Within the framework of drinctec 2009 the technology leader has been awarded a prize.

It was announced just in time for the drinctec 2009: this year’s winner of the Dairy Technology Prize 2009 is OPTIPACK! With its innovation “cost efficient differentiation through the reproduction of cost-intensive production processes in a low-priced thermoforming process”, the company from Leppersdorf was able to beat the competitors from seven countries.

The branch is dynamic and innovative. This is demonstrated by the innovation prize, which was awarded at the drinctec for the first time. Together with the VIM (Association of Engineers for the Dairy Industry) and the Munich fair the Bücker publishing company acknowledged the successful realization of technical innovations in the European dairy and food industry.

“We use our know-how and experience in the field of thermoforming and offer new types of packaging with a higher quality appearance. And we do it without having to charge the buyer the usual extra costs of 80 – 120%,” explained Günther Pahlitzsch, managing director of Optipack GmbH, after receiving the prize. “In order to stand out on the shelves, dairy products have to attract the customer.” Optipack takes this as its starting point and reproduces high-quality decors such as sleeves, Desto or in-mould labels with inexpensive production technologies. These new types of decoration reduce the additional cost to a fraction of what is usually charged extra today for high quality decoration. In the case of the prize-winning innovation, Optippack modified the existing printing processes in such a way that curved pot walls, such as those often used for cooled coffee drinks, can now be printed in dry offset. Up to now pots in this shape could only be decorated using the costly shrink sleeve process. At the same time the printing quality was optimised so that the pictures and brand images can be reproduced in higher quality. In this way Optipack can offer an inexpensive yet high-quality alternative to the shrink sleeve. The first customer, Ingmann Glass, has already been convinced by the cost benefits.

With a capacity of over 3 billion pots and 600 million preforms per year. Optipack is one of the most important suppliers in the area of the food industry. State-of the-art technology and the evolved technical expertise of the qualified employees have resulted in Optipack becoming one of the most competitive companies in the packaging industry. At its two production sites in Aretsried (near Augsburg, since 1983) and Leppersdorf (near Dresden, since 2004) Optipack produces and develops thermoformed plastic pots in PS, PP and PET and single and multi-layer preforms in PET. In one of the most modern pot production factories in Europe, Optipack also offers highly competent printing techniques. “Here we have a great deal of experience and almost unbeatable know-how”, says Pahlitzsch. This statement is no exaggeration, as Optipack’s in-house repro studio is the unique feature of the company. Here the specialised staff accompany customised optimisation processes and help step by step to utilise the printing process to produce the best possible quality of print.