Release liners: though they're usually thrown away before reaching a shelf, release liners play an integral role in the label process.Release liners are usually thrown out long before the label reaches its final destination. But despite their short-lived duty and relative anonymity in the consumer marketplace, release liners are an integral part of the label construction. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When working properly, release liners form a base for the pressure sensitive label. They protect the adhesive, they provide an anvil anvil Iron block on which metal is placed for shaping, originally by hand with a hammer. The blacksmith's anvil is usually of wrought iron (sometimes of cast iron), with a smooth working surface of hardened steel. for diecutting, and they release properly when the time comes Adv. 1. when the time comes - at the appropriate time; "we'll get to this question in due course" in due course, in due season, in due time, in good time for label application. But these simple tasks do not come without a tremendous amount of engineering. "The liner is the most expensive part of the whole sandwich," says Bill McBain, vice president of sales for Loparex Inc. in Willowbrook, IL. "It's probably got the most technology involved in it." The two major components of a release liner are its base material and its coating. Because release liners must be flexible enough to accommodate all sorts of end-use applications, there are several different types of release liners in use today. Base materials: paper According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. Release Liner: Annual Outlook 2001, a market research study published at the end of 2001 by AWA AWA As Well As (internet chat lingo) AWA Animal Welfare Act AWA Australian Workplace Agreement AWA America West Airlines AWA Anime Weekend Atlanta (Anime convention in Atlanta, GA) Alexander Watson Alexander Fletcher Watson (born August 8, 1939) is a retired American ambassador and diplomat of Maryland. Watson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard University, earning a bachelor's degree in government in 1961, and joined the Foreign Service in 1962. Associates, calendered cal·en·der n. A machine in which paper or cloth is made smooth and glossy by being pressed through rollers. tr.v. cal·en·dered, cal·en·der·ing, cal·en·ders kraft dominates the release liner market, accounting for 50 percent of materials. Within the labeling sector specifically, super calendered kraft release liners are used most in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . This material has several key advantages. The biggest is cost. Super calendered kraft proves to be an economical choice. But it also offers a series of desirable performance characteristics. "SCK SCK Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie (Belgium) SCK Serial Clan Killers (gaming clan) SCK Sport Club Kriens (Switzerland) SCK Street Combat Karate (Germany) , along with other paper based substrates, are the highest temperature resistant liners currently available, which can be very useful in terms of drying or curing of adhesives. It has adequate tensile strength tensile strength Ratio of the maximum load a material can support without fracture when being stretched to the original area of a cross section of the material. When stresses less than the tensile strength are removed, a material completely or partially returns to its , and tear strength, but it is not as good as some other materials in that regard. Its surface smoothness and the caliper caliper Instrument that consists of two adjustable legs or jaws for measuring the dimensions of material parts. Spring calipers have an adjusting screw and nut; firm-joint calipers use friction at the joint to hold the legs unmoving. uniformity are acceptable for most applications," says Leroy Keiser, principal of Excel Consulting Inc., in Darien, IL. Disadvantages include its lack of dimensional stability dimensional stability, n See stability, dimensional. . In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , this type of liner has a habit of drying out and curling curling, winter sport, similar in principle to bowls and quoits (see horseshoe pitching), played on an ice court by teams of four. Each player hurls a squat, circular stone—weighing 38 lb (17. in certain environments. In order to create super calendered kraft, the paper must go through a process where its fibers are hydrated hy·drat·ed adj. Chemically combined with water, especially existing in the form of a hydrate. Adj. 1. hydrated - containing combined water (especially water of crystallization as in a hydrate) hydrous , and then crushed by a series of rolls under high pressure. This process serves to increase the density of the paper. Density is important because of diecuttability. "If you have a spongy spongy /spon·gy/ (spun´je) of a spongelike appearance or texture. spong·y adj. Resembling a sponge in appearance, elasticity, or porosity. paper, when the die cuts through the face stock, the paper underneath compresses and you don't get a good, clean cut," says Keiser. While super calendered krafts can adequately serve as an anvil for diecutting due to this compression process, there are other base materials that perform better. Glassine glass·ine n. A nearly transparent, resilient glazed paper resistant