CHETAN JAIN
Gullybaba Publishing House Pvt. Ltd
PRAISE
‘Chetan has tried to unravel the mystery behind this extremely
versatile and effective decoration technology that has
revolutionised FMCG packaging over the years. He brings
great insights into every aspect of this technology to make it
more user friendly for the industry while bringing out the best
in terms of what it can deliver. The book is a testimony of his
passion and commitment to bring global standards to India in
this important domain.’
Gagan Deep
Head–Packaging Development–R&D
The Himalaya Drug Company
CONTENTS
About Me ................................................................................iv
1. Shrink Sleeves–What it can do for your Brand? ...........1
2. The beginning ..................................................................3
3. Why you should read this mini book? ..............................5
4. Secret 1 : Missing Steps in your
Developmental Process ......................................................7
5. Secret 2 : Unlocking the printing potential ...................11
6. Secret 3 : For optimising your core,
use the correct shrink film ............................................15
7. Secret 4 : Ink your product right ..................................19
8. Secret 5 : Go small! ........................................................21
9. Secret 6 : Ninja ways to reduce time .............................23
10. Secret 7 : Cost Matrix 6.0 ..............................................25
11. Sleeve Testing Made Easy and Simple .........................27
12. MOST IMPORTANT READ!
35 Steps to Sleeve it Right ............................................31
13. Introducing H.I.P. Framework ......................................35
ABOUT ME
I
am an Electronics Engineer, but not by profession. I am
also equipped with an MBA Degree. People who know me,
recognise me as one of the most technical persons in the
industry and someone who likes to take work hands on.
Way back in the year 2008, when I joined Taurus as a
second-generation entrepreneur, I had taken a decision to carve
out a niche in packaging industry. It is quite heartening for me
that in 14 years of my company’s manufacturing journey, we
have earned the name of a shrink sleeve specialist quite early.
I was toying with the idea of creating a unique experience in
shrink sleeves, with various films, inks and finishes to create
innovative products for Indian packaging market.
12 years of effort, experimentation and experience, lead to
what is now known as H.I.P. framework which will be the next
biggest disruption in shrink sleeve industry. I am thankful to
my team, clients and suppliers to help me earn a name in the
packaging industry.
iv
1
CHAPTER
1
SHRINK SLEEVES–WHAT
IT CAN DO FOR YOUR
BRAND?
•
Over 40,000 new FMCG products launched each year
•
Up to 75% of purchasing decision are made at point of
purchase
•
The average consumer attention lasts only for 10 seconds
•
Innovative packaging is an important contribution to
brand success
•
Eye catching packaging in store is the biggest influencer
for marketing
•
We see in order—colour, shape, numbers and then
words
•
Large landscape- 360 deg. top to bottom decoration
•
Durable in most environments
•
Brands that put energy into creating strong designs
gain tremendous competitive advantage
2
•
Sleeve It Right
Package design is the least expensive and most essential
part of the marketing mix to drive trial, repeat purchase
and brand loyalty.
3
CHAPTER
2
THE BEGINNING
H
ello, my name is Chetan Jain. I am an Electronics Engineer
from Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, Pune
and MBA from NMIMS Mumbai. I am a second-generation
entrepreneur involved in manufacturing of shrink sleeves,
BOPP wrap on labels and flexible laminates. Taurus Packaging
is the leader in the field of shrink sleeves for FMCG industry.
In 1994, it was a regular day, in the month of April. I
returned from school and suddenly my whole life turned
upside down—we were moving to a smaller house, selling our
car. My father had been very tense since last few days and this
left me confused. After a lot of enquiries, I came to know that
my father had been stabbed by his business partner and was
left with no work and money. In 1995, he established Taurus
on his own with `50,000 from his friend.
At this time, little Chetan decided that he will join his
father one day, get himself educated and help his dad build a
successful honest company which will never see such day again.
4
Sleeve It Right
My journey began in 2008 after my B. Tech. and MBA,
with focus on sales. I cracked a meeting with a dream client, a
big MNC, very early in my career. One question, the purchaser
asked me, “We are already buying from your competitors. Why
should we buy from you?” I was dumbstruck. I had nothing new
to offer. On my way, a sudden realisation hit me—no one is
doing as much innovation in the shrink sleeve industry as we do.
This made me think and I ventured on the path to create
one-of-its-kind Shrink Sleeve detailing technology which is
unheard of in the industry. This was not a smooth journey. I
started from grassroot level. I started working on machines.
I visited multiple inks, film and printing and packaging
machine suppliers. I further went to customers and their
sites to understand their functioning and challenges in shrink
sleeve. I attended trade shows, unpeeled the layers of shrink
sleeve technology deeper and deeper and reached a stage when
nothing was hidden from my mind.
The current Indian sleeve industry had many challenges—
lower volumes, high entry cost, developmental process and
timelines, value additions, safe delivery and storage. The
grassroot level functioning gave me so much knowledge of my
product, industry and alternatives that I was able to challenge
it all and create the only Indian company with global standard
of Fully Integrated Sleeving Technique (FIST). Our sleeves
have High dimensional stability with Ultra HD printing and
fastest Time-to-Market.
And now I am on a mission to share this complete knowledge
and create a world class packaging experience in Indian shrink
sleeve market.
5
CHAPTER
3
WHY YOU SHOULD READ
THIS MINI BOOK?
I
have been working closely with many packaging professionals
with varying experiences with shrink sleeves or flexible
packaging and have seen them get in depth of the product
and get it perfectly right. Many companies hire packaging
professionals to develop their packaging and to ensure they
don’t use packaging which is over-specification or underspecification. Many packaging courses are creating an entire
army of professionals armed with technical knowledge, helping
companies get the right packaging with the right cost.
But not all companies in India have such professionals,
or team with complete technical knowledge of flexible
packaging. To be fair to them, many companies do not have so
much packaging work and therefore no need for a packaging
professional. But this is a grey area because if you don’t have
access to this technical knowledge, then you will depend on
technical knowledge of your vendor or what your competitors
are using.
6
Sleeve It Right
But is this way, always right?
Does your vendor guide you with effective packaging or
sub-standard packaging?
I have worked closely with many Indian companies and
seen how this results in sub-standard or expensive or overspecification packaging. As a packaging entrepreneur with
12 years of experience in flexible packaging and specifically
shrink sleeves, I would brutally say that Indian Packaging is
performing very poor. Packaging is the most important 360
degree branding space. It creates brand loyalty and is the first
point of contact in actual sales. I wish packaging on retail
shelves in India would be better looking. And, it really pains
me when I find out that many companies are paying really good
amount of money but getting effective packaging for their
product. However, I wish that Indian packaging companies
work honestly and with integrity to provide the right packaging
for you. With this mini book I want to guide the companies to
get their packaging right by knowing the 9 secrets about the
shrink sleeves which they should know, but they don’t. Let this
book be your packaging guide to get the most suitable, best and
reasonably-priced shrink sleeves.
7
CHAPTER
4
Secret :1
MISSING STEPS IN
YOUR DEVELOPMENTAL
PROCESS
L
et us first review the basic cycle of shrink sleeve development
which you are already familiar with:
•
Container development
•
Sampling for size development by vendor
•
Trial samples for size approval
•
Artwork set in the size
•
Artwork print out is approved
•
Cylinder development
•
Proof approval
•
Printing and supply
8
Sleeve It Right
The above steps are the most basic ones followed by most
packaging suppliers. The idea is to make you understand that
there are many important steps missing here and not followed
by shrink sleeve suppliers, but mostly because you are not
asking for it, you are not getting it.
Let’s get some more steps incorporated in our process
to reduce errors in shrink sleeves. As a purchaser, owner or
marketing manager, only you know your product the best. Only
you can visualise the right result packaging for your product.
But sometimes it is just too hard to communicate your concept
of packaging to your supplier or to the rest of your team.
•
You find the colors are not looking good on the product,
but cylinders are ready.
•
The artwork is getting distorted due to contours of the
container.
•
The placement of elements is getting disturbed after
shrinking.
•
The placement of artwork elements or text is not correct.
Now, cylinders are ready, time is short, your launch date
is near and your supplier is giving you stories. You end up
accepting the sub-standard sleeves, since you have no other
option at this moment.
Some use of available technology can just make your job
easy and avoid this post-production mess.
