09/01/2005

BELL INCORPORATED FIRST TO OFFER BENEFITS OF VARIABLE SLEEVE PRINTERING TO NORTH AMERICAN FOLDING CARTON CUSTOMERS

New Technology Promises Better, Faster, More Customizable Packaging at Less Cost
Sioux Falls, SD, September 1, 2005  Bell Incorporated, one of the largest independently-owned folding carton manufactures in the United States, today announced that it has taken delivery of the first Variable Sleeve Offset Press (VSOP) for folding cartons in North America.

The VSOP, which marries the economy and speed of a web press with the quality of offset printing, marks the end of the traditional tradeoff for folding carton buyers between price and speed on the one hand and print quality on the other.

One of the advantages of paperboard packaging has always been its printability, says Mark Graham, CEO of Bell Incorporated. Paper can provide a billboard? that other materials cant match. However, customers have traditionally had to balance their desire for vibrant colors and high impact graphics with the downside of higher costs and less speed. Not any longer.

New Technology Promises Big Changes in Paperboard
The key to this shift in the paperboard packaging paradigm is the VSOPs new, lightweight variable sleeve. Past attempts to combine a web platform with offset printings visual benefits required expensive, heavy steel cassettes. Producing cassettes could take months, up-front costs were large, and changeovers were slow and arduous. As a result, old web-offset technology was only feasible for exceptionally long print runs with no changes. The variable sleeve on the VSOP allows job changeovers at a faction of the cost and time.

The bottom line for our folding carton customers is the ability to get offset print quality with significant cost and time savings versus the typical sheet-fed offset presses, adds Graham.

The VSOP being installed at Bell is rated to run at 1,300 lineal feet per minute. The company estimates that it will be able to complete a typical packaging job in less than half the time of sheet-fed offset presses  with equal quality.

Customization Now More Affordable
Besides combining the highest printing quality with improved efficiencies, the VSOP offers paperboard packaging customers increased flexibility. Because the VSOPs sleeves are variable, as well as relatively inexpensive and easy to produce, it makes short runs of different-sized packages  with variable promotions, bonus sizes, coupons, etc.  much more affordable.

We want our customers to view us as a partner, says Ben Graham, director of sales and marketing at Bell Incorporated. Our job is to help them compete at the shelf with multiple sizes, graphic versions, or frequent changes to packaging delivered responsively and at the right price. The VSOP will help us deliver exactly these things.

Bell will enhance its VSOP with a number of value-added converting options to further help customers compete at the shelf. These enhancements include two flexography units for inline backside printing and coating, electron beam inks, sequential and random number inkjet printing and peel off labels.

According to Ben Graham, the VSOPs unique combination of features makes it ideally suited for food and consumer products packaging.

Bell will begin trial runs of the VSOP in mid-October.

About Bell Incorporated:

Bell Incorporated is one of the 20 largest independent folding carton manufacturers in the country. By investing in high-speed converting technology and maintaining a lean, entrepreneurial organization, the company has established one of the lowest cost structures in the industry. Major customers include Kraft, John Morrell, General Electric, UPS, USPS,
DHL and Tyco. The company is headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D. and has offices in Chicago. For more information, visit www.bell-inc.com .