By Melissa Donovan
Part 1 of 2
Founded in 1949, Stanpac Inc. is a packaging manufacturer and part of its core offerings is container decorating. Half of that business focuses on wine, sprints, and beer markets; and the other half involves the dairy industry. Stanpac supplies refillable glass milk bottles and related packaging to dairies that offer premium, organic, on the farm, or specialty dairy products to consumers looking for sustainable solutions.
In 2021, the company celebrated 50 years of family ownership. Andrew and Matt Witt, co-presidents, Stanpac, are second generation owners. The main facilities are located in Smithville, ON, Canada; but additional locations are found in Mexico and the U.S.—Totowa, NJ and Brenham, TX. A total of 800 team members are spread out across the company.
Its customer service and sales teams work closely with clients to pull all the details together on a job. Once everything is signed off, the final instructions are placed in the company’s workflow system where the production team is apprised of requirements and any special instructions are addressed.
Screenprint with Kammann
To decorate the containers in its facilities, Stanpac works with devices from Koenig & Bauer Kammann (US) Inc., specifically two K15s and one K22 CNC. Up to 60,000 pieces can be printed on a K15 in one day; whereas the K22 CNC allows for up to 10,000 pieces to be printed. This is all contingent on how many containers are being printed, the complexity of the design, and how many colors are being used.
The K15 servo-driven rotary machine platform prints to any item shape—round, oval, square, flat, and with a handle—in the highest quality. The flexible handling system designed to transport upright and horizontal articles allows for the shortest possible changeover times. A newly developed bottom camera register system aligns the items accurately by utilizing any unique marking on the bottle of the object.
The K22 CNC prints any article shape flexibly and precisely—round, oval, angular, flat, and with handle—in the highest possible quality. The machine combines the latest technology with a modern and ergonomical user concept. The fully automatic, multi-color printing device features a two article holder with the possibility to extend up to four holders to increase in output.
At Stanpac, a typical run size on a K15 is about 20,000 to 30,000 pieces. The K22 CNC produces order sizes around 1,000 or 2,000 pieces. The company operates on a six week order process, however at different times of the year it can be shorter or longer depending on backlog.
Both printers were designed by Koenig & Bauer as universal machines for screenprinting, digital printing, hot stamping, labeling, or a combination of all these process. Stanpac runs them as screenprinters, but Murray Bain, VP marketing, Stanpac, hasn’t ruled out digital printing technology. “While we have thoroughly investigated digital printing systems we have not yet pulled the trigger on this technology as of yet. The markets we are presently in are not yet ready to move into this technology. We are however keenly interested in offering digital solutions moving forward as the market develops,” explains Bain.
The K15 and K22 CNC were chosen, according to Bain, because Kammann sets itself apart in versatility, accuracy, and speed. UV ink or high fire ceramic ink is used, depending on the application. UV is utilized for one-way bottles that require very intricate artwork. Ceramic is chosen when a container will have to withstand rigorous handling and washing in an industrial setting.
Another consumable to pay attention to—the screen. Multi-color jobs require stainless steel mesh, and single-color jobs rely on polyester mesh, especially if the project involves printing to concave glass.
After printing, it depends on which ink was used as to what happens next. Anything printed with UV ink is inspected, then packaged, and sent off to the customer’s filing room. Containers printed with ceramic ink are fired in Stanpac’s high-temperature ovens. This fuses the ink to the bottle and re-anneals the containers to ensure the strength of the bottle is optimal, according to Bain.
Quality control is an important element in the process. “We have automatic print inspection as well as human eyes, both dedicated to making sure we are staying true to our customers’ design standards. We also have quality mechanisms in place to ensure maximum durability is achieved and glass annealing is within acceptable standard,” explains Bain.
“We pay close attention to details, work with them to explain the process, and do whatever it takes to hit their time constraints. We get the most out of the process and obtain great looking packages,” he continues.
Gin Design
One customer example is Collective Arts Brewing of Hamilton, ON, Canada. It is a grassroots craft brewery whose mandate is to combine“the craft of brewing with the inspired talents of emerging and seasoned artists, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers”. One of the company’s founding principles is to bring art to the masses, and it does so by showcasing this art on its continuously changing lineup of beers, spirits, and cocktails.
When Collective Arts branched out into craft distilling it was presented with the challenge of showcasing art on glass bottles. It wanted to achieve the same high-quality designs it was known for, but on glass, preferably directly onto the glass and not using a label.
Stanpac was able to deliver. “Stanpac was patient working with us to find the best possible colors for the inks needed to make our artwork pop,” says TK Palermo, brand marketing and communications, Collective Arts. “They were just as committed as we were to realizing the best translation of art to bottle as possible, and they worked with us to find the perfect placement for our designs. Their quality assurance team is very diligent and helpful.”
The result were bottle designs for four popular gin flavors—Artisanal Dry Gin, Rhubarb & Hibiscus, Lavender & Juniper, and Plum & Blackthorn. Each share a common postage stamp-style branded image, imprinted in front of colorful backgrounds drawn by emerging artists.
In the Future
As aforementioned, Bain has not ruled out using digital printing technology in the future—the Stanpac team sees the technique as “intriguing” for both itself and its customers. “It gives us the ability to easily make each bottle unique from one another even on high-quantity orders. You can also recreate the appearance of glass embossments through digital printing, so we can take a generic industry stock bottle and make the glass look as if there is a custom blow moulded feature specifically with their logo or brand. Traditionally this couldn’t be done without a very large investment and minimum order quantity with the glass manufacturers.”
However, Stanpac is content with its current processes and the recent investments it’s made in the glass printing business over the last few years. “We continue to consider further automation and operating efficiencies. With the new equipment we are well positioned to increase production for our customers,” concludes Bain.
Feb2022, Industrial Print Magazine