Peter Rigney Package Of The Year Award

Unifoil Corporation
Product: MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse

The Association of Industrial Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators bestowed its Metallized Product of the Year Award on Unifoil Corp., Fairfield, New Jersey, at a banquet on Thursday, March 17th during its March Management Meeting (March 16-19, 2005). The award honors the late Peter Rigney, former publisher of Paper, Film and Foil Converter magazine and long-time champion of the competition, who passed away in 1997.

Unifoil laminates and coats the registered rainbow display carton for the high-end MX 1000 Laser Cordless Mouse from Logitech Inc., Fremont, California. Designed and contract packaged by Everett Graphics, Inc., Oakland, California, the carton consists of two sheets of 12-point solid bleached sulfate laminated to shimless rainbow polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, which has been top-coated with an acrylic print primer. Spectratek Technologies, Inc., Los Angeles, California, supplies and metallizes the PET film. One laminated sheet is mounted to micro flute corrugated board for added strength. Another piece of the unprinted rainbow 12-point board is inserted into the box to form a curved background behind the mouse, which is positioned in the center of the spherical rainbow. The 12-point laminated material provides a smooth surface for the reflective insert and allows for the highlight embossing on the outer box to create a dimensional look and feel. Printing is done with ultraviolet inks. The upscale package differentiates the product as top line and clearly communicates its premium position. The judges were impressed with the package design, which shows off the product while being pilfer-resistant, as well as its execution. "With diecutting, embossing and holographic imagery throughout, this is a very sophisticated package," commented one judge.

Food Category: Marketing Award

Industries Limited
Product: McDowell's Whiskey Pack

In the Food Category, the Marketing Award went to Flex Industries Limited, Noida, India, for a metallized pouch for bottles of whiskey. The McDowell's Whiskey Pack for UB Group, Spirits, Bangalore, India, consists of 12-micrometre PET/12-micrometre metallized PET/75-micrometre low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The PET film is reverse printed in eight colors on a rotogravure press and dry laminated to the metallized PET and LDPE films. The bag costs about 20% less and provides a superior appearance compared to the surface-printed carton it replaces. A die-cut opening in the seal area provides a carry handle, and the design also discourages counterfeiting because once opened, it cannot be reused. Pouches are automatically loaded and sealed and then packed in partitioned cases to protect bottles from breakage. Flex Industries designed, metallized and converted the package and also provided the substrate. The judges noted that this is a new category for flexible packaging replacing rigid. They also were impressed by the appearance and anticounterfeiting features of the package. "It's a unique solution," they said.

Food Category: Technical Award

Vacumet Corp.
Product: Kellogg Cereal Bowl Lidding

Vacumet Corp., Wayne, New Jersey, captured the Technical Award in the Food Category for a peelable lidstock for single-serving "bowls" of cereal from Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, Michigan. Vacumet metallizes the PET in the multilayer lidstock, which consists of print/35-pound coated-one-side paper/polyethylene/48-gauge metallized PET/hot melt adhesive and is converted by American Packaging Corp., ELC Division, Rochester, New York. The metallized PET provides barrier properties equivalent to foil and allows the new lidstock to replace a more complex and expensive paper/PE/foil/adhesive/PET/heat-seal coating structure without compromising barrier properties, machine performance or peelability. At the same time, the metallized PET improves flex crack resistance, tear resistance and chemical resistance compared to foil-based constructions. The judges were impressed by the material's combination of superior barrier properties and lower cost, as well as the fact that it can serve as a drop-in replacement for its foil-based predecessor.

Nonfood Category: Technical Award

Graphic Packaging International
Product: DorPak™ for Preen® Fertilizer

In the Nonfood Category, Graphic Packaging International, Performance Packaging Division, Marietta, Georgia, took home the Technical Award for a multilayer container for Preen® Garden Weed Preventer from Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, Lebanon, Pennsylvania. To protect the product and maintain a good appearance despite adverse storage conditions in outdoor retail displays and consumers' garages and sheds, the ovalized, rigid Dorpak™ container consists of a reverse-printed, vacuum metallized PET extrusion laminated to a multi-ply paperboard with a PE inner layer. Graphic Packaging metallizes and converts the metallized PET. Other participants in the project include design and contract packaging by Cin-Made Packaging Group, Cincinnati, Ohio. The paperboard from Kappa Attica Packaging, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, consists of a layer of old corrugated container fibre sandwiched between laminated outer sheets and a 48-point, 900 gram/square metre sheet. The new structure has helped boost sales more than 600% and replaces a label-laminated or direct-printed version that was less water resistant. Judges recognized the functional benefit the metallized PET gives the structure and described the package as an "improvement over the bag in the garage."

Healthcare, Cosmetics and Toiletries Category: Marketing Award

Unifoil Corporation
Product:Tommy Cosmetics Gift Packs

Unifoil swept the Healthcare, Cosmetics and Toiletries Category, capturing both the Marketing and Technical Awards.

The Marketing Award honors a holographic set-up box for Holiday 2004 gift packs of Tommy Hilfiger brand Tommy Boy and Tommy Girl fragrances from Estee Lauder Inc., New York, New York. Unifoil converts the custom registered Holographic UniLustre™ paper, an 80-pound metallized litho stock, which is register-printed with ultraviolet transparent ink (blue for the men's product, red for the women's) and top-coated. Toray Plastics (America), Inc., North Kingstown, Rhode Island, provides the base film substrate to Crown Roll Leaf, Inc., Paterson, New Jersey, which embosses and metallizes it. The design is the brand's latest and most complex use of star graphics, a traditional element for Tommy holiday packaging. The sharp, eight-point stars require registration within 0.015 inch in either direction. Contract packaging is by R. Hochman Papers, Great Neck, NY. The judges cited the shelf impact of the sparkling graphics. "There's an illusion of motion," noted one.

