How Sunshine FPC Inc Prints Efficient and Excellence Flexographic Packaging

The sun will rise and set every day. And as consistently, Sunshine FPC Inc seems to win awards for its print quality.

The California-based FTA member printer is an annual competitor in the Association’s Excellence in Flexography Awards, and regularly takes home gold and Best of Show honors. “With the growth of flexographic technology today—from prepress, ink, equipment, management of the process—it is now a true alternative to gravure printing,” says its president, James Chuang.

Here, Chuang discusses the company’s background, outlook on the industry and how it printed a Best of Show-winning job in the 2022 FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards.

Company Background

FLEXO Magazine: Talk about how Sunshine FPC Inc got started.

James Chuang: Sunshine started as an importer of plain polyethylene bags from Asia.

FLEXO: Summarize Sunshine’s mission and vision. What are the core values guiding its day-to-day operations? And how do all of these shape your short- and long-term strategic direction?

Chuang: The goal for the organization is to be a leader in flexible packaging offering premium-quality products to the industry, with a continued focus in sustainable packaging, as well as developing new technology, processes and the infrastructure of our compliance GMP programs.

Most of all, we value our people.

FLEXO: How many locations does the company have? How large is each facility? How about the number of employees, presses and shifts?

Chuang: Sunshine currently has two locations. We have a total of 100 employees and run 24 hours per day.

FLEXO: Where are Sunshine’s primary markets? What are its primary markets?

Chuang: Food and nutraceutical packaging are primary markets for us, along with the premium or organic sector of flexible packaging (primarily in food).

You can see our products in Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Gelsons, Sprouts, Costco, Walmart, etc.

Industry Outlook

FLEXO: Talk about the flexographic market today: Advances, growth opportunities, output, etc.

Chuang: With the growth of flexographic technology today—from prepress, ink, equipment, management of the process—it is now a true alternative to gravure printing. Years ago, flexography was dismissed as an option to high-quality printing from overseas.

FLEXO: Where is the flexible packaging market going?

Chuang: Flexibility for quick turns and running multiple SKUs will continue to be key demands. Sustainable options for materials and reduction of carbon footprint will become mandatory.

FLEXO: Where does the company see demand from consumers affecting operations? Are there any specific products seeing a surge?

Chuang: Demands of quick turnaround for orders, flexibility in running multiple SKUs, and the capability to run small quantities to large quantities. Being nimble as an organization has its advantages. You can serve a broader clientele base.

Production

FLEXO: What percent of the company’s product is printed flexographically? Do you utilize other print processes side by side with flexography? If so, how do these complement the flexographic operation?

Chuang: Sunshine prints 100 percent flexographically.

FLEXO: What are the most important factors you look for in modern day presses?

Chuang: Quality of equipment, technology that contributes to flexibility, efficiency and support.

FLEXO: How have advances in screening and plating technologies affected print quality?

Chuang: They’ve helped us achieve high-resolution print, dot replication, reliable ink transfer, reduction of unwanted ink spread, faster hitting target color and density, lower dot gain and faster setup. All of these contribute to consistency, clean print and efficiency for production; they also save consumption of ink, power and labor. Ultimately, they help our operation become more efficient and sustainable.

FLEXO: What advances in consumables such as inks and substrates do you find the most important?

Chuang: Quality material offers value and consistency, which translates to the ability to print consistently. There are always less-costly substrates and inks in the marketplace. We are driven by value and not just price.

Award-Winning Print Job

FLEXO: Sunshine won gold and Best of Show awards in the 2022 FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards for the Thierry’s Patissiere Raspberry Tart & Mille Feuille Wrap. How did this job begin? What were the concerns and demands the customer brought to you?

Chuang: Customers have not seen quality domestic print that was better than gravure print from overseas. The only way is to show results and gain the customer’s trust with consistent quality.

FLEXO: In evaluating the job, what did you identify as potential obstacles or difficulties?

Chuang: There were two highly challenging and intricately detailed images. The technically challenging vignettes that fade to zero reflect within the art deco-style artwork. The originals were RGB image files that were so detailed, its salivating impact and realism were astounding, capturing one’s imagination.

We knew we’ve had to tactically apply expanded gamut (EG) in order to offer justice and refinement producing these two items in a single run. In addition, the client was very concerned about the environmental impact of the job, so we’ve initiated using sustainable PCR PET stock.

FLEXO: How did your press operators go about executing the job and meeting the customer’s requirements?

Chuang: Printing both jobs simultaneously and running a longer duration increased the level of difficulty while improving client concerns for cost and sustainability impact. The requirement of solid fundamentals for prepress planning, efficient process print control on press, and using more challenging substrates to print took this challenge to the next level.

Our adherence to principles of artisan process and mechanics, as well as our previous experience gained regarding printing jobs with degrees of difficulty enabled us to convince the client to run this job domestically using flexography, rather than going overseas to run on rotogravure.

FLEXO: Talk about some of the significant technologies used in printing the job: What press was used? What plates and imaging equipment were used? What inks and substrates were used? What screening technology was used? Were any special effects or embellishments added? How did you apply targets and tolerances to the job? Did you run to FIRST specifications?

Chuang: This job ran on a W&H central impression (CI) press. We’ve delicately and cautiously orchestrated the various areas of this piece and employed a mix of 250, 175 and 150 lpi to tackle specific areas of the print. Our goal was to keep the production run clean, since this was such a long run. Specially designed highlight screenings were applied on the highlights and vignettes to avoid coarse min dot hard lines.

Controlling highlight details of areas such as the white toppings, cream and fruit while keeping the run clean was a top priority. Scripts and the art deco logo are remarkably clean and easy to read. Showing consistent and smooth ink solids, that shows meticulous practice of precisely controlling impression settings. This helps reduce unwanted ink spread; it’s quicker to hit our print target such as color and density on press. The process yields lower dot gain and faster setup. The micro text used around the UPC and “Sell By” boxes was achieved by imaging the plates at 9,600 dpi. The high-resolution print, dot replication and reliable ink transfer consistency all contribute to clean print—which aligns with our goal of efficient printing.

FLEXO: Running the actual job: What speed did you run the press at? Were there any notable aspects of makeready and setup?

Chuang: We ran the job at between 800 fpm and 1,000 fpm.

FLEXO: Examining the final print: How did your team feel about its color and consistency? What about its future repeatability and predictability?

Chuang: The team was thrilled.

FLEXO: What was the customer’s reaction to seeing the printed job?

Chuang: The customer did not believe it was flexographic printing. It turned out better than they had thought. This customer is now convinced that we are no longer just an alternative to gravure printing, but a superior solution because of the convenience and quality. The results did all the work!

FLEXO: How can recognition in the FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards help to win new business?

Chuang: It has brought pride and joy to the organization. We also appreciate the fact that it’s a marketing tool to share with our customers and the industry that hard work pays off.

Entries are now being accepted for the 2023 FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards.