Selling to big companies is never a simple task, especially when you are a new, niche supplier offering leading edge technologies. Such was the case when Dan Plash, Telstar Engineering’s Sales and Marketing Director, contacted Bill Martin of Betts USA to discuss his company’s recent cold foil application developments. According to Martin, Betts is simply cautious about bringing on new suppliers because such vendors are really being considered for the company’s entire worldwide operation, not just the Betts plant in Florence, Kentucky. Along with a host of other products Betts is the world’s largest producer of laminate tubes with operations in eight countries and freely shares technologies throughout its system with standardization as the key. Plash likes to liken the process to building a business plan with a very involved partner.

Betts had experience with both hot stamping and dry lamination and Martin had recently struggled through an attempt to do hot stamping on a brand new press to no avail. “The hot stamping would end up sticking the substrate to the rollers and would completely stop the press. The registration was not good, there were color issues, and the ink did not want to stick to the foil without using primer.” said Martin. When Plash described Telstar’s advances in cold foil application and wet lamination along with his company’s focus on retrofit solutions it was enough to earn a meeting. Armed with his CAD-TO-GO™ laptop, Telestar President Tom Kirtz and Plash headed off to Kentucky to meet with Martin and Betts’ engineer, Rick Israel.

What ensued was a year-long period of stringent testing during which Telstar was required to prove that the press at Betts could be split between the print and finishing zones before a purchase would be considered. Tension control, slitting and rewind issues were all a part of the problems faced matching the job of the retrofit unit to the technology of the older press. CAD-TO-GO™ played a key role in creating an entirely new equipment platform and assuring that driveshaft, drive-train, encoders, servo motors, and closed-loop tension controls would all work seamlessly.

The two companies also worked closely to explore various foils on a variety of substrates and a host of adhesives from providers like API Foils, Amagic, UV Technology and Dynatech. “Adhesion was a big challenge because the adhesives can’t be too aggressive due to health issues on consumable tubed products like toothpaste.” Plash stated. After months of press runs in Telstar’s Burnsville, Minnesota plant on the sample materials provided by Betts, UV Technology adhesives were selected. Ultimately their recommended adhesive worked extremely well on the very first try and became the answer on the second offering
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At this point Telstar still did not have a purchase order in hand. Betts created a list of delivery performance demands and worked with Telstar to assure that all of these issues were agreeable and reasonable for both parties. As Bill Martin puts it, “We print miles of tubes every day or the year around the clock and I don’t want a call at 3 a.m. Sunday morning that something has gone wrong. After all it may end up being used in Brazil, India, the UK or any of our other plants sometime in the future.”

Next, Rick Israel established a strict timeline for production and installation of the new Deco-Mod™ retrofit press that Telstar would be adding to Betts older model COPAK press. There was very little room for downtime so the schedule worked out was very helpful to all parties. Only after all involved were on-board with the schedule and performance demands was a purchase order issued to Telstar.

The engineering measurements taken by Tom Kirtz early in the process, along with the in-depth documentation maintained throughout testing, resulted in a smooth installation with everything fitting perfectly. “When we split out press the Telstar Deco-Mod™ fit like a piece of OEM equipment and we were up and running on schedule.” claims Martin.

“Developing this retrofit solution for Betts is the perfect example of how we like to work with any customer.” claims Plash who applauds the time commitment made by Betts personnel to provide input at every stage of development. Betts had very specific goals and demands and worked hand-in-hand with Telstar to achieve a successful outcome. Seeking to live up to its “Press Performance Specialists” motto, Telstar will track the production from this new cold foil application with follow-up visits and examination of samples sent by its customer. Betts will use the equipment to try new levels of decoration for its customers. “More and more packagers like Colgate Toothpaste want more marketing pizzazz on the tubes and go marketing without boxes.” stated Betts USA sales manager, Bob Almer. This is great news for Telstar’s with its versatile cold foil Deco-Mod™ technology.