ITW Foils, with US headquarters in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and ITW Thermal Films, with US headquarters in Chicago Heights, Illinois, have united under one brand name, ITW ShineMark. Previously entwined with other ITW businesses in the Specialty Films Division, these two complementary global businesses were partitioned into their own division in 2020. The pairing allows ShineMark to more effectively serve the decorative and functional needs of the packaging, labeling and coding industries with foils, films, laminations and thermal ribbons. The new tagline, “Impressions that Last,” underscores the high-quality stamping and marking solutions offered to the market.

With full commitment from Illinois Tool Works and 75+ years of foils and TTR expertise, the ITW ShineMark Division has been investing in global facilities, equipment, personnel, training and R+D. This intensification is reflected in a pipeline of innovative and sustainable products. Likewise, a number of strategic alliances in converting and distribution have extended the portfolio reach.

Division VP and General Manager Barry Dauber, who took the helm last year, stated that 2020 displayed the Division’s vast capabilities. ITW Foils and Thermal Films’ success through the pains of lockdown, COVID-related disruptions and supply-chain challenges has proven that its globally-reinforced resources are well-positioned to serve customer needs even in times of global crisis.

Newly appointed Global Sales Director Frank Kelly echoed this confidence by stating that it was encouraging to join a division with such a robust product pipeline at a time when some suppliers are struggling. It is a testament to the ITW model of 80/20 focus, customer-centric innovation and decentralization.

Customers and industry partners will experience the brand transition to ITW ShineMark over the course of 2021. Updates to the website, collateral, packaging and signage have already begun.

For decades, the world’s leading brands have relied on ITW’s metallic, holographic, hot and cold foil products. Similarly, ITW’s portfolio of thermal transfer ribbons has long offered capability in a wide array of applications for shipping, date-stamping and traceability. The strength of Illinois Tool Works, the reliability of a globally redundant supply and a sharpened focus positions ShineMark to lead amidst the growing demands of the packaging, labeling and coding industries.

For more information, visit www.ITWShineMark.com.

Tarsus Group, organizer of the Labelexpo Global Series of exhibitions and summits, has announced that Labelexpo Europe now will take place at the Brussels Expo Centre on April 26-29, 2022.

The next edition of Labelexpo Americas, meanwhile, will take place on Sept. 13-15, 2022, at the Donald E. Stevens Conventional Center in Rosemont, Illinois.

At the same time, Tarsus announced a new event, Label Congress 2021, which takes place Sept. 29-Oct. 1, also at the Donald E. Stevens Convention Center.

Label Congress 2021 includes conference sessions covering all areas of label and package print technology and markets, an educational stream, Label Academy Live and an exhibition of new technology, with leading suppliers displaying their latest equipment, software and services. The congress and educational sessions will also be broadcast to a global audience.

Lisa Milburn, managing director of the Tarsus labels, packaging and brand print group, commented that due to continuing uncertainty about the speed of the vaccine rollout in Europe and the ability of global visitors to travel to Brussels, the Group has made the decision, in consultation with exhibitors, to postpone Labelexpo Europe until April 2022. Label Congress 2021 will be the first physical gathering for the US label industry since the pandemic began, and the Group looks forward to welcoming attendees to this keynote event.

For further information about Labelexpo, please contact Paul Connelly, marketing director, Labelexpo Global Series, at pconnelly@labelexpo.com.

For more information about Labelexpo Global Series, visit www.labelexpo.com.

Henkel, an adhesives, laundry & home care, and beauty care company based in Düsseldorf, Germany, has published its 30th Sustainability Report, detailing its achievements and progress in the area of sustainability.

Carsten Knobel, CEO of Henkel, stated that for Henkel, sustainability is not only part of its long-standing tradition, but also an integral element of its strategic agenda for purposeful growth. Through sustainable innovations in its consumer and industrial businesses, Henkel aims to create outstanding value to exceed the growth of its markets while strengthening its leading role in sustainability.

Sylvie Nicol, member of the Henkel management board responsible for human resources and sustainability, said that despite the challenges created by the global pandemic, the company has managed to drive its sustainability agenda forward, especially in three key focus areas: becoming a climate-positive company, enabling a circular economy and increasing its positive social impact.

Committed to leadership in sustainability

In 2010, Henkel defined a long-term sustainability strategy until 2030, underpinned by concrete targets and objectives. These strategy and targets have been constantly refined and further expanded since then. The cornerstone of the strategy is the ambition to create more value with fewer resources – to enable a growing world population to live well, while at the same time reducing the global footprint.

