Folding

Steady Growth for North American Folding Carton Market Predicted Through 2027

March 18, 2024

Submitted by the Paperboard Packaging Council

As the world began to move on from strict measures to control the spread of COVID-19, 2022 started to provide the first insights into what the ‘new normal’ would be. Stuck in quarantine and flush with stimulus cash, consumer spending on goods during the pandemic drove an unexpected surge in carton demand. Normalization trends have seen that spending shifting away from goods and back toward services. How will different end-use markets react to the shifting spending? What trends will drive carton shipments in the coming years?

The past year also has forced consumers to deal with levels of inflation unseen for decades. How will the market react to inflation many consumers have not seen in their lifetime? In this uncertain environment, understanding the underlying trends that drive the industry is more important than ever. This report provides a detailed examination of the US and Canadian carton markets, how they operate and the factors driving future trends. It also contains a deep dive into the 17 end-use markets that are the primary sources of demand for folding cartons, with an investigation into past and future trends for spending, trade, production and carton shipments to each end-use market. Additionally, the report includes key takeaways that summarize the study findings for the cartonboard market in the United States and Canada as well as for each of the end-use markets that drive carton demand.

Outlook summary

In 2022, as the world began to move past the COVID-19 pandemic, there were concerns about how markets would react as the economy moved toward a ‘new normal.’ Carton shipment growth had been in decline since the Great Recession. Prior to 2020, losses in shipments largely were the result of continued headwinds facing major processed food and consumer product companies. Processed food exports were challenged by the appreciation of the US dollar in 2015, which trickled down to recycled boxboard demand and folding carton shipments. Over the last decade (2010-19), folding carton shipments were under persistent downward pressure and declined at an average annual rate of 1.2%. Since the Great Recession, only four years have not experienced a decline in shipments: 2014, 2017, 2020 and 2021. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, industrial production dropped 7.2% and consumer spending fell 3%. Consumers, however, flush with stimulus money and stuck in lockdown, greatly increased their spending on goods, helping boost carton shipments to some of the strongest years in recent history. Carton shipments recorded extraordinary growth of 5.5% year on year in 2020. These gains were maintained in 2021 when shipments grew another 0.2%. With the remaining pandemic restrictions lifted in 2022, spending started to shift away from goods and back toward services, but strong inventory rebuilding throughout the supply chain helped push shipments up another 4.5%. While 2022 had the highest volume of carton shipments since 2010, it still was 8.7% below the pre-recession peak in 2007.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated recession saw spending shift from services to goods, which had a significant impact on folding carton shipments. While consumer spending in 2020 declined 3% and spending on services dropped 6.2%, nondurables spending increased 2.7%. In 2021, consumer spending rose 8.3%, with nondurables spending increasing 8.8%. Spending on services in 2021 saw a partial recovery, rising 6.3%. In 2022, spending grew 2.7% but began to shift toward services, which increased 4.5% for the year. While still elevated, non-durables good spending dipped 0.5% in 2022. Consumer spending on processed food witnessed strong growth of 5.7% and 3.7% in 2020 and 2021 respectively. With people returning to restaurants and fewer people working from home in 2022, processed food spending dropped 4% in 2022. Lockdown measures and consumer wariness to return to in-person dining caused spending on food service to contract 21% in 2020. Food service spending grew 23.5% in 2021 and another 9.8% in 2022, finishing the year 7.2% above 2019 prepandemic levels. The gains in folding carton demand reflected consumer spending trends. The restocking seen during lockdowns fueled a lot of the growth in shipments. While e-commerce supported some growth in folding carton demand, this will change in the medium term. Folding carton is best suited for shelves in brick-and-mortar stores. However, the shift to e-commerce for dry foods and non-food products could create a separate packaging and delivery channel, which could shift market share from recycled boxboard to corrugated packaging.

Additional headwinds include changing consumer behavior and the increasing demand for non-carton-intensive products, such as liquid soaps and detergents.

Economic uncertainty, lower levels of consumer spending on goods and an end to the inventory rebuilding cycle, which helped drive carton demand higher in 2021-22, will cause carton shipments to drop an estimated 3.8% in 2023. In the years that follow, however, macroeconomic indicators suggest that demand for folding cartons should continue its positive, albeit slow, growth. Over the forecast period of 2022-27, we estimate that folding carton demand growth will average 0.4% annually, reaching 5.4 million tons by 2027. We anticipate output growth in nondurables, which comprises many carton-packaged goods including processed foods, will expand 0.7% over the forecast. General economic fundamentals in the US economy, such as the unemployment rate, will remain strong. A potential recession is becoming more of a concern for the near future as inflation eats into consumer budgets, but growth will remain strong over the forecast, with consumer spending growing 1.7% in 2022-27. In addition to the overall economic performance, there are other factors that play an essential role in folding carton growth dynamics, such as shifting consumer spending habits, substitution away from plastic packaging and efforts to reduce packaging waste.

In 2020, Canadian folding carton shipments increased significantly by 3%, but decreased 0.3% in 2021 before jumping 3.7% in 2022. Tonnage volume reached 446,000 tons, translating to C$1.25 billion. The macroeconomic environment in Canada over the outlook will be supportive of carton shipment growth; however, the planned closure of a cartonboard mill in 2026 will reduce Canadian folding cartonboard capacity by nearly 30%.

This will greatly reduce the amount of folding cartons that can be produced and shipped in Canada. As a result, folding carton shipments are expected to decline by 2.7% per year over the next five years and fall to 388,000 tons by 2027.

On prices, the situation is somewhat challenging, particularly for independent converters, mainly due to cartonboard prices consistently outpacing actual folding carton prices for several years. To provide some perspective, market prices for cartonboard grades increased at a 5.1% average annual rate from 2012-22; over that same 10-year span, folding carton average values per ton increased by an average of 2.3% annually. Coming out of the recession, average carton values were relatively stable in 2009 and 2010, but average boxboard prices in 2010 were 5.3% higher than in 2008. After boxboard costs increased another 7.4% in 2011, converters were forced to raise folding carton prices to prevent any further margin erosion but only gained 2.3% in average carton values. From 2012-17, the folding carton average value per ton fell at an average of 0.5% per year, losing ground on boxboard prices, which grew at a 1.5% rate. Around 2014-16, the flood of folding boxboard entering the global market provided some temporary leverage to independent converters in price negotiations with suppliers. However, mill closures reduced capacity, and with demand and producer costs rising, boxboard prices shot up significantly, swinging the market back in favor of integrated producers and sellers of boxboard to the open market. Over the past five years (2017-22), prices have become a more significant challenge for independent converters, as boxboard prices grew at an average rate of 8.9% per year, while the average value per ton for folding cartons rose just 5.2%.

The US folding carton end-use markets can be grouped into three broad categories: growth, mature and declining. Growth markets are classified by average annual growth of 1% or more. According to our analysis, four end-use markets are poised to grow by more than 1% per year. Nine end-use segments are classified as mature markets and are expected to maintain current levels of demand over the five-year forecast cycle. The remaining four market segments are classified as a declining market this year. The end-use markets analyzed in the full 2023-24 Trends Industry Outlook & Market Data Report are:

Food products

Beverages
Cereals /milled grains
Confectionary
Dairy
Dry foods
Frozen foods
Meat
Perishable baked goods
Retail carry-out

Non-food products

Cosmetics & toiletries
Hardware & household supplies
Converted paper products
Pharmaceuticals
Recreational & sporting
Soap & detergent
Tobacco
Miscellaneous

The entire 2023-2024 Trends Industry Outlook & Market Data Report for the folding carton industry is available through the Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC). For over 90 years, PPC has been the North American association for converters of paperboard packaging and their suppliers. PPC works to grow, promote, and protect the paperboard packaging industry while providing its members with resources and tools to compete successfully in the marketplace. For more information, call 413.686.9191 or visit www.paperbox.org.

Folding Carton Production: Automation to the Rescue for Workflow Challenges

September 15, 2022

By Liz Stevens, writer, PostPress

From the earliest days in the folding carton finishing sector, there has been a push for greater output quantity, higher product quality, increased speed and improved efficiency. Each time a goal in one of these areas is achieved, the honeymoon is short-lived because, in the blink of an eye, another new goal crops up. Folding carton finishers perpetually strive for ways to better serve their customers and improve their profitability. Finishing hardware and software manufacturers work equally hard to provide new technologies and automation solutions to meet the emerging needs and overcome the latest challenges.

