Earlier this year, Berry Global, headquartered in Evansville, IN, USA, earned “Best of Show” at the 2022 FTA Flexography Awards in the narrow web category for its Jergens Body Butter Sandalwood Tube. The award-winning tube, along with Berry’s two previous “Best in Show” prints, was produced exclusively on the Gallus RCS narrow web press from Heidelberg.

The FTA Flexography Awards are trusted by flexographers in the package and label industry around the world, with a mission of honoring companies that have created exceptionally printed pieces. The Jergens Body Butter Sandalwood Tube stood out due to its consistent registration, multiple special effects, and watermark finish.

According to one FTA judge, “How do you know when you’re looking at a Best of Show? When the judges ask each other ‘What don’t you like about this print?’ and nobody can come up with anything to say. A spectacular job by this printer.”

Using a combination of process inks and spot colors with gold cold foil and soft-touch coating, the tube was printed completely inline on the Gallus RCS thanks to the machine’s modular capabilities. “Having various print and finishing capabilities all inline,” says Megan Burns, creative services specialist for Berry, “eliminates issues that we see with some of our other print technologies, where we have to take items off one machine and put them back on a different press.”

In addition to its modular design, the Gallus RCS achieves high-quality print results thanks to its automation, robust design, servo drive technology and intelligent user interface. The machine’s advanced technology helped Berry achieve tight registration – even at top production speeds – on a difficult pearlescent multi-layer polyethylene substrate. “We tend to see registration issues because of the stretch of the material,” explains Kirk Birchler, color and technical director for Berry Global. “But the press does a good job of keeping that to a minimum.”

The RCS also helped Berry achieve color consistency throughout production, which was imperative for the design’s nature-based image with a range of light and dark tones.

Focused on the beauty and personal care markets, Berry Global chose the Gallus RCS and Screeny products due to their ability to create a premium product for their clients. According to Burns, who provides production feedback for Berry’s clients at preliminary design stages, “We’re not limited to only being able to cold foil in this station and only silkscreen in that station. We have a lot of flexibility to meet our customers’ design needs and expectations.”