​​Converting Quarterly - Back Issues​

In the 2020 Quarter 1 Issue:
  • Special Market Report on Flexible Packaging: Industry well positioned to grow in US; flexible plastic packaging in the circular economy; micro- and nanolayer coextrusion of cast films; troubleshooting and defect reduction in web-coated products
  • Vacuum Web Coating
  • Drives for Web Handling
  • Drying & Curing
In the 2019 Quarter 4 Issue:
  • Solution Web Coating & Laminating: 
    ​Laser diecutting on solventless laminators in flexible-packaging applications; polyolefin dispersions for water barrier on paper and paperboard; guidelines for web-coating quality, cost-effective products; tensioned-web over slot-die coating; what coaters should know about winders
  • Adhesives & Adhesion
  • Surface Treatment
  • 2020 Buyers Guide
In the 2019 Quarter 3 Issue:
  • Slitting & Rewinding: Guide to knife shapes and their applications; benefits of versatile, all-in-one slitters for a varied product mix; slitting-support systems for successful web fracture
  • Inspection & Gauging
  • Gravure & Flexo Printing
  • Drying & Curing
In the 2019 Quarter 2 Issue:
  • Flexible Packaging Special Report: US, European market forecasts; flex-pack benefits and answering the naysayers; impact of materials selection on 
    food packaging; real cost of lamination waste 
    and how to reduce it
  • Film Making & Substrates
  • Web Handling & Guiding
  • Specialty Papers
In the 2019 Quarter 1 Issue:
  • Vacuum Web Coating Report: 
    Global market forecast; R2R deposition of silicon-plasma polymers; establishing an ecosystem 
    for R2R coating of flexible glass
  • 2018 AIMCAL John Matteucci Award-winning technical papers 
  • Printed Electronics USA 2018 
  • Drives for Web Handling
  • Rolls & Rollers
  • ICE USA & ICE Europe 2019 Pre-Show Guides
  • AIMCAL R2R Conference Asia 2019
In the 2018 Quarter 4 Issue
  • Solution & Extrusion Coating  Special Report: Coating-method pros and cons; system design considerations for solvent-based web coaters; optimizing flex-pack design for top-coating & metallizing; troubleshooting extrusion-coating problems; slot-die coating of hot-melt adhesives; and specialty films for healthcare applications
  • Update on benefits, materials, methods, uses, and challenges of coextrusion technology
  • Slitting/rewinding features for processing wider, thinner specialty papers into narrower rolls
  • New power configuration development for thin-film, vacuum web coating
  • 2019 Buyers Guide
In the 2018 Quarter 3 Issue
  • Release Liners Technology Special Report: 
    Market Forecast, Medical-Application Product Design, Web-Handling Issues, Recycling Update
  • Energy-curable flexo special-effects coatings
    for packaging
  • Benefits of multiple-layer coating methods
  • Comparing surface treatments for promoting
    seal strength in flexible packaging
  • Efficient solution preparation & mixing methods
  • Production issues for solar-cell fabrics
  • How slitting and packaging automation can
    improve converter competitiveness
In the 2018 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2018 AIMCAL Web-Coated Product 
    and Technology of the Year Awards
  • Environmental effects on dimensional and mechanical properties of flexible-packaging substrates: Dr. Eldridge M. Mount
  • Emerging trends in low-migration
    UV-LED laminating adhesives for flexible packaging
  • Web Inspection: Achieving precise roll-length measurement and control: Clarence Klassen
  • Avoiding costly problems with splices in the slitting operation; substrate property requirements for web coating; efficient solution preparation & mixing techniques; converter's gatekeeper role in sustainable supply chain
In the 2018 Quarter 1 Issue
  • R2R coating of flexible materials: Focus on scale-up
  • Some considerations on fine-line pattern metallization
  • Contamination in vacuum coatings due to water vapor
  • 2017 AIMCAL Matteucci Technical Excellence Papers: Vacuum and Web Coating winners
  • Importance of minor details in obtaining a high-quality, cost-effective coated product
  • Processing conditions and procedures to minimize waste, increase efficiency for extrusion coating & laminating: Part 2
In the 2017 Quarter 4 Issue
  • Technical Q&A Columns: Adhesion, substrates, vacuum & solution coating, slitting, web handling
  • Processing conditions and procedures to minimize waste, increase efficiency for extrusion coating & laminating: Part 1
  • Analyzing coating-process unit options to substantially increase coating capacity
  • Quantitative evaluation of non-uniform coating
  • How "Converting 4.0" could radically reshape the way materials are processed
  • What a new ASTM standard for plastic film thickness and variability means for converters
  • UV-LED curing: Is the wait over for converting applications?
