Coating and laminating operations, like all parts of the converting industry, are being affected by globalization.

The converting world is becoming a smaller and smaller place—especially across Europe. The industry is also becoming more consolidated and dominated by fewer, but larger, groups.

The same goes for the industry's end-user customers—particularly those involved in packaging, as they consolidate their businesses to gain the required critical mass and clout. A classic example: Australia-based Amcor's recent teaming of Danisco and Akerlund & Rausing to form Amcor Flexibles Europe.

The new, combined entity has 40 plants in 14 countries, making it the largest supplier of flexible packaging in Europe.

Converters specializing in coating and laminating have a good opportunity to see these global changes up close and personal next April 9-17 at the IPEX 2002 trade fair. Developments in European business and technology will be highlighted via the special Converflex @ IPEX Hall at the National Exhibition Ctr. in Birmingham, U.K.

Similar consolidation movements among machinery makers and other vendors are also afoot. One of the latest developments: the acquisition by Converting Technologies of long-established TH Dixon. Dixon adds lightweight coating technology to the group's current more heavy-duty equipment base and is expected to move away from producing custom machines to manufacturing four or five product lines.

Acquisitions such as these not only make commercial sense but also can provide a more dynamic approach to the provision of converting solutions, a rapidly essential need as the industry faces constant and ever increasing pressure from all directions. On the one hand, despite mergers and acquisitions, the Euro marketplace is still overcrowded. Consequently, everyone is looking for ways to be more flexible and to reduce costs, especially as end users become ever more demanding.

Then, there's the environmental element with governments, customers and green groups all demanding that the industry in Europe clean up its act. This is probably the most problematic area at present, not helped by green groups raising toxicity issues (subsequently proven inaccurate). Wide variations in eco-legislation from country to country even lead to disagreement over such basics as what constitutes a VOC, and how to properly measure it.

One result particularly upsetting the industry at the moment, at least in the U.K., is that major retail chains accept packaging produced to very different environmental standards, ignoring the fact that the whole world is affected by VOC emissions. Indeed, the environment seems to be the one area which is not going global—at least not fast enough.

Admittedly, there are moves afoot to try to ensure that all industrial companies, wherever they are based, adhere to the same strict regulations. The trouble is that although everybody is aware of what impact their processes can have on the environment, their ability to change is more likely to be a cost issue or the lack of a green alternative. Still, coating and laminating equipment and materials makers are working hard to develop solutions.

Next year's major international fair—IPEX 2002—will be the ideal place to check out the aforementioned trends. At least one exhibitor is expected to set up live video links between the stand and a machine in actual production, enabling questions to be asked of people on the shop floor.

Also ask about plant visits since there have been some major installations in the U.K. recently. For instance, CMR (Paderno, Italy) has installed a large solventless laminator with two inline printing stations, while another U.K. plant installed a Bobst-Schiavi (Piacenza, Italy) Ecoflex laminator that combines solventless and solvent production.

Although solventless is the preferred option from the eco-viewpoint, it's now recognized that it will probably never be possible to totally eliminate solvents, whether from a cost or superior-product standing. Interestingly, it seems that flexo-based converters that use simpler substrates tend to go for solventless production to yield added value, while those involved with gravure and costlier materials prefer solvent/water-based solutions. This is despite the tradition of inline laminating using interchangeable trolleys.

There is also a trend to use the gravure presses purely for printing, while operating the laminating and coating offline. As a result, many European converting lines are now more sophisticated, having splicing and insetting capabilities, for example, due to their value-added qualities.

While the majority of coater/laminators, at least in the U.K., have adjusted operations to adhere to new VOC regulations, it seems there are an increasing number moving back to solvent-based production from solventless, and installing some form of solvent recovery, incineration or bio system.

Other than for large gravure plants, incineration tends to be the most popular option because the volume of recovered solvents is relatively small and/or the solvents are mixed making them useful only for cleaning purposes or as a fuel. However, an area attracting increasing attention is biotechnology. It has the benefits of operating at ambient temperatures; it actually exhausts less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than incineration; and is more efficient and hence more cost-effective, particularly in locales with erratic air flows.

Another area worth checking out in this respect is energy curing. Although such systems may not be practical for low-cost, high-volume production, there have been some significant technological improvements. These are enabling higher power output and therefore higher production speeds due to more focused wavelengths and the introduction of UV-inert systems that have the added advantage of lower photoinitiator levels, and hence lower cost.

Even electron beam, which could be described as a solution looking for a problem, has been given a boost through the introduction of SunBeam coatings from Sun Chemical (Northlake, Ill.). Reportedly the first low-extractable EB coating that is FDA-compliant for direct food contact, it can be used in flexible films, multiwall sacks and food cartons where inside coating is required.

When it comes to coating and laminating, the message of success must surely be "lateral thinking." These processes give product protection, but they can also offer creativity in terms of the product itself and the technologies used to produce it.

More info on IPEX 2002: 44/20-7850-7564, fax: 44/20-7850-7503, www.ipex.org