PostPress talked with printing and finishing equipment and automation leaders about the challenges they see arising for folding carton finishers, the automation and software solutions they offer for their customers, and the upcoming technology innovations they see on the horizon. PostPress is grateful to Bill Rice, product manager, postpress packaging at Heidelberg USA, Inc. (Kennesaw, Georgia); Doug Herr, director of sales, folding carton North America, Bobst North America, Inc. (Parsippany, New Jersey); Jeffrey Bates, national sales manager at W. H. Leary Co. (Tinley Park, Illinois); and Jan De Roeck, director industry relations & strategic marketing, Esko (Miamisburg, Ohio), for
their insights.

Challenges and solutions

Bobst’s ToolLink is a chip embedded into the diecutting die when the tool is slid into the machine with job-specific information.

The challenges facing folding carton finishers run the gamut. There is the chronic lack of available, trained workforce candidates, but automation and software capabilities may offer some solutions. There is the inherent mismatch between printing press speeds and finishing equipment speeds; here, software for overall plant/job scheduling and individual department scheduling may be helpful. The relatively consistent nature of printing workflows versus the wildly variable nature of finishing workflows produces plenty of challenge but here, again, computerized aids for managing jobs, presses and finishing equipment can help smooth out the rough transitions.

The trend toward shorter runs, the demand for highest product quality, and the requirement to provide production data to customers – these certainly pose challenges. Technologies for streamlining makeready times, vision systems for ensuring superior product quality, and sensors and software for collecting and managing production run data can offer options for finishers. The rising price of energy, the still wobbly supply chain and the increasing costs of materials all add to a finisher’s list of items to address and manage, but good aids exist for finishers to run leaner and eliminate waste. And last but not least, a finisher’s aversion to updating or replacing equipment – and to spending the capital required – can be its own challenge. For this, the argument can be made that investing in equipment may give a company a competitive advantage and result in greater profitability.

Common challenges

Bill Rice, representing Heidelberg and its array of equipment and software solutions for the entire print-to-finish line, identified the challenge that exists in plants managing two systems – printing and finishing – which are sometimes viewed as a single job stream even though they have differing makeready tasks, makeready times and run rates. “The technology and software in our equipment can identify the best way to run a job through a particular machine,” said Rice, “but from one machine to the next, the job plan may not be consistent. A job schedule that might work well for the printing press is not necessarily the same order that would be ideal for running through the rest of the equipment.” Pushing a job through the plant based on the greatest efficiency for the printing press might lead to extended makeready times on the folder/gluer. Conversely, a great workflow for the folder/gluer (going from small and simple products gradually up to the larger products) would reduce the makeready times but that might disrupt the workflow coming out of the
printing press.

Esko’s ArtPro+ software provides print unit support and repeat layout creation.

Rice offered two solutions: Heidelberg’s “Push to Stop” philosophy and the company’s Prinect software packages. “In dealing with the two sides of the printing-finishing line,” said Rice, “it ends up being a compromise. In the scheduling and planning of the production floor, it is important to get as much efficiency as possible through every process.” Heidelberg’s Prinect Workflow software offers management tools from web portals for communicating with customers to costing, job creation and planning, production management, and production and business reporting. “The other solution component is Heidelberg’s manufacturing philosophy: Push to Stop,” Rice said. “It is a way of working, using software and hardware, so that when the plant starts up for the day, everything is pre-organized based on efficiencies. The system starts the first job and then automatically goes from one job to the next, and human operators don’t get involved in changing that flow and schedule unless there is a problem.” Rice stressed that planning and scheduling are the foundation for getting a job through the whole plant as efficiently as possible. “We are seeing tremendous success in companies that are able to manipulate some of that,” he said. “We have seen the biggest success in plants that are able to look at the finishing side of things and manage that best because that is really the most labor-intensive part of the operation, whereas on the printing press side, there is so much technology built into the presses that it is possible to have very good makeready times even if some of the press’s efficiencies are disrupted.”

At Bobst, which offers substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services, Doug Herr said that longstanding challenges stem from several issues. “Run lengths are becoming shorter,” said Herr, “turnaround times for the client are becoming shorter, and margins are tight as always. So the efficiencies of the converting equipment are extremely important; they are critical to profitability. Our customers’ customers – the brand owners, for instance – expect a higher percentage rate of quality product; in other words, fewer defects are important. And more and more frequently, brand owners want production data and data relative to the number of imperfect products produced. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, they need to closely track the production of the product, including the packaging, so that each item and each lot have a specific code which can be tracked back to the manufacturer.”

Herr sees solutions that include upgrading or replacing hardware and adding software. “Older equipment,” Herr explained, “although it can still perform, often doesn’t include the software and capabilities which are built into new machinery to give customers information and quality assurance in an efficient way.” Herr used diecutting as an example. “Diecutting is an area where Bobst has made a number of improvements and introduced new equipment and related support products. We now offer a HMI 22″ (Human-Machine Interface) touchscreen; this is the control module, the brain of the equipment. We also offer Recipe Management, a program that can save up to 5,000 of our customers’ jobs and all of the parameters of those jobs.” Herr mentioned a third diecutting enhancement – TooLink, a chip which is embedded into the diecutting die so that when the tool is slid into the machine, job-specific information is transferred automatically to Recipe Management. “By the same token,” he said, “production information relative to a specific job, such as number of impressions, the number of times that job has been inserted into the machine, the number of times that job has been run utilizing that tool, are kept on the microchip embedded in the die.” Bobst now also offers a Digital Inspection Table, a standalone machine for checking the quality of a full sheet. “A quality assurance (QA) individual can inspect the print,” Herr explained, “to check the color or position, to check for missing copy or – with diecutting – to look for a poor score, an incorrect score or a missing score.” Bobst recently introduced Accucheck 2, a module positioned after the feeder’s blank alignment device on a folder/gluer, for example. Accucheck 2 has cameras which read the copy on each individual blank, check for incorrect color, missing color, missing type. The module can check creases, and can read imperfections in stamping, embossing and other embellishments.

Jeff Bates, with W. H. Leary, a maker of quality assurance, glue application and mechanical solutions for the packaging industry, reported that the biggest challenge his company has seen for folding carton workflow is the continued lack of skilled or even unskilled labor, which has been made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think the factories learned a lot from COVID,” said Bates. “It definitely affected a lot of factories; they now have to start looking more towards innovation and automation for the future.” According to Bates, a lot of plants have acknowledged that skilled workers do not exist and now are just looking for people who can run the lines and keep them going. “More or less,” Bates, said, “they just want someone who can push a start button and a stop button.”

Leary has addressed the skilled workforce scarcity by building more features into its solutions. “Our software, Monet, is a pictorial system that we created 10 years ago, and we have improved it to change with the times,” said Bates. “With Monet, operators can just look at the graphics and understand whether they are shooting dots or shooting a line of glue, and they can see where the tolerances need to be from a quality standpoint.” The system also displays bar codes so that operators can verify that the code on the cartons matches the code on the computer screen.

“Operators can verify what they are running, guarantee that it is top quality and, at the end of the job, they can save the job info,” Bates explained. “All of the settings are saved now so it makes the makeready times shorter for repeat jobs and the quality specs are saved, too.” To further ensure quality, the Monet system includes password protection that prevents operators from making unauthorized quality spec changes. “Plants are taking product quality much more seriously these days,” said Bates. “Once a job’s quality specs are transferred to our system and password protected, no one other than a manager or somebody from the quality department can
make changes.”

Leary has added QA sensors to its hardware and the company’s Monet system has evolved to handle more quality assurance features. “Our QA focus used to be just looking for glue, looking for bar codes and scanning for missed copy,” Bates said, “but many companies now are starting QA all the way up at the feed. They are looking for doubles that are coming out of the feed, they are looking for skew and any bent flaps.” Leary’s system also now collects more production data and offers equipment troubleshooting features. “When there is a mechanical problem, the customers want us to guide an operator to a specific area on the machine to look for a problem and make a fix,” said Bates. “Helping customers pinpoint problems on the machinery is important since this can eliminate a lot of downtime.”

Heidelberg’s Mastermatrix diecutter includes presets for things that are done automatically on the machine based on the data flowing into it.

At Esko, which provides integrated software and hardware solutions for packaged goods, Jan De Roeck sees several challenges. “As the packaging industry continues to grow and adapt to the very real threats of today,” said De Roeck, “supply chain volatility, labor shortages and rising consumable and energy costs all underline that converters need to accelerate their search for increased efficiencies throughout the workflow.” De Roeck pointed to efficiency as the biggest benefit of a standardized workflow and identified standardization as being the necessary foundation of any successful automation. “Although the entire packaging sector faced unprecedented challenges in the last two years,” De Roeck said, “Esko has continued to focus on developing new technology, ensuring customers remain at the forefront of productivity, efficiency and innovation gains and are supported on their digital transformation journey.”

