A One-Two Punch: Diamond Packaging and Diamond Contract Manufacturing Combine Synergies in Cartons and Plastic

By Ron Romanik

If you're one of the 2,500 lucky ones to receive Diamond Packaging's attractive yearly promotional production calendar, you know the precision and care that typifies the Diamond customer experience. A big part of the Diamond Packaging story is its Diamond Contract Manufacturing (DCM) division, and these two entities blur a boundary that is in reality only 100 feet wide. The buildings in Rochester, NY, exist side-by-side and share many resources, such as design and information technologies, yet have distinct identities.

Diamond Packaging keeps its leading edge by investing in a variety of folding carton and plastic construction equipment and retaining expert design and production personnel. "Most projects start around folding carton design," says Dave Semrau, director of business development at Diamond. DCM also leads with the latest contract packaging technologies and equipment.

Many Diamond customers come to the company with a product but without a clear idea of the packaging options. Diamond's package designers and Technical Team—comprised of printing, finishing, and R&D specialists—usually provide customers with a range of ideas and innovations that are possible at multiple price points.

This process continually pushes designers to innovate. "The willingness to push the envelope and take on tough challenges is one of our strengths," Semrau says. Semrau explains that Diamond puts a lot of thought into equipment choices, making sure they are versatile. "We do a lot of production that's beyond the manufacturer's specification for that equipment," Semrau says.

Diamond design in action

Diamond appreciates the balance between customers' wants and desires and the realities of manufacturing requirements. Diamond designers have a well-rounded, multi-discipline approach that considers all aspects of packaging design including shelf appeal, functionality, protection, and economy. The company pays close attention to packaging trends, trying to put a new twist on old ideas, because they believe the art of packaging is often more evolutionary than revolutionary.

The launch of Coty Inc.'s Shania by Stetson cartons and gift sets was a recent evolutionary success. Diamond worked closely with the Coty design team from the beginning, ensuring that the packaging reflected Shania's personality and style. Diamond employed special graphic techniques for the gift set packaging, elevating a standard tuck carton to a luxurious high-end package.

The cartons feature .024 SBS paperboard complemented by embossing and gold foil accents around the window and for the stars, which are prominently displayed on the carton. The vibrant pink fragrance cartons feature two hits of pink, special flexo gold ink, and pearlized matte aqueous coating, as well as hot foil stamping and embossing. Flexo gold ink was applied in-line on Diamond's new Heidelberg offset press equipped with a Flexokit chambered blade coating system.

For the Shania packages, Diamond utilized frequency modulated (FM) screening to deliver near photographic fidelity from an offset printing process. FM screening is unique in that it varies the number of dots used, as opposed to amplitude modulated (AM) screening, which varies the size of the dot. The 20-micron FM dot eliminated all issues related to screen angles, resulting in smoother vignettes and softer color-to-color transitions, which would not be possible with traditional four-color process printing.

The Shania by Stetson packaging capitalized on many of Diamond Packaging's high-end packaging and printing equipment.

Striking the right balance

A typical client is L'Oreal and their Matrix and Redken lines, where Diamond designers establish close relationships with their marketing departments to make sure their design ideas are able to be manufactured and distributed at a reasonable cost. "We work off each other in order to develop creative ideas," explains Lesley Bates, structural designer at Diamond. Bates explains that for L'Oreal she listens to the Matrix and Redken brand managers in New York and to the fulfillment staff in Ohio. Unique structure and techniques must factor in the real-world requirements of fulfillment and distribution.

"That's one of the first things I always ask our account managers: ‘What do you know about their filling facility?'" says Bates. Is the assembly automatic, does it fill vertically or horizontally, and what are the specific capabilities of the equipment? She also speaks to Diamond equipment experts to learn what is possible. Bates says some cosmetics customers often ship their products one case at a time, so extra care has to be taken to design packages that can be packed securely so they are resistant to any damage.

Bates says that Diamond always tries to present at least one or two brand new solutions for each customer. "Our manufacturing department is very willing to take chances," says Bates. However, they also try not to propose the same design idea to two potential customers. This conscientious approach establishes and maintains a relationship of trust.

Diamond's strengths in the industry start with their expertise in high-end folding cartons.

Contract packaging at DCM

Diamond's "From Design to Distribution" mantra always keeps the customer first, says Jason Aymerich, sales manager at DCM. The contract packaging side of Diamond is less limited to folding cartons than the Diamond Packaging side. DCM's strengths come from the latest equipment for in assembling, sealing, affixing, and labeling.

For instance, irregular shaped bottles are usually no problem at Diamond, including pressure sensitive labels on square cosmetic or pharmaceutical bottles. DCM is leveraging several capabilities to expand their pharma business. They cater package designs to address FDA-mandated over-the-counter labeling requirements, and they added a "clean" room to package pharmaceutical and medical device products. DCM even holds inventory and handles direct distribution of some pharma and medical products.

Diamond and DCM have formed strategic global partnerships with other independent packaging experts offering worldwide service, called the Global Packaging Alliance (GPA). The benefits of this alliance include responsive, localized service, award-winning creative designs, identical product specifications and consistent brand recognition.

When a Fortune 100 customer wanted to launch a new personal care product simultaneously worldwide, Diamond used their GPA partners to manage all global rollouts within a 48-hour period. In this project, the customer only had to deal with Diamond, who handled the rest of the production and logistics details. "With the GPA, we can act quickly and really give them responsive personalized service," says Dennis Bacchetta, marketing manager at Diamond.

The customer trusted Diamond to make sure the brand message and impact was the same across the globe. Bacchetta explains that there are many process controls in place to assure uniformity, correcting for variations in equipment and board composition. "All of our proofing systems are fingerprinted with our printing presses," says Bacchetta. Diamond also produces "d2 proofs," which are die-cut and glued digital comps that very closely resemble the printed package.

The latest technology

Diamond has an all-digital workflow, including computer-to-plate technology for improved print quality and reduced turnaround time. They also employ advanced quality systems, including spectrophotometry, for improved color control. Diamond also recently added a Kodak Veris Proofing System, which is based on multi-drop array inkjet imaging technology. This produces a controlled stream of precisely-formed and placed drops at 1500 x 1500 dpi, offering the highest quality possible in an inkjet proofing system with superior text, linework, vignettes, shadows, and highlight detail.

Diamond keeps expanding their methods of direct printing on and converting alternative substrates such as foilboard, transfer metallization board, microflute, Forte(TM), and plastic (APET, PVC, or polypropylene). They have long been respected for their windowing capabilities, which now include the application of a variety of materials, including cellophane, mylar, and rigid windows. Diamond's new Heiber & Schröder window-patching machine combines precision with increased production efficiency. The addition of a Heiber & Schröder Universal "UF" pick-and-place feeder enables Diamond to merge virtually any flat shape or material.

Diamond believes that plastic use in packaging will continue to grow, as it evokes an elegant look and feel, allowing the beauty of the product to show through. "Available in a variety of finishes and effects, plastic has taken its place next to paperboard as a desirable packaging option for many industries," says Bacchetta.