Global Standard of “Fully Integrated Sleeving Technique”FIST
The steps involved to get that perfect sleeves even if you
don’t have a packaging professional are as follows:
Secret 1 : Missing Steps in your Developmental Process
•
9
Get a 1:1 KLD
An actual size Key Line Drawing given to your
designer will help him set the design correctly as per
the container’s shape so that your artwork elements
are not hidden in container contours and top-bottom
rings. Get your brand name highlighted in the main
branding portion of the container with correct KLD.
•
Sleeving prediction methodology
You can now get sleeving prediction done for your
artwork. Orient your design, text and images to achieve
a perfected non-distorted view after sleeving...
•
ARC View
Get a Collada file for a 3D and Augmented Reality view
of your sleeved product. See your container placed on
table or retail shelf to get the right imagination of how
your product will fare with other products on shelf for
a consumer. All this before, even the production has
started.
•
DigiSleeve
With advancement of printing, now you can get a real
prototype before getting the cylinders made or getting
an expensive test proof. Digisleeves prototypes are
cheap.
Case Study
I’ll tell how this technique helped a client save him so much
of valuable time to launch his product. We created the perfect
post-shrink scenario for our client through ARC view and
10
Sleeve It Right
digiSleeves which helped him take the important decision
with their marketing team and graphic agency without having
to wait for the cylinder or test cylinder to be made. This not
only saved their most valuable in time during peak season of
product launch, but also saved lots of direct and in-direct costs.
Above additional steps help align your thoughts with your
suppliers. You and your supplier will make less mistakes. And
you will not have to settle for sub-standard shrink sleeves. If
you haven’t explored this technique in creating your perfect
shrink sleeve, then you must try it today and see the difference.
11
CHAPTER
5
Secret : 2
UNLOCKING THE
PRINTING POTENTIAL
S
till using Rotogravure printing for manufacture of shrink
sleeves? No doubt, it is the cheapest printing technology,
and this seems to be the most widely available option in
India. It is still cheapest for high volumes and produces good
printing results depending on the machine make. But, two big
hindrances for a new user of flexible packaging is the cylinder
development cost and the dreaded word–MOQ (Minimum
Order Quantity). Gravure printing also has the longest time to
market. And there aren’t much value additions you can do in
Gravure printing process.
But, have you tried the other modern printing technologies?
Invest on the shrink sleeves printed using H.I.P. Framework,
that gives you sleeves which aren’t possible on traditional
rotogravure printing machine.
12
Sleeve It Right
Flexographic Printing
This is mostly used in label industry. But now machines
designed for printing flexible packaging and shrink sleeves are
also available. Though expensive technology, but it is slowly
transforming the market for short and fast runs.
It makes low volumes easy and cheap, low cost plates than
cylinders, good printing result and faster time to market.
Multiple Value additions,using UV and C2 technology, can be
achieved which will give your sleeve a premium look and stand
apart on a retail shelf.
With an example, I will explain how this technology can be
a game changer. The product development head of one of our
clients had to launch a new product in the mid of a product
season, and the purchase team refused that sleeves can be made
available in time with traditional printing. So, we recommended
our clients to use flexographic printed sleeves and the sleeves
were dispatched in 2 days from approval of artwork.
Digital Printing
With the advent of even shorter runs, came the need for digital
printing. Though expensive but with digital printing, you can
easily transfer any design to your substrate within minutes
without having to wait for development of plates and cylinders.
You can make any number of sleeves you want by just feeding
the command in the HMI.
Do you remember the “Share-a-coke” campaign, where as
many as 32 relationships in 12 different languages were printed
on coca bottle labels on a HP Indigo 20000 press by one of the
Secret 2 :Unlocking the Printing Potential
13
printers in India. In gravure or flexo, this could not have been
possible, but with digital printing, 110million printed labels
were printed in 3000 unique artworks. Digital makes variable
data printing easy. Imagine, you are creating limited edition
promotional packs or gift packs with different designs or
names on different products. This is a great marketing strategy
to incorporate.
The invaluable insight that you get from this chapter will
help you try your hands with other printing methods to achieve
results which are not seen before.
15
CHAPTER
6
Secret : 3
FOR OPTIMISING YOUR
CORE, USE THE CORRECT
SHRINK FILM
S
elect the right film for your container. You must know the
Pros and Cons of various substrates to choose the right film.
