Business at point of sale is a battle: consumers ruthlessly sort products according to quality, price and appeal. Here the design and finish of the packaging play an important part. Does this mean standing out at any price? Standing out at a low price is definitely better and this is what inline-enhanced products offer. The latest innovation: inline embossing in coating.

To safeguard their future, printing companies want to expand their product portfolios, react flexibly to customer wishes, and produce efficiently. Besides coating applications and cold foil enhancement, inline embossing is another outstanding tool for adding value, especially in folding carton production. Value Added Printing – what the market desires. People like to stroke relief surfaces – including logos, brand names, a coat of arms or lettering. With the InlineImpress process (patent pending), folding carton producers are able to enhance their customers' jobs with three-dimensional and haptic effects. Lines, solids, patterns and forms can be embossed. This supports the product statements and differentiates it from standard products.

Costs completely under control

An amazing effect that is easy to achieve. Embossing with InlineImpress requires no separate workstep – everything is done inline. This saves valuable production time and lots of money as a result. The advantages for printing companies: their costings are more accurate because there is no need for a spoils allowance for a separate production step. Expensive embossing dies are not necessary; embossing is done with a special coating plate. They benefit from faster job turnaround times.

How does inline embossing work? A voluminous substrate is the basis. ROLAND InlineImpress uses a special embossing plate mounted in a coating module to apply a structure to the image during the printing process without any deformation of the sheet reverse side. This is possible because, instead of the conventional method of embossing the substrate itself, the structure is pressed into an embossable UV coating. Precise dryer settings are very important. To put it briefly: the success factor comes from harmonization of the different influencing variables, as well as the ingenuity of the process.

Some technical prerequisites are necessary for using InlineImpress. For flexible, high-quality production in one pass, a press with a double coating module is advantageous. UV equipment is a must. The substrate used is highly voluminous carton 230 g/m² and above. The inks and coatings are provided by printcom because they are process-compliant. An embossing plate is needed of course.

An impressive offer
A patent application for ROLAND InlineImpress has been lodged and manroland issues licenses to use the process. Besides the license certificate, the license package includes a detailed description of the process, one day of instruction by a manroland trainer at the user's premises, a starter kit of ink and coating, and the first embossing plate.

Reference
The Hammesfahr printing company in Haan near Düsseldorf, a competent, reliable and innovative printing and enhancement provider since 1933, has been using InlineImpress for some time to enhance folding cartons and other print products.

Benefits of the InlineImpress embossing process:

- New creative possibilities for packaging design
- High-quality enhancement of customers' orders in one pass through the press
- One less production step saves time and costs
- Simple implementation and uncomplicated handling
- Differentiation of customers' products at the point of sale through multisensory product presentation
- Patent pending process is a sales argument