2020 marks the mid-term on the way toward 2030. Over the past decade, Henkel achieved significant progress across all dimensions of its sustainability strategy: Overall, the company was able to reduce its environmental footprint by 39% across three dimensions – CO₂ emissions, waste and water – significantly exceeding the target of a 30% reduction for 2020. In addition, by reducing the global accident rate by 50%, Henkel was able to achieve its safety target for 2020.

30 years of track record of sustainability reporting

Henkel published its first sustainability report in 1992. This makes Henkel one of the few companies in its industries, as well as in the German DAX environment that can proudly look back at 30 years of consistent sustainability reporting. The first report was named “Environment Report” and covered, among others, Henkel’s principles of environmental protection. Uwe Bergmann, head of sustainability management at Henkel, explained that since then, Henkel’s reporting and sustainability strategy evolved considerably. Today, it addresses a wide range of topics that are important for its stakeholders and for the future success of its business, ranging from safeguarding social and environmental standards in its supply chain to driving progress towards a climate-positive company.

Clear targets for climate protection

To reduce CO₂ emissions and limit global warming, Henkel pursues its long-term vision to become a climate-positive company by 2040.

The company has the ambitious target to reduce the carbon footprint of its production by 65% already by 2025. Energy efficiency will be continuously improved and only electricity from renewable sources is to be used by 2030. In March 2020, the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) confirmed that Henkel’s emission reduction goals meet the requirements for achieving the targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement.

Another milestone in 2020 was the conclusion of a large-scale Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) for a new wind farm in Bee County, Texas. This will cover 100% of Henkel’s electricity demand in the US in the long term.

In addition, Henkel wants to leverage the broad reach of its brands and technologies across the globe to help customers, consumers and suppliers reduce their CO₂ emissions. Having already enabled them to save more than 55 million tons in the 5-year period up to 2020, the company strives to reach the target of 100 million tons by 2025.

Visible progress in reaching packaging targets

Henkel is also actively promoting the development of a circular economy and is pursuing ambitious packaging targets. The goal by 2025 is that 100% of Henkel’s packaging will be recyclable or reusable. * At the end of 2020, the company had achieved this for around 89% of its packaging.

The company is working steadily to increase the proportion of recycled material in its packaging. While many of its brands already offer products with packaging made from recycled material, the company aims to increase the share of recycled plastic to more than 30% for all consumer goods products worldwide by 2025. At the end of 2020, this proportion was around 15%.

Positive contribution to social impact

Tackling social inequality is one of the biggest global challenges of our time. The Corona pandemic has even increased this, often hitting the most vulnerable particularly hard. Therefore, combating the pandemic was an especially important task in 2020. Henkel significantly extended its emergency aid activities by launching a global solidarity program last year. This is in line with one of Henkel’s six sustainability focus areas, contributing to social impact.

To this end, the company emphasizes its commitment to further expand its positive social impact on communities by 2025: through 100% responsible sourcing, by leveraging its more than 50,000 employees, which have been trained as sustainability ambassadors and by helping to improve 20 million lives globally.

One example is Henkel’s long-standing collaboration with the development organization Solidaridad to support smallholder palm oil farmers in South America, Africa and Asia. To date, this has already reached around 34,000 smallholders who cultivate around 305,000 hectares of land.

* Excluding adhesive products where ingredients or residue may affect recyclability or pollute recycling streams.

For more information, visit www.henkel.com.

Messe Düsseldorf North America, Chicago, Illinois, has announced that from April 20-23, 2021, the conference area of virtual.drupa will feature a top-class, English-language program focusing on the global trends of artificial intelligence, circular economy, connected consumer and platform economy.

International industry experts, brand owners and speakers from vertical markets will provide valuable knowledge transfer through best cases, keynote speeches and panel discussions. Two parallel live streams will offer visitors the opportunity to participate flexibly in the conference presentations between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central European Time. For participants around the world, these sessions also will be available 24/7 on demand in a video library.

The conference program will start with keynotes from three top international speakers on each of the four days:

• Two presentations by Wall Street Journal bestselling author and consultant Michael Gale will focus on artificial intelligence. As author of the book “The Digital Helix,” he will share where companies can use digital potential, how to make it accessible to everyone and how to activate business growth with the help of AI.
• In his keynote speech, James Sommerville from Great Britain will illustrate the great importance of product design in driving innovation and fostering growth. The star designer played a key role in shaping the iconic Coca-Cola brand, is revolutionizing business and corporate goals, and will inspire the printing and packaging community with his creative approaches at virtual.drupa.
• On World Earth day, Dr. Gabrielle Walker will address sustainability issues. The lecturer, author and climate expert will discuss global challenges with a special focus on sustainability, energy consumption, circular economy and climate change. As a strategist, she advises companies on topics such as future investments and process optimization, as well as on the impact that changing business models can have on a company’s corporate identity, its external impact and acceptance.