Esko believes that successful digital transformation means more automation, more cloud computing and more integration between disparate systems. “In the face of the disruptive market trends in the industry, we continue to work closely with our customers,” De Roeck explained, “listening and developing innovations that respond to demands and deliver tangible benefits. That’s why we recently launched a series of innovations to empower businesses to improve ways of working, eradicate waste and optimize operational processes.” Esko Release 22.07 includes new features such as Cape Pack for cloud-based palletization and logistics optimization workflow, Automated Packshots for creating hyper-realistic packaging images, ArtPro+ for print unit support and repeat layout creation, and more.

De Roeck also brought up the challenge for finishers of taking on capital investments. “Innovation and change are inherent in any packaging business but driving and implementing that innovation is a challenge that can sometimes be difficult to achieve,” said De Roeck. “Many businesses, in the face of challenging market conditions, insecurity and volatility, freeze investments in response. However, the opposite reaction is more appropriate. Investing in accelerating digital transformation maintains competitive advantage and efficiently deals with profitability pressures. We also know it is equally important that these innovations are integrated quickly and smoothly to ensure businesses achieve demonstrable improvements and a speedy return
on investment.”

Challenges created by shorter runs

The increasing tendency of customers to request shorter runs of folded carton jobs is a challenge that all of the industry representatives recognized. “That is a challenge that everybody is facing,” said Heidelberg’s Bill Rice. “The way we respond to that is we try to build in as much technology into the equipment to reduce makeready times.” Rice pointed out that, as an example, splitting a previously routine run of 500,000 pieces into short runs of 50,000 pieces balloons one makeready time into 10 makeready times. “The estimating department now is having to add in those additional makeready times. We encourage folks to build those costs into their price because everybody is going to the much shorter runs.” This type of change also calls for input from equipment suppliers. “It is really a situation where OEMs, like Heidelberg, can work with production floor people to help them use the technology that they have properly and efficiently. In some cases, it means recommending that they buy additional software packages or workflow implementations that will help them operate better.”

Leary’s Monet System settings are maintained with unique security features.

Leary’s Jeff Bates offered an alternative solution to responding to the demand for shorter runs. “A lot of the plants that I have dealt with for years used to run maybe three or four days,” explained Bates, “and they would just put a card in on the machine – a side stream structure card – to eat up board.” But with board now being a hard-to-source commodity, some customers are looking at switching over to the upper end work – shorter runs but with cartons that are worth more money. “This might take them back into the pharmaceutical and the cosmetic lines,” Bates said, “but with board being as scarce as it is in the industry, that’s what a lot of these companies are looking for – the shorter runs, the more expensive cartons.” This, however, puts pressure on finishers to find the right opportunities for operators that can do these types of makereadies. “The automation with our equipment is really helping these companies turn short-run jobs into a profitable business model.”

New technology solutions in the offing

Though the future is unknowable, equipment manufacturers do their best to predict trends and design features for the next anticipated requirements. According to Doug Herr, Bobst will focus on increased automation, preventative maintenance and the flow of data between machines and software, among other priorities. “Bobst is automating more and more of our equipment so that the setups on the machine are more consistent and the length of setup times continues to fall,” said Herr. “Our PackMatic Plus, recently introduced, provides quicker changeover times and more automation to set up machines much faster, with less skill.”

Bobst sees the demand for data driving future solutions. “Data is really key, whether it is downflow of data from machines or upflow of data to the equipment,” Herr said. “That is going to continue to be extremely important for upping productivity and for facilitating preventative maintenance.” Bobst’s Connect Essential, a subscription service, will help finishers maintain and troubleshoot their equipment. “If a customer has a problem where a machine overheats or stops or isn’t producing at the levels it should,” said Herr, “the customer can access remote diagnostics through the internet and communicate with a Bobst professional. We can possibly avoid sending a service person out by identifying problems which the customer can rectify. And if a repair part is required, we can order the part to be delivered a day or two later, versus sending a service person out to locate the problem and then order a part. There will be tremendous decreases in downtime with Connect Essential.”

Heidelberg’s Bill Rice commented on the company’s plans for its finishing equipment and software. “What we have seen because of COVID-19, because the workforce is depleted and it is difficult to hire new employees whether skilled or unskilled, is a trend of more companies looking into automation,” said Rice. “We have a lot of existing automation in this area already, but a stumbling block for some customers has been the price point for added features such as collecting data and managing the production process with things like pre-sets. The newest diecutter in our fleet is the Mastermatrix; it has pre-sets for things that are done automatically on the machine based on the data flowing into it. On our folder/gluers, we have auto-set technology; at this point it is not tied into the Prinect workflow system but that is an upcoming development that Heidelberg will offer.” In today’s environment, Rice expects more customers to see the value of automating workflow as well as the value of data collection and information flow. “All equipment manufacturers are trying to make the technology much more affordable. We think that customers also will be more willing to spend money on these features to replace the (now unavailable) labor that was required to do things the manual way.”

At Leary, Jeff Bates described his company’s future innovations. “For us, it will definitely be automation,” said Bates, “including being able to set jobs up and adding more integration with the OEM machines. We know the future is automation, and with automation comes an increase in demand for vision-based inspection systems.” Bates chalks up the future’s demand to a shrinking workforce. “It is no longer the case that facilities can count on having three or four people at the back of the lines, and two people at the front of the lines feeding the cartons. They just can’t get the headcount that they used to be able to rely on.”

Bates offered his opinion on how the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred change in the industry that actually has been needed for some time. “I think the pandemic caused a lot of companies to pay more attention to tightening up productivity because so many people would get COVID-19 in one week,” he said. “Instead of having just onesies and twosies out sick, plants had half of an entire department out, to the point where it really stressed the ability to get production done. This definitely did wake up a lot of people.”

The industry already had known it had a problem, but the pandemic got a lot more companies thinking and strategizing. “Companies realized that they had not invested much money into finishing; they had concentrated on investing money into printing,” Bates explained. “Now these companies are thinking that they must start investing more money in this last process that they have in their plants because where they used to have plenty of people, the workforce is just not there anymore and it’s not returning. Frankly, I don’t foresee it ever coming back.”

For more information, visit www.bobst.com, www.esko.com, www.heidelberg.com and www.whleary.com.

Finish with a BANG! Great Ideas for Folding, Binding and Mail

June 11, 2021

By Trish Witkowski, CEO, Foldfactory

Print is an opportunity like never before. It always has been a proven and powerful medium, but after a full year of being forced into virtual-only experiences, print media and multisensory experiences are a deeply desired break from the monotony. According to Google, only 10% of people’s media interactions are non-screen-based these days – and the more time people spend on their screens, the more they value the time they’re not. So, now is the time to leverage print for all it’s worth.

The following are nine categories for printers and finishers to think about. Choose one technique at a time or combine a few together if desired. It’s important to note that piling on extras does not necessarily make a piece more effective or compelling. It’s kind of like when Photoshop came out and everyone was making complex photo montages using every tool and image effect because it was there. The same principal applies to value-added print: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” A bit of creative restraint, skilled application and a strong concept are the keys.

Create texture

Touch is one of the strongest senses, and whether it’s an embossed pattern or a press coating, the ability to distract and engage people with touch is one of print’s greatest strengths. There are so many great ways to make texture – for example, raised digital effects and textured press coatings, laminate films in soft-touch or high-gloss and a world of other unique effects. Printers can create an overall texture or even mimic a physical surface like leather, woodgrain, rubber, etc. Some brands even are developing proprietary textures to create the look and feel of their products.

Textured paper, layered textures from die or laser cutting and embossing/debossing also are great strategies – and don’t forget the envelope! When carrying a handful of mail, recipients likely are going to choose the interesting mail first. Texture applied to the outside of the mailer will grab their attention before they even realize that their senses are being manipulated.

Engagement devices

Engage_Device — Photo: Chris Paulis Photography

Think about fun ways to get someone to open, lift, peek, slide or tear-off. Pique their curiosity with perforated windows to peel and lift. Add a belly band to make it feel special and exclusive. Tip-on a coupon, a gift card or a keepsake for them to remove. Make an interesting way to get into the envelope, like a zip strip. Zip strips make a fabulous noise when they rip open and are a lot more fun than a basic envelope flap. Zip strips also have been used on bound materials where recipients zip open the cover to access the contents and as a way to get into folded self-mailers as well.

