DNS® color print is the latest development in Mondi’s professional printing portfolio. The new digital colour printing paper falls within the company’s offering of smooth high-white papers for a broad spectrum of applications that demand high-impact colour saturation.

The DNS® brand by international pulp and paper maker Mondi continues to grow with the launch of DNS® color print, the company’s latest development for the fast growing digital printing market. This latest paper offers customers the high whiteness level (170 CIE) characteristic of DNS® premium and DNS® high-speed inkjet, launched in 2010 and 2011 respectively. However, DNS® color print introduces an extra smooth surface to the list of features and benefits comprising the full brand portfolio.

The smooth finish combined with the paper’s high opacity allows for full colour reproduction for duplex printing. With far-reaching potential for print applications, DNS® color print is specially engineered for digital colour printing on laser printers, copiers, and digital colour presses. Moreover, DNS® color print is produced with ColorLok® Technology, which is a class of paper additives that visibly enhance the print quality of inkjet documents while providing faster drying times.

“The research and development for DNS® color print took place at Mondi Neusielder mill in Austria, where the paper is produced. Mondi Neusiedler has been in the paper making business for more than 200 years and has led the way in developing papers for digital printing for more than 20 years. Its reputation for high quality and innovation is well-earned and recognised by professionals in the paper industry,” said Johannes Klumpp, Marketing and Sales Director for Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper.

With a range of grammages from 80-300 g/m2 in A4, A3 (LG/SG) and SRA3 formats, versatility is a prime benefit for printers handling diverse applications from marketing collateral to invitations to business cards. DNS® color print is also suitable for preprint applications such as letterhead and office stationery.

DNS® color print is part of Mondi’s Green Range of sustainably produced papers that fulfil the leading environmental and social guidelines. It is FSC® certified and was awarded the EU Ecolabel as a product that is deemed to have a lesser impact on the environment than other similar products.

All Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper mills are certified FSC®, PEFC™, ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management system).

Mondi is an international packaging and paper Group, with production operations across 28 countries and revenues of €5.7 billion in 2011. The Group's key operations are located in central Europe, Russia and South Africa and as at the end of 2011, Mondi employed 23,400 people.

Mondi Group is fully integrated across the paper and packaging process, from the growing of wood and the manufacture of pulp and paper (including recycled paper), to the conversion of packaging papers into corrugated packaging, industrial bags and coatings.

The Group is principally involved in the manufacture of packaging paper, converted packaging products and uncoated fine paper (UFP).

Mondi Group has a dual listed company structure, with a primary listing on the JSE Limited for Mondi Limited under the ticker code MND and a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange for Mondi plc, under the ticker code MNDI. The Group has been recognised for its sustainability through its inclusion in the FTSE4Good Global, European and UK Index Series (since 2008) and the JSE's Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index since 2007. The Group was also included in the FTSE350 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for the second year.

The Walki 4E technology can bring a significant and welcome change to the RFID market

Based on its recent research on the passive radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna production market, Frost & Sullivan presents Walki Group with the 2012 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation for developing a unique manufacturing technology that lowers material costs and speeds up manufacturing process in an environment friendly manner. The Walki 4E technology involves a dry process of laser patterning paper and aluminium laminate, which drastically reduces the cost factor involved in RFID manufacturing.

The conventional method deployed by competitors produces RFID antennas through wet etching using wet chemicals. However, Walki Group’s pioneering technology is characterized by computer to antenna manufacturing and laser cutting of the antenna. The company uses paper – considered to be one of the best candidates for organic substrates for RFID/sensing applications – as a substrate for its RFID antenna tags. After the laser cuts out patterns from the laminate made of aluminum and paper substrate, the aluminum residue is recycled.

The Walki 4E technology is ten times faster than the benchmark set by its competitors in manufacturing. The digital process also allows each antenna to be different, resulting in very short response time and a considerably higher development cycle. Further, the laser to antenna manufacturing creates accurate geometries. Having good dimensional stability increases repeatability, resulting in increased process yield and production speed.

The computer to antenna production enables small, extremely accurate pattern attainable with laser technology. Walki has a very tight integration with the IC supply chain enabling them to develop small integrated chips (ICs). Having smaller components can help in integrating with even compact devices and gives more flexibility on the design options. The highest frequency obtainable with Walki’s antennas is 5.8 GHz, which in effect covers the whole range from low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), ultra high frequency (UHF), and microwave.

“Walki Group’s competitors lack the technology advantage to produce RFID tags at such a low cost and high volume platform,” notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Saju John Mathew. ”The company’s unique technology, coupled with its global production and distribution network address every need in mainstream RFID applications with major price reductions.”

RFID can have a huge impact in near field communication (NFC) and barcodes, which put together, can be a highly lucrative market. Walki 4E technology can greatly facilitate penetration of NFC antennas into the market on a large scale, primarily because of the low cost. The unique dry process technique enables combining fiber, polymer, plastics, and creating the substrate of the client’s choice with up to nine different polymers. This variety of options – not available with Walki Group’s competitors – can enable other exploratory applications, where the polymers best fitting the need can be chosen.”

Apart from RFID tag antennas, this technology can greatly benefit other applications such as photovoltaics, flexible batteries, flexible circuit boards, heat elements, and mobile handset antennas. Using Walki 4E technology, Walki Group has developed the Walki Pantenna, which is the first UHF RFID antenna that offers extensive possibilities for converting. It can be made of paper or even fabric and printed directly on a label or a hang tag. This easy conversion allows for high volumes delivering extremely efficient and economical production to the end users in applications such as labels, hang tags, and single trip tickets.

Walki 4E technology is an environment friendly process, as there are no chemicals used during its manufacture, and the process residue (metallic aluminum) is directly recyclable. The overall dry, low cost manufacturing process can encourage deploying the technology in markets previously unexplored.

“The low-cost parameter being manifold with Walki Group’s technology is definitely a boost to end users, especially in single trip ticketing, tags for library books, ready size labelling and apparel item level tracking,” says Mathew. “The Walki Group is able to rapidly provide any number of customised tag antennae, online quality control, and a high level of interactivity that ensures customer satisfaction.”

The potential for RFID in existing and emerging applications and replacement for barcodes is quite high; the market potential can be enhanced with wide scale adoption that is enabled by Walki’s customer-centric technology. The company, which employs over 1000 people, already has a combined annual net sale exceeding $398 million with production facilities in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, UK, Russia and China, which enables it to easily penetrate major geographies around the world.

Based on all these factors, Frost & Sullivan is pleased to present Walki Group with the 2012 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing a technology, which significantly impacts both the functionality and the customer value of new products and applications. The award lauds the relevance of the innovation to the industry.

Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.