The morning keynotes will be followed in two streams by the English-language daily program of the five drupa special forums “drupa cube,” “touchpoint packaging,” “touchpoint textile,” “drupa next age” and “3D fab+print,” which will be accompanied by a professional team of moderators. An international network of industry representatives, associations and competent partners guarantees a cutting-edge agenda. With their combined expertise and impressive variety of topics, the speakers will highlight relevant content and growth potential in the various sectors, focus on global trends and provide exciting insights.

Visitors already can organize their participation in virtual.drupa by getting an initial overview of the conference program, as well as the exhibitors’ product offerings and presentations. They can add relevant conferences, exhibitors and live web sessions to their personal agenda in order to make their visit of the virtual event as efficient as possible.

The conference area program will be published soon at https://virtual.drupa.com/en/Conference_Area/Conference_Area. Participants can register for virtual.drupa free of charge at https://virtual.drupa.com/ – more than 6,000 visitors from 130 countries have registered already.

For more information on visiting or exhibiting at virtual.drupa, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America at 312.781.5180 or info@mdna.com or at https://virtual.drupa.com and www.mdna.com.

A Programmable Foil Draw retrofit for customers operating Kluge EHD presses now is available from digital finishing solutions provider THERM-O-TYPE, Nokomis, Florida.

The Programmable Foil Draw includes a full color touchscreen interface, Windows-based computer core and provisions for one or two programmable foil draws powered by high torque servo motors.

Software features include up to two independently adjustable foil draws with the ability to program multiple short/long foil draws to minimize foil waste, foil “index” and variable length “jog” functions, foil draw length calibration and adjustable foil draw speed. Sheet counter and impressions per hour information also can be displayed while the press is running.

For more information, visit www.thermotype.com.

Duplo USA Corporation, Santa Ana, California, an innovative print finishing provider, has introduced products to its bookletmaker, duplicator and cutter lineups. Designed for efficiency and ease of use, these products will appeal to print providers and in-plants with shorter run demands.

Ideal for low to mid-volume runs, the 150 Booklet System offers an entry-level solution for print providers considering bringing their bookletmaking in-house. With a production speed of up to 2,400 booklets per hour, the 150 Booklet System performs saddle and corner/side stapling up to 25 sheets. Users can go from a letter-size job to a CD-size booklet within minutes and minimal tooling required.

Duplo has been a manufacturer of digital duplicators for over 60 years and the DP-X850 is a model of improved performance with a fresh look. Designed to handle long runs that certain sectors require and at faster speeds, the DP-X850 prints documents with 600 dpi up to 200 sheets per minute. The DP-X850 delivers with exceptional print quality, high productivity and low maintenance.

The programmable DocuCutter HC-550i Hydraulic Cutter comes with operational and safety features not found in similar cutters of this size including a rail back gauge system, UL certification and a 10” touchscreen control panel. It effortlessly cuts through large stacks of paper up to 21.6” wide and finishes postcards, direct mail and perfect bound books up to 3.5” in height. It also comes barcode-ready to instantly retrieve any pre-programmed job.

For more information, visit www.duplousa.com.

Eckhart & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, a resource for bookbinding and print finishing services and a manufacturer of rigid boxes and cases, has announced an upgrade to their hardcover book manufacturing capabilities with the addition of a new 2020 Kolbus BF513, 30 books per minute, casing-in line.

Producing a hardcover book essentially consists of 3 steps:

1. The book block (text) is prepared and bound.
2. The hard case (material wrapped around board) is manufactured.
3. The book block is cased-in (glued) to the hard case.

President Chris Eckhart said during the past several years, the company has made investments in steps 1 and 2, so the opportunity to upgrade its casing-in (step 3) capabilities made sense. (In May 2019, the company added a new Kolbus case maker.)

Eckhart said it is an interesting time to make such an investment, but the automation and technology that has become available to the industry in the past few years is so significant that a company can’t operate without it.

For more information, visit www.eckhartandco.com.

Baumer hhs GmbH, Krefeld, Germany, a manufacturer of industrial gluing systems in conjunction with quality assurance and camera verification systems, has introduced the FFG go, designed exclusively for glue application in flexo folder-gluers. It offers simple, intuitive operation but meets sophisticated demands on non-contact gluing in the corrugated industry. Developed for applications requiring gluing only, all of the “go” products achieve an excellent price/performance ratio. They give customers entry-level access to the world of Baumer hhs and its products.

The FFG go can operate 2-bead application heads based on DLK go technology for simple applications, or a 3-bead configuration based on P-500 technology for more demanding tasks. These multi-application heads can be flexibly adapted to customer requirements.

The heart of the system is the Xact FFG go controller, geared entirely to the gluing process—giving customers the option of applying dots or lines. Programming the individual glue beads via the menu-driven interface couldn’t be easier – or more reliable – for machine operators: All they have to enter on the touchscreen is the top flap dimensions and the flap length. The Xact FFG go also supports gluing on angled or slotted flaps.

With its Glue Save mode, the FFG go further ensures high-level sustainability and cost efficiency. This function converts the system from continuous to intermittent gluing, which can reduce adhesive consumption by up to 50%, without at all compromising the adhesive strength of the glued areas. The Glue Save mode gives Baumer hhs customers an advantage over low pressure and contact gluing systems that cannot incorporate a function of this kind.

Andreas Schneiders, corrugated business development manager at Baumer hhs, stated that with the Xact FFG go, machine operators can limit set-up to the most essential settings, but they don’t necessarily have to, because the new controller gives them the option of entering any additional settings required for a production order in subsequent menu levels. When it comes to programming glue patterns and parameters, the Xact FFG go basically offers all the functions of the company’s higher-end Xtend range.

Baumer hhs supplies the FFG go as a complete package, including a pump with automatic or manual adjustment as an option. The FFG go standard package includes a pump with a maximum adhesive pressure of 30 bar. Pumps suitable for a higher adhesive pressure are also available.

For more information, visit www.baumerhhs.com.

A unique new business has been created to bring premier cold transfer and hot foil technologies to the North American folding carton and label markets. Four entities – Gietz AG based in Gossau, Switzerland, Vinfoil based in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, along with Chris Leary and Alex Balke – have joined forces to create Gietz-Vinfoil Americas. The company will be responsible for the sales and service of Gietz and Vinfoil machines in North America, and will be based near Chicago, Illinois. Gietz, a Swiss-based company founded in 1892, has experience in the US market since the late 1970s with about 150 machines installed.

Hansjörg Gietz, CEO of Gietz AG, stated that the Gietz brand is recognized for precision foil stamping and embossing, and along with the company’s HTF tray forming machine, it believes there is a lot of future potential in this market. Gietz AG started in 2018 to offer customers direct local services with Alex Balke of Gietz USA LLC. Now with Leary’s leadership and Vinfoil products, it is positioned to offer the complete range of foil embellishment solutions.

Vincent van der Heijden, president and CEO of Vinfoil, stated that Vinfoil, founded in 2007, has developed unique cold transfer solutions with revolutionary technology. Its patented Multiple Foil Use and Vinfoil Intelligent Foil Optimizing Software have already helped more than 75 customers achieve optimal foil savings, and further develop their cold transfer business. With the support and experience of both Chris Leary and Gietz, Vinfoil is confident it can work on sharing and showing all the great things of foil embellishments to the North American printing industries.

Alex Balke has over 12 years of technical service experience in this industry segment and will assume the role of technical director. Chris Leary brings 20+ years of equipment sales experience in the folding carton industry and will be the president/CEO of Gietz-Vinfoil Americas. Jody LeBlanc, with 25 years of industry experience, will also join the company and be responsible for operations and customer service. Spare parts and technical service of Gietz machines now will be handled through Gietz-Vinfoil Americas.

For more information, visit www.gietz-vinfoil.com.

On Feb. 1, 2021, Ross Hutchison took the reins as president of Overland Park, Kansas-based Universal Engraving, Inc. (UE) – a position held by his father, Larry, and his grandfather, company founder Glenn E. Hutchison. Universal Engraving is a renowned foil and emboss die maker.

Under Ross Hutchison’s leadership, UE will continue to revolutionize the embossing and foil stamping industry with new ways to maximize customer uptime, productivity and profitability. “Our guiding philosophy is to ‘never stop innovating,’” said Hutchison. “While the latest innovation may seem like the final step in a long journey, it’s in fact just the beginning of a new one. Innovation should be for the benefit of the customer, not just for the company doing the innovating.” Above all else, Hutchison wants to continue to provide unrivaled accuracy and timeliness for all of UE’s customer-partners.

Hutchison feels confident in achieving his goals by relying on the well-established Universal Engraving operations team, managed by Todd Rima (UE VP of operations and sales) and Austin Hutchison (UE VP of manufacturing-North America).

Larry Hutchison will continue to play a role in the business, while Glenn E. Hutchison will take a reduced role. This will allow Ross Hutchison to draw upon their resources and maintain the relationships they built with customers over the years.

Hutchison’s commitment to the family business and the foil stamping and embossing industry will help Universal Engraving continue to delight their customer-partners for generations to come.

For more information, visit www.UniversalEngraving.com.