Great paper

Intentionally choosing papers that are different from the norm in some way – brighter and whiter, smoother and glossier, colored and textural – can send subliminal messages to recipients. Leverage paper choice (and weight) to communicate sophistication, eco-consciousness, style and personality. Designers even can deliberately choose low-budget papers to look “bargain basement.” It all depends upon what they are trying to accomplish from a brand perspective. Properly chosen paper, complemented by a strategic design direction, can support the message, the brand and the offer.

Add dimension

Often when thinking about adding dimension in print, our mind goes to elaborate pop-ups – and we think about the budget and hand work and give up. However, there’s more than one way to create dimension in print. There are ways to fold paper to expand when opened. Even a parallel diecut across the fold can turn into a popped-out dimensional box shape. Easy!

Inks and coatings

Inks_Coatings — Photo: Chris Paulis Photography

Choosing beautiful inks and coatings is one of the easiest and most cost-efficient ways to add pop to print. Many designers don’t know all that’s possible, since this category has exploded in the past few years. It is well worth providing some resources and samples of what varnishes, coatings and specialty ink techniques printers can provide for digital and offset printing. Designers would be thrilled to know that white ink, transparent and raised ink, spot colors, metallics, fluorescents and specialty coatings are within reach for their short- and long-run jobs.

Add shimmer

Things that sparkle tend to catch the eye and create a sense of importance. Depending upon how it is used, shine also can make materials feel expensive and exclusive. What is neat about adding shine is that printers and finishers really can meter it out to create the effect they’re looking for – from quiet sophistication with a light-touch application to “Look at me!” So, think of adding shimmery press coatings, foils and metallic inks into the mix.

Cover diecuts

Diecutting is a huge category, and there are so many ways to do it. One approach is to narrow it down to the most exciting and impactful place to add a diecut: The cover of a book or brochure. From a shaped cover to cut-out letters to a diecut that is on multiple panels and layered to create depth and interest, focusing on the cover is an easy way to add a touch of “Wow.”

Scale

Big is “big” these days, as marketers are leveraging larger sheet sizes and creative formats that allow for maximum impact and real estate for eye-catching graphics. Size also is a tool that can be used to create presence, influence and larger-than-life brand experiences. Oversized brochures, newsletters, posters and mail have a distinct opportunity to grab the viewer’s attention and hold onto it. Alternately, something small can feel special, tucked into a larger piece and discovered along the customer journey.

Shape and format

Printers and designers are so used to looking at the same few formats every day that sometimes it’s easy to forget these formats can be changed in even the simplest of ways to make them feel and look entirely different. A great modification is to change the perimeter shape of a classic format like the accordion or the tri-fold. Round the corners, reshape it to a circle or hexagon or mimic a real object like a wine bottle or a shoe. If low on budget, get creative with the guillotine trimmer and angle chop a corner or one of the panels for a custom diecut look.

Creative specialty formats that present in unique ways can be impactful and fun, too. As for which to choose, make that decision based on the content and the desired viewer experience. Different stands out, and the opportunities are endless. If looking for a place to start, check out the 30 Designer Folds at Smartpress.com.

The sample conundrum

Now, for everyone out there reading this and saying “My clients don’t do these types of projects, so I don’t have any good samples to show” or “My clients do some of these things, but we’re not allowed to share their work” – this is called the Great Sample Conundrum: printers and finishers need great designs and willing customers to get the samples, but to get those customers, they need great designs and samples to showcase. The solution is to invent reasons to create inspiring samples to share!

A great example comes from Standard Press in Atlanta. The company designed and produced a creative valentine to send to its customers to show its appreciation (“We love our customers”). In sending it, the company accomplished two things. First, the company surprised its customers with a valentine and made them feel appreciated. Secondly, it showed off a creative snake fold format with layered diecuts and special heart-shaped, dull and high-gloss UV print effects. It was a brilliant move that made a big impression. So, a suggestion is not to wait for the great projects – make the great projects.

Pro tip: If a shop does not have mad design skills in-house, consider investing in a professional graphic designer who can produce some really nice designs. Designers respect good design. They ignore bad design – even if it has cool print effects on it.

Finish with a BANG!

Hopefully this exercise in engagement and value-added print has given printers and finishers some fresh ideas and strategies to add to their repertoire. If looking for more real-world inspiration, check out the blog and the Fold of the Week database at Foldfactory.com, and the Foldfactory YouTube channel (youtube.com/foldfactory) for hundreds of creative print ideas to watch.

Trish Witkowski is an industry veteran who specializes in creative mail formats and direct marketing solutions. A self-described “analyst with great presentation skills,” she is known for her research in areas of direct mail, marketing strategy and folded formats. For more information, visit www.foldfactory.com.

Creasing Solutions – Keeping Up with Digital Printing

December 18, 2017

by Brittany Willes, editor, PostPress

A fully automated solution, the Duplo DC-446 Creaser was specifically designed to prevent toner cracking and unattractive fold lines on digital stock.

The devil is in the details, as the saying goes. While this has always been true of the printing industry, it’s become even more important with the advent of digital technology. When it comes to printing on digital stock, strict attention to the smallest details is what transforms a good print job into an amazing one. Working with digital stock presents its own unique challenges – ones that experienced operators didn’t necessarily have to worry about in the old world of offset printing.

For instance, when it comes to creasing and folding digital stock, printers are bumping up against increasing instances of cracking and/or flaking along the fold. “Although it was not a problem in the past, a surefire way to guarantee a dissatisfied customer today is to present them with a completed folded project that has cracking along the paper folds,” read a blog post from Whitaker Brothers, a company of self-described office supply nerds based in Rockville, Maryland, specializing in cutters, folders and shredders. The blog post, Should You Be Scoring or Creasing, went on to state, “The good news is that while your competitors may tell their customers it is a necessary evil, there are solutions available to prevent this damaged final appearance.”

So, how can printers avoid cracking – and dissatisfied customers – when it comes to creasing on digital stock? As they say, the devil is in the details.

Creasing vs. scoring

With digitally-printed stock, it’s important to know which method of creating a fold is best: creasing or scoring. The two terms often are used interchangeably, yet experienced binders and printers know they are actually very different processes that produce very different results.

“Scoring machines fold paper by reducing its stiffness with the use of a rotary wheel,” explained Whitaker Brothers. “It stretches the paper and then utilizes severe pressure to create the fold in the paper.” This combination of pressure and stretching results in the top layer of paper fibers essentially being cut through. Most notably, scoring creates only a single stress point to achieve the fold.

By contrast, creasing relies on creating two parallel folding points on either side of the fold. According to Whitaker Brothers, “Since the folding points now have doubled, the paper still folds 180 degrees, but the stress disperses to two different points on the paper.”

Noting the differences between scoring and creasing is especially important when it comes to digitally-printed stock. Because the digital print process consists of pressing a layer of toner only upon the paper’s surface, scoring – which tears through the top layer of paper fibers – can ruin the printed piece. Furthermore, because scoring produces heat that fuses the toner to the paper, “this causes the paper to dry out, causing intensified cracking along the fold,” stated Whitaker Brothers.

Thus, when it comes to digital stock, creasing over scoring is the recommended process. However, creasing is not without its challenges.

Creasing on digital stock

Tech-Ni-Fold’s Tri-Creaser solution helps reduce or eliminate the inside flaking problems that can occur when using recycled/poorly produced stocks.

While excess heat is a pitfall when it comes to scoring digital stocks, it also has proven to be a challenge when it comes to creasing. Digital stock itself is heat treated and therefore is, “much more prone to the defect of cracking than traditional offset materials,” explained Graham Harris, managing director for Tech-ni-Fold, which specializes in creasing and print finishing. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Tech-ni-Fold has spent more than 15 years addressing common finishing problems – such as the increased rate of cracking along folds that has occurred due to the rise of digital printing.

Kevin Chen, product manager for Duplo USA, Santa Ana, California, confirmed Harris’ assessment of the difficulty of creasing digital stock. According to Chen, “Creasing on digital stock is extremely difficult because of the different variations of toners and inks being used in the digital age right now. Each toner/ink reacts differently to certain creasing mechanisms.” Back in the days of traditional offset printing, the printing process was universal all around. Those days have mostly passed.

“It’s a vicious cycle that often repeats,” explained Harris. “Creasing machine manufacturers develop their latest super solution to solve a production headache, only to have the rules change all together.” As a result, creasing has become a critical application.

