Page 42 - Packaging News Magazine July-Aug 2020
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FLEXIBLES UPDATE | www.packagingnews.com.au | July-August 2020
 Thinking outside the pouch
Melbourne flexibles specialist O.F Packaging is known for its pioneering spirit when it comes to pouches. The company has come up with myriad innovations in the space in terms of expanding functionality of pouches and the use of recycled materials in pouches. Ian Ackerman reports.
Ansell said, “We’ve had customers in the past have a new design or con- cept that they wanted to see printed and formed into a bag before they did their long runs offshore and commit- ted to sending all that money on the setup and artwork. It is good to be able to see a concept in the flesh, so to speak, before the full run goes ahead.”
Foster says the company’s pouch machine runs flat out. “We’re making small runs – anything from 1000 up to 5000 or 10,000, depending on what the client is looking for,” he says.
Another advantage to having local digital printing and converting capa- bility is being able to add embellish- ments to flexible packaging, using techniques that have traditionally been used on labels.
Ansell says the company can add anti-counterfeiting features to its flex- ible packaging with digital printing.
“We can print with invisible ink,” she says. “It is invisible until it’s put under UV light. This is a way people can protect their brands, as there is a big problem with counterfeiting of Australian brands overseas.”
ZERO CO
O.F is involved in an ambitious zero-waste project that uses refill- able pouches that are made from recycled plastic – produced by O.F, of course. The new company, called Zero Co, is about to start a circular system for household goods such as hand soap and laundry detergent. Launching in October, consumers will be able to refill rigid containers (made with recycled ocean-waste
Using reusable pouches decreases production and delivery emissions in comparison with rigid alternatives.”
ENTHUSIASM is the key word for O.F Packaging. The company’s manag- ing director Joe Foster is a dynamo when talking about pouches. The conversational juggernaut careens from barramundi-shaped pouches for, you guessed it, barramundi to
the latest developments in using recy- cled materials in plastic film.
O.F, formerly known as Omniverse Foster Packaging Group, is an Australian packaging supplier, spe- cialising in premium flexible and car- ton packaging solutions. The com- pany supplies its products to brands around the world.
The company puts its highly expe- rienced team to work to advise and support its clients from the initial phases of product development, through testing, and then on to final manufacturing and product delivery.
LOCAL AGILITY
The innovation that O.F produces is remarkable, but it is not the whole story. During the ongoing pandemic, the ability to produce short and medium runs of packaging is an important ability.
O.F’s local digital printing and con- verting capabilities at its facilities in Victoria affords it a large degree of agility. This local short-run manufac- turing capability has enabled the company to fill a niche in the market that opened with the upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jessica Ansell, marketing assistant at O.F, says when the pandemic hit, air and sea freight were severely affected, particularly coming out of China, which is a major flexible packaging manufacturing hub for many companies.
“Companies realised they could be a couple of months behind sched- ule because of these freight issues,” she says. “That’s when digital print- ing and local converting can shine; the manufacturing capacity was there to pick up and help our cus- tomers – some needed short runs to get them by while they were wait- ing for their other runs to come in from overseas.”
O.F’s local converting capacity also allows it to produce short runs and packaging mock-ups, which have proven to be an important business.
BELOW: Local digital printing capacity allows for fast turnaround.
RIGHT: O.F’s innovations include reusable pouches, ovenable pouches, e-commerce pet food pouches, and recyclable packaging.
     










































































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