PCT Engineered EB-curing technology - Manual

EB curing teams with offset printing at Elopak's
Montreal plant
Pure-Pak converter Elopak teams PCT's EB-curing technology with
Komori Chambon web-offset press at Montreal plant.
By Contributing Editor Barb Axelson -- Converting Magazine,
11/1/2008 12:30:00 AM
Norway's Elopak is a liquid-packaging converter that has made juice and
milk cartons for more than 50 years. Dan Mize, director of converting
operations for Elopak Americas Region based out of New Hudson, MI,
wanted to get electron-beam (EB) curing technology into his North
American plants where Pure-Pak cartons roll off the presses to fulfill ever-
increasing market demand.
Mini Diamond Pure-Pak cartons are only one of several kinds of liquid-
packaging containers printed and converted by Norway’s Elopak in plants
worldwide.
With facilities in Montreal (St. Leonard, Quebec), Mexico, and recently, the
Dominican Republic, Elopak’s growth has been remarkable. The company,
known as an innovator, has seen production in Montreal grow 70 percent over the last year, and Mize says
Elopak’s Dominican Republic plant will double its production from a year ago.
Elopak has lots of experience in Europe with ultraviolet (UV) curing, but in North America, EB is a much
more accepted approach. Mize's customers had been asking that he introduce EB, a drying method that
incorporates many benefits, including the health benefit of reportedly preventing ink migration on the
food and beverage cartons.
The customer knows best
“Our customers,” says Mize, “are North American, and they are more comfortable with EB-cured
products. Our competitors use it, and some of our larger customers and potential customers buy products
cured with EB. More than one has told us that's what they
want.
Elopak production manager Loren Arteberry oversees output
on the new Komori Chambon web-offset printing press at the
Montreal facility.
For its EB-curing application, Elopak's Montreal facility chose
the new BroadBeam® LE Series system from PCT
Engineered Systems, LLC (
www.teampct.com ). PCT acquired
existing EB technology in 2003, and last year was producing
the LE Series specifically for the printing market. “Elopak
found us when we were in the final stages of development of