While the technology for creasing paper stocks has come a long way over the last several years, digital stock continues to present problems. For instance, the digital printing process can help cause brittleness to the stock and, in some cases, a static charge can make feeding/separation and finishing more difficult, Harris explained.

In addition to increased cracking along folded edges, another problem that is becoming apparent is the added threat of flaking on the inner side of the crease, meaning each side of the bead. “In other words,” Harris explained, “cracking on the outside of the fold used to be the only problem, but suddenly it was the other side of the sheet that posed threats. Quite literally, right now the folded sheet can easily hide a new surprise for those that pay for perfect creasing results.”

According to Harris, this new flaking problem is the result of increased numbers of recycled and poorly produced paper stocks. While this issue is hardly the fault of creasing machine manufacturers, it still is an issue that needs to be addressed in order to achieve the desired fold – and a happy customer. As Harris stated, “Creasing machine manufacturers are beginning to realize that stopping the cracking on the outside of the fold isn’t enough anymore, and therein lies the challenge for those who create creasing solutions.”

Along with increased flaking due to inferior stock, the slow speed of output versus the need for faster digital press speeds also can pose problems for printers. “One of the most critical areas with creasing digital stock is in the speed of output,” said Harris. “Cylinder methods may average 4,000 creased sheets per hour, but multiple crease applications significantly reduce this ratio as the same creasing blade is needed again. Furthermore, it isn’t uncommon for fewer than 1,000 sheets to be completed (per hour) in such cases.” All in all, this doesn’t bode well, especially as digital copiers and printers are getting faster.

So, how can binderies and printers avoid problems with cracking and flaking while getting more from their overall production process? For starters, they can help themselves by identifying higher quality stocks whenever possible. This will allow for better finishing results. “Really, just some forethought to the whole process is sensible,” remarked Harris. Next, binders and printers can turn to creasing solution experts for the latest in digital creasing technology, which can aid in turning a good print project into a great one.

Digital creasing solutions

Standard Horizon’s automatic creaser offers an automated feeding function that allows for high-quality creasing.

When it comes to creasing solutions, Tech-ni-Fold’s CreaseStream technology has made great strides in reducing cracking and flaking for digital stock. CreaseStream consists of a range of three creasing and micro-perforating machines, from manual and semi-automatic versions through to the fully-automatic solution.

“The newly patented Tri-Creaser tools used in all CreaseStream models reduce or eliminate the inside flaking problems that can occur when using recycled or poorly produced stocks,” stated Harris. This is achieved with a special double scoring tool in the female channel that irons out those fibers that are prone to such defects.

“As well as giving customers the quality crease they expect, the CreaseStream solutions significantly increase output ratio,” said Harris. “All machines have the same tooling shaft specifications and can combine creasing, cutting and micro-perforating in one easy operation, if required.”

Other options in the marketplace for creasing digital stocks include Duplo’s DC-446 Creaser, which was specifically designed to prevent toner cracking and unattractive fold lines on digital stock. A fully automated solution that creases up to 60 sheets per minute, the DC-446 comes with Duplo’s patented creasing mechanism, which prevents toner cracking and unattractive fold lines on digitally printed documents.

“A number of options are available on the DC-446 to suit the demands of digital printers,” remarked Chen. “For instance, a double-feed detector sensor stops the machine when two or more sheets are fed, preventing misfeeds and paper jams.” In keeping with the idea that printers desire more from the their creasing machines, slitting and perforating tools also can be added to eliminate white borders and/or create perforated pieces.

With greater amounts of recycled and/or poorly produced stocks introduced to the market, increases in cracking and flaking are almost unavoidable. Synthetic materials likewise pose a problem for creasing. “Synthetic material attracts a lot of static,” stated Chen, “which makes it hard to feed into the machine. When customers start using synthetic material, it is hard for machines like the DC-446 to process.” Luckily, Duplo has found a way of helping to combat the static problem. One of the options available on the DC-446 is an air knife, which provides additional air to reduce static problems. While this may not eliminate all static problems associated with synthetic materials, it’s a step in the right direction.

The Standard Horizon CRA-36 Auto Creaser also is designed to eliminate the cracking that is so common with digital print, cross grain and UV coating. Producing high-quality creasing through an automated feeding function, the CRA-36 is capable of creasing up to 10 lines per sheet. “Designed for digital and offset printed sheets, the CRA-36 offers rotary perforation, edge trim and gutter cut in a single pass, while impact creasing helps to prepare high-quality perfect bound book covers,” stated Marketing Specialist Will Frank.

The ability to crease in a single pass can be particularly important. “When creasing on digitally imaged stock, operators should be aware that one size does not fit all,” noted Frank. “In other words, based on the weight of the stock and the direction of the folds, operators will need to choose the right width and proper direction (up or down) of the creasing line. A general rule of thumb is that a lighter line is required for lighter weight stock, and a heavier line is best for heavier stock. On heavier stocks, it is best for the crease line to be opposite the direction of the fold, while a crease in the same direction of the fold may yield better results with lighter stocks. When looking at equipment, it is best to consider a solution that will provide up and down creasing in a single pass to avoid the need for multiple passes through the machine.”

Conclusion

The rules are changing – quickly – when it comes to digital printing and overall production processes. The tried and true solutions that once prevailed in the traditional world of offset printing no longer apply in the digital age. Binders, finishers and printers are looking for new and better solutions to ever-evolving issues, and suppliers of creasing technology are doing their best to combat those issues by addressing the challenges of digital printing head on. The devil may be in the details, but so is the solution that helps transform a digital print job from good to great.

The Truth Unfolds: Specialty Folding is More than Meets the Eye

December 9, 2016

by Kevin Rickard, president, Rickard Bindery

Challenging fold angles, unusual paper stocks, large production runs: when it comes to specialty folding projects, skilled bindery professionals are able to accomplish extraordinary feats. Perhaps the most impressive feat is how professional binders are able to create complex folds that are visually stunning while appearing deceptively simple to produce.

Folding stock

Sometimes specialty folding is simply the ability to work with thick, thin or unusual paper stock. Some might ask, “Should a company’s ability to reduce or eliminate wrinkling qualify as specialty folding? What about holding brittle paper together as it travels though fold rollers and designing fold sequences that travel through machinery with the least amount of stress?” To this, specialty binders say, “Yes.” These capabilities solve customers’ difficult problems and are examples of specialty folding.

Specialty folding experts need to know what pieces of equipment are suitable for which jobs. For example, buckle folders don’t do well with stock 12pts or thicker, but plow and knife folders do. Knowing which resources to use prevents a lot of potential snags from becoming full-blown production problems. Some types of unusual miniature (at least one panel shorter than two inches) and oversized (large format) work qualifies as specialty folding, as does the inline application of EZ-release, permanent or removable glue.

Should a company’s ability to accept exceptionally large jobs qualify as specialty folding? As long as the work isn’t of commodity status, yes. Companies that claim to be specialty producers should be able to turnaround large jobs fast – and have redundant (multiple) machines allowing them to do this.

Tricky folds

Let’s turn our attention to “tricky” folds. Unfortunately, there are few universal rules about what’s possible in the interesting world of tricky folds. Projects with lots of panels, folds at unusual angles, diagonal folds, unusual diecut shapes and no obvious side guides are sometimes possible and sometimes not. Some printing sales representatives run and hide when asked to bid on work involving tricky folds. Rather than passing on these types of projects, and opening doors for your competitors, you owe it to yourself to seek expert advice. Printing sales representatives that figure out how to produce unusual projects are more valuable than those that prematurely say, “No.” Here is a short list of some “how did they do that?” folds that are realistic and image enhancing:

Iron cross folding
Pop-up folding
Multi-directional diecut folding
Paper-doll style folding
“Swinger” folding
Narrow gap, no gap and wide gap gate folding
No apparent side guide folding (ovals, circles, etc)
Miniature folding with panels as short as 7/16″
“Layflat” miniature folding (with or without using glue)
Folding sheets as large as 80″ long

Specialty folding companies should offer troubleshooting and design advice. To continue pulling rabbits out of their hats, some companies have staff machinists and engineers that design and customize bindery equipment. If your trade partner has a creative eye and a lot of real world experience, “how did they do that?” type folding projects are both possible and profitable.

