Adhesives, tapes and seals offer more than just a strong bond. Sometimes adhesives offer clear visibility or the convenience of resealability. They also work to uphold product integrity by forming a secure seal. From label adhesives to tapes securing multipacks, there is no room for faulty products. The true mission for tapes, seals and adhesives is tri-fold: offer strength, aesthetics and convenience.

Clearer under pressure

Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials (label.averydennison.com) recently introduced S7450, the newest addition to the ClearCut™ portfolio of pressure-sensitive adhesives. ClearCut S7450 is a premium adhesive for beverages, including wine and spirits that, when paired with MDO film, allows for enhanced conformability in labeling unique, curved bottle designs.

“Wine and spirits brand owners are challenged with delivering durable, clear and visually appealing labels on rigid containers, particularly on glass substrates with complex curvatures and surface imperfections,” says Matt Rompala, product and business development manager for wine and spirits with Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials. “With ClearCut S7450, brand owners can achieve the shelf appeal they are seeking, even on glass surfaces of lower quality.”

S7450’s wet-out performance promotes effective bonding between the film and the glass bottle’s surface, even one with a high degree of surface imperfections. It is commonly combined with a clear, thin film to imitate screen printing on the bottle and deliver the ideal no-label look at a lower total applied cost. ClearCut technology significantly reduces adhesive ooze, improving productivity and reducing downtime associated with contamination on press and dispensing equipment. In addition, ClearCut is thinner than traditional film adhesives, providing converters lower transport costs, fewer reel changes and reduced energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

Adhesives aid in reclosability

Reclosability is a key convenience feature as consumers snack more and eat on the go more often. The Re:Close TapeTM from Essentra Packaging (www.essentrapackaging.com) enables brands to maximize the combined benefits of resealability, consumer communication and product protection in an easy-to-apply tape.

Developed in response to growing consumer demand, and durable enough to withstand repeated use, with Re:Close Tape, consumers can keep the product in the original pack between uses. This adds to convenience, retains branding in the home to encourage repeat purchase, and can even enhance environmental credentials, by minimizing food waste caused by spillage or leaving a pack open.

For easy use, Re:Close Tape incorporates a large finger lift area that runs along its length, making it simple to lift the tape away from the pack. In order to bring further impact, Essentra’s printing technologies allow the creation of eye-catching designs, and printed instructions, as well as QR codes, added right  to the tape.

All taped up

Consumers love the convenience of buying multipacks of products, but manufacturers know the challenges that come with this type of packaging. Shrink-wrapping lines are common but can be expensive to install and run and the completed packages often don’t represent the brand at its best. Plus, using shrink wrap creates a significant amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfills.

In response, 3M (3M.com/packaging) introduces The Multipack Solution to give manufacturers and co-packers a better option that saves money, improves the look of multipacks and reduces waste. The Multipack Solution combines Scotch® Multipack Tape with CEFMA packaging equipment to deliver a tape-based alternative to shrink wrap and manual pack outs. The machines are exclusively used with Scotch Multipack Tapes, which leverage adhesive technology similar to that used to create Post-It® notes. The benefit is that the tape can be easily repositioned without damaging the primary packaging.

The new solution offers improved design options for multi-unit packages, with a discrete product that doesn’t obscure the primary packaging. Tape can be custom printed with a branded message, or left clear to display the branded bundled product. Because the solution uses far less material than shrink wrap, costs are reduced for the manufacturer, and waste is reduced for the end-user in many examples by up to or over 50%. I had the privilege of seeing this tape in action at PACK EXPO International and got to witness the tape being removed off of the package cleanly and retaped, without disturbing the box’s graphics.

A new tape for cartons debuted to reduce product damage, contaminations, returns and theft. According to Shurtape (ShurSEALSecure.com), cartons will encounter a variety of external stress forces throughout the distribution system – each taking their toll not only on the carton, but also the carton seal. Unsecure seals, often caused by insufficient adhesion of the tape to the carton can be a real problem because of the reasons listed above, but the right combination of packaging tape and tape applicator, secure seals are within reach.

After three years of research, Shurtape created The ShurSEAL® Solution, a carton sealing solution that combines Shurtape HP Series packaging tape with a PrimeLoc™ tape applicator. The packaging tape creates an instant, permanent bond with cartons and according to the company, offers the highest holding power to fiberboard in the industry, while the PrimeLoc tape applicator offers excellent wipe-down force for better, tamper-evident carton seals. Together, they provide consistent and highly secure seals.

“Many organizations face packaging issues along the supply chain, which may carry serious and expensive ramifications. Poor carton seals can lead to production downtime and reworks with more time and money spent on labor and materials, not to mention the costs associated with product damage, contamination, returns and theft from cartons ‘popping’ open,” says Bill DeWitt, market manager for packaging at Shurtape.

The key is how the tape applicator wipes down the tape. The PrimeLoc tape applicator is designed with multiple, flexible wipe-down points, which allow for full utilization of the tape’s adhesive, even on under-filled cartons. The seal also offers visual evidence – via fiber tear – that the tape has been removed or tampered with, further improving product integrity.

Tapes, seals and adhesives work hard to create a secure bond for various applications. Depending on the need, these products must create a permanent or temporary seal to serve the market. These examples here accomplish their unique missions, whether offering visibility and label integrity to resealability for consumer convenience to a secure seal for cartons making their way through the distribution process.