The world has changed, and one of the clearest indicators of that change is the number of signs we now see everywhere. These signs direct foot traffic and help maintain social distancing in supermarkets, retail outlets, schools, restaurants and local businesses around the world. Adapting to the new normal has touched almost every aspect of daily life.

The need for consumer communication has increased exponentially, requiring the printing industry to step up to this new demand for removable labels, which increased almost overnight. As this demand quickly threatened to overwhelm traditional wide format print shops, many smaller and digital printers began to investigate creative ways to produce high-quality flooring labels faster and more efficiently.

Wausau Coated Products, a producer of pressure sensitive labels and flexible packaging products, recognized the need and began meeting demand for these applications. Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the United States, product developers at the company realized the need for new solutions based on feedback from their customers, who were already seeing increased demand that couldn’t be met effectively with current methods and equipment.

Historically, floor signage has been dominated by large format printing processes. Smaller printshops utilizing narrow web and sheet processes haven’t had a strong presence in this area. As market pressure increased, large format printers found themselves struggling to effectively meet the sudden and unexpected demand spike the industry experienced, and continues to experience, in 2020. This created new opportunities for smaller shops to enter the market and provide valuable graphic communications for local businesses.

Identifying and meeting the challenge
Leaders at Wausau Coated Products accepted the challenge early but first needed to clarify precisely where change was needed. Using data from customers and suppliers worldwide, they were able to develop goals based on quantifiable parameters such as current market capability, pricing models, competitive landscape and the company’s own production capabilities.

From a technical perspective, the company began with basic testing, looking at peel adhesion, brush scrub tests, foot scuff tests and floor squeegee tests – all real-world scenarios that offered a benchmark for label and narrow web printers looking to penetrate the growing marketplace. Once those benchmarks were in place, technical product development was categorized into three areas:

Floor Adhesion
Early on, it was evident that there would not be a one-size-fits-all solution related to floor adhesion. Pressure sensitive adhesive products that worked well on hard and smooth flooring – such as tile, wood or sealed concrete – provided different challenges than those for used on carpet or rough concrete.

Additionally, any solutions would have to be quick to implement and offer pricing and performance competitive to that of larger printing operations. These performance markers included adhesion strength, clean removability, resistance to foot traffic, cleanability, compliance with environmental standards and many more.  Working with multiple suppliers of pressure sensitive adhesives, Wausau Coated Products was able to provide products that met the testing parameters required in these applications.

Overlaminate Adhesion
The second area of focus centered on the ink applied to the base media. The overlaminate had to bond well to many different types of inks, including conventional, UV and digital, remaining legible after over-lamination and continual use. Products were tested based on clarity and their ability to withstand foot traffic, cleaning products, weatherability and other factors depending on the precise application.

Overlaminate Film Evaluation
Overlaminate films were tested to measure durability to foot traffic, cleaning, chemical and UV resistance and compliance with slip testing, such as ASTM D-2047.

The result of this product development wasn’t a single product but rather a range of solutions meant to address specific needs based on geographic factors, specific applications, traffic density, etc. Working with both customers and suppliers, Wausau Coated Products was able to provide narrow web printers with the tools they needed to compete in this growing market.

At the same time, the research and collaboration helped create a platform through which Wausau Coated Products can offer educational resources to customers – helping them address important market, technical and application issues before they arise.

Assembling expertise from across the industry
The challenge behind this development extended well beyond the Wausau Coated Products lab. Early on, the company recognized the need for multiple creative solutions across the different components analyzed above. As a result, they turned to suppliers, customers and partners for support.

One such partner was Arkema Coating Resins, a business unit of Arkema, Inc., a global producer of specialty materials for many different markets. In this case, Arkema offered a wide range of pressure sensitive adhesives for use in removable floor labels and signs.

Wausau Coated Products needed suppliers that could offer multiple solutions for testing, field evaluation and quick ramp up in production. As a long-standing supplier, Arkema was able to work with the company to provide a toolbox of products, which Wausau could then use in either blends or pure formulations to meet individual customer needs.

Looking to the future
From market opportunity to commercially available products, Wausau Coated Products was able to begin shipping products within a few weeks. This speed-to-market was only possible due to the team effort from internal departments and from suppliers and partners alike. Working together with companies like Arkema, the company was able to identify a need and quickly adapt to unforeseen demand. In turn, this enabled narrow web printers to more quickly enter the market and offer products that, previously, they had not been able to produce due to media limitations.

This new product line means new customers and markets, as well as stronger relationships between vendors and suppliers.