  • Electron-beam crosslinking of polyolefin films for various packaging applications
  • ISCST Insights: Frequency response analysis of slot-die coating flows
In the 2017 Quarter 3 Issue
  • 2017 IMDA Labeling Awards
  • AIMCAL R2R Conference Preview
  • Medical & Pharma Coated-Materials Market Forecast
  • Evolution of web slitting and automatic positioning systems: Dave Rumson
  • Three automated systems for tabbing
  • Constant geometry leads to predictable wound-roll structure
  • Custom slitting: Not just for finishing services
  • Inspection & Gauging Report; Options for upgrading existing coating lines: Dr. Edward Cohen; Chasing efficiency in CI-flexo printing for flexible packaging
  • ISCST Insights: Liquid transfer in printing processes
In the 2017 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2017 FPA Achievement Awards
  • 2017 AIMCAL Web-Coated Product & 
    Technology of the Year Awards
  • US & Europe flexible-packaging market forecasts
  • Technology developments behind heat-sealable substrates: Dr. Eldridge M. Mount
  • Duplex laminator and adhesive for 
    ultra-fast curing of solventless adhesives
  • In-vacuum flexo topcoating on metallized film
  • Understanding risk assessment for chemical migration in flexible food packaging
  • Advances in electron-beam curing for 
    wide-web, flexible-packaging printing
  • How to troubleshoot laminate bagginess: 
    Dr. David R. Roisum
  • Increasing web throughput with core-centering shafts; Using FTIR for development and QA of cure chemistries
  • ISCST Insights: Solving problems associated with the slot-die coating of suspensions and slurries
In the 2017 Quarter 1 Issue
  • Your Show Guides to ICE USA & ICE Europe 2017
  • 2016 AIMCAL Matteucci Award-winning papers
  • Conversion of AlOx coated films -- From single-layer material to finished pouch
  • Vacuum-deposited aluminum thin films in 
    gray, black, brown and whitish and their underlying causes
  • Novel sensor using remote plasma emission spectroscopy for monitoring and control of 
    vacuum web coating processes
  • Vacuum plasma treatment and coating 
    of fluoropolymer webs
  • Laser scanning confocal microscopy; sheet resistance anisotropy in transparent conductive films containing silver nanowires; evolution of the coating process; integrating brand-authenticating DNA into packaging materials; reducing defective-product waste
  • ISCST Insights: Introduction to wetting and its relevance to coating
In the 2016 Quarter 4 Issue
  • How to troubleshoot visible defects in the web-coating process
  • Lamination system application and design considerations
  • BOPP laminate structures for "over-the-mountain" VFFS-pouch applications
  • Dimensional stability of substrate films
  • Surface modification of PET and oxide-coated PET for adhesion improvement
  • Laminating QA via in-line coating weight measurement system
  • Using a different range of flexible substrates; Novel approaches to high-barrier WVTR measurement
  • ISCST Insights: Putting coating science into perspective
In the 2016 Quarter 3 Issue
  • 2016 AIMCAL Web Coating & Handling Conference USA to reunite with SPE FlexPackCon in Memphis
  • ISCST Symposium to flag micro-/nano-replication
  • Variety of technical resources will help secure the future of web handling; Challenges of handling thinner, wider webs at faster speeds; Fiber-optic web-position sensing
  • P-s Labeling & Release Liner Market Forecast
  • Improving release-liner material efficiency; On-line measurement of silicone release coating on paper; Transdermal delivery systems and release-liner requirements; Voluntarily or by law: Release liner recycling is moving ahead
  • Tech advances making lab, pilot coaters more effective; Increased productivity of sputter coatings
  • ISCST Insights: Viscosity vs. Rheology
In the 2016 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2016 AIMCAL Product, Technology 
    & Sustainability Awards
  • Dealing with slitting and winding 
    roll-defect complexity
  • Slitter/rewinder focus on pure productivity 
    & profitability
  • US Flexible-Packaging Market Forecast
  • Resolving brand-owner challenges with 
    oxygen-barrier nanotechnology coatings
