OMET Forms Partnership with Clemson's Sonoco Packaging Inst.

Published: April 09, 2009

LECCO, Italy | OMET S.r.l. of Lecco, Italy, has formed a partnership with Clemson Univ.'s new Sonoco Inst. of Packaging Design and Graphics. The emphasis of the institute will be on printed electronics, and the hope is that, with the help of industry suppliers and leaders, Clemson will be able to break new ground in this emerging market.

"Packaging is a $200 billion plus business in the United States, and Clemson has invested in this business knowledge base," says Chip Tonkin, director of the institute. "In a collaborative effort , Clemson will conduct a holistic approach to packaging sciences, combining many academic disciplines, to learn how to best create packaging, hot to print, fill, seal, ship and recycle, responsibly."

OMET has donated a new Varyflex press, a result of its new partnership with Clemson. The press will be used by students for R&D, industry activities and for OMET customer demonstrations. The narrow web press features seven printing stations that can be configured with rotary screen, flexography or gravure with a variety of solvent based, waterbased and UV curable ink systems.

The press platform can handle polymer substrates as thin as 12 microns, or paperboard materials as heavy as 600 microns, while achieving high-end registration through a complete servo controlled system.

"We are pleased to be part of this ground breaking research," stated Marco Calcagni, director sales for OMET. "Clemson is a worthy partner and we are extremely pleased that our VaryFlex press can further the knowledge in this emerging field."