“If our customers are successful…we will be successful”. So began the Friesens story, founded in 1907 by D.W Friesen in a small prairie town in central Canada. This statement has been at the heart of this company’s vision since the beginning, and today Friesens is a Canadian showcase of employee-ownership with 650 employee-owners who are driven by customer-focus, innovation, and helping brands tell their best story through print and packaging.
think4D was born out of their desire to grow print related businesses. This happened over the last decade with the introduction of a unique technology of “registered thermoforming”. It enabled a thermoformed blister to be preprinted and then formed to the accuracy of the graphic and was used in the consumer goods space.
At that time, think4D had the vision of using this technology to re-invent lids within the food space. The vision seemed clear, but the manufacturing process could not support it. After several years of effort, this vision has now come to life!
think4D has commercialized 2 features and has begun promoting them to food brands:
- Sculpting – they are using their existing know-how, enabling lids to express themselves through touch. The accurate print to forming registration accomplishes a never-before-seen look and feel.
- Decorated rims – other food lids use colored resins to embellish the rim. This adds to the recycling challenges. The graphics are then printed in the center, or a label is applied. e2e (edge-to-edge) lids from think4D allow you to extend your graphics over the seal feature, all the way to the rim, while being completely recyclable.
think4D’s e2e lids bring lid decoration to the next level, combining sculpting and rim decoration into one very unique product. think4D’s team knows that there are two ways of growing a business. Either you produce similar products at a lower cost, or you produce better products for a similar cost. The latter challenge aligns with the technology and solution. They have discovered that they can be cost competitive with many products, but delivering eye-catching solutions promoting your brand, allowing you to tell the best story about your product.
Today it’s essential that great products must also advance your sustainability story. think4D helps brands from 2 perspectives. First, they start with clear PET allowing you to create product visibility if needed. However, their PET is made from 75% PCR. Secondly, after your product has been consumed by a customer, this lid will hit the #1 stream for PET. No mixed materials such as paper labels on PET thermoforms.
Although they are commercial on PET, the team at think4D says the technology can also be made available for products requiring polypropylene. The employee-owners at think4D are eager to engage with brands. They have a full range of services including design and prototyping to help you understand what their technology can do to help your brand become the consumers choice!
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