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Focus: Packaging:IML packaging? Here? Oui! (Web-exclusive expanded content)
April 1, 2004
10 Min Read
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Inmold labeling can be profitable, says one Canadian molder. The key is having the right equipment—and knowing that a dollar earned is a dollar invested.
A multinational supplier of dairy products packaging agreed to help its customers grow their businesses in North America by starting an advanced inmold labeling (IML) operation in Canada. Though it just opened for business in 2000, North America IML Containers (St-Placide, PQ) expects to produce 100 million IML containers this year. It also plans to add one or two more presses by year’s end.
Its parent company is Groupe Lacroix (Lacroix Group), which has its global headquarters in Bois d’Amont, France and operates 17 other production facilities in Poland, Romania, Russia, and Algeria. Lacroix Group produces packaging products in wood and cardboard in addition to plastics.
It had already established Lacroix Packaging Inc. in St-Placide in 1997 to produce wood and cardboard packaging for its NAFTA clientele. North America IML Containers focuses exclusively on injection molding IML containers. It molds some of the most technologically challenging IML containers on the grocery store shelves today, and its good-part yield exceeds 98%.
“If we had just 90% yield, we’d shut down,†says Nicolas Bouveret, GM, who had no experience in injection molding prior to 2000. “Our goal is to achieve the same productivity and production speed as would be possible molding packages without IML. That’s the way it has to be for us to be profitable and competitive.â€
So, we ask, is IML a profitable packaging niche?
“Yes, it’s a good niche,†he says. “But with this type of operation, for every additional dollar of business, you need to invest an additional dollar.â€
Molding Plastics Is Easy
The facility is 8000 sq m (86,111 sq ft) and consumes 2.5 million lb/year of PP and PS. Its materials handling equipment is from Novatec. There are 30 employees working 24/5 and the company runs eight molding machines ranging from 90 to 500 tons. Lacroix Group runs about 30 presses overseas, more than 25 of which are Netstals.
“We had to buy our first two machines in a hurry. We chose Husky machines first because of its close proximity to our plant, and I have to say they helped us very much in getting started. We thought Netstal was too far away,†says Bouveret. “Now we prefer Netstals. The Group has far more experience using Netstal machines.â€
He’s most impressed by the ease of use of Netstal’s control system. “It has a very easy user interface. It’s very friendly, it provides flawless process control, and I like the machine-robot interface.†(See “Controlling the IML Process,†for more on Netstal’s control systems).
Believe it or not, Nicolas finds high-speed, thin-wall IML container molding to be a relatively easy task.
“Cardboard and wood are much more difficult materials to work with at high speeds,†he says. “They are more unstable. The effects of humidity on cardboard and wood make it much more difficult to hold your specifications and there is more warp and breakage. If you’ve got a good mold and good machines, molding plastic is no big technical hassle. You just push the button.â€
Molds and Labels
North America IML sources most of its molds from Top Grade Molds (Mississauga, ON) and Plastisud (Castelnaudary, France). It has about 30 active tools and participates closely in mold design. Its valve gate hot runner systems are sourced from a variety of suppliers, including Top Grade, Männer, Husky, and Plastisud.
“It was two-cavity tooling when we started in 2000. Now it’s 2x6 stack molds, each with about a 48 million-container-per-year capacity,†Bouveret says.
Typical label thicknesses range from 57 to 75 µm. The company uses labels that are offset printed with up to 10 different colors. And it frequently uses multilayer labels consisting of polyolefin substrates with barrier layers made from EVOH, aluminum, and other materials.Its labels are sourced from European suppliers, which Bouveret chooses not to identify for competitive reasons.
“We use the label suppliers we trust to deliver the cut quality we require at the right cost,†he says. “They know what we want and what we expect.â€
Bouveret doesn’t expect his label suppliers will be moving to North America any time soon. He estimates that it would involve a minimum capital investment of at least $5 million for them to move here. “They would need a well-established marketplace here first before making such an investment.â€
Top-secret Cells
You won’t see any details about the handling system cells at North America IML Containers in this story. Cell design is proprietary, classified information, according to Bouveret.However, he does tell us that the beside-press handling systems at North America IML Containers allow the company to automatically change labels on the fly with no production slowdown—everything from flat single-side labels, to five-sided labels, to wraparounds. Its cells also allow quick changeovers between single-face and stack tooling.
“Sometimes specific market areas, specific states in the U.S. require specific labeling. One of our products uses 17 different labels on a single package shape.â€
A single plastic lid and container also can be molded in different colors, warranting quick color changeovers. Maintenance of the color intensity is a necessity in such cases to prevent washing out the label.
