15.11.2007 – 3 stars awarded to Otor

3 stars awarded to Otor for its innovative shelf-ready packaging, in-house software and flexographic pre-printing. Fields in which Otor has confirmed its leadership and is pursuing its technological progress.

> “Supply Chain and Packaging” section

Gold star: Coshida shelf-ready packaging

Customer: Continentale Nutrition

With the increasing demand for shelf-ready packaging on the part of distributors, Otor Picardie suggested that Continentale Nutrition replace an EE-flute automatic bottom half-case plus manual lid with an Otor 4 half-case with a cut-out front panel and an economical hot melt glued lid. The packaging is mechanically erected on an Otor Systems erector with special lidding at a rate of 20 c/min, which has effectively doubled the packaging capacity of the production line.

Designed to package pet food, Coshida shelf-ready packaging can be used on the shelves in two different ways, depending on whether it is turned over or not:  either in the form of a tray, or a half-case.

The result is entirely optimised packaging while meeting the distributors’ specifications: 12% weight reduction and 15% surface reduction, an assortment of products in the same case, elimination of pallet accessories (spacers), complete use of pallet and rapid shelf filling.




> “Technology, innovation and environment” section

Silver star : Prodsim software

Customer: Otor

Several software packages are available today to predict the vertical compression strength of cases and determine the VCS requirements, but none of them include cases containing deformable or elastic products which can partially contribute to the VCS of the case.

Prodsim, the result of 3 years of reflection and more than 600 hours of in-house development has made it possible to reduce weight even further by precise simulation of the combined behaviour of the case and its content, taking all the necessary variables into consideration. For example, Prodsim has reduced the weight of packaging already considered to be optimised by a further 20%.

As well as the resulting source reduction, Prodsim also reduces the weight of primary packaging and, consequently, its impact on the environment.




> “Design and differentiation through graphics and printing” section

Bronze star: Cases for Fixies disposable nappies

Customer: Novacare

In order to reduce costs, Novacare wanted to swap from offset to flexographic printing for its Fixies disposable nappy packaging.
Using the Flexotor pre-printing process, Otor Velin can print 17 different references on a 2.50 m large width machine at industrial rates.

Based on high quality CtP images with 85-line and 110-line screens using digital cameras on ultra-precise beds, printing is produced in 6 colours plus selective acrylic varnish using water-based inks and varnish.
The aim of obtaining uniform colours with the same quality as offset printing, using recycled container board only, has been successfully achieved due to the determination of precise colours and contours, colour consistency (flesh colours), control of screen breakage and concentricity of pictograms.

The nappy packaging is a perfect example of the high-quality potential of the flexographic preprinting and technical knowhow used.