Gatefolds

Running gatefolds multiple-up is fraught with danger. To avoid gatefold “pullout” (an unintended fold located approximately 1/8″ away from the intended fold), fold rollers should be loosely set. Although one-up work isn’t affected by running gatefold projects with loose fold rollers, multiple-up work certainly is. Since operators can’t get solid grips on gatefolds as they travel through the slitter shaft, slits are usually crooked, ragged or both. Since two-up formats don’t yield much more product than one-up production, designing multiple-up gatefolds projects rarely makes sense.

Gatefolds may have short gaps (less than ¼” total gap), no gaps and wide gaps (more than 2″ gap). Since most commercial gate folding plates don’t handle these types of projects well, make sure your bindery has the necessary specialty machinery for your job.

Folding speed and paper stress

The immutable laws of physics apply to the field of specialty folding. Buckle folding machines apply different amounts of stress to the front and back ends of sheets as they travel through fold rollers and into fold plates. Every fold has two sides – one heading into the plate and the other being pushed from the back by fold rollers. The side of the fold that’s being pushed forms a “buckle” when the front end of the sheet hits the stop at the backend of the plate. As the sheet buckles, tremendous stress occurs in the paper on one side of the fold but not the other. The side being pushed by the fold rollers gets a severe bend. Fracturing of the paper surface or fibers is likely to occur if the stock is over 10 pts.

Folding speed stresses paper at a geometric rate of progression. For example, if the stress on a sheet is “5” when the speed is “5” (these numbers are only meant to be relative), doubling the speed to “10” means the stress jumps from “5” to “25” (instead of the linear “10”). In this case, doubling production speed translates to a five-fold increase in stress, perhaps enough to ruin a project. Many jobs that appear to be improperly setup are simply being run too fast. To think of it another way, assume you’re in a car crossing a railroad track with six-inch-high rails. If you cross the rails at three miles an hour, your tire raises up over the rail and down the other side with on a small bump. However, at five miles an hour the wheel feels like it’s coming through the fender as the shock absorbers top out from the explosive force of the tire springing off the rail.

If not planned well, paper stress created during right angle folding can be a huge problem. The structure of paper is such that it is stronger under tension than under compression. When poorly designed folding sequences cause two panels to “fight,” the top one under tension always wins and the bottom one under compression always wrinkles. If a panel is “trapped” during right angle folding, wrinkling will result.

Every week, I receive phone calls from all over the country wanting our company to rescue jobs from unsightly cracking programs. In general, cracking usually occurs on the first fold. Why? As the buckle starts in the right angle section, the first fold bends around a very tight corner, greatly stressing the first fold. Unless preventative measures are undertaken, the result is poor quality.

For example, a customer contacted Rickard about a wrinkling problem they were experiencing while folding a 16-panel poster. Unbeknownst to them, the folding sequences they attempted doomed them to failure. First, they tried four sequential right angle folds, but as they soon discovered, this produced wrinkled paper (i.e., tension vs. compression). Next, they tried a two-parallel, two-right angle folding sequence and again failed. Finally, they called Rickard, which suggested a folding sequence that allows the outside and the inside panels of the piece to flex during the folding process. This simple solution solved the customer’s wrinkling problem.

Speed vs. quality

The fastest way to do something rarely results in the best quality. If a client has endured the expense of putting a beautiful six-color job on a 100lb, #1 enamel sheet, it’s a good bet that ragged or crooked edges won’t be tolerated. On the other hand, if a job is printed on groundwood stock, time- and cost-saving suggestions are valued, if not expected.

Specialty folding also means knowing when to employ which manufacturing processes. If product quality is essential on a right angle folding project, the job plan should allow for one-up bindery production. While split-side guides certainly permit faster production speeds, they cause out-of-balance roller tension and result in poor quality.

Feeding, delivery and downstream considerations

One of the trickiest things about folding diecut products is getting them to feed cleanly. When a diecut sheet is fed out of a feeding unit, its edges and corners may catch on a sheet below it. Feeding considerations should be carefully thought out during the planning stage because these types of errors happen a lot.

Similarly, getting product successfully delivered out of a machine and properly packed is important, especially when automated operations are required downstream. For example, pharmaceutical manufacturers need miniature folded paper products to be automatically inserted into boxes, bottles and other containers. This usually requires folded work to lie flat and be neatly packed. Even if a bindery’s miniature folding is produced on budget and looks beautiful, it’s still a failure if it jams up downstream pharmaceutical inserting machinery. In short, specialty binderies should look beyond their own processes and consider how their work impacts other operations, either before or after them in the manufacturing chain.

Conclusion

Clearly, specialty folding is much more than tricky folds. It’s participating in the design stage, choosing the right processes and equipment for each job, having large-volume capacity and offering creative solutions to formidable challenges. The bottom line? Put your knowledge of specialty folding in your briefcase and use it to win more printing business.

Kevin Rickard is president of Rickard Bindery. Rickard Bindery specializes in discovering solutions to challenging folding, saddlestitching, gluing and other bindery jobs. Rickard can be reached at 800.747.1389 or visit www.rickardbindery.com.

Make a Statement with Your Company Holiday Card

December 14, 2015

by Trish Witkowski, Foldfactory

Admit it, you’ve done it. We all have. You’ve waited until the last minute and bought boxed holiday cards for your customers. At the time, it probably didn’t seem like a big deal, but as an industry that prints beautiful things every day, how can we possibly ignore this opportunity to show off and stand out?

I think, for many printers, binders and finishers, the speed bump is in the creativity. We might be great at making other people’s work look amazing, but we seldom turn the focus onto ourselves – and when we do, we come up dry. It’s a common problem. So, I’m going to give you some great ideas (and the tools to create them).

Inspired holiday card formats

Creating a stunning holiday card can be a piece of (fruit)cake with purchased dielines.

3-Panel Cascading Accordion. The 3-Panel Cascading Accordion format features the classic zig-zag format of an accordion fold, with a stylish angled trim across the top. The trim creates a waterfall effect that can be used for endless dimensional concepts. The file also includes a perforated section that can be detached and used as a bookmark, or simply removed from the dieline.

9-Panel Pop-Out Accordion. The 9-Panel Pop-Out Accordion is a fascinating and dimensional format that expands and surprises the recipient. The four pop-out boxes create a focal point for a message, a date, fun photos and pops of color. For the holidays or a save the date card, celebrate with each box featuring a number (For example, 2-0-1-6).

Broadside Box Star Pop-Up. The Broadside Box Star Pop-Up is a standout format that opens to feature a dimensional surprise. This version features a star theme, with a laser-cut star shape as the focal point to the shadow-box effect. The format can be attached at the bottom or left open so that it can unfold to a large poster spread.

Locked Gate. The Locked Gate holiday series takes the classic gate fold format and embellishes it with a locking mechanism in a custom shape. The locking cover is dimensional and makes the format fun to open. Try the snowflake, circle, tree or star themes.

Swinger Circle with Snowflake. Swinger Folds swing into motion when opened, and this circular-shaped swinger features a classic snowflake in the center accordion panel. Once opened, the Swinger Circle creates a self-standing, almost sculptural appearance.

Tri-Fold with Layered Circle Die. The Tri-Fold with Layered Circle Die holiday format adds a lot of pizzazz to the classic Tri-Fold, while leaving plenty of opportunity for creative expression. When closed, the circles layer together for a dimensional cover and a central focal point for a holiday image or message. Inside, theres plenty of room for everyone in the office to sign.

Vertical Wrapped Accordion Mailer. The Vertical Wrapped Accordion Mailer is a fabulous, self-mailing format that offers tremendous real estate for creativity in a compact and stylish presentation. To open, lift the flap and pull down to reveal six interior panels. For a holiday greeting, take fun photos of your team and showcase them photobook-style in this clever and memorable format.

Dimensional and high-tech card ideas

Pop-Up Holiday Greeting Cards from redpaperplane.com

My friends at redpaperplane.com have an exciting line of pop-up holiday greeting cards that you can design yourself. And, if you’re short on time, they have pre-designed layouts to choose from, too.

If you’re feeling like splurging this holiday season or if you’d like to send something extra special to a targeted list of VIP customers, you can send them the UvideoBase from UviaUs.com. It’s a stylish little video player, wrapped in a full-color sleeve. Just create your layout, load your video and send some serious holiday “wow.”

No excuses. Send something special.

Video player wrapped in a sleeve from UviaUs.com

And, there you have it – lots of great ideas to consider. I challenge you to try something new and send something special to your customers to make a lasting impression.

Foldfactory creates fabulous folded formats. Currently, there are over 40 in the collection, including the 2015 Holiday line. Dielines and folded paper samples are available for all of the layouts mentioned above in the Inspired Holiday Card Formats section. Visit www.foldfactory.com/shop/holiday-collection-2015.

