Since the ’40s, Hammer Packaging, founded in 1912, has been printing labels for the food and beverages industry: 360-degree labels, pressure sensitive labels and in-mold labels produced using an injection molding procedure. Six years ago the long-standing company entered the shrink sleeves business segment with two VSOP printing presses from Drent Goebel. The segment is growing dynamically and Hammer Packaging is constantly gaining new customers, prompting its President and CEO James E. Hammer to purchase a third web printing press.

From right: Werner Naegeli (Managing Director of Muller Martini USA), James E. Hammer (President and CEO of Hammer Packaging), Hart Swisher (Director of Technology of Hammer Packaging), Martin Karpie (Vice President of Operations of Hammer Packaging), Louis Iovoli (Vice President of Strategic Partnership/Marketing of Hammer Packaging), Mark Rauth (Sales Manager of Muller Martini USA), Doug Weiss (Business Development Muller Martini USA).

At drupa in Düsseldorf, the great-grandson of the company founder signed a purchase agreement for the new VSOP from Muller Martini with nine printing units, plus an additional flexo unit, hot air drying and EB drying. It will be put into operation towards the end of the year. “Compared to the predecessor models of Drent Goebel, Muller Martini has made some important technological upgrades,” says Jim Hammer, explaining his choice of the latest investment.

Modern Control Technology
One particular innovation is modern control technology. Thanks to the application of Muller Martini control topology in the VSOP, the reliability of the machine has been increased and considerably fewer components are in use. That simplifies both operation and maintenance. The sleeve positioning improvement in the printing units reduces wear and tear on the air shaft in the case of frequent size changes. “The new printing press fulfills our requirements exactly,” says a visibly satisfied Jim Hammer in summary at Muller Martini's drupa stand.