A new spin on DVD packaging

Packaging of optical media is a hotly contested, high-volume market. At the K show in late October, two industry leaders took time to announce initiatives for the application.

It''s no surprise that the digital video disc (DVD) market inspired attention. The DVD has been a breakaway winner in the multibillion-dollar home entertainment industry. More than 60% of U.S. households now own a DVD player, and by 2007 so will more than 67% of European homes, according to industry research group Screen Digest (London).

The group notes that money spent buying and renting DVDs overtook spending on VHS cassettes in 2002, and by 2008 will account for 93% of spending on video software. DVDs are purchased at much higher rates than videos, making packaging more important to consumers, since they must live with it. DVD packaging is almost exclusively produced in polypropylene (PP).

New entrants

Throwing their hat in the ring during the K show were officials at Husky Injection Molding Systems (Bolton, ON), who touted results of Husky''s work with Swiss moldmaker AWM (Muri) and German automation specialist Ilsemann Automation (Bremen).

Material savings with the new system are significant. The trio have developed a demonstration system for molding eight 63g DVD boxes every six seconds. Many cases currently weigh as much as 75g. At 95% system efficiency, the economics of DVD box molding are improved by 10%, according to Husky officials.

The firms also claim that mold maintenance and accessibility is improved. Husky''s machine-based stack mold carrier allows for full-stroke servicing. On the mold, water and air connections are easily reached and the number of hoses has been limited. The Husky back-to-back valve gate hot runner system allows for maintenance in the press, eliminating the need to remove the mold.

During the K show, only the post-molding automation portion of the system was on display. The automation is designed to remove case halves from a mold, assemble them, and then stack them for cooling. After molding, DVD cases must sit for 8 to 10 hours cool entirely and avoid further shrinkage after the DVD is inserted.

The complete system can be seen in operation during the next year at Husky''s Advanced Manufacturing Center in Bolton. Husky and its partners worked with polyolefins supplier Basell on the project to help it develop machinery and molds that account for regional differences in the grade of PP used for these cases.

In Europe, a PP grade with a melt flow index of about 40 to 60 typically is used, whereas in North America one with an MFI of 100 is used, explains Anna Sgro, market manager, media, at Husky. In Asia, grades used have much lower MFIs. Husky says it already has placed several systems for these cases in North America and Europe.

Additives supplier Milliken (Spartanburg, SC) used the event to promote its material for these packages. Milliken is keen to have processors see DVD packaging its way-that is, transparent. Pedro Van Hoecke, global business development director, says the advantage of transparent versus translucent packaging is primarily the improved aesthetic value, a big issue in this marketing-driven environment.

Further, DVD cases now have an outside plastic sleeve with a paper graphic insert and a separate booklet inside to display more information. Transparent packaging allows for double-sided printing of a single insert, eliminating the need for an outer sleeve (like a CD jewel box).

In Australia, about 95% of DVD cases are transparent, says Hoecke. He reckons it drops to 30% in Asia and 20% in Europe. In the U.S., transparent PP cases have been limited primarily to DVDs for television series and music.

Milliken thinks enough of the market''s potential to throw some management muscle into it, recently shifting Michel-Georges Roussel, European marketing manager, to a newly created position focused on the marketing of Milliken''s additives into the optical media packaging market.

Matthew Defosse [email protected]

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