Ben Ritter (1); (1) Accraply, Inc., Plymouth, MN, U.S.A.

Packaging (Bottles, Draft, and Cans)
Poster

With the beer market rapidly growing and new beers hitting liquor store shelves every day, it has never been more important to make your beer stand out among the competition. A great way to do this is by making your packaging unique and making it catch the consumer’s eye. Shrink sleeve labels provide breweries with the opportunity to explore new packing options, while also providing a new twist to conventional can and bottle options. They are a perfect packaging solution for all breweries because they can be used in a small-scale hand-applied application or high-speed applications at over 500 containers per minute. There is a surprising amount of technology that goes into a shrink sleeve label, and this presentation will provide an introduction to them. Specifically, we will explore shrink sleeve substrate selection, the printing process, converting technologies, sleeve application techniques, and shrink technologies.

Ben Ritter is the shrink sleeve and converting specialist at Accraply, Inc., the Minneapolis-based manufacturer of automated label application systems, as well as converting and finishing equipment for the shrink sleeve label and flexible packaging markets. Prior to employment at Accraply, Ben worked for 10 years with a large U.S.-based label converter in production management as the prepress, plate and finishing manager. During this time, he was in charge of establishing the new shrink sleeve production operation from start to finish. Ben holds a bachelor of science degree in printing management and an associate of science degree in digital imaging and design.