Huntley, IL-based converter Catty Corp. purchases a new 26-in. Evolution in-line flexographic press from Paper Converting Machine Co. (www.pcmc.com). Founded in 1907 as a cellophane converter, Catty Corp. today manufactures flexible packaging for a wide range of customers in the food, confectionery and pharmaceutical markets.

"We were able to bring some of our regular print jobs to the PCMC Technology Center," explains Bruce A. Scott, owner and president of Catty Corp. "We were very happy with the performance of the Evolution using our work as a benchmark. Our operators gave us positive feedback on the equipment, and we made the decision to purchase."

The PCMC Evolution is an in-line press that offers an unusual print-deck design for excellent registration, reportedly the shortest web path of similar-use presses, quick changeover, and has multi-substrate capabilities that allow converters to get into different markets, the supplier says.

A new 5-layer blown-film line from the Davis-Standard Converting Systems Group (www.davis-standard.com) has enabled Sioux Falls, SD, converter Raven Industries to expand its product development and manufacturing capabilities.

Raven, a converter of construction, agriculture and industrial packaging films, installed the system last spring to develop new products using nylon and EVOH resins. The machine features five extruders and an oscillating haul-off with bag-gussetting capability. An EPIC control system provides extensive recording using commercial hardware and software. Several products are currently being evaluated by customers, which Raven hopes to move into production shortly. The 64-in.-wide line is also used for conventional polyolefin product manufacturing.

"Davis-Standard's Converting Systems Group is easy to work with and the field technical support personnel are excellent," says Gary Kolbasuk, senior product-development engineer at Raven Industries. "This is our first line with more than three layers and the only one we use for nylon and EVOH. It has given us greater capacity to develop new products while serving our growing production demands."

Raven's engineered films division supplies a broad range of monolayer, co-extruded and scrim-reinforced films. The company extrudes, laminates and converts very-low to high-density polyethylene and polypropylene films ranging from ultra-thin 0.25-mil to 40 mils in thickness.

Much of Raven's film is used in-house on the company's laminators where a reinforcement material such as polyester scrim is added. The reinforced films are then fabricated into larger sheets or tarps. Raven's key product lines: precise packaging film, high-strength construction films and puncture-resistant geomembrane liners. Films manufactured by Raven are being used in the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina. Raven also recently purchased unwind stations and winders from Davis-Standard.

Salt Lake City-based folding-carton converter Utah Paper Box Co. installed a new Steuer Foiljet 104 FBR stamper last month from Bobst Group USA, Inc. (www.bobstgroup.com).

According to Paul Keyser, UPB president and chief executive officer, "Our focus on fine printing and unique finishing is our true competitive advantage. We offer high-end rigid boxes and folding cartons as well as litho-lamination, so our customers only have to interact with one supplier, thereby reducing the production cycle."

In addition to equipment ranging up to 56 × 40-in., 7-color presses and Bobst foil-stamping platen presses, UPB added the Steuer Foiljet 104 FBR, which is said to be the only sheetfed foil-stamping press that uses the "round-round" principle of application. This allows the press to perform high-quality application of all foils including large solids, ultra-fine text and holograms. The "round-round" rotary application also enables the machine to reach speeds of 12,000 sph, or nearly twice as fast as the fastest conventional foil stampers, Bobst says.

"The Bobst-Steuer will enable us to create the same effect as expensive foil board only at a much lower price," Keyser explains. "In-stead of using entire sheets of foil board, we'll be able to put foil exactly where it's needed." This application is well suited to UPB's roster of clients, which includes confectionery, cosmetics and liquor packagers.

Steuer products are manufactured in Germany and supported in the US by Bobst Group.

McNeely Plastics Products, Inc., of Clinton, MS, will install its second film-extrusion line from Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. (www.whcorp.com). The 87-in., three-layer VAREX® system is expected to be placed at the company's production facility in Clinton in April.

Following its recent merger with Mega Plastics, McNeely is an extruder, printer and converter of bags, sheets and film for the industrial, institutional and retail-packaging needs of a diverse range of businesses.

"We only purchase new equipment with the very latest technology," says company president Greg McNeely. Furthermore, the company invests heavily in improving the skills of its employees by using 5S and Six Sigma methods. "[It is] superior production efficiencies that allow us to make up some of the ground we may lose to the bigger players in our industry."

The new W&H extrusion line will be installed next to the existing three-layer W&H line, which the company added last year and describes as "having performed flawlessly over the last 18 months." The second line features the OPTIFIL® P2 system for thermal gauge-profile control and the FILMATIC® S dual winder.

According to Dave Clarke, vice president of manufacturing for McNeely, "Our experience with the first W&H three-layer line gave us the confidence to return to W&H for our second line." Clarke focuses on W&H's accompanying service as having made a tremendous impact: "The after-sales support has been first-class—we have access to every level of W&H management 24/7 through phone or e-mail, even when they are traveling out of the country."

Recently, McNeely Plastics underwent a 50,000-sq-ft expansion to accommodate its growth expectations and its customers' needs. "The new addition to the existing facility allows for up to four more extrusion lines. We are currently drawing up the specifications for a new seven-layer line," says Clarke.

Natronia Heights, PA-based converter General Press Corp. has grown into a major sheetfed-label printer, so much so that the company is adding two new systems from MAN Roland: a seven-color ROLAND 700 and a six-color ROLAND 500 offset press, both equipped with in-line coating (www.manroland.com).

The Pittsburgh-area facility operates a 60,000-sq-ft production plant and lists general commercial work and package printing among its capabilities. But it is label projects, in both plastic and paper, that have sparked the company's growth. When asked how he would rate the performance of his existing MAN Roland press, General's president James Wolff replies, "We just bought two more."

Specifics of the 41-in. Roland 700 and 29-in. Roland 500 include printnet/PECOM press control and automation, as well as auto plateloading and blanket wash. In addition to an infrared dryer and IR thermal air dryer, the presses will feature interdeck UV and end-of-press UV dryers. For printing synthetic substrates, there will be ionized air delivery and anti-static systems on each print unit.

These specs lead to pressroom capabilities that have helped General Press win new business. One example: A leading beverage company came to the printer with an identity problem. Its paper labels were dissolving in the ice-water baths used to cool its bottles in stores during the summer months. General suggested switching to oriented polypropylene (OPP) film labels. The obstacle: The films were typically printed on web-fed flexographic equipment, but the customer used flat-sheet equipment to apply the labels.

General successfully tested 75-micron opaque OPP sheets on its Roland 700 and was awarded the contract. Later, a thinner, transparent version of the substrate was substituted without slowing production. "Imagine, a sheetfed-offset printer feeding, printing and delivering a 57-micron clear OPP film," Wolff says. "Our film supplier tells us we may be the only offset printer in the US with the capability to print on such a lightweight film."

General Press doesn't plan to restrict its new MAN Roland presses to plastic label projects, as credit-card work is also on its to-do list. "The new presses will go from printing OPP film to 24-pt credit cards," Wolff says. "That's the range of thicknesses our current Roland 700 handles now, so the new presses will fit right in."