to the passage of air and grease. , which has not entered the North American market in great quantity, is Europe's base material of choice. According to Keiser, glassine offers higher density, a more uniform caliper and better hold out than super calendered kraft. Higher density and uniform caliper aid in better diecutting. Hold-out is another important characteristic. "For ultimate performance, the silicone coat weight should stay on the surface, and not soak or absorb into the base sheet," says Scott Fairbanks, product development chemist for FLEXcon, located in Spencer, MA. "If there isn't the correct hold out, some or all of the silicone will go into the base sheet and cause inconsistent release, tight release or v-tears in the liner." Glassine is slowly eroding market share away from super calendered kraft in the US. "You are seeing glassine liners more and more," says Cindy White, vice president of sales for Channeled Resources in Chicago, IL. "More and more companies are leaning toward glassine liners because they diecut better, they have a harder surface, and for labels you need a very hard surface to diecut." While glassine is enjoying some growth in North America, it is not near the levels of super calendered kraft. "There's been a significant growth of glassine in North America, but from a very small base, so it still represents a very nominal amount of the liner used," says Corey Reardon, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of AWA Alexander Watson Associates in Amsterdam. The Netherlands. Currently, glassine costs more than super calendered kraft in the US. But super calendered kraft's prevalence in North America may be traced back to historical roots and not a price tag. "The North American market historically was using glassine up until the late 1970s and early 80s, when the market decided to rationalize ra·tion·al·ize v. 1. To make rational. 2. To devise self-satisfying but false or inconsistent reasons for one's behavior, especially as an unconscious defense mechanism through which irrational acts or feelings are made to appear to one single product," says Reardon. Why was super calendered the product of choice? "Because of the availability of super calendered kraft production in North America," he says. Although the most widely used, super calendered kraft and glassine are not the only paper base materials available. Reardon says that polyethylene polyethylene (pŏl'ēĕth`əlēn), widely used plastic. It is a polymer of ethylene, CH2=CH2, having the formula (-CH2-CH2-)n coated paper Coated paper is paper which has been coated by an inorganic compound to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight and surface gloss, smoothness or ink absorbency. Kaolinite is the compound most often used for coating papers used in commercial printing. and clay coated papers also claim a small minority of the release liner market in labeling applications. Base materials: film In addition to paper base materials, there's also film base materials. Film liners are increasingly being used in narrow web applications. "It's probably one of the fastest growing areas. Film represents about 4 to 5 percent of the liners used today," says Reardon. "It's primarily polyester liner." The growth of film in release liners can be attributed in part to its decreasing price tag. "Polyester has become less expensive due to a lot of offshore companies importing base material into the US," says McBain. Increased demand also has to do with its exceptional performance characteristics in certain applications. Two major reasons to use film release liners are for use with film labels and in high speed label applications. When converting film labels, certain release liner characteristics are necessary. "When you are working with film, you are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. smoothness, caliper control, high tear resistance, high tear strength, and lay flat," says Matthew Shields, director of marketing for Loparex. Smoothness, in particular, is an important characteristic when trying to achieve the ever-popular "no-label look". "When the adhesive is cast onto the liner, it can take on the surface characteristics of the liner. A mottled mottled /mot·tled/ (mot´ld) marked by spots or blotches of different colors or shades. or irregular liner surface may transfer to the face of these clear labels. You want something as smooth as possible so it appears as though you don't have any label whatsoever," says Shields. "If you use the wrong release liner for a clear label, you get what's called label noise, which looks like little streaks running through a label. It's not going to be acceptable," says Gary Wiesner, sales manager sales manager n → gerente m/f de ventas sales manager n → directeur commercial sales manager sale n → , labeling systems for Logotech in Fairfield, NJ. The company supplies label application equipment. Film liners are also popular for high-speed labeling applications. In high speed applications, a web break can cause major headaches. Polyester is desired here because of its strength. "You have substantially fewer web breaks because the polyester is a tough film. Nicks and things like that don't cause a web break," says Keiser. In addition to its tear strength, polyester liners are thinner than its paper counterparts. This is also an advantage in