Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
March 31, 1997 01:00 AM

DVDS PUSH MOLDERS, PACKAGERS TO CHANGE

Roger Renstrom
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    TUCSON, ARIZ. — Arrival of the new DVD medium poses plastics-related challenges to disc molders and packagers:

    Disc makers need to modify equipment or acquire new capabilities.

    Creative packagers vie near-term to establish their products' viability.

    Criticism of the fragile polystyrene jewel box continues to grow.

    DVD — once known as digital versatile disc — is a high-capacity compact disc that can store videos or computer data.

    Industry participants discussed the subjects at the annual meeting of the Princeton, N.J.-based International Recording Media Association. Messages from initial DVD hardware and software rollouts rumbled in the background.

    Some refer to DVD as a convergence medium with value beyond the touted capability to store an entire movie.

    ``A lot of early growth for DVD is going to come from the computer side in the ROM area,'' said Thomas Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of Shape Inc. in Portsmouth, N.H.

    Several of Shape's software partners ``are looking strongly at the three-piece jewel box and its modified configurations, and boxes that allow them to have larger booklets,'' Parkinson said.

    Richard Kelly, president of Cambridge Associates Inc. in Stamford, Conn., forecast that 300,000 households in the United States would acquire DVD systems in 1997, with the households increasing cumulatively to 4.3 million by 2001.

    By comparison, 88 million households have videocassette recorders, and consumers have spent nearly $100 billion on VCR hardware and software in the last 15 years, Kelly said.

    ``As our analog fuel is being replaced by a higher octane digital alternative, our businesses are all at the crossroads of change,'' Charles Van Horn, ITA executive vice president, said at the March 19-22 gathering in Tucson.

    DVD's retail rollout took longer than expected; no recording capability exists; and some studios avoid the format. Warner interests and Sony Corp. units are DVD's biggest advocates.

    Processors need three to six months to acquire equipment and three months to optimize disc production.

    ``We definitely underestimated training for both operators and engineers,'' said Gregg Johnson, pre-production plant manager with Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Advanced Media Operations in Olyphant, Pa.

    ``We were running audio on our DVD presses until we launched at full capacity,'' Johnson said. ``In retrospect, we would have preferred to be testing DVD to get that training experience'' rather than doing as much work in audio.

    Johnson said the production conversion to DVD from compact disc can cost about $100,000 to upgrade each mold and $50,000 to improve a molding machine's server control. A system to bond together two substrates costs about $400,000 for a hot-melt process or $800,000 for ultraviolet. Monmouth, Wales-based Nimbus Technology & Engineering Ltd. is Warner's technology partner on the disc transition.

    A retail package may get ``seven-tenths of a second to catch a consumer's eye,'' said Timothy Russell, team leader for media packaging for Westvaco Corp. in Richmond, Va.

    Russell said the challenge for packagers is to ``help your customer deliver added value and, at the same time, do it cost efficiently.''

    Marketing consultant and keynote speaker Martha Rogers of Bowling Green, Ohio, called it ``standardized customization.''

    Disc replicators and entertainment studios will experiment in packaging over the next 18 months to see ``what works for them,'' said Floyd Glinert, executive vice president of Shorewood Packaging Corp. in New York.

    Packaging standards of the Video Software Dealers Association ``are very appropriate'' to distinguish video discs from audio products and VHS cassettes, Glinert said. VSDA recommends the DVD package measure 5.5 by 7.38 inches with a thickness between three-eighths and five-eighths of an inch.

    The ``slow rollout'' of DVD ``is a plus,'' Glinert said. ``I don't see replicators going out and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on automation until they see what is going to happen.''

    About 12 packaging solutions will emerge over time, with the market selecting the survivors, said Anthony L. Gelardi, president of Gelardi Design & Development in Kennebunkport, Maine.

    Creative packaging slows piracy, Gelardi said. Embossing, holographs and the like ``get the attention of the consumer and afford a degree of protection, particularly early on when those titles hit the store.''

    The unique elements allow a content rights' owner to identify original material without opening the package. Gelardi noted an estimate of $14 billion of illicit products was sold last year.

    ``There will be several packages both for DVD video and DVD-ROM,'' said Andria McClellan, vice president of sales and marketing for Laserfile International Inc. in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. In January, International Packaging Corp. of Fort Wayne, Ind., began molding Laserfile's DVD packages on Netstal and Krauss-Maffei machines.

    A replicator, soon to be identified, will use a machine from Langen-Kyoto Inc. of Mississauga, Ontario, to assemble the DVD package. The machine has a base price of $161,000.

    Laserfile modified its CD-package concept and dimensions to create a DVD version. A concave polypropylene tray holds the DVD securely, slides out from the bottom of a clear PS outer container and hinges down and away from the disc for removal.

    In a Laserfile-funded survey, C.A. Walker & Associates of Los Angeles found a 3-1 consumer preference for Laserfile's DVD package vs. the jewel box.

    Laserfile's CD package ``significantly outperformed the standard jewel box'' in functional and aesthetic failures during tests at Michigan State University's school of packaging in East Lansing, Mich. Complex Tooling & Molding in Loveland, Colo., molds the CD package.

    PS jewel boxes break frequently, in part, because standard wall thickness was reduced, Gelardi said.

    ``Consumers don't like cracked boxes, broken hinge tabs [or] broken rosettes,'' McClellan said. ``Most consumers ... want something more durable, as would the replicators, without spending more money.''

    ``If the industry is willing to support an additional dime, 10 cents, out of a $12 item, we can create a three-piece jewel box that will not break,'' Parkinson said. ``And people think DVD will carry a $20 retail price, so the margin will be there.''

    He showed a jewel box of Phillips Chemical Co.'s clear K-Resin styrene butadiene copolymer. ``The problem is the cost'' at 20 cents per item, double the current market price, he said.

    In 1995, Shape began selling PS jewel boxes in the aftermarket.

    ``That business is growing at 25 percent a year,'' Parkinson said.

    Glinert said Shorewood sells ``millions of replacements.''

    Philip Clemens gives replacement boxes to International Packaging Corp. visitors, saying, ``Here's for the ones that have broken hinges at home.'' The visitors ask how he knew of the problem, and Clemens responds, partially in jest, ``They all break.''

    Jewel-box licenses from Philips Electronics NV mandate no design changes although ``the design geometry of the hinges is inherently weak,'' said Clemens, IPC president and chief executive officer.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Georgia home to new PET chemical recycling plant
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    OSHA: Worker died at plastics firm after duct tape covered safety guards
    2
    Tornadoes, severe weather impact Texas resin plants
    3
    China-owned parent company of GD Medical Inc. is buying Trademark Plastics for $42M
    4
    Plastics firms work to eliminate PFAS use as pressure mounts
    5
    Eastman posts lower profit, plans job cuts
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified