Design Meets Sustainability with Valmet’s Skeen, Pixel, 4D and Ghost

Valmet Engraving Solutions provides several benefits to clients with its advanced technologies and embossing services that ensure superior product quality and customization. The innovative approach optimizes production processes, improves energy efficiency, and reduces environmental impact, thus meeting the growing market demands for more sustainable and high-performing solutions. Among the flagships of Engraving Solutions are the patented Skeen, Pixel, 4D, and Ghost technologies, which take the embossing of rolled and folded products to a level of quality and detail beyond traditional technological limits.

The Skeen technology offers clients an innovative solution to meet the growing demand for sustainable alternatives. A crucial aspect is the elimination of chromium plating, a significant step towards a more eco-friendly future. This advanced coating, applied to the rollers through an innovative ultra-high temperature system that deposits a specific metal alloy on the surface, creates a matte finish that is easily distinguishable from chromium, endowing the embossing roller with superior properties. Skeen provides more efficient protection for steel, as the hardness of the new material is twice that of chromium. Another advantage is the reduced surface adhesiveness, which helps keep the rollers cleaner with less effort. In practical terms, this results in lower costs and reduced downtime for customers, leading to more efficient Tissue Converting lines.

Pixel, 4D, and Ghost: the new frontiers of engraving

The Pixel technology represents a significant advancement in tissue products, offering tangible benefits for customers. Based on engravings that create micro-protrusions, it enables the creation of unique, modern designs in terms of shapes and shades, allowing products to stand out in the market. The aesthetic aspect is just one of the advantages. Pixel also reduces the use of glue, making laminated products softer and more pleasant to the touch - qualities highly valued in the hygiene sector. Additionally, the ability to design and engineer custom design solutions, and quickly visualize them through simulations or prototypes created via 3D printing, allows customers to test and refine their ideas efficiently. This shortens development times, ensuring a fast return on investment.

The 4D technology introduces an innovative approach to engraving, designed to reduce stress on the paper, resulting in less degradation or raw material savings while maintaining the same quality. Customers can therefore produce more sustainable and cost-effective products, benefiting from increased flexibility in their production processes. The versatility of this technology makes it suitable for all applications, from paper towels to hygiene products, demonstrating how innovation can effectively address new market challenges and enhance competitiveness.

Finally, Ghost represents the latest achievement in “micro” engravings achieved through a hybrid process made possible by a unique technology available on the market. It is characterized by its unique rounded truncated pyramid tip shape, which allows for the shaping of paper fibers without damaging them. The result is greater resistance to embossing compression, making it ideal for producing bulky and firm products. Ghost is particularly valued by customers for the perfect balance it provides between softness and bulkyness in the final products - two qualities that have always been the most demanded by the market.

“Our mission is clear: to constantly innovate, respect the environment, and offer solutions that create real value for our customers. The availability of two pilot lines - one small for quick, investigative tests, and one large, for products 100 percent comparable to actual high-speed converting lines - perfectly defines our role as a trusted partner.” states Flavio Sabbioni, Area Sales Manager at Valmet Engraving Solutions who concludes “With over thirty years of experience, patented technologies, and unique solutions, Engraving Solutions once again confirms its position at the forefront of innovation in creating and developing solutions that enable customers to refine their products in a shorter time, while ensuring low environmental impact and reduced time-to-market.”

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