  • Old coating methods never die; Preventing static fires - Part 2; Non-contact caliper sensor for on-line direct thickness gauging; Acoustic drying in commercial settings; Copper-shell design for 
    next-generation chill rolls
  • ISCST Insights: Drying of polymeric coatings - Model-based design of technical thin-film dryers
    and experimental validation
In the 2016 Quarter 1 Issue
  •  Spring 2016 Events Preview
  • Metallized Films & Specialty Papers Market Forecast
  • Vacuum-deposition systems -
    a question of balance
  • 2015 Top Matteucci Papers for Vacuum Web Coating
  • Rhyme and reason behind film additives; benefits of a clean coating line; Printed Electronics USA 2015 technology review; hermetic-seal performance of BOPP laminate structures; preventing static fires - Part 1; UV-activated reactive film adhesives
  • ISCST Insights: Coating defects during consolidation of colloidal films during drying
  • 2011-15 Editorial Index
In the 2015 Quarter 4 Issue
  • 2015 IMDA Awards
  • Extrusion-Coated Materials Market Forecast
  • The role of the coating solution-delivery system
  • Successful lamination of ultra-thin foil requires good machine design, process know-how
  • Water-based lamination of digitally printed flexible packaging addresses short-run, time-to-market concerns
  • Toward a zero-landfill metallizing facility; festoon splicing technology; sustainable, barrier-coated substrate for adhesive beverage labels; testing conductive-ink printability; chambered doctor blades & automated flexo-ink supply
  • ISCST Insights: Coating-flow visualization
  • Updated Annual Buyers Guide
In the 2015 Quarter 3 Issue
  • 27th DuPont Packaging Awards
  • AIMCAL Web Coating & Handling Conference USA to reunite with SPE FlexPackCon
  • Fall 2015 Events At-A-Glance
  • Medical/Pharma Coated Materials Market Forecast
  • Product development: A guide to creating high-quality medical and pharmaceutical materials
  • Functionality of high-fill, low-fill and fill-free calcium-carbonate microporous films
  • Converting platforms for the production of disposable, medical diagnostic device
  • Slitter/Rewinder Technology Report
  • Selecting the best coating method; release-coating developments for high-speed applications; and using intelligent servo drives to filter mechanical resonance & improve machine accuracy
  • ISCST Insights: Coating science through modeling and simulation
In the 2015 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2015 FPA Achievement Awards
  • 2015 AIMCAL Product & Technology Awards
  • Doing a web-machine design review
  • Vacuum tension rolls: How they work and where to use them
  • Drive-system control strategies for web handling
  • US Flexible Packaging Market Forecast
  • New laminating adhesives for digitally printed flexible packaging
  • Extrusion coating in an adhesive lamination world
  • Basic causes of coating & drying defects: Part 2
  • 2015FLEX: A technology review
  • R2R plasma-enhanced CVD for next-generation, thin-film electronic devices & ultra high-barrier applications: Part 2
  • What is the future of adhesion for water-based inks and adhesives on raw BOPP film?
  • ISCST Insights: Numerical modeling of coating flow on porous materials
In the 2015 Quarter 1 Issue
  • Vacuum-Coated & Metallized Materials Market Forecast
  • Vacuum coating uniformity: 101 ways to get it wrong
  • 2014 Matteucci Technical Excellence Award papers
  • Basic causes of coating & drying defects: Part 1
  • Printed Electronics USA 2014: A technology review
  • R2R plasma-enhanced CVD for electronic devices & ultra high-barrier applications: Part 1
  • Ultra low-migration, solvent-free laminating adhesive; the case for solvent acrylic adhesives; managing overspeed in tangent shear slitting; ISCST Insights: Applying coating science to industrial practice
In the 2014 Quarter 4 Issue
  • Your Guide to ICE USA 2015
  • ICE Europe 2015 Show Planner
  • Barrier Packaging Film Market Forecast
  • Designing a sustainable substrate that "disappears"
  • Safety in Web Handling: Part 2 - Safety Drives
  • How using a product development plan can improve scale-up results
  • Nanocoatings: Are you sure?
