Bobst Business Unit Web Fed : Business Director Eric Pavone shares his views with Packaging MEA technology editor Vikram Fotedar at K 2019.
Vikram Fotedar (VF): What is Bobst promoting at the booth?
Eric Pavone (EP): It was a very exciting K 2019 for BOBST, as we announced the launch of several important new innovations, including a new CI flexo press (the VISION CI), new mono material laminate solutions and a new CI flexo pre-press workflow center of excellence.
On the booth we showed several different types of mono-material standup pouches – MDO PE, BOPE, BOPP and CPP – which are the result of considerable investment and intense research by BOBST and its partners (Brückner Maschinenbau, Dow Chemicals, Elba and Hosokawa Alpine).
We believe these mono-materials are a genuine breakthrough that will have a significant environmental positive impact.
Recyclability
VF: Can you share your thoughts on cost differences with respect to packaging buyers for fully recyclable packaging vs what they buy today?
EP: The industry is very focused on developing fully recyclable packaging that both meets sustainability criteria and can be widely utilized in packaging processes at similar costs to existing solutions.
The likelihood is that we will see some slight cost impact in the early stages with some of the new monomaterials, but that these will be offset rapidly once they are utilized on an industrial scale.
VF: Examples of barrier applied to mono polymer packaging for both PE and PP based packaging.
EP: The main barrier processes used are:
- The BOBST AluBond® Metallization process, an in-line hybrid coating technology which provides high metal adhesion and surface energy levels through vacuum metallization.
- The AIOx process, which uses standard aluminium metallizing machines as the basis for clear barrier coatings, permitting flexible processing of a host of different films.
- BOBST’s transparent, high barrier SiOx solution, which is both robust and environmentally friendly.
VF: Would you share your thoughts on the challenges if any in process-ability of fully recyclable packaging on conventional packaging / bag making machines?
EP: For full high barrier BOPP and CPP laminates, there is no real challenge here as there are industrial solutions readily available. For PE, the challenges are related to optimizing mechanical and thermal properties in order to keep up with the high efficiency processes requirements in converting.
Digitalization
VF: A few words on Bobst’s strategy for digitalization.
EP: Many challenges are shaping our industry, such as time-to-market and cost pressure, brand management, color control and sustainability – in response to these challenges, suppliers of packaging equipment and packaging services are leading a necessary digital transformation in the industry.
At BOBST, our strategy is built around the main three elements: digitalize, automate and connect. We intend to connect all stakeholders to a digitalized and automated workflow, accessing information anytime anywhere for a flexible and agile collaborative operation.
Conclusion
VF: In conclusion, how K-2019 has been different from previous shows, and how has it been for Bobst?
EP: We have been talking about sustainability for several years, but at K-2019 it felt as though the entire industry is now fully focused on finding real, workable solutions as quickly as possible. There was a huge amount of interest in the new high barrier mono-material laminates that we presented in partnership with Brückner, Dow Chemicals, Elba and Hosokawa Alpine, which has given us a fantastic platform to accelerate these solutions even more quickly.