“The chiller is a very important auxiliary control variable in such cases,†Bouveret says. “An easy-to-use, responsive, fully integrated interface for the machine, mold, robot, and handling system is an absolute necessity.â€
Contact Information North America IML Containers Inc., St-Placide, PQ |
Controlling the IML process Netstal has more than 300 successful IML molding installations. In Europe, the largest market for IML package production, it owns an 85%-plus market share for IML injection molding machines and turnkey IML systems, according to Rick Shaffer, president of Netstal Machinery Inc. (Devens, MA), North America IML Containers’ preferred supplier. Shaffer says clamp position control for IML is much more critical than it is for more conventional high-speed, thin-wall packaging applications. There’s a much smaller margin for error, since the handling system is placing labels and removing parts from both sides of the mold. Working in tandem with a high-speed servovalve, Netstal’s patented closed loop clamp position control system is designed to provide the speed and accuracy required for IML. Shaffer says Netstal’s controller also can accurately choreograph the parts-removal robot and the mold when they move in concert. Such parallel motions minimize nonproductive mold-open dead time, increasing productivity. Precision closed loop clamp force control also facilitates venting, minimizing any chance of burning the materials. This can be challenging, since the label offers insulation on only one side of the cavity. High Velocity The Netstal’s velocity control is another reported plus in IML applications. A fast-response servovalve is mounted directly to the actuator in Netstal’s accumulator-powered injection unit. Netstal also uses a velocity sensor, as well as a position sensor to improve injection response time and accuracy. It reportedly is the only machinery OEM to do so. The high-speed response of this patented system allows IML molders, like North America IML Containers, to fine-tune filling and holding. “Keep in mind that the label thickness reduces the wall thickness, so less plastic is being delivered into the mold,†Shaffer says. “Therefore, fast acceleration becomes more important than in normal packaging applications.†A Netstal SynErgy 5000, a 500-tonner like those at North America IML Containers, dry cycles at just 2 seconds. “When you consider that there will be time required for placing the label and removing finished parts, moving the clamp quickly and accurately takes on more importance than ever before,†says Shaffer. Fully integrated hot runner control is just another key Netstal control system feature. Such integration opens up beside-press floor space for IML handling systems. Netstal Machinery Inc. |
The IML market: An insider's view Christine Bouveret, sales and marketing manager for the Lacroix Group in North America, says she definitely thinks the U.S. market for IML packaging services will quickly grow. “Packaging companies are always looking for distinctive labels and packaging shapes for a number of reasons, including market branding, reduced advertising costs, productivity, product durability, product volume optimization, and recycling,†she says. “There also are new labeling requirements regarding detailed ingredient and nutritional information. Companies need to adapt their labeling to these new regulations.†IML technology is a means by which North America IML Containers helps its customers redesign their images. It partners with its customers very early on, determining every detail of package design and such factors as the stability and handling of the labels, whether clear or opaque labels are desired, and whether oxygen or moisture barrier labels are needed. Bouveret says the time it takes to go from art to part ranges anywhere from seven months to two years. At Lacroix Group’s product and production design center in Europe, the company designs a 2-D plan to optimize the production technologies involved, including package stacking and filling. Then it develops a 3-D preview design of the package before prototyping the design. Inmold Value Cost is a primary concern. Simple, round dairy product packages once were less expensive to mold. Bouveret says that’s no longer the case. Tooling is less expensive for a round container. That, she says, is a given. But the cost of a part with a decoration by IML is the best value for the money. Only dry-offset printing on a round container is cheaper, but the quality is poorer. IML adds even more value. “IML labels don’t crack or rub off, even in the dishwasher. A round container may be misplaced on a store shelf in such a way so that the label is not visible. With IML, the label can always show. This has a tremendously positive impact on our customers’ advertising cost savings.†North America IML Containers also molds some nondairy IML containers, such as packaging for kitty litter and diaper dispensers. One of these customers found the company through the Internet. Although it attends trade shows, Bouveret says the company’s most potent sales force is its packages. “Our best vendors are the distinctive products we produce, sitting on the shelves,†she says. Lacroix Packaging Inc. |
Web-exclusive sidebar: That’s the word from John Plut of Top Grade Molds (TGM; Mississauga, ON). IML is one of TGM’s target markets. Plut estimates that the company has been building IML tooling for at least six or seven years, starting out with IML pail molds. The largest IML packaging mold it has built to date is a 2x8 stack. “I believe IML will be to injection molded plastics what LSR was to rubber,†Plut says. “It has enormous growth potential. Many thought the technology was too expensive and too technologically intensive, but many in the packaging industry here in North American are quickly realizing that’s not the case.†Plut says folks on these shores are coming to see that IML molding is not nearly as hard as they thought—that it’s not a mythical technology at all. TGM only builds IML molds, not complete IML systems. It does works in tandem with other IML equipment suppliers, but only on a nonexclusive basis. Top Grade Molds |
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