  • Water-based primer for polypropylene extrusion coating
  • Advances in aqueous heat-seal coatings for flexible packaging
  • Corona-treating roller covering technology and innovation: Part 2
  • Advances in laser micro-perforated flexible packaging for extended product shelf life
  • Annual Buyers Guide
In the 2014 Quarter 3 Issue
  • 2014 DuPont Packaging Awards
  • 2014 Fall Event Planner: AIMCAL WCHC-SPE FlexPackCon; ISCST Symposium; Labelexpo Americas; CPP EXPO; PACK EXPO International
  • PSA Materials, Release Liner, PS Tape Market Forecasts
  • How web-coating technology enables adhesive-product advances
  • Coordinating PSA and liner selection for optimization of release performance
  • Using renewable nanotechnology to improve release base-paper performance
  • Using technology to guarantee optimum performance in heat-transfer roller operation
  • Corona-treating roll covering technology and innovation: Part 1
  • Safety in Web Handling: Part 1 - Standards
  • Developing roll hardness on center and center-surface type winders
  • Doctor blade to anilox-roll count: Ratio & relationship
  • Printing vs. coating: What will be printed electronics' future production technology?
In the 2014 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2014 AIMCAL Product, Technology & Sustainability Awards
  • Web roll-making history and automatic slitter positioning
  • Tray systems for discharge of large, heavy finished rolls
  • Controlling web tension with differential shafts
  • Tech advances, convenience features driving flex-pack sales
  • Real-world testing of metallized, barrier structures for packaging
  • High-volume paper metallization: Moisture-removal results of "multi-chamber" machine design
  • Ten pitfalls to avoid in developing low-defect, web-coated products
  • How laser-engraved ceramic cylinders fit into gravure coating
  • Selecting the correct gauging system configuration for your coating line
  • Web coating-handling program makes summer stop in Portugal
  • Blame the corona treater: The truth about watt density, dyne levels & adhesion
In the 2014 Quarter 1 Issue
  • Spring 2014 Events At-A-Glance
  • Global Vacuum-Coated & Metallized Films Market Forecast
  • Review of pro flex 2013 technical papers
  • R2R sputter deposition on flexible glass
  • Characterization of typical process defects found on an industrial R2R metallizer
  • Vacuum system benchmarking for improved production rates
  • Better film vacuum processing through practical application of science
  • Substrate cleaning in high-vacuum environment
  • Fundamentals of the slot-coating process
  • Layer-by-layer coatings for enhanced shelf life
  • Printed Electronics USA 2013 shows industry becoming a serious force
  • Laser finishing on a rotary converting platform
In the 2013 Quarter 4 Issue
  • 2013 IMDA in-mold label awards
  • Global Flexible Packaging Market Forecast
  • Market demands, “fracking,” sustainability, nanotech all driving new film development
  • Water-cooled blown-film extrusion and a comparison of its resulting properties
  • Three-ply lamination process in one pass using one nip and solventless adhesive
  • Use of water-based adhesive lamination in flexible packaging
  • New methods to screen wound rolls for bagginess
  • Continuous splicing techniques for turret unwinds
  • Carbon fibers increase critical speed of air shafts
  • Load-cell functionality and benefits for tension control
  • All air-powered web guiding offers efficiency, simplicity, safety for web converting
  • Coating process attributes lead to novel products
  • Advances in marking technology for defect identification
In the 2013 Quarter 3 Issue
  • 25th DuPont Packaging Awards
  • AIMCAL Web Coating & Handling Conference shifts venue to Charleston
  • Fall 2013 Events At-A- Glance
  • PSA Materials Market Forecast
  • Understanding PSA technology for optimal tape, label application benefits
  • How hot-melt PSA formulae influence silicone-release performance in labeling
  • Window film inspection: Manufacturing process and QC for modern applications
  • Strobe-light selection factors: LED vs. xenon applications
  • Effective process characterization improves web-coating defect reduction
  • Electron-beam technology integration with web-processing, package-decoration lines
