The new Fasson Lean Film from Avery Dennison has won enthusiastic supporters, the company says. Two Italian companies, namely label converter Maer and major international brand owner Bolton Manitoba, were both highly satisfied with field trials using the new self-adhesive labelstock, according to Avery Dennison.

Recognising the label and packaging market’s current issues and needs, Avery Dennison decided to invest in the development of an innovative self-adhesive film labelstock. Prime design goals were to deliver cost-efficiency at all levels of the label supply chain, and the desire to contribute in terms of environmental responsibility to the supply, conversion, and application of self-adhesive labels.
Using proprietary Avery Dennison technology, the company created a new product range – Fasson Lean Film based on a thin film facestock – a co-extrusion of a machine-direction-oriented polyolefin blend. Polyolefins are the largest group of thermoplastics, often referred to as commodity thermoplastics
“This special facefilm, at a caliper of just 53 micron, gives a significant improvement in the number of printed labels per converted reel of labelstock. Fasson Lean Film can therefore save time and cost – in terms of reel changes or splices – for both end user and label converter,”  the company said.
 “Fasson Lean Film performed outstandingly well in comparison to generic PE film, particularly in relation to its perfect on-press registration,” said Maer’s Mario Giulianini.  “As well as printability, tight, accurate register is critical because there are a lot of full-colour, detailed graphics and text on the Smac labels, plus the mandatory instructions for use on the back label. The stability of the material allowed us to increase our converting speed to 70 metres/minute in comparison to the 50 metres/minute we can achieve using generic PE film.”
Bolton Manitoba’s spokesman summed up the company’s experience with the dispensing trial, saying: “When we switched from running generic PE film to Fasson Lean Film, we made no major adjustments to the label dispensing line – and we got a result that ranked among the best. Even though it was just a test run, there were no issues.
”The asymmetric labels did not lose any conformability, even on the slightly-curved and not completely smooth containers. Additionally, in our post-application tests on ageing and conditioning, the material performed normally. Based on these trials, we see a lot of potential for the Fasson Lean Film range.”