A variety of shrink sleeve substrates are available in Indian
market. All substrates were developed specifically out of a
requirement. Most of the companies that I have come across
are aware of the different substrates available, but I have seen
a few clients using film which is over or under specification. In
this case you either end up using a cheaper, lower quality film
which does not go with your brand or use an expensive film
where your container doesn’t even need it. My intention is to
guide you take the correct decision.
16
Sleeve It Right
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride)
The most commonly used shrink film in India is PVC. It is
manufactured in bulk in India and thus easily available. It works
with almost all shrink tunnels and container materials. This is
the most versatile. However, since it releases carcinogenic gases
when burnt, it’s not recommended by many global companies.
But at the same time, most easily recyclable. If properly collected
and disposed, it creates extreme value for scrap recycle cos.
CAST or Calendared PVC is of superior quality. However,
a lot of its cheap version- Blown PVC is available and widely
used, often replaced with CAST PVC. Both these PVC’s have
specific use.
Blown PVC haslow, uneven shrinkage,may come with
process scratch lines and difficult print in multi-colour. Their
use is recommended in outer plain packing, easy to print 2-3
colour design or where product branding is not critical.
Importantly, if your PVC sleeves are shrinking at room
temperature in transit and storage regularly, then we recommend
using the grade of CAST PVC with High Dimensional Stability.
PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol)
Specifically used in mostly two scenarios:
1. Environment concern: PETG was developed to replace
PVC. Due to the presence of Chlorine, PVC releases
carcinogenic gas when it is burnt. Due to low recycling
and collection of PVC sleeves, the companies decided
to shift from PVC to PETG. But not all PVC sleeves
could be replaced with PETG due to its limitation to
work with certain container materials.
Secret 3 : Optimising your core, use the correct shrink film
17
2. Requirement of high shrinkage: Normally available
PVC has 50-60% TD shrinkage which in some specific
bottle shapes might be sufficient creating flowering
effect. Hence, high shrink PETG with shrinkage from
70-80% was considered as the solution.
PETG works perfectly fine in steam tunnel. In hot
air tunnel, there is a challenge to use PETG sleeves
in HDPE/PP containers. This happens due to HD/PP
expanding in shrink tunnel before the sleeve shrinks
and it then shrinks on the expanded container. When
cooled down, the container contracts leaving wrinkles,
air pockets or looseness.
NEXT PETG
Normal PETG comes with its own limitation of problems of
shrinking on HDPE or PP containers in hot air tunnels. Such
PETG creates wrinkles, looseness or air pockets. To solve this
problem, NEXT PETG was specifically developed to be used
perfectly in a hot air tunnel.
It is important to note that machine settings of NEXT
PETG sleeves on HDPE/PP containers may vary in summers
and winters. So, get your trials done in all weather conditions.
OPS (Oriented Polystyrene)
OPS is a product developed in Japan to replace PVC, just like
what West did with development of PETG. It is very versatile
film like PVC, but cost is high due to limited manufacturers
and requirement of permanent refrigeration at all times, right
18
Sleeve It Right
from production, printing, transit or storage. It is mostly
used when exporting to Japan. Since it’s a Japanese product,
so more acceptable. Also recommended when PETG sleeves
performance not adequate and non-PVC product is required.
LD-PET (Low Density Polyethylene Terephthalate )
As versatile as OPS and a more dimensionally stable film,
cheaper than OPS but still expensive than others. Its density
is 1.1 which decreases overall plastic usage and 20-25% more
yield compared to PVC and PETG.
PLA (Polylactic Acid)
Shrink film made from starch extracted from Corn or
sugarcane. It’s a completely bio-degradable non-plastic film but
a non-starter due to high cost and availability of starch for the
production of PLA. Its usage is limited worldwide.
All the above sleeve materials serve a specific purpose. My
aim is to introduce you to these options which help you make
an informed decision.
19
CHAPTER
7
Secret : 4
INK YOUR PRODUCT
RIGHT
I
nks are the most important part of the sleeve. Inks are what
creates your design, it is what your consumer sees when they
are making a buying decision. So, effectively this is what should
be the most important parameter for you before you finalise
the sleeve.
Most printers, however don’t pay much attention to this
most important piece of raw material and end up creating a
sub-standard sleeve.