  • Best practices for heat-transfer roll maintenance and storage
  • Matching solvent-ink parameters to high-speed flexographic printing needs
In the 2013 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2013 FPA Achievement Awards
  • 2013 AIMCAL Product of the Year, Technology & Sustainability Awards
  • Specialty Papers Market Forecast
  • Silicone coatings offer new opportunities in food-contact paper performance
  • Sintering-free electro-conductive patterning with silver nanoparticle inks
  • Getting peak performance from enclosed chambers for flexo, gravure printing
  • How rotating cylinder brushes can assist slitting, perforating operations
  • Hybrid heat-transfer rolls end corrosion damage, boost thermal conductivity
  • 2013FLEX Conference Review
  • ITO sputter-coated films for touch panels using rotary, sintered, ceramic ITO targets
  • Web coating defects: Approaches to improve coater performance
  • Analytical derivation of radiant-energy heat load on web-based polymer films
  • How to select the best winding process for the product application
In the 2013 Quarter 1 Issue
  • ICE USA 2013 Show Planner & AIMCAL Technical Conference Schedule
  • Vacuum Coated & Metallized Films & Papers Market Forecast
  • Rate of growth of oxide layers on metal films vacuum-deposited onto film substrates
  • Moisture control a vital aspect of paper metallization
  • Substrate/surface treatment/vacuum process interaction in high-barrier, metallized films
  • Atomic layer deposition on flexible webs by R2R process
  • Aluminum oxide barrier layers on polymer webs
  • So, should we patent that?
  • How the coating process operating window helps achieve defect-free products
  • Point-defect analysis: Critical coating skill
  • The role of tension control in web-break prevention
In the 2012 Quarter 4 Issue
  • Web coating defects: Role of coater module
  • Proper dryer design matches performance to coated product
  • Laminar flow and the formation of multilayer polymer structures
  • Modifying the coefficient of friction (CoF) of polyolefin films
  • Pharma/Med Packaging Market Forecast
  • Support programs give specialized medical-device converters a competitive edge
  • Real science behind the Zeng-Abbott Adhesion Modeller
  • Graphics adhesion advice for IML & shrink-sleeve films
  • Contamination: The unseen enemy of vacuum deposition
  • Vacuum-coated products aid anti-counterfeiting measures
  • Digital-print technologies deter counterfeiting and improve product brand protection
  • New Converting Quarterly Buyers Guide! – More than 300 suppliers of converter services, materials, equipment and accessories are listed in this premiere edition of our annual printed guide
In the 2012 Quarter 3 Issue
  • Nine practical matters for achieving better shear slitting
  • Technology advances aid slitter/rewinder productivity, versatility and ergonomics
  • Automating roll removal in slitting/rewinding operations
  • World Label Market Forecast
  • Labelexpo Americas 2012 Show Preview
  • Recovering time from non-operation work to improve labelmaking efficiency
  • Green Converting: Environmental performance in the label industry
  • Ten success principles for web coating
  • Methods and design considerations for application of hot-melt coatings
  • Guidelines for rolls used in web handling
  • How roll-change automation can improve process quality, productivity and speed
  • Three-part technology use makes achieving flexographic- color matching easier
  • Proper roll protection saves time, money…and customers
In the 2012 Quarter 2 Issue
  • 2012 AIMCAL Awards
  • 2012 FPA Achievement Awards
  • How R2R product development impacts web handling
  • How to upgrade your web-handling drives
  • Guidelines for selecting idler rolls
  • Barrier Packaging Materials Market Forecast
  • Proper barrier-package engineering requires detailed product analysis
  • AlOx coated films: Transparency with high barrier
  • Evaporated aluminum on polypropylene: Oxide-layer thickness as a function of oxygen plasma-treatment level
  • Role of the substrate in web-coating defect formation
  • Five packaging sustainability trends
  • Scrap prevention in laminated flexible packaging