Trish Witkowski is president of Foldfactory.com/Rock the Mailbox. An educator, author, designer and presenter, Witkowski specializes in creative solutions and engagement strategies for direct mail and marketing – and she uses her expertise to help companies find solutions that can meet, or exceed, their marketing goals. For more information, visit www.foldfactory.com.

Low-Budget Wonders: Get the Look of Specialty without the Price Tag

May 29, 2014

by Trish Witkowski, foldfactory.com

Everyone loves the specialty folds that I share on my “Fold of the Week” video series – they’re so creative! However, I get the same comment over and over when I’m out in the field: “We love all of the ideas you’re sharing, but we’re never going to get to do any of them. We don’t have the budget.”

Hey, I can relate. I lived the agency life for six years, and I truly understand that often the desire to do something exciting is squashed by the reality of a super-slim budget. The good news is that I’m always in hot pursuit of low-budget wonders. To me, a low-budget wonder is something that feels especially engaging, but comes with an economical price tag on the production side. I love sharing these types of things, because I enjoy proving to people that some of the most powerful formats come in low- to moderate-budget packages. The other reason I like the low-budget stuff is that anything can be done when the budget is generous, but it takes some real smarts to do something exciting when there’s not much money to throw around.

It was actually very hard to decide what to feature, as my collection is so large and I have seemingly endless solutions to choose from, but I decided to focus on clever options for folded self-mailers for this article. Each of these solutions also was featured on “60-Second Super-Cool Fold of the Week,” so I invite you to visit the videos to really get the full experience.

Dual-purpose freemium self-mailer

Photo 1: This format, courtesy of Westland Printers in Laurel, MD, was featured in Fold of the Week episode #230.

This first format (Photo 1) is great for non-profits and fundraisers. When the objective is to raise money, often the strategy is to include freemiums, or free token gift items, as a motivator. The freemium, often address labels, calendars and the like, becomes an extra expense in the campaign. This particular format uses a simple and ingenious idea that makes the folded format itself become the gift, so to speak.

Think of it like a tri-fold where the fold-in panel is trimmed a bit short and fugitive-glued on two edges to form a pocket. The pocket holds the letter and response mechanism, and then when you remove these items and peel open the pocket, the interior of the format becomes a commemorative poster. It’s an amazing, fun and practical idea that truly does double duty.

Glued gate fold self-mailer

Photo 2: This format, courtesy of Standard Press in Atlanta, GA, was Fold of the Week episode #214.

Now that I frequently speak about mail ideas and strategies, I am getting a lot of questions about simple mail solutions that go a bit beyond the basic card/postcard format. This piece (Photo 2) is as easy as two panels glued together at the edges. A fun zip strip – one of my favorite mail engagement strategies – is embedded down the middle, enticing the recipient to tear it open. Once torn, the zip strip releases two interior gate panels that reveal the marketing message. With one easy pull, you’re giving the recipient a fun and interesting way to get to the content. The powerful “card” mailer is simple, mail-friendly and loaded with creative possibilities.

Poster fold self-mailer

Photo 3: This format, courtesy of John Roberts Company in Minneapolis, MN, was Fold of the Week episode #229.

Now, let’s go large and blow things out of the water. To me, it’s really inspiring when I see a format that is very efficient to mail, but also offers a tremendous amount of real estate for graphics. This format (Photo 3) is, in my opinion, a stroke of genius. They figured out that with the addition of a small flap with a zip strip opening mechanism (there it is again!), they could take a huge poster, fold it down and it would self-mail with style.

Pull the zip strip to open, and the piece takes on a tri-fold into tri-fold poster fold format. This sample also is really well-designed and uses wonderful paper and printing techniques to give it pop. Great stuff.

Pull-tab self-mailer

Photo 4: This format, courtesy of Specialty Print Communications in Chicago, IL, was Fold of the Week episode #169.

I have one more for you, and this is another “super card” format (Photo 4). Again, two panels are glued together at the edges, but this time there is a perforated pull tab that is lifted to reveal the interior contents. What I like about this is that it could have been two panels wafer-sealed shut, but instead they chose an interesting way to reveal the content – in this particular instance, little tipped-on coupons. Clever little opening mechanisms can be truly irresistible, and that’s what you want.

Tip: Peek-a-boo windows add engagement

One thing that all of the samples have in common is that they utilize techniques designed to get people engaged or interested in the piece. If you’re looking for something simple to get started, add a peek-a-boo window.

Photo 5: This piece, courtesy of Rider Dickerson in Chicago, IL, was responsible for drawing a sold-out crowd for the event it was promoting.

This can be done with any folded format – all you need is two panels to glue together. This sample card mailer (Photo 5) from Rider Dickerson in Chicago, IL, glues two panels together to create three peek-a-boo windows that reveal QR codes which jump to promotional videos for a college. This piece was responsible for drawing a sold-out crowd for the event it was promoting.

I hope these “low-budget wonders” have given you some great ideas for your own promotional opportunities and also for your clients. After all, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a great result.

Trish Witkowski is chief folding fanatic at foldfactory.com. An educator, author, speaker and award-winning designer, Witkowski specializes in creative solutions for mail and marketing. She hosts a popular e-video series “60-Second Super-Cool Fold of the Week.” Witkowski has an MS in Printing and a BFA in Graphic Design from RIT.

The Big Business of Miniature Printed Products

May 13, 2014

by Jack Rickard, Rickard Bindery

Wouldn’t you like to improve your company’s bottom line with high margin and frequently repeating print jobs? Would a new niche help differentiate your business? Have you ever considered small format “miniature” work? If you thought that miniature printing begins and ends with the pharmaceutical industry, think again.

The world of miniature printed products, commonly defined as anything with one final dimension 2 1/2″ or shorter, is both varied and profitable. Run lengths are usually short because so many individual pieces fit up fit on a sheet. Even if you’re a printer that prefers long press runs, take a closer look at the business of printing miniature products because the effect on your bottom line can be outstanding.

By the numbers

Although the number of impressions is usually small, miniature format printing is profitable because of healthy markups on finishing operations. Even if you outsource the postpress work, markup on outside services will make your effort worthwhile. As long as you have a reliable postpress supplier well versed in the nuances of converting miniature work, your small investment in press time should yield handsome profits.

Let’s look at an example. Assume you have a job that sells for $20/M finished pieces. If the printing portion of your job is $5/M and outside bindery services are $15/M, your total markup constitutes a 40 percent profit on your printing. How many printing jobs have these kinds of attractive economics?

Once people understand that miniature work frequently repeats, even those reluctant to embrace outsourcing become converts. After jobs are done once, coordinating with outside suppliers on repeat work becomes routine and remains profitable.

Less geographic boundaries

Most normal-sized printing work is geographically sensitive because it’s not economically practical to transport heavy paper long distances. On the other hand, miniature work weighs so little (normal weight ranges between three and seven pounds per thousand pieces) that you can transport work thousands of miles away as conveniently and for the same cost, as across-town deliveries. Therefore the location of you, your customer and your specialized postpress vendor isn’t critical. For example, we recently participated in a large job that was printed in the Orient, folded at our plant in the US and distributed throughout Taiwan. Large jobs such as this fit on so few skids that a profitable vendor relationship can be developed almost anywhere.

Although your postpress partners may be a thousand miles away, job turnaround times aren’t adversely affected. For instance, Rickard Bindery is located in Chicago and we routinely win miniature folding and stitching work from both coasts. Frequently, setup materials are overnighted and when the job arrives via truck, our machines are nearly ready to run. For miniature printed products, the world is truly a small place.

Layout and packing issues

Miniature product folding sequences and format are important because reader usability and bindery productivity is at stake. For example, there are two common ways to layout a 24-panel miniature piece: one column of 24-panels; or, three columns of 8-panels. The later is easier for consumers to read and runs faster in the bindery. While printers may not care which imposition is chosen, end-users, binderies and chief financial officers do.

There are several ways to pack miniature products. Common solutions include trays, rubber bands, cartons with chipboard dividers and bulk packing – commonly known as “popcorn-style.” While trays are slightly more expensive, they have an advantage because product easily can be loaded directly into the chute of inserting machines, saving a great deal of costly labor.

To buy or not to buy miniature postpress equipment

If your company is skilled in miniature folding and you have a proven need for more capacity, buy the equipment. However, if you are considering bringing miniature folding capabilities inhouse for the first time, beware of some caveats.

