packaging converters who want to prioritize speed to market because the process requires no curing time and can produce packaging on-demand. Historically, thermal packaging converters have printed on the surface of a pre-lam and then finished the web with a protective thermal laminate. However, this process has one fatal flaw: The thickest part of the web (and therefore the shortest material rolls) is loaded onto the press. This means that the press must be stopped often so new rolls can be loaded, significantly reducing uptime and output.
To solve this issue, StrataFlex Thermal Pre-Lams enable digital printers to reverse print on much longer rolls of adhesive-free films and then thermally laminate using a pre-lam that includes an EVA adhesive layer. By moving the thick EVA layer off the press and onto the laminator, converters can print on longer rolls, massively reducing changeovers to keep their press running hours more each day. Additionally, adhesive-free films provide a cleaner surface for printing than traditional pre-lams, leading to higher quality packaging with superior performance.
StrataFlex Thermal Pre-Lams provide the same quality performance and barrier properties as traditional pre-lams, but they feature a top EVA layer that makes them compatible with thermal lamination. They feature a metalized polyester core that provides packaged goods with protection from moisture and oxygen as well as another polyester (PET) layer that adds rigidity. The inner layer is a heat-sealable polyethylene (PE) blend that enables the web to be shaped into a pouch, bag, stick pack, or other format as needed. The white version of this thermal pre-lam includes white PET layer that lets digital printers create white packaging without using large amounts of ink.
READY TO TRY STRATAFLEX THERMAL PRE-LAMS?
Get a sample roll of our StrataFlex Thermal Pre-Lams today to perform a trial run and see firsthand how they can transform your packaging workflow. If you aren’t ready to do a trial run yet, our in-house flexible packaging solutions experts are available to talk you through the process and answer any questions you may have. Feel free to reach out by phone or email to continue the conversation and explore if StrataFlex can help you increase capacity on your press and improve your packaging quality.