Healthcare, Cosmetics and Toiletries Category: Technical Award

Unifoil Corporation
Product: Oral-B Whitening Pen

Unifoil swept the Healthcare, Cosmetics and Toiletries Category, capturing both the Marketing and Technical Awards.

The Technical Award in the Healthcare Cosmetics and Toiletries Category honors Unifoil, which laminates, coats and sheets the acrylic-coated metallized polyester/18-point solid bleached sulfate carton for the Oral-B/Rembrandt Whitening Pen from Gillette, South Boston, Massachusetts. Celplast Metallized Products Limited, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, metallizes the polyester substrate provided by Toray Plastics (America), Inc. Printing with ultraviolet inks allows the metallized surface of the film to shine through and capture attention in the crowded toothpaste aisle. Inks ensure very white whites, a critical feature for a product touting its whitening capabilities, while an embossed surface adds texture. House of Packaging, Inc., City of Industry, California, contract packages the tooth whitening pen. "There were a lot of printing challenges," observed one judge.

Label-Retail Category: Technical Award

Flex Products Inc.
Product: SecureShift® MetaSwitch™ Label

Flex Products Inc., a JDS Uniphase Company, Santa Rosa, California, won the Technical Award in the Label-Retail Category for its SecureShift® MetaSwitch™ label. The anticounterfeiting label relies on pressure-sensitive adhesive, polyester film, multiple station printing and a combination of matching color-shifting and non-color-shifting inks to create a difficult-to-duplicate graphic design, which is only visible at certain viewing angles. Key to the anticounterfeiting capability is the ink's incorporation of SecureShift microflakes, which are based on optically variable pigment. "The MetaSwitch label offers a way to authenticate a product without a reader," commented one judge. "The color shift just pops," said another.

Other Category: Technical Award

PROMA Technologies Inc.
Product: The Democratic National Convention Pass

Security also was the priority in the production of passes for the Democratic National Convention in 2004. PROMA Technologies Inc., Franklin, Massachusetts, won the Technical Award in the Other Category as the substrate supplier and metallizer on the project for the Democratic National Committee, Washington, D.C. PROMA worked with Globe Ticket and Label Company, Warminster, Pennsylvania, to create the custom two-dimensional/three-dimensional holographic logo and produce the custom HoloSECURE security paper for the passes. After laminating by Foil Laminating Inc., Plymouth, Indiana, Globe Ticket and Label printed the material in four colors on one side and two colors on the reverse on a six-color, 16-inch press from Mark Andy, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri. Serialized numbers were added in a secondary operation. Other security features include specialized inks, color-coding to identify specific attendee groups and access; proprietary coatings with forensic markers; a proprietary cover security taggant supplied by Stardust Technologies, Inc., Bellevue, Washington; and backside printing with a hot-stamp hologram. "The ticket's simple appearance belies its complexity," agreed the judges.

Industrial Category: Marketing Award

Film Technologies International Inc.
Product: Spandrel-Gard

In the Industrial Category, the Marketing Award goes to Film Technologies International Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida, for its role in the production of spandrel glass from Prelco Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Film Technologies converts two versions of adhesive-coated window film, which Prelco applies to glass for installation on buildings in non-vision areas such as the spaces between floors or other inaccessible areas. Film Technologies produces the films on a 72-inch-wide coater/laminator from Faustel, Inc., Germantown, Wisconsin. The basic structure consists of 12.7-micrometre silicone-coated polyester release liner/pressure-sensitive adhesive/12.7-micrometre polyester/proprietary adhesive containing metal flakes/25.4-micrometre polyester/proprietary adhesive containing metal flakes plus a final layer of either a 76.2-micrometre black polyester or a 50.8-micrometre white polyester. Substrates are provided by Mitsubishi Polyester Film, LLC, Greer, South Carolina; Toray; and DuPont Teijin Films, Wilmington, Delaware. Previously, spandrel glass was made by coating the glass with an enamel, or ceramic frit, and firing it in an oven, a lengthy, energy-intensive process with limited color options. Another production method involves applying black film to the glass to provide opacity. The new multilayer film is easily applied via dry lamination and represents a cost reduction of about 40% compared to oven-cured glass. It also can be produced in one-third the time. The appearance of the glass is dictated by the color of the glass itself and whether the final layer of film is white or black and is enhanced by the double metal flake layer construction. Judges were impressed by the product's building enhancing potential and the creative use of metal flakes in the adhesive layers.

Industrial Category: Technical Award

Celplast
Product: Metallized Fabric

The Technical Award in the Industrial Category was bestowed on Celplast, the metallizer of a corona-treated LDPE/nonwoven PP for Innovative Insulations Inc., Arlington, Texas. Converter of the patent-pending outerwear lining fabric is PGI Fabrene, North Bay, Ontario, Canada. Flexibility, drapability and machinability of the metallized, microperforated PP was crucial as it needed to be processed on conventional fabric equipment. Low puncture resistance, high tear resistance and high drapability make it easy to sew. The nonwoven PP also eliminates any rustling and crinkling noise associated with the fabric rubbing against itself or the inner surfaces of the clothing to which it is sewn. Microperfs maximize breathability. Judges noted this application moves metallizing into a new market and advances its usage.