What you already know:
•
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black creates the half-tone
images
•
Special pantone colours are printed separately
•
You can get various finishes like Matt, Pearl through inks
•
Silver and gold are used
You have more options to play with inks when getting your
shrink sleeves:
Sleeve It Right
20
•
Shrinkable inks: When a film shrinks, effectively the
inks printed on it must shrink with it,else it can create
a mottling pattern, or uneven colour density on the
sleeve surface.
•
You can also avoid use of special pantone inks and
its cylinders by using Extended Colour Gamut(ECG)
printing technology in flexography printing.
•
You can replace metallic gold and silveron shrink
sleeves with cold foil creating a brighter metallic shine
which is not possible through inks.
•
More surface finishes like spot matt/gloss, soft touch,
sand touch, wet touch, C2 technology and 2.5D printing
are now possible.
•
You can get thermochromic inks (changes colour when
temperature changes), Scented inks, invisible inks
(visible only under UV light), Scratch-off inks.
Case Study
Most printers have 8-9 or a few have 10 colour printing presses
in India. A company was looking for a printer to print their
design which was 11 colours. He couldn’t find any rotogravure
press with such configuration. But due to ECG printing
technology, they were able to print all their special colours and
half tones within 8 colours. ECG technology converted their 11
colour job to 8 colours only.
Explore all possibilities to get that product which will stand
apart from your competitor. When most of consumers’ buying is
moving to modern trade, the distinctive visibility on a shelf is the
key to higher sales and better profits. Try out the new possibilities
which can be created now to boost your product brand. You can
also contact me, for some samples of these sleeves.
21
CHAPTER
8
Secret : 5
GO SMALL!
D
o you see a regular tiff with your printer over the MOQ’s?
Printers refuses to accept lower quantity printing due to
their limitations. This is true. Traditional rotogravure printing
method has limitations. There is a certain set up time and
wastage to match colours, registration. This time, wastage, low
productivity comes at a cost which is then passed on to the
customers. Additionally, high cylinder cost for low volumes
certainly doesn’t help.
But imagine if you have a pilot launch, or want to test
market a product or have multiple low volume SKUs, and you
are stuck with the situation of buying high volumes and pay up
for cylinders cost!
Shrink sleeve industry has been coping with this volume
requirements or end up using the other labelling alternatives.
This compromise has been a bottleneck for too long.
Sleeve It Right
22
Solution
Introduction of Hybrid Sleeves using H.I.P. (Hybrid Intaglio
Printing) framework has changed the way you buy sleeves at
any volumes. Yes, you read it right. Be it 100 sleeves or 10,000
sleeves. You can get it at a very optimum cost and that too
without investing in the expensive cylinders. This saves so
much of additional inventory, and MOQ tussle.
Advantages of Low Volumes
•
Test market your product in smaller market before
bigger launch
•
Small batch allows freedom to make changes in design
for next purchase as per market and sales’ feedback
•
Shrink sleeve comes with a shelf life. Don’t keep
inventory for more than 2 months of your requirement
•
You can come out with more SKUs and variants without
worrying about high inventory
23
CHAPTER
9
Secret : 6
NINJA WAYS TO REDUCE
TIME
D
o you know you can get your shrink sleeves manufactured
and delivered in a day?
Your printer may give you varying timelines to produce
the shrink sleeves. Planning schedule, raw material availability,
different machine limitations and printing sequence
optimisation are few of the main criteria considered by a
printer to plan the production and dispatch date of your
sleeves. But it is important to know the actual time taken for
the real production of your order, so that you are better aligned
with your printer’s timelines and your production schedules.
Usually the cylinder loading, make ready and shade
matching time can vary from 2-4 hours considering it’s a new
job or repeat job. This time for a flexo machine is only a matter
of 15-30 minutes.
Printing time will depend on the order quantity and
machine speed but converting from printed material can start
immediately once the first roll is unloaded from the printing
machine.
Sleeve It Right
24
Inspection, slitting, seaming and then doctoring/cutting for
supply in roll form/cut form. All this can be done in a day’s time.
With correct and precise planning schedule, you can get the
first batch of ready sleeves within the same day. Many printers
may not have a proper coordinated planning mechanism or
priority optimisation-based planning, which normally leads
to delay in dispatch. With correct planning, you can get your
sleeves delivered in a day!
How long does it take to make an electronic cylinders?
