Digital carton printer Kalas Packaging, Boston, has developed expertise in a range of security print features for the HP Indigo 30000 press that it is bringing to market as Kalas Secure.
The features include micro text, micro QR codes, intricate guilloche patterns as well as special inks and sequential numbering. “This is something that the press is capable of, but is not something that digital folding carton printers have embraced as yet,” says sales director Matt Evans. “Many can add some of these features, but are not producing them in a single pass.”
Single-pass printing adds to the security aspect as the risks of missing carton blanks because of double handling are eliminated. Security labels and stickers are also easy to remove, which features that are applied directly to the board are not.
These require separate processes which add both to cost as complexity of including anti counterfeit features to a carton.
Applications include track and trace capability through QR and micro QR codes, through features that are virtually impossible to replicate and which are simple to check, microtext being an example.
“We believe this is the future for packaging,” says Evans. “We think that as people become more aware that this is possible is a single pass through the press, there will be take up. And because it is far quicker to produce in a single process, it will become common place on all pieces of packaging.
“Food companies are very good at tracking the origin of the food, until the point it gets packed. After that, because there is no capability for track and trace. It in effect disappears off the radar which is a real problem when there are issues or recalls.
“This is a unique offering thanks to the capability of the machine. It’s surprising that nobody has really done it. We are keen to get this out there.”
Kalas has BRC qualification for food packaging and can apply this for healthcare products.
The business plans to offer the features in single or multiple layers which are simple to understand. Microtext for example is type at 0.5pt which “is something that conventional processes can’t replicate” and which appears as a single line and is read through a magnifier.
Kalas is not yet offering all the security that are possible through the HP Indigo technology. This is so that the company does not confuse customers through the range of features that are possible. Instead the features it has on offer will have the greatest appeal and are easiest to set up and understand says Evans. “Even a single layer will be better than anything they have already,” he says. “And we expect to increase as people become comfortable with the benefits as we believe they will. It will be something that everyone will be doing.”
The growth in ecommerce requires a means to replace the trust inherent in buying products from the brand’s own retail outlets or approved stockists. which is not easy to distinguish online. Figures for the volume of counterfeit goods are hard to verify, but it is a substantial issue. Around 8% of tobacco consumed in Europe is reckoned to be sold in counterfeit packaging says Evans. “There are a lot of people from across the spectrum that are interested in what we can do,” he says.
