Case Coding: Marking troubles melt away at Maxwell Products

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Case Coding: Marking troubles melt away at Maxwell Products
2/1/2008
Packaging Digest

o some, disposable packaging seems the height of convenience. That is, until it comes to disposal time. Imagine a package that actually disappears when the product it contains is usedÛnow that's convenience.

Making life easier for its customers was the idea behind Maxwell Products' new patent-pending meltable polymer skin-pack for the company's latest generation of premium crack sealants for road repairs, marketed under Maxwell's Nuvo brand. For the past 20 years, crack sealants (mistakenly called ÏtarÓ by the layman) have been packaged in corrugated cases with meltable plastic liners. To put the sealant down on a road, contractors have to cut open the case, tear it off, put the block of sealant with its liner into a melter, then stack up all of the corrugated and haul it off to a recycling center (hopefully), or what is perhaps more likely, the dump. Corrugated near a hot melter has another disadvantage in that it can be a fire hazard.

ÏWe've been trying for ten years to come up with a way to get rid of the box that this product has traditionally been packaged in, and we finally did,Ó explains Brent Maxwell, marketing director for 32-year-old Salt Lake City-based Maxwell Products. Founded in 1975 by brothers Ted and Delwin Maxwell, the company now is operated by Ted's son, Ken Maxwell, president.

Ink-jet station provides optimum print and ink control and prevents holes from forming in the polymer package.

But there was a glitch: ÏWe put all of our effort into developing an innovative package that reduces waste and eliminates an entire step in the cleanup process, but we couldn't print on it. The printer we had for marking on corrugated was not able to print on the new polymer package. The ink either beaded up and came off or it started to dissolve holes in the new package,Ó Ken Maxwell says.

The solution came from Matthews Marking Products (www.matthewsmarking.com), with a track record of designing rugged printing systems used in challenging industrial environments. ÏChallengingÓ is an understatement, in this case.

Molten crack sealants are packaged at temperatures between 200 and 300 deg F. ÏIt's not a pretty production environment,Ó explains Maxwell. ÏThere's hot sticky stuff everywhere.Ó

Maxwell not only wanted to print its new polymer package for the premium Nuvo line, it also wanted to continue to pack its standard grade of crack sealants in the same corrugated cases. The new polymer package measures 12?16?8 in.

ÏThe printing system was delivered in just a few weeks and does a great job,Ó says Maxwell. ÏWe print lot numbers and product identification information on both types of packages with the same system, with no need to change anything except the message that's printed. And the new system is very cost-effective, he says. ÏMatthews also provides the inks which are environmentally friendly, with no VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and no HAPs (Hazardous Air Pollutants).Ó

Maxwell Products was committed to in-line printing. ÏIt would take up too much warehouse space to stock preprinted packages for all of our different products,Ó he adds. ÏAnd labels weren't an option. We have just one production line, and we run several different products during a typical day. We needed a printer that could handle it all. We do store the flat corrugated cases in our warehouse, which means dust and dirt can come with them when they're brought to the production area for loading and printing.Ó

A few months before Maxwell discovered the company needed a new printer, Matthews had just introduced its I-MarkÙ SX-32 ink-jet controller, which offers a variety of printheads and inks for a wide range of surfaces.

The drop-on-demand ink-jet printerÌs valve technology is ideal for tough production environments like MaxwellÌs, with high heat, dirt and contaminants.

ÏDOD [drop on demand] valve technology is the perfect ink-jet valve technology for tough production environments like Maxwell's, where there is high heat plus dirt, contaminants and other particulates in the air,Ó explains Donna Meade, product manager of the I-Mark SX family of printers at Matthews. ÏOur fast-dry, nonporous ink, combined with our unique printhead design, is able to tolerate these tough conditions.Ó

The new controller also allows a high degree of control over the ink dot size. In the case of Maxwell's new polymer package, too much ink is what created holes in the substrate with the old printer. The ink needed to dry quickly, before it penetrated the surface of the package.

ÏWe were in a time crunch, a couple weeks from product introduction,Ó says Brent Maxwell. ÏWe knew Matthews would handle the printing problem.Ó

The SX-32 at Maxwell Products controls one of Matthews' Midi printheads, which has a small valve to provide optimum printing control and avoid using too much ink. This not only prevents holes from forming in the polymer package, it also reduces ink consumption by 20 percent, according to Meade. These printheads have a smooth stainless-steel faceplate that helps prevent ink buildup and the ink used in Maxwell's application is SCP901 acetone-based ink, which adheres well to both porous materials, like corrugated, and nonporous materials, like the new polymer package.

Marco Industries (918/622-4535) supplied the new expanded polymer ÏskinÓ package, which Maxwell estimates shaves 16 percent off of their customers' labor costs, or nearly $3,000 per truckload.

ÏWe're pleased to be doing something 'green.' We've eliminated more than ninety percent of the waste traditionally associated with crack sealant products, and we also use a substantial amount of recycled raw goods,Ó says Brent Maxwell.

ÏBut our real motivation was to save our customers time and trouble and to boost their productivity. My father started this business because he was a contractor and didn't like the products that were available. We have always had a focus on what our customers want; not what's easy to make.Ó

And what's good for customers is good for business. ÏThe Nuvo line is selling very well,Ó he reports. ÏDemand for our products is stronger than ever. Sales are triple what our projections were for this product's release. We have heard nothing but rave reviews from customers. The success is a combination of a better product and the new packaging.Ó

The filling process is very simple. The empty polymer containers travel by conveyor to the filling station. After filling with a molten crack sealant, a lid is applied and residual sealant material on the lip of the container seals the package. The filled containers then proceed on conveyor equipped with an electric eye to sense the container.

The ink-jet system marks the side of the container, and 10 seconds later, the package is manually stacked onto a pallet.