Akey component of good converting management involves knowing when to concentrate on a particular market—as well as when that market is drying up, and it’s time to branch out. Managers at Constantia Multifilm (Elgin, IL), who had traditionally focused on serving Chicago-area candy companies with high-quality printed and metallized twist wraps, saw that the local candy market was migrating to foreign plants.

Many of the converter’s core areas of expertise—extrusion, metallizing, printing and the like—were transferable to other types of high-barrier food packaging. It was time to venture into new markets with new products, and Constantia Multifilm, with the help of its very large multinational parent Constantia, began making its own barrier films—specializing in those with high water-vapor and gas barriers. These have proven especially effective for coffee, nuts, dried fruits, snack foods and cheese packaging.

One of these high-barrier constructions, dubbed Hi-Z™, is a two-ply laminate designed to replace more expensive triplex laminations, while featuring the barrier properties, optics and machinability of the triplex. It can be laminated to OPP or PET, and reverse printed. It can also be laminated to paper in the event a customer wants to replace a P/P/F/P structure. A great deal of R&D time and energy was expended tweaking the product’s physical properties (gloss, optical density, coefficient of friction, seal range and strength, MVTR, OTR, gauge and yield) in each of four grades: 1-, 1.2-, 1.6- and 2-mil.

According to the company, pilot customers in the U.S. (See “End-Product Profile”) have been experiencing success using the product to replace more expensive laminates.

Another high-barrier laminate is N-Coat™, a clear, water-based coating that uses nano-based technology to achieve a gas barrier that is comparable to most metallized structures. This new laminate is a coated 48-gauge polyester that can be reverse-printed and laminated to a polypropylene or polyethylene sealant web. “With N-Coat we are targeting the nut, coffee and dry-foods industries where a transparent high gas-barrier package is important,” says Constantia Multifilm president Olle Mannertorp. “The barrier is three to four times better than a PVdC-coated polyester film at a lower coating weight and cost.” He explains that moving away from chlorine-based PVdC is a great environmental advantage to the company.

And with new products often comes the need for new machinery. “At about the same time we were launching Hi-Z, we knew we needed a newer laminator here at the Elgin plant,” Mannertorp says. With speed, efficiency and the increasing use of solventless adhesives in mind, Multifilm installed a high-speed Nordmeccanica Super Simplex solventless duplex laminator last fall.

Featuring shaftless unwind and rewind, the laminator has trolleys to move and lift rolls and transfer cylinders, motorized unwinders, a web-guide device, and other ergonomic and labor-saving features. It handles webs up to 59 in. wide and runs at speeds of up to 1,200 fpm.

The Nordmeccanica laminator took its place alongside a water-based laminator, several high-speed slitters, two cast-extrusion lines, a metallizer, and three wide-web flexographic presses which can print in up to six colors each. A state-of-the-art AVT automatic defect-detection system monitors print quality, and a 5-layer lab extruder lets engineers try out new material formulations.

Finding a full quality-assurance lab on site is not surprising, given that Multifilm follows HAACP and GMP guidelines, and has achieved ISO 9000 certification. The company’s own proprietary QA system, as ISO 9000 guidelines mandate, ensures traceability of incoming and outgoing materials throughout the plant.

So, as the new laminator powers up, Constantia Multifilm finds itself in a position to offer itself as a full-service flexible-packaging converting partner to food customers in need of twist wraps, high-barrier flow-wraps, standup pouches, coffee film and other laminated films. This is a profitable niche, since these customers are willing to pay more for high-end graphics, metallization and barrier performance.

Mannertorp believes that twist wrap will continue to be an important market for the company, but growth will be limited and come mainly from South America and Mexico. Taking its place will be North American dried-food customers using the company’s barrier laminates for the above-mentioned applications. He also sees the company’s vertical integration enabling them to continue to come up with custom laminations for specialty films—and they have the corporate muscle to continue to invest in innovation. With or without a vibrant North American confectionery business, the future looks sweet.