Creation has noticed that converters are increasingly turning towards rotary screen printing due in part to the coronavirus pandemic.
‘While this has been an extraordinarily difficult year for everyone, many across the packaging and label industry have seen a surge in demand for their products, either through initial consumer panic-buying or retailers refilling their supply lines,’ said Matt Francklow, managing director at Creation. ‘This in turn has led to increased pressure on repro houses to be able to deliver quality services, quickly. As the industry now continues its recovery from Covid, we have noticed a significant uplift in demand for rotary screens across our customer base,’ he said.
Specialising in flexo origination, Creation works across sectors including food & beverage and personal & home care and designs solutions for labelling, folding carton, rigid and flexible packaging from its base in Daventry, Northamptonshire.
‘At both the beginning and height of the pandemic, many brands and retailers tackled supply chain issues by stripping back individual SKUs just to get as much as they could into the supply pipelines,’ said Mr Francklow. ‘That has steadily been changing as the industry gets to grips with the new normal, and we are now seeing converters responding to the volatility caused by the coronavirus outbreak. In looking for quality graphics and dense colours delivered quickly and accurately, more and more are turning to rotary screen printing.’
Rotary screen printing delivers faster production rates, is easy to set up and has less dependence on user experience for successful operation. ‘Rotary screens deliver a higher quality output that are also more durable,’ said Mr Francklow. ‘They can also be used on a variety of different print materials, and due to the consistently great finish they are particularly useful for big orders – something which is becoming more important for many converters in the current situation.
‘As a result, the last few weeks have seen a significant rise in demand across our own business, particularly with our range of Kocher & Beck rotary screens, which enable high speed runs and ensure consistent quality, accuracy and registration over long runs. One area seeing a particularly strong uplift in rotary screen demand is in pharmaceutical labels. The rotary screen format is perfectly suited to producing braille, raised characters and tactile warning; they are easily predicted and prevented them from losing shape over longer print runs. Similar to the FMCG sector, as demand for healthcare and pharmaceutical products surges, it’s natural that rotary screens would follow the same trajectory.’
As well as delivering consistency, the rotary screens can handle 4000dpi HD imaging to give the finest detail, while symmetrical, durable fabric ensures high speed printing, stability and long life.
The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed consumer buying habits and as result the whole label and packaging sector is still operating in exceptional circumstances.
