PALO ALTO, Calif., – Consumer product packaging brand owners, designers, production specialists and procurement professionals learned about the advantages leading-edge digital production solutions offer at the recent Follow Possible Package Printing Forum presented by Hamilton, Ohio-based Innovative Labeling Solutions (ILS) and sponsored by HP.
The April 27 event featured experts from the consumer packaged goods and package converting industries. Attendees had an opportunity to engage with ILS, sponsors and colleagues to learn about the advances in technology that meet the needs of a modern brand.

"Relevance, engagement and interaction"

"The Follow Possible Package Printing Forum was an excellent opportunity to help educate the brand owner community on the ways our HP Indigo digital production operations can assist brands in creating on-shelf relevance, engagement and interaction with consumers, as well as improve SKU management and reduce inventory waste and obsolescence," said Jay Dollries, president ILS.

Key topics covered at the event included the benefits of multi-SKU and versioned digital production, brand color management, and building brand loyalty. Keynote speaker Jim George, former editor of Shelf Impact! magazine, spoke about packaging industry trends. Plus, former Procter & Gamble executive and current packaging consultant Mike Ferrari presented an in-depth look at today's innovative brands and how they are connecting the digital realm with physical products.

Additional speakers included Dan Theiss, Procter & Gamble; Jaye Johnson, Artico; Joe Manos, Mindfire Inc.; Susie Stitzel, EskoArtwork; and HP's Yishai Amir, Larry Brining and Gary Bernier.

A tour of ILS's digital production floor during the event featured the company's three HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press production lines printing pressure sensitive labels, shrink sleeves, flexible packaging and folding carton finishing at full-color speeds up to 98 feet per minute. The tour also featured finishing and prepress solutions from members of the HP Graphics Solutions Partner Program, including the first-ever public display of a Delta Industrial pressure-sensitive label finishing system installed in-line with an HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press. Also shown on the tour were flexible packaging laminations, hot stamping, shrink sleeve seaming and tactile varnish applications.

Additional HP Graphics Solutions Partner Program companies represented on the production floor tour included AB Graphic International, Color-Logic, EskoArtwork, Mindfire, Rotometrics and Tailored Solutions.

The work produced at the event highlighted HP Indigo presses' ability to print on a wide variety of substrates for labels, shrink sleeves, in-mold labels, flexible packaging and folding cartons. Representatives from ACTEGA Coatings and Sealings, Avery Dennison/Fasson Roll, Flexcon, Klöckner Pentaplast, Masterpiece Graphix, UPM Raflatac and Wausau Coated Products were all on hand to showcase their portfolios of label and carton stocks, films, foils and coatings available to create high-end digitally printed work.

ILS is a leading-edge, full-service label and packaging specialist. Over the past decade, the company also has become one of the most progressive label and packaging companies in the U.S.

"ILS is an example of a company that has an amazing vision and an strong commitment to its customers," said Yishai Amir, vice president and general manager, Indigo and Inkjet Press Solutions – Americas, HP. "The level of technical expertise and innovation ILS delivers make it one of the best facilities in the world to showcase the ways HP Indigo digital printing can advance packaging innovation and build brands."

Initially a beta site for the HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press in 2008, today ILS operates three Indigo WS6000s and continues to revolutionize the packaging marketplace by offering end-to-end digital workflows that allow customers to create multi-SKU and specialty promotional label and packaging programs for seasonal, regional, co-branded and even cause-related initiatives.

The Follow Possible Package Printing Forum came during a very busy week for ILS. Two days before the event the company hosted a tour for Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, the U.S. Speaker of the House. During the visit, Congressman Boehner spoke with ILS executives to hear more about how small, private companies can grow, add jobs and contribute to their communities.

More information about the Follow Possible Package Printing Forum, including presentations, videos and photos from the event, are available at www.hp.com/go/packaging and at www.followpossible.com.