GFIA 2021 Winners
Find out who the independent judges selected as the winners from a competitive field of 208 entries submitted from 24 countries.
Bosisio SA, Celomat SA & Mondelez SA
Awarded Highest Honors
GOLD: Conversion from other print processes, print production workflow and commitment to sustainable print
Mondelez was finding gravure’s longer turnaround times and higher costs were unsuitable for a market demanding a greater variety of products, more quickly, but was initially skeptical about flexo print quality. Bosisio SA and Celomat SA overcame this with a carefully-planned and well-executed implementation of Expanded Color Gamut (ECG).
The judges noted that confectionery brands are generally reluctant to convert from gravure, but the companies demonstrated how flexo provided a cost-effective, high-quality alternative. The SKU-by-SKU approach to ECG implementation employed sometimes four colors, sometimes five, depending on the product. The entry documented the strategy in great detail at every stage from the design stages to how the finished packaging looked on shelf in stores.
Cromograf & Strong SA
GOLD: Print production workflow, commitment to sustainable print and creative use of graphic design
The Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) workflow – based on only the four process colors (CMYK) – implemented by Cromograf and Strong delivers considerable savings in plates, mounting tapes, special inks and solvents, as well as faster press set-up.The workflow also enables brands to introduce new products more quickly with lower investment levels; for example, by running multiple jobs at the same time brands can more easily reach the minimum order values converters require.
Cromograf impressed the judges with the level of detail they provided to show the removal of colors to optimise the ECG workflow. The entry also showed design innovations, including moving press marks inside the print; the resulting 1% reduction in substrate consumption translates into significant cost savings.
Fathom Optics, Grace Label Inc & Confluence Brewing Company
Awarded Highest Honors
GOLD: Conversion from other print processes, commitment to sustainable print and creative use of graphic design
Fathom Optics’ technology is designed for many types of products and packaging types produced on flexo presses. For this entry, they found an unmet need in the craft beer market, which is increasingly crowded as more independent brewers seek shelf space.
Creativity in naming products and artwork is a must to secure valuable shelf space, but due to short run-lengths and the brand’s need for customized graphics, holographic foils or lenticular lenses were too expensive to use. Grace Label offered an innovative solution using light field technology from Fathom Optics on FLEXCEL NX plates. Thin layers of lamination and film were added to the pressure-sensitive label to protect the ink and create the 3D effect.
Litoplas Colombia
SILVER: Conversion from other print processes and print production workflow
A gravure to flexo conversion highlighting what is possible when converter and brand work together closely. The three jobs entered are all examples of an Expanded Color Gamut (ECG) workflow.
The Cordillera sample uses seven-color ECG to reproduce the vivid colors of a complex design on a pouch with a smaller environmental footprint. The Quaker Cookies packaging used four-colour ECG flexo, generating economic efficiencies without losing color space, and the Margarita Onduladas example matches the conventional PMS colored estandard package without losing ECG efficiency benefits. The judges’ agreed that Litoplas did an excellent job both of implementing the workflow and demonstrating the company could achieve the savings and quality levels required by a major global brand.
Lorytex
PLATINUM: Conversion from other print processes, print production workflow, commitment to sustainable print and creative use of graphic design
Lorytex became the first-ever GFIA Platinum winner with an outstanding all-round performance, transforming flexible packaging printed in China to local Extended Color Gamut (ECG) flexo production.
The entry, supported by very detailed documentation, was exceptional for the cooperation it demonstrated between Lorytex, the converter and the brand. Overcoming several technical challenges, all three worked together to successfully implement the ECG workflow. The flexo-printed result more than matched gravure in a much faster time-to-market and yielded additional savings in consumables and freight costs. The brand now produces 90% of its packaging in this way. To date Lorytex has converted almost 300 jobs to flexo ECG printing, demonstrating market conversion of the highest order.
Mega Embalagens, Multipack & Pontyn
Awarded Highest Honors
SILVER: Creative use of graphic design and print production workflow
The industry and the market are demanding more SKU’s and shorter packaging print runs. In response, Mega Embalagens has combined the Extended Color Gamut (ECG) process with the FLEXCEL NX plates, making it possible to combine four different jobs. This combination saved three printing setups and 23 polymer plates, on top of a 40% reduction in setup time.
With this approach, Mega Embalagens was able to provide outstanding print results in batch-sizes that clients were looking for, in a production that was more in balance with the environment.
Numex Blocks India
SILVER: Conversion from other print processes and commitment to sustainable print
For many skin care products, the label or sleeve is typically printed on plastic-based substrates and then applied to the tube. This involves additional production steps and adds complexity and challenges at the recycling stage because the labels and sleeves have to be separated from the tube. Creative Stylo Pack wanted to explore a ‘direct-to-tube’ workflow to remove the variability in recycling and eliminate a manufacturing step.
As most jobs were eight colors, Numex had detailed discussions with printer and brand to establish how best to improve colors or textures, including the choice of varnish.
For the new materials, Creative Stylo invested in a 13-color Omso press. The tubes were of standard PE coextruded construction and were challenging to print on, but using FLEXCEL NX plates excellent results were achieved at 150lpi and a production speed of 130 tubes per minute.
Sunshine FPC & Trisoft Graphics
Awarded Highest Honors
GOLD: Conversion from other print processes, commitment to sustainable print, and print production workflow
California-based Sunshine FPC, a vertically-integrated manufacturer, and prepress tradeshop Trisoft have worked together for some years to prove flexo can compete with, and often outperform, gravure, on quality and cost. The winning entry is a gravure job imported from overseas, yielding freight- and time-savings, as well as improved quality control. Rated by the judges as “an outstanding print job”, it actually comprises two separate items printed as a combination print, using a 250-line screen and 9600-dpi output for exceptionally readable microtext.
This outstanding print was achieved on a sustainable plant-based substrate instead of conventional petroleum-based PET film, Sunshine overcame technical challenges around ink adhesion and was able to reduce the total gauge, size, and dimension of the package, eliminating a lamination process and reducing waste and power consumption.
Tadam & Gruppo Sada spa
SILVER: Conversion from other print processes and print production workflow
Tadam’s customer Sada proposed converting from offset to flexo in order to streamline the production workflow. Printed offset, a 20,000-case order took 20 working days across two production sites; using flexo, printing and die-cutting the same 20,000 order took six hours of processing in a single step.
Working to the FOGRA39 standard for offset printing, Tadam adjusted the graphic files in line with the characteristics of Sada’s Goepfert flexo printing line. The job was printed using FLEXCEL NXC plates and DigiCap 1 Advanced Patterning, achieving a minimum dot hold of 1%. The judges said the flexo product looked superior to its offset predecessor and were impressed with the excellent data documentation supporting the entry.
Technofilms
SILVER: Print production workflow and commitment to sustainable print
Technofilms’ is focused on reducing the number of printed colors in each job, to streamline production and enhance sustainability. The company aims to print over 50% of jobs in CMYK plus – whenever possible – use only one spot color, and reduce spot colors on the remaining jobs, saving time spent adjusting colors, and reducing waste on-press as well as plate and ink consumption. In the Catline entry, reducing spot colors from four to two translated into a 22% reduction in set-up times.
The Rufo entry used new packaging materials manufactured from more sustainable polyethylene microfoam films. These not only reduce weight – by 11% in this case – but also enable more efficient packing for transit. The ink release characteristics of the FLEXCEL NX plates delivered the ink coverage needed on this more challenging structure.
Teruel – Papeis Amalia Ltd
SILVER: Conversion from other print processes and commitment to sustainable print
Teruel not only overcame Colgate’s initial concerns about flexo’s ability to match the quality of gravure for the individual SKUs, but significantly improved the sustainability of the packaging. The difficult to recycle paper laminated with plastic packaging was replaced by a totally recyclable material comprised of two layers of PET bonded using natural resin adhesives.
For Microdots, Teruel took a paper and BOPP wrapper weighing 80gr/m2 – that involved printing, laminating and rewinding, and glue for sealing – and replaced it with a single-layer, 100% recyclable BOPP film wrapper, at 45gr/m2, saving 43.7% in transportation and waste.
Teruel replaced the previous plastic/paper combination material used by Flor soap bars with an impermeable flexible paper that is not only resistant to humidity, water, grease, fungi and bacteria but also recyclable, pulpable and biodegradable.
U. Günther GmbH & Flexo-Service Cl. Jaehde GmbH
GOLD: Conversion from other print processes, print production workflow and commitment to sustainable print
U. Günther’s Impulse Screen technology enables older flexo presses and aniloxes to print at higher standard resolutions – up to 269lpi instead of 150 lpi – matching, and often exceeding, the results possible with gravure. This was the case in this gravure-to-flexo conversion where the judges’ could see how Impulse Screen contributed to the excellent color fidelity and crispness of the print, achieved without print trials or fingerprinting.
Günther demonstrated how FLEXCEL NX and Impulse Screen could achieve resolution two times finer than gravure; ink savings of up to 15% per job; and speed increases up to 25% per run. Impulse Screen requires no investment in new hardware, such as special aniloxes, or high licensing costs, unlike other FM screening solutions.
Victory Graphics
SILVER: Conversion from other print processes, creative use of graphic design
Victory Graphics and sheet-fed corrugated printer Caps Cases constantly push the boundaries of what is possible with flexo post-print. The box was previously litho-laminated, and the brief from the client was to match the visual impact of litho at a lower cost. Flexo post-print was evaluated as more cost-effective than digital and litho.
Produced for luxury fashion brand The Rake, Victory and Caps used a single FLEXCEL NX plate to create the photographic-quality image with its challenging mix of highlights and dark shadows. Printed inside the box to create an enhanced ‘unboxing’ experience for consumers – flexo post-print cost 30% less than litho, and also significantly decreases the lead time for re-orders.