THE ITW ADVANTAGE: Cold Foils

Products for all Your Brand Packaging Needs

Beyond cold foil, ITW ShineMark offers foil products for every primary or secondary packaging application for brand consistency that reaches across product lines, brand extensions, and value engineering initiatives. From laminates and transfer-metallized boards to hot foils for platen and rotary application to cold foils for offset and flexo applications, ITW ShineMark make brands shine at every touchpoint. 

Manufactured with Pride in USA and ASIA, Distributed Worldwide

ITW ShineMark cold foils are developed and produced in the US and ASIA and distributed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Agility, Focus and Resources

ITW ShineMark has been perfecting foils for packaging and labels for more than 40 years, originally under the name of Foilmark Manufacturing. Since 2001, it has been a company of Illinois Toolworks Inc. (ITW), a Fortune 200 global multi-industrial manufacturing leader with seven industry-leading segments and more than 50,000 dedicated employees around the world.

ITW ShineMark world-class operational excellence in product availability, quality, innovation and service results from a combination of strong corporate resources and a decentralized culture. This pairing allows ITW ShineMark to be fast, focused, and responsive. ITW ShineMark customers also benefit from a global footprint, with manufacturing and distribution in North America, Europe and Asia.

Customer-centric innovation is a key principle within ITW, with efforts focused on understanding customer needs in our key markets. These insights have contributed to ITW's current portfolio of more than 17,000 granted and pending patents. With an innovation hub and access to 65 scientists and engineers across disciplines, product development prospers from many perspectives and deep expertise.

The Technical Edge

In addition to our rich corporate innovation resources, ITW ShineMark multiple facilities and capabilities in materials, manufacturing and quality assurance testing enable the rapid development of foil formulations to stay at the leading edge of industry advancements. 

ITW ShineMark in-house chemists and scientists are devoted to continual improvement in formulations, aluminum, films, and coatings. Manufacturing is all-inclusive; covering origination, micro-embossing, coating, metallizing, laminating and converting, as well as die production. This wide gamut of materials and manufacturing capabilities allows for real-time and comprehensive quality assurance testing.

As any press operator knows, there are certain common challenges when it comes to applying cold foil. ITW ShineMark continually updates its cold foil formulations to stay ahead of the curve and maximize current technologies while avoiding common pitfalls. For deeper technical information, there is technical content and support available to registered customers. For product questions, please inquire here.

Following are some of the more common issues addressed by ITW cold foil offerings.

• Overprinting cold foils often requires special inks, but ITW cold foils are easily over-printable with traditional, UV and hybrid inks.
• Changing rolls can slow down runs, so ITW makes the longest rolls.
• “Piling” while overprinting is a common issue, so  ITW cold foils have excellent anti-piling properties to minimize foil sticking to ink blankets.
• Cold foil halftones can be challenging to achieve, but  ITW cold foils excel at halftones up to 120 dpi.
• Finding a foil that will handle both fine detail and broad areas of coverage in one application is almost impossible, but  ITW cold foils excel thanks to excellent release properties and clean-cutting edges.
• Market entry can be inhibited by lack of operator knowledge, but ITW ShineMark is proud to boast some of the most knowledgeable and experienced cold foil technicians in the world to help printers get up-and-running brilliantly.

Uncommon Service and Support

When it comes to cold foil, great product alone does not guarantee success for printers.  A primary foil supplier to the majority of the top 100 printer / converters, ITW ShineMark is a partner in excellence, providing on-site technical support and on-site training across applications, machinery, and processes associated with cold foil application.

Our global Sales and Technical team members have an average of over 17 years experience in the industry, working with printers, equipment manufacturers, and brands to continually innovate and expand the opportunities and ease of metallic enhancement.

Customers have come to count on the responsiveness and problem-solving commitment of our Customer Service teams in North America, Europe, and Asia.

For custom solutions, our Creative support team combines deep technical knowledge with brand packaging experience to develop trend-forward and eye-grabbing holographic bespoke patterns for cold foils.

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