Answer to this is one of the most misleading things you’ll
hear from your printer. It takes only a few hours to engrave a
cylinder!! Yes. You read it right. But it’s not that easy still. Read
full timelines below:
•
•
•
•
•
For a new job, base shell will take about a day or
maximum two to procure by the cylinder maker.
During this time, you can do your artwork approvals
and pre-press planning by cylinder maker.
Once the base shell is received, maximum it will take an
average of 24 hours to engrave a full set (8-10 colours)
of cylinders and do its proofing.
Then the quality checks, invoicing and dispatch.
So really, technically it is possible to get your cylinders
in 3-4 days. But considering the cylinder maker’s
scheduling and pipeline, they normally take anywhere
between 5-10 days for a set.
Hybrid Sleeves
It takes only 4-5 hours for a full set of plate after approval of
pre-press file. Well, that does reduce your time-to-market by
many precious days. A perfect pre-press and H.I.P. framework
can achieve sleeves in lightning speed.
25
CHAPTER
10
Secret : 7
COST MATRIX 6.0
M
ost companies only negotiate with vendors on per piece
prices without going into details. Though it is easy and
may seem cheaper but, becomes expensive in long run when
you have multiple products and don’t follow formula and end
up buying at higher costs than what was negotiated earlier.
And even when you ask a cost sheet, you really get in the trap
of numbers. Let’s make the numbers easy for you.
Hidden Secrets of the cost sheet:
1. Check actual film GSM from the film data sheet.
2. Check dry ink deposition i.e., GSM
3. Check the actual film cost.
4. Ink costs: This is where the most printers do the
manipulation. Cost is to be derived by converting cost
26
Sleeve It Right
of liquid ink to solid ink. Divide the liquid ink cost by
the percentage of solid content to get solid ink cost.
5. Wastages can be inflated to add that extra profit.
6. Sleeve open width: Open width is normally lay flat
width x 2 + 7/8 mm. But printers can add 9/10/11 mm
to show higher film area in costing than actual.
Sample Cost sheet
Shrink sleeve XXYYZZ 250ml (152 mm x 106 mm)
Structure
Thickness
GSM
PVC/PETG Shrink film
40
56.00
Ink gsm
3.50
Film gsm
59.50
Costing of film
Rate
PVC Shrink
210
198
Ink (Shrinkable Inks)
1280
75.29
Film RMC/Kg
273
Wastage
15%
41
Conversion
20.0%
63
Profit
8%
30
Basic Film Cost/Kg
407
1 Sleeve Weight
1.97
1 kg = Sleeves
508
Basic cost per Sleeve
0.800
27
CHAPTER
11
SLEEVE TESTING MADE
EASY AND SIMPLE
Y
ou have just been delivered a lot of shrink sleeves. It is
very common for clients to only check shade, text and
dimensions. You do a basic test and store the sleeves. Your
peak demand is approaching, you have a single vendor for a
SKU. You load the sleeve on your container or applicator, and
you find sleeves stuck from inside, or no Hot Melt on the sleeve
and sleeves rotating on the container.
Wont this entirely ruin your production plan. Better to take
some precautions than suffer during production.
I want to share the most important piece of information
that will secure your desired results. Some companies may
miss or ignore having a proper checklist for verifying your
shrink sleeves. Though you may have limited personnel in your
quality team depending on your requirement, and very few Lab
instruments, but a few simple basic steps and a checklist can
ensure that you are purchasing the right shrink sleeves.
28
Sleeve It Right
Developing a small basic specification sheet and a checklist
to check incoming shrink sleeves against it will ensure error
free production and lesser downtime. After all, time lost is
business opportunity lost, profit lost.
Create an internal specification sheet and test checklist as
per below check points:
Test Name*
Lay flat width along
with +/- 0.5mm
tolerance
Height along
with +/- 0.5mm
tolerance
Film micron with
+/- 10% tolerance
Shrinkage along
the width of the
sleeve
o CAST PVC
o PETG
o Blown PVC
Test Method
Calibrated
Measuring Scale
Rejection
Criteria
Out of tolerance
Range
Calibrated
Measuring Scale
Out of tolerance
Range
Calibrated
Micrometer/ Dial
Gauge
Dip sleeve in Hot
Water at 100
deg C for 10 Sec.
Check pre shrink
and post shrink
dimensions
and calculated
shrinkage
percentage
o 58%
o 72%-78%
o 45%-50%
Out of tolerance
Range
Out of tolerance
Range
Sleeve Testing Made Easy and Simple
Heat activated
coating/Hot melt if
applicable
Perforation/Pin
hole if applicable
Shade matching
within LSD (LightStandard-Dark)
shade card
Check sleeve openability (should not
stick)
Check Core
material, diameter,
roll opening
direction and roll
winding quality (if
in roll form)
Check sleeve
paneling/Folding
Roll should not
have more than
one/two joints
Rolls/Sleeves
should be free
from dust, foreign
particles
29
Visual
Not Visible
Visual
Not Visible
Visual
Shade out of range
Manual Check
Sticking/ Poor
opening
Visual
Not as per
requirement
Visual
Not as per
requirement
Not as per
requirement
Visual
Visual
Not as per
requirement
30
Check seaming
joint strength
manually
Get COA test
report from vendor
Ensure Batch no.
and manufacturing
date on boxes for
traceability
Sleeve It Right
Visual
Not as per
requirement
Check COA
document
Check Label on
Box
Not as per
requirement
Not as per
requirement
*Some more steps have been missed out deliberately to
keep this test method simple and requiring minimum and
easily available instruments and manpower.
31
CHAPTER
12
MOST IMPORTANT READ!
35 STEP S TO SLEEVE IT
RIGHT
N
ow that you are aware of all that you need to know about
shrink sleeves, I have now summarized steps to get your
shrink sleeves from inception of project to final sleeving on
your container. I recommend Following these steps in the same
order.
1. Finalize Container for sleeving
2. Share container to your sleeve supplier
3. Get 1:1 KLD as per cut-form or roll-form application
4. Choose your shrink film material depending on
application
5. Get sample dummy sleeves
6. Conduct a shrink trial at your end with actual container
and all conditions accurately matching your commercial
production
32
Sleeve It Right
7. Filling, packing, transit and product consumption trial
recommended for completing the loop
8. Share KLD to design agency for artwork development,
or vendor can adjust design as per the KLD at their end
9. Create Specification Sheet
10. Ensure to clearly approve all specs, specially dimensions,
material thickness and sleeve film material
11. Generate artwork as per KLD
12. Check artwork for all legal compliances and mandates,
text, barcode, design elements, dimensions, KLD
13. Get pre-distortion done
14. Check 3D ARC view for post shrink simulation
15. Get DigiSleeves to check actual post shrink result
16. Get Chromlin and check all matter again as in point
no. 11 along with final shade desired. Chromlin colours
should match with your desired result with only minor
variation of paper vs Film result
17. Ensure to sign chromlin and retain a copy of it
18. Choose your printing technology
19. Choose if any special printing effect
20. Negotiate
21. Set Timelines
22. Raise PO
23. Get cylinders/Plates
24. Check cyl proof (if cylinders), no proof if plates are
made
Most Important Read! 35 Steps to Sleeve it Right
33
25. Online Approval at printer end (always preferred)
26. Get Light-Standard-Dark Shade card
27. Shade card approval
28. Sleeve Supply from vendor
29. Quality checks by client Quality team (refer QC
checklist chapter for some tips)
30. Storage of sleeves in required temperature
o CAST PVC: less than 28 Deg C
o PETG less than 30 deg C
o Blow PVC: less than 25 deg C
31. Application of sleeves on container (manual or auto/
hot air or steam tunnel)
32. Conditioning of sleeved containers (depending on
ambient temperature and humidity)
33. Ensure to keep balance sleeves back to storage area to
avoid shrinking on production floor
34. Sleeving Process Completed
35. You Sleeved it Right!!
35
CHAPTER
13
INTRODUCING H.I.P.
FRAMEWORK
W
ith my years of experience and in-depth understanding of
printing industry, I have created Hybrid Intaglio Printing
Framework or H.I.P. Framework . It is the method of production
in flexible packaging, where the advantages of various printing
technologies and Software are intertwined together to achieve
flexible packaging which is faster, economical, not bounded by
order quantities and create never seen before printed effects
on shrink sleeves. It makes frequent change and corrections in
design easy and cheap.
Sleeves thus produced are Hybrid Shrink Sleeves.
Notes:
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