Two of our structures were awarded at the Global Flexo Innovation Awards 2021

“Technofilms reduced the spot colors used (from four to two), resulting in a 22% reduction in make-ready times. In other work, the company used new packaging materials made from more sustainable polyethylene foam films to reduce weight by 11 % and enable more efficient packaging for transit.”

Miraclon 

High print quality is just the first step

In contrast to the standard awards, where the main evaluation criteria are purely technical: quality, lineart, dot and tone stability of the print, Global Flexo Innovation Awards GFIA of our supplier Miraclon focus on the transformation of flexo industry. Thus, high print quality becomes only a pre-requisite in the job application.

So what is evaluated?

1. Company’s workflow efficiency.
2. Conversion of other printing processes to flexo.
3. Creativity degree in graphic design.
4. Level of sustainable business practices in the project.

It should be noted that the juries are independent from Miraclon and the dynamics of the awards is particular: if a work applies to the 4 items above, it can obtain a platinum award; if there are 3, gold; and if there are 2, silver.

Innovation and perseverance

“Participants must demonstrate that flexo is not just about getting things right, but that it can also be constantly improved.”

Karla Caal, Assistant Director of Printing and Prepress at Technofilms

Committed to the standardization and optimization of a process as complex as flexography, our prepress, design and printing teams in Guatemala and Colombia are constantly looking for improvement and innovation hand in hand with suppliers and customers, taking as a starting point the lessons learned from the other companies in Plastilene Group. Of course, it takes time; a few years ago we could not imagine the quality level we have today.

For this reason, we are proud of the results of our participation in the two GFIA editions.

We are committed to sustainability by making processes more efficient

Sustainability in packaging is not limited to final disposal (recycling), but also includes the initial production stage. In this case, in addition to high print quality, there are questions to be asked: how productive is the time spent on development, how much waste is being generated, how can approval processes and color communication with the customer be streamlined?

At Technofilms, we demonstrated these improvements in the two frameworks we presented at this year’s GFIAs

For the Catline Nutroline 15kg (PE/PE bag) structure, our technical team in Guatemala proposed to customers to reduce from 9 to 7 colors in their design, which translates into 22% less preparation time, use of less solvent and reduction of ink waste due to special color preparation.

Also, with respect to structure sustainability, they evaluated the possibility of replacing their raffia structure with polypropylene cast by a PE/PE monomaterial with a higher level of utilization (recyclability) and lower weight.

When it came time to validate the structure, the customer liked the look that Technofilms gave them. They completely changed the concept! Their differential in the market was no longer going to be the gloss level, like their competition, but matte.

The second structure we presented this year was Rufo Adult 454g made with foamed CPP/PE. Thanks to the foaming technology (HDFT), which we acquired as Plastilene Group, it was proposed to modify the internal face of the packaging to reduce by 11% the overall weight of the structure, consume less raw materials and be more efficient in transportation.

A standardization work that comes from years ago and from the whole Group.

These awards recognize that sustainability is permeating all areas and it was an advantage to present how these two structures are articulated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Group’s sustainable innovation strategy, which includes effective communication efforts with stakeholders and internal working groups.

Progressively, our employees are incorporating sustainability into their way of thinking and doing, not only because it can lead them to meet business improvement objectives, but also because the results positively impact the environment.

Congratulations to the entire Technofilms printing team, this award continues to motivate us to continue our process of standardization and continuous improvement. We thank Plastilene printing team, who have permanently provided us with support and training, and the corporate technical team and the sustainability team as well, who have allowed us to stand out in the region.

Mauricio Prieto Vera, Director of Operations at Technofilms