Food & Beverage Asia October/November 2022

60
FIRST LOOKS
AR Packaging
Halmstad acquires
Comexi S1 DS slitter
Comexi and AR Packaging Halmstad have
extended their business relationship with
the acquisition of a Comexi S1 DS slitter. This
machine will be installed in the company’s
Halmstad’s plant in Sweden; presently, there
are three types of Comexi machinery: flexo
press machines with a central drum, slitters,
and laminators. All converting machines in
the Halmstad plant are of Comexi type.
AR Packaging Halmstad was founded in
1929 by Erik Akerlund and Ruben Rausing
with the objective of reshaping European
pre-packed goods retailing. Today, among
others, the company's flexible packaging
division is a leading provider of packaging
solutions for the following industries:
food and consumer goods, beauty and
cosmetics, confectionery, food services,
tobacco, as well as pharmaceutical and
medical. AR Packaging Halmstad offers a
unique range of packaging solutions from
its specialised factories; added value is
created for its customers through its broad
range of products and profound knowledge
of carton-based and flexible packaging.
The plant in Halmstad is specialised in
the production of flexible food packaging
with a unique barrier protection.
“The Comexi slitter will allow AR
Packaging Halmstad to increase its
productivity with the highest standard
of quality,” explained Ramon Jonama.
The Comexi S1 DS is the perfect slitterrewinder
for large diameter reels jobs. With
the fastest acceleration ramps in the
market, it can achieve high productivity
by rapidly reaching top speed without
the loss of quality. This slitter has a
separate unwinder that can incorporate
various automation systems such as
knife and core positioning, automatic
handling, reel pushers or auto-tapping
to help operators during job changes,
especially when several slits have to
be made. Among other options, the
S1 DS is also capable of incorporating
end-of-line automation, from reel
handling to palletising, including reel
weighing, labelling, and bagging. ■
Toyo Ink to
double laminating
adhesives
production capacity
in Asia
Toyo Ink has announced plans to double
the laminating adhesives production at
its Malaysia-based subsidiary Toyochem
Specialty Chemical. The Toyo Ink Group
plans to expand sales of solutions such
as solvent-free adhesives, the demand
for which is expected to grow worldwide.
Expansion work is under way at the
Malaysian site with full operation slated
to begin in the third quarter of 2023.
Once in operation, Toyochem Specialty
Chemical is expected to serve as
the mother factory of laminating
adhesives to the Asian region.
At present, the demand for laminating
adhesives, which are mainly used
to coat multi-layered films in flexible
packaging structures, is expanding
in use for retort food pouches and
pharmaceutical packaging primarily
in Asia. This includes applications
such as PTP (press through package)
sheets, a common form of blister
packing for drug tablets. Rising
populations in countries across Asia
are expected to further propel the
growth of the retort pouch sector by
about 10% over the next five years.
"The Toyo Ink Group has long been a
pioneer in developing high-performance
adhesive solutions together with
our subsidiary Toyo-Morton, who is
Japan’s largest producer of laminating
adhesives,” said Toshinori Machida,
executive operating officer of Toyo Ink
SC Holdings. “We’re now looking to
bring our unique brand of packaging
adhesives, coatings and inks to other
regions of the world, in line with our
global expansion plan. In addition to
Malaysia, we’ve recently bolstered our
production infrastructure in China and
Turkey. And our Turkish facility is set to
serve as the supply hub for markets in
the Middle East and North Africa, Central
Asia, and Eastern Europe. To ensure a
stable supply to meet future demand,
we’ve set a target to increase our global
production capacity for laminating
adhesives by one-and-a-half times the
current level by the end of 2027.” ■
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2022