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News Release from: IPL Packaging | Subject: In-Mold Labeling
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 January 2007
IPL Packaging and In-Mold Labeling
In-Mold Labeling is one of the fastest-growing decorative processes for plastic packaging, offering visibility and graphics that far surpass other methods.
Can you increase the in-store visibility of your brand without increasing the size of the package or the number on the shelf? Answer: Through the use of a process known as In-Mold Labeling (IML)
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 17 Mar 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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One of the fastest-growing decorative processes for plastic packaging, IML offers visibility and graphics that far surpass other methods.
For the last 25 years, IML has been a popular labeling solution in Europe but has just started to make significant headway in the United States, particularly in the home repair and food industries.
With IML, a printed polypropylene label is placed in an open mold and held in the desired position by vacuum ports, electrostatic attraction and other means.
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The mold closes and molten plastic resin is injected into the mold where it envelops the label and makes that label an integral part of the container.
Nancy Dingman, Business Manager of Specialty Products at Home Hardware Paint and Home Products Division has experienced firsthand the benefits of IML.
Recently, the Paint and Home Products Division which is based in Burford, Ontario and churns out a staggering $60 million dollars worth of private label products for Home Hardware stores across Canada, switched the packaging of E-Z Roll Stucco and Dry Wall Compound lines to one-gallon (four-liter) containers from IPL Packaging, a North American leader in the design and manufacture of innovative packaging.
Home Hardware had already been utilizing IPL containers for these two products, as well as its latex paints, cleaning product and driveway sealer.
The new packaging, however, featured IML technology, which would allow Home Hardware to produce enhanced graphics that would, hopefully, lead to increased sales.
The decision to switch was facilitated by the fact that IPL was the first company to produce IML packaging in the United States.
And now, the company needed someone to help them introduce it up in the Great White North as well.
"Our representatives from IPL approached us and asked if we wanted to be the 'guinea pigs' for IML packaging in this country," said Dingman, who is responsible for marketing over 85 different products.
"Once we saw the photographic quality of the labels compared to the screen printing process we were currently using, there was absolutely no reason why we didn't want to move forward".
And what about the perceived size of the container?.
"With our old dry off-set printed pail, we were limited on our print area," Dingman explained.
"There was a total of about an inch and a half on the top and bottom that was just white pail".
"The IML process lets us print every square inch of the front, top to bottom".
"Even though the pail is the same size as the old one, people perceive it as a bigger container".
"This gives us a better shelf presence and a stronger 'billboard effect'.
The results were tangible - and immediate".
"We saw an increase in sales on both products, including a particularly dramatic 27% increase on our stucco," Dingman said.
"There is no question that the new IPL packaging is a key component to this upsurge".
Home Hardware's positive experience with IPL's IML packaging should come as no surprise, given the long-standing relationship between the two companies.
"IPL has been a supplier to the paint division for many years," said Andy Scodras, a Home Hardware purchasing agent who oversees paint products and evaluates new packaging.
"About a decade ago, IPL began supplying us with a 20 liter plastic paint container.
We were pleased with the product, the service, and the value, so it wasn't long before we started talking with them about our non-paint items".
"Given our satisfaction with IPL, as well as the fact that we tend to give preference to an incumbent supplier to help realize economies of scale, it wasn't difficult to make the decision to use IPL containers on our stucco and drywall products".
Home Hardware employs three different sizes of IPL pails: the 4222 for paint, cleaning products and driveway sealer, the 4412 for drywall, and the smaller 224 (3 kg) for its stucco.
Made of 100%-recyclable polypropylene, IPL pails are resistant to shocks and to the toughest conditions encountered in everyday use.
The patented Tamper-Evident safety tab keeps the containers watertight, an important consideration in preserving product consistency.
While IPL does not currently offer an IML-type container for Home's paint products, Scodras has been able to enhance his packaging graphics nonetheless".
"Over the past year, we changed the label on some of our best-selling paints and the Acrylic Driveway sealer from paper to a dry off-set printing," he said.
"It really enhances the label, especially since the label can't be torn or damaged like the paper version".
"What's more, our production department prefers this new label since they no longer have the additional task of applying the labels before filling the pails".
As both Dingman and Scodras point out, it is not only the product or the price that have cemented Home Hardware's relationship with IPL; it is also the service.
When it comes to service, IPL has redefined the term "above and beyond".
"When we changed from the [older] 4512 pail to the 4412 for the in-mold label, there was a production issue," said Scodras.
""On the new pail, there was a sharp bottom edge that caused some problems on our production equipment".
"To IPL's credit, they identified the problem and worked very hard with us to solve it.
"But they did more than just talk about it," he added.
"Within an hour of telling IPL that we had this problem, they had an expert come in from a machine shop to evaluate our production line and see what could be done.
Ultimately, they added an extra piece to our equipment that would keep the containers from 'hopping up', letting us slide the pail into the carton without buckling it.
IPL not only put the piece on, they had it designed and built".
Assuming that IPL continues to perform well and the price points remain relatively steady, Dingman says that she would examine the option of rolling out additional IPL packages.
"As soon as IPL offers a smaller two-liter size, we will be interested in switching," said Dingman.
"Unfortunately, many of the products on the non-paint side - general purpose cleaners, hand soaps, fertilizer, and aerosols - don't lend themselves to pail-type packaging.
But as we introduce new products that are appropriate, we will definitely look to IPL first".
"It should be noted that there are a number of outside suppliers that make Home Hardware private label products like grout and wood filler who also use IPL packaging".
"So we're not the only ones who recognize their value".
But certainly, no one places a higher premium on their value than Scodras and Dingman, who have seen their products not only appear to "grow" on the shelf, but fly off of it as well.
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