high speed label applications. "Because it is much thinner in caliper, you can get a lot more labels on a given diameter roll of label stock. And that is important because you are changing rolls a lot less," says Keiser. Film versus paper Polyester liners have other desirable characteristics. "You would use polyester generally because it has improved diecutting over paper," says Doug Goldstein, new business development manager for CPFilms located in Fieldale, VA. Besides improved diecutting and increased strength, film in general provides a number of advantages over paper. "Film liners offer more dimensional stability and are not affected by moisture. Film liners eliminate the dusting that comes from using paper liners. Also, film liners offer more uniformity and clarity when adhesive is coated on them," says Pete Futia, marketing manager for performance label materials, for 3M in St. Paul St. Paul as a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26] See : Bravery , MN. While film liners are important in some applications, they do have limitations. For one, films are not as temperature tolerant as paper. "Films generally soften in lower temperatures [than paper]," says Brian Chapman, marketing manager for Dow Corning Dow Corning is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, USA. Dow Corning specializes in silicon and silicone-based technology, offering more than 7,000 products and services. Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Inc. Corporation in Midland, MI. Dow Corning is a supplier of silicone coatings. Static electricity can also be a problem. "Film liners do have their drawbacks. You need to be careful of static buildup build·up also build-up n. 1. The act or process of amassing or increasing: a military buildup; a buildup of tension during the strike. 2. . To avoid this, be sure to test the film liners on each application," says Futia. Registration can be a problem if a converter is not used to working with film. "One of the issues in switching to a film liner is that it's a much smoother surface. If a converter is not experienced with such a liner they can have registration issues," says Fairbanks. "I think you have to be educated on the differences between the two." Coatings In addition to a variety of base materials, the release liner industry also offers a number of coatings. With some exception, coatings are generally silicone in the labeling industry. Even still, there is a tremendous amount of product choice. "Silicones offer a wide variety of product characteristics and an almost infinite number infinite number a number so large as to be uncountable. Represented by 8, frequently obtained by 'dividing' by zero. of applications," says Ekkehard Behrend, employed by S+E Release located in Juelich, Germany. Keiser explains the major silicone categories by using a matrix metaphor. On one side is the delivery vehicle for the system, he says, "and what I mean by that is you have water based, solvent based and what's referred to as 100 percent solids, or solventless." On the other side are catalyst systems. "You have the old tin systems, platinum and radiation cured," he adds. All of these possibilities amounts to a number of different silicone systems. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "What you have then is a large variety of choices within the concept of a silicone release coating. And even within this there are subcategories, but these are the main classes," says Keiser. Trends In addition to these staples of the release liner industry, manufacturers are also working on creating alternative products. Several trends have come about in the past several years, driven by either cost or the need for increased performance characteristics. The need to cut costs has been important for this competitive industry. Prices have already been driven down by overcapacity o·ver·ca·pac·i·ty n. Too great a capacity for production of commodities or delivery of services in relation to actual need: the problem of overcapacity in many large industries. , but suppliers are continually looking for ways to increase efficiency. One way to do this is to cut costs out of the product itself. "A more realistic way to cut costs is to review other options such as alternative base sheets or alternative chemistries," says Fairbanks. Finding alternative products that are as good as the original proves to be a challenge. "We're sourcing more alternative materials to make them more cost effective, but there are always trade-offs there--price and performance trade-offs--that have to be considered," says Shields. Suppliers are also increasing efficiencies through faster speeds and longer runs. "One of [the major trends] is the desire for coaters to run faster. It's an efficiency thing primarily as price pressures increase," says Chapman. "We are trying to improve our yield and efficiency internally and going with the longest runs possible," says Doug Goldstein. But not all improvements are driven by cost. The need for increased performance characteristics also propels suppliers to create alternative materials. A big interest surrounds the use of lay-flat liners. "Super calendered liners tend to curl curl In mathematics, a differential operator that can be applied to a vector-valued function (or vector field) in order to measure its degree of local spinning. It consists of a combination of the function's first partial derivatives. a lot," says White. "But in lay-flat applications where you have sheets, you want to make sure it stays flat and doesn't roll up. So the lay flat liners flat liner A popular term for a brain dead Pt. See Flat line, Harvard criteria. , which would be clay-coated liners or polycoated liners that are heavily moisturized, they are manufactured so they'll lay flat." End-use applications "A lot of the specialty people who are making the liners have a hundred new products. They have to worry about different basis weights, requirements people have like claycoated papers, or polycoated paper or film. There's different widths. And they have a bunch of different silicones," says Chapman. In an industry where many suppliers are moving to consolidate products for more universal use, it seems odd that there is so much choice when it comes to release liners. But the release liner industry marches to the beat of a different drummer Different Drummer Thoreau’s eloquent prose poem on the inner freedom and individualistic character of man. [Am. Lit.: NCE, 2739] See : Individualism . The difference is that most end users don't specify the type of release liner needed and then build the label around those specifications. It works the other way around. Release liners must be flexible. For instance, "If it's a no-label look, it's got to be polyester. If it's a generic or perhaps hand-applied label, then cost may be the main issue. If something has to go through a high-temperature process, then glassine or super calendered kraft might be the choice. If someone wants something flexible and stretchy stretch·y adj. stretch·i·er, stretch·i·est 1. Capable of being stretched: a stretchy fabric. 2. Tending to stretch excessively. Adj. 1. , like a low-density polyethylene low-density polyethylene n. Abbr. LDPE A form of polyethylene having many side branches off the main carbon backbone and a less closely packed structure than that of high-density polyethylene. film, then perhaps you will have a radiation-cured silicone," says Keiser. The end-use application ultimately determines what the best base material and coating is for the job. There are many factors to consider and many products to choose from. Communication is vital in order to get the correct liner. "The more information that they can give to the release liner suppliers up front in terms of adhesive chemistries that are going to be used, process conditions that this product will see, and the type of performance required of the liner, the more likely they will get a product that meets their needs long-term," says Shields. Product Resources The following are companies that manufacture and/or supply release liners. Circle 182 on the Response Card 3M Building 21-1W-10 St. Paul MN 55144-1000 USA 800-223-7427 Fax 651-778-4244 Email: converters@mmm.com Web: 3m.com/converter Kim Jansen, marketing manager Boise Paper Solutions 591 Supreme Dr. Bensenville IL 60106 USA 630-227-3410 Fax 208-331-5821 Web: boisepaper.com Channeled Resources 7111 W. Stewart Ave. Wausau WI 54401 USA 312-733-4200 / 800-633-6272 Fax 312-733-1628 Email: maratech@channeledresources.com Web: channeledresources.com Andy Woodward, industry manager Cham-Tenero Paper Mills Fabrikstrasse CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Cham is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. It has an area of 19.82 km² and, as of 2005, a population of 13,894. 41-41-785-33-33 Fax 41-41-785-31-50 Email: mail.cham@chamgroup.com Web: iccham.com & champaper.com Michael Bethge, sales director CPFilms 4129 The Great Road Fieldale VA 24089 USA 276-627-3332 / 888-273-4567 Fax 276-627-3085 Email: indprods@cpfilms.com Web: cpfilms.com Doug Goldstein, new business development manager FLEXcon 1 Flexcon Industrial Park Spencer MA 01562 USA 508-885-8200 Fax 508-885-8400 Web: flexcon.com Joyce Laffin, marketing communications Marketing communications (or marcom) are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. Those who practice advertising, branding, direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales manager Granwell Products 185 Fairfield Ave. West Caldwell West Caldwell, borough (1990 pop. 10,422), Essex co., NE N.J., a residential suburb of Newark and New York City; inc. 1904. It has some light manufacturing. NJ 07006 USA 973-403-0080 Fax 973-403-8335 Email: inquiries@granwell.com Web: granwell.com John Giblin John Giblin (born in Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish bassist who has played with bands and artists including the following:
International Paper/Akrosil 206 Garfield Ave. Menasha WI 54952 USA 920-729-6404 Fax 920-729-5341 Roy Schneider, sales manager Loparex 7700 Griffin Way Willowbrook IL 60527 USA 630-734-2700 Fax 630-734-2690 Web: loparex.com Bill McBain, VP sales Mitsubishi Polyester Film 2001 Hood Road PO Box 1400 Greer SC 29652 USA 864-879-5751 Fax 864-879-5006 Web: m-petfilm.com Bob Finke, sales & marketing director, packaging Polykote 57 Ash Circle Warminster PA 18974 USA 215-443-9492 Fax 215-443-9576 Email: sales@polykotecorp.com Web: polykotecorp.com Karen Lane S+E Group U.S.A. 1373 Grandview Ave., Ste 208 Columbus OH 43212 USA 614-481-4264 Fax 614-481-8043 Email: segroup@attglobal.net Web: schleipen-erkens.com |
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