ebeam Technologies & Grafisk Maskinfabrik A/S to provide ePac Flexible Packaging with instant OPV curing

ebeam Technologies & Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM), the developers and manufacturers of electron beam (ebeam or EB) curing and coating solutions, will install an ebeam Core 100/760 EB curing unit, mounted on a GM EB30 coating line at epac Flexible Packaging’s Wisconsin, USA, site in Q3, 2018.

With the ebeam Core 100/760, the GM EB30 will enable ePac to achieve instantaneous curing and a high-performance finish to overprint varnish (OPV) onto surface web printed materials from an HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press.

"At ePac, one of our key differentiators is our industry leading time to market.

"The addition of ebeam curing fits well into our business model and will enable us to create enhanced and high-performance finishes for our packaging,” said Jack Knott, CEO, ePac Flexible Packaging.

"ePac is built on the premise that emerging innovative technologies, when properly deployed, will cause disruption within the flexible packaging market.

"We were the first flexible packaging business in North America to rely exclusively on the latest wide-web digital printing technology from HP – the Indigo 20000.

"We’re excited by the possibilities offered by ebeam Technologies, and look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership over the coming years.”

The GM EB30 with an integrated ebeam Core 100/760 is optimised for OPV curing of material printed on an HP Indigo 20000 and delivers numerous competitive advantages to HP Indigo digital press users.

Instantaneous ebeam curing of OPV means that lamination, with its lengthy drying times to ensure bonding, can be eliminated from the finishing stage.

With ebeam, ePac will be able to send fully-cured, OPV coated material directly onto the next stage of production, cutting finishing times to hours instead of days.

This will greatly improve production throughput speeds, process flow and enable an overall faster time to market for ePac’s customers.

In addition to improving turnaround time, ebeam curing produces a high-performance finish with an outstanding look and feel.

High-gloss, matte and soft-touch finishes that are scratch, tear, puncture and fade resistant, result in substantially increased package and label durability and abrasion resistance.

Protection of printed graphics is improved, providing increased heat resistance to reduce damage during heat-sealing or when adding zippers.

The new solution will also enable ePac to realise additional market opportunities by opening up a route to indirect food contact packaging.

Traditional personalised printing processes have been unable to expand into this market due to concerns around the use of photoinitiators in traditional packaging inks to facilitate curing.

With ebeam-curable OPVs from GM, there are no photoinitiators, thereby providing an FDA approved solution for personalised indirect food contact packaging applications.

Also important is the low energy nature of the ebeam curing process which, combined with a lack of chemicals such as photoinitiators, increases sustainability whilst lowering production costs.

"The ebeam Core 100/760 and GM EB30 provide a game changing solution for flexible packaging finishers and converters, so we are delighted that ePac will be trailblazing its use in the USA,” said Karl Swanson, VP Global Sales, ebeam Technologies.

"Printers interested in the production and business benefits of ebeam are invited to visit the ebeam Core 100/760 and GM EB30 at ePac Madison, where our expert team will help them use the finishing line to test different substrates and materials.”