  • Understanding variable-speed AC, DC drive technology
  • Accurately measuring web-product length, speed with non-contact laser encoders
In the 2012 Quarter 1 Issue
  • Thin-film Photovoltaics Market Forecast
  • R2R manufacturing of thin-film batteries
    • and ultracapacitors
  • Metal-foil cleaning for R2R thin-film batteries
  • Future of precision R2R multilayer coating
  • Spring 2012 Show Planner
  • Flexible-glass substrates for R2R manufacturing
  • Game-changing surface pre-treatment technology
  • Web coating defects: Controlling dryer defects, Part 2
  • Inkjet innovations: Applications to coating
  • Microsphere adhesives: New performance and applications
  • Seamless roll coverings for coating, cast-film production
  • Real-time UV monitoring and measurement
  • Press-neutral technologies to increase color gamut
In the 2011 Quarter 4 Issue
  • Vacuum Web Coating Market Report
  • R2R atomic layer deposition: Latest process hope to deliver low-cost, high-barrier coatings
  • How to achieve consistency, repeatability in hot-melt, slot-die coating
  • Nanotechnology Market Forecast
  • 2012 US Economic Forecast: Crystal ball “not so clear”
  • Replacing PET and OPP with PLA: Considering properties, converting and end uses
  • Choosing the right anilox-roll engraving for the print or coating application
  • Assessing the value and benefits of 100-percent flexo, gravure print inspection
  • Inkjet-printing processes for packaging and labeling: An introduction
  • Ultrasonic bonding, laminating and embossing of nonwovens and films
  • Web coating: Controlling dryer defects, Part 1
In the 2011 Quarter 3 Issue
  • Market Report: Labels put best face forward
  • 100% solids, UV-curable, pressure-sensitive adhesives as an alternative to solution acrylics
  • How to achieve consistency, repeatability in hot-melt, slot-die coating
  • Reducing silicone mist in high-speed coating systems
  • What's needed to drive release-liner recycling
  • Fall 2011 Show Planner: CPP EXPO, ICE Europe and more
  • Servomechanism-controlled shear knifeholders: Their performance benefits, potential for data collection
  • Understanding peel strength in relation to substrate performance in various lamination methods
  • Correlating anilox-roll specifications to flexographic print targets and tolerances
  • Web-tension guidelines for polymer films, papers and paperboard webs
  • How acoustically-enhanced drying improves productivity, cuts energy consumption
  • Web-coating defects: Reducing bubble spots
In the 2011 Quarter 2 Issue
  • State of the Flexible-Packaging Industry 2011
  • Polyester Film: A Supply-Chain Update
  • How to build a total-barrier film structure
  • Benefits of machine direction orientation (MDO) films in flexible-packaging applications
  • Vacuum web coater with process flexibility for eco-friendly, transparent barriers
  • The 2011 AIMCAL Awards
  • Gravure print quality takes the gold
  • Geothermal energy cools plant operations
  • Barrier-sealant layers cut package weight, energy use in laminations
  • Understanding optimum cure times for solventless film-laminating adhesives
  • Load-cell sensitivity: What it is, how it's measured
  • Evaporated aluminum on polyester: Optical and electrical properties as a function of thickness and time. Part 2
  • Myths debunked: Pros and cons of ITO/flex, its applications, capabilities and performance
  • Web-coating defects: Steps to improve coating-weight uniformity
In the 2011 Quarter 1 Issue
  • What printed electronics need to succeed
  • Printed Electronics Glossary
  • How printed electronics enable one-time passcode cards
  • Novel atmospheric-plasma process for roll-to-roll processing of solar cells
  • Inkjet printing for printed electronics: An introduction
  • ICE USA 2011 Planner
  • Evaporated aluminum on polyester: Optical, electrical, and barrier properties as a function of thickness and time
  • Drying laboratory methods for development of complex empirical drying data
  • How to achieve accurate, consistent tension control in roll-to-roll processes using closed-loop systems
  • Web Coating Defects: Streaks and how to eliminate them
  • Choosing a servo architecture: What’s best for your application?

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