The skill set required for successful miniature folding is very different than for regular-sized work. Miniature folding setups are more involved and operators need highly specialized dexterity skills. Although many miniature products are produced on thin stock, proportionately they are thicker than normal-sized work. Folded miniature products with a lot of panels may be quite bulky relative to its size, which can cause significant problems for the uninitiated.

Miniature products usually need to be compatible with mechanical inserting. In these cases, folded products should lie flat so sucker-driven inserting and packaging machines can automatically feed them. Lying flat is also important to avoid “tenting” which negatively affects fill count for products being inserted along with the printed material. If a folded product tents after insertion into a container or bottle, it is likely to cause a short fill and be rejected. Sometimes glue must be used to keep very thick pieces closed but frequently there are more attractive methods of accomplishing this lay flat state. Some miniature folding and stitching companies have invested a lot of time developing non-glue lie-flat solutions.

There are substantial working capital considerations inherent in miniature format finishing. Assume you have a job that is 60 percent outsourced with a 20 percent markup. Twelve percent of the job will flow right to your bottom line just for communicating with your vendor. Since you have 30 days to pay, the time gap between your revenue inflow and cost outflow is quite small. In fact, cash flow is hindered by keeping work in-house because you pay for this work at the end of the week, in the form of pay checks – which is equivalent to a net loss of 25 days on your payables. Additionally, critical cash is tied up in very specialized hardware. Companies that outsource finishing require substantially less working capital to maintain their business.

Pharmaceutical work

The pharmaceutical segment of the miniature products industry requires substantial administrative and quality assurance programs that exceed normal commercial graphic arts practices. For example, companies processing pharmaceutical work need folders equipped with automatic blank sheet detectors. Additionally, “locked” work-in-process inventory capabilities for lot mix-up prevention is a prerequisite along with many other infrastructure requirements. Count verification procedures are extremely stringent.

Conclusion

Printing by its very nature involves distribution to the reader. Newspapers and mail have been the traditional primary channels for promotional printing. The piggyback nature of distribution for miniature products will broaden the base of your company’s markets. Onserts and instruction sheets into blister packs are rapidly growing segments of miniature printing. “Gaming” products, kids’ stickers, consumer product inserts and hang-tags are all hot. And as usual, pharmaceutical inserts – the backbone of the miniature products industry – continue to drive a lot of printers to the bank … to make deposits that are anything but small.

Jack Rickard, president of Rickard Bindery, Chicago, IL, is president of the Printing Industries of Illinois and Indiana and former president of the Binding Industries of America. Rickard Bindery is a company specializing in discovering solutions to challenging bindery jobs. For more information, call 800.747.1389 or visit www.rickardbindery.com.

Reprinted with permission.

Stable Product Transport Important to Finishing Operations

August 13, 2013

by Mark Talley, Precision Finishing Systems

One item that often gets overlooked when finishing operations decide to get into affixing or tipping applications is the transport. Many people want to use an old base or conveyor they have sitting around to save a few bucks and don’t realize that the very expensive, highly accurate tipping/affixing feeder they just purchased is only as good as the transport it is mounted on.

Make sure there’s a vacuum

Old DC-driven mail bases, or vacuum bases that have little or no vacuum, can significantly affect production speeds and quality. These do not work as well as today’s drive technology in which precision is increased and profitability rises. The vacuum is critical to product stability and consistent transfer of product, whether you are running 20# bond paper or 20 point board. A vacuum system should deliver the product at a consistent speed and quality, at all times; whether you have a single piece of paper or end-to-end pieces on the transport.

Ease of operation

Operators have to deal with a lot of challenges on any given day. Setting up the systems for operation should not make their job harder. The 10X line of vacuum transports has been designed with simple-to-move vacuum tubes, register tapes for proper measuring and placement of tubes and quick change for belting if needed. While belts don’t need to be changed often, changes can be made in minutes because of the unique belt system design.

Many options from which to choose

There are a lot of options to use with the vacuum transport, including tipper plates for inline folding; vacuum opening stations for opening pre-folded products; high-speed labeling systems for applying a variety of labels; imaging systems with read-and-print capabilities; and much more, including plow folding.

Plow folding has become a required option for many applications, such as affixing cards or magnets, running heavy stocks, multi-page brochures or producing a glued double-gate. With the new postal regulations requiring a single line of glue, plow folding can provide an excellent option over traditional buckle folding. Another option getting a lot of attention these days is the divert gate system. With client applications requiring read-and-print, tracking, matching and more, a good divert gate is worth its weight in gold.

Mark Talley is president of Precision Finishing Systems, an Arlington Heights, IL, equipment systems integrator for bindery, mailing, packaging and print finishing companies. He can be reached at 262.945.5963 or mark@precisionfsinc.com. For more information on the 10X line of vacuum transports, visit www.precisionfsinc.com.

Folding Machinery Programmed for Efficiency

February 1, 2013

by: Staff

As binderies look more and more toward automation as a cost-saving measure, new technologies are being developed to meet this need. Job Definition Format (JDF), an XML-based file format that serves as a single source of real-time job data, is one such advancement. While JDF doesn’t mandate a given workflow, its flexibility allows a printer of any size to work with vendors to design a workflow appropriate for its needs.

The first version of JDF that could be implemented by vendors was released by the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress Organization or “CIP4” a little over a decade ago and the first JDF-enabled products hit the market at drupa 2004. A case study conducted at GRAPH EXPO 2008 showcased the first-ever successful end-to-end live JDF workflow collaboration between multiple vendors. Since then, manufacturers have been offering the technology, but have yet to release a full implementation in the marketplace, said Mark Pellman, director of sales and marketing for the Baumfolder Corporation, Sidney, OH.

He said the use of JDF technology really depends on the size of the operation. “We see only a few smaller operations utilizing the benefits, and some larger binderies do, but implemetation has been limited.”

Pellman offered his take on the latest technology to hit the folding industry and what to expect in the coming years.

What other advances have been introduced to the folding industry?
We are seeing customers using folding machines to produce more specialized folded products, including heavier stocks with multiple panels that traditionally have been limited to a simpler knife folder. The adaptation of various glue systems and attachments helps create attractive folded products that add value to direct mail, special promotion pieces, etc. Gluing systems have advanced to the level that they can add special cards and other items on a folding machine with great accuracy and verify that the glue line was placed for each piece.

Have digital printing and shorter runs necessitated changes in folding equipment?
Many manufacturers saw this change coming years ago and have adapted product lines to meet these needs. One recent change is the ability of a single digital print engine to produce a 14×25.5″ sheet for short runs, and the equipment manufacturers have responded by introducing folders with the capability to feed and fold this size of sheet for the short-run markets. It’s also important to be sure folding roller and fold plate technology are prepared to prevent marking in a digital environment and reduce static.

One way BAUM has adapted to the need to reduce static is with new urethane coatings on suction wheels and the use of state-of-the-art coatings on the feed tables and platforms to reduce static build-up.

Folder technology has kept up, but what about feeders and joggers?
New feeding technologies had to be developed as well to include sheet staging capabilities and utilization of PLC controls to adapt to more inline applications. Feeders have had to adapt to do more than just feed paper to folding machines. New feeder solutions are available for feeding inkjet bases, diecutters, UV coaters, print engines, packaging lines and more.

Do you foresee a point in which folding machinery will require zero human intervention?
We would love to have this, but the marketplace will probably not want to pay for the price of a machine with this level of automation. Manufacturers are producing folding machines with less setup and operation, but the variations in printing/imaging, grain direction, stock weights and other factors still create the need for human intervention. Another key area is the setup of perforating, scoring and slitting. Even though many manufacturers offer automation and “information” on their folding machines, a high skill level is required to set up the slitter shafts for a successful job run. One solution is to provide cartridge slitter shafts that can be easily removed and replaced with another set of pre-set shafts for the next job.

What’s next? Where do you see the folding industry in the next 10 years?
We see more inline and near-line folding applications being utilized. We also see our customers wanting to use the folding machine for more than just folding. A folder can be utilized more as a feeder and scoring/creasing/perforating machine while being run inline with other equipment. The increase in personalization of printed/imaged products also will require the folding machines to adapt to more sophisticated monitoring devices to insure the folded piece is accurate for each recipient.

It also will be important to review and adapt to the needs of customers that have multiple printing and imaging technologies from various manufacturers. There will be a need to continue to simplify the setup and operation of folding equipment to adapt to a newer workforce that is more digital in nature and companies that strive to compete by lowering their costs with easier-to-operate equipment.