Something’s happening in a small Canadian town that’s shaking up the packaging industry. It’s a technology from converter think4D Inc. that merges the visual pop of high-definition flexography with the fingertip appeal of thermoformed details. The touch-friendly technology can be used to create clamshell packaging, plastic folding cartons, plastic rigid cartons, pressure-sensitive labels, sleeves and point-of-sale materials.

1. 46 NEW TECHNOLOGY // September 2014 www.PackagingDigest.com
Pick-me-up packaging adds
new consumer ‘touch’ point
A technology that combines HIGH-QUALITY, REGISTERED PRINTING WITH THERMOFORMING
lets brand owners add tactile interest to blisters, bottles, cartons and more.
Kate Bertrand Connolly, Contributing Writer
Something’s happening in a small Canadian town that’s shaking up the packaging industry. It’s a
technology from converter think4D Inc. that merges the visual pop of high-definition flexography
with the fingertip appeal of thermoformed details.
The touch-friendly technology can be used to create clamshell packaging, plastic folding cartons,
plastic rigid cartons, pressure-sensitive labels, sleeves and point-of-sale materials.
The think4D process evolved from a long-standing focus on print excellence and a knack for
manufacturing innovation at think4D Inc.’s parent company, book manufacturer Friesens Corp.
Friesens was founded more than 100 years ago in Altona, Manitoba, where the company’s 300,000
sq ft of manufacturing space remain today.
Jeffrey Hayet, president of sales at think4D Inc., answers questions from Packaging
Digest’s technical editor Rick Lingle about the patent-protected think4D technology.
In short, what’s all the hoopla about with think4D?
Hayet: The think4D process brings a package “to life” by decorating it with detail,
texture and color previously unachievable.
Consumers and consumer-goods companies are looking for more highly decorated
and tactile packaging. They like to touch and see the product or, at minimum,
an excellent graphical representation of the product. A well-designed think4D
package makes this possible.
Our goal is to leverage our ability to create tactile and highly
decorated packaging products, cost competitively. We do this
through an integrated manufacturing process combining several
packaging solutions under one roof. With our in-house printing
and thermoforming capabilities, we can preprint blisters and then
thermoform them, all in one plant.
Two capabilities distinguish think4D: first, thermoforming to
the register of print, and second, high-quality print/decoration—
special effects, that is—on paper and plastic packaging.

2. 47www.PackagingDigest.com September 2014 // NEW TECHNOLOGY
With regard to thermoforming and print
registration, for a blister package, we can preprint
the material and then accurately thermoform
the material, registering graphics to shape.
Depending on the package, registration variation
is almost always less than +/-0.5mm. There are
lots of decorated blisters in the market, created
either by applying pressure-sensitive labels on an
already formed blister or by preprinting a blister.
Both methods are designed so there is little or no
registration required.
We can also include special effects on a think4D
package, in-line with printing, using tactile inks like
MBoss, MiraFoil coating, glitter or grit features,
Cast and Cure coating, cold foils, embossing,
scratch ‘n’ sniff and contrasting coatings. Through
our print experience and use of the best equipment
available, we can deliver these at competitive costs,
bringing them within reach for brand owners.
In the case of a plastic folding carton, we can
create incredible printed effects that support the
brand owner’s need for differentiation. And we can
then thermoform the carton with a lower draw than
a blister to give the package a unique tactile effect.
What industry drivers does your technology
address?
Hayet: Feel is the real driver. It’s also where
our name comes from. 4D refers to the fourth
dimension: touch! Every time I present our samples
to new customers, I’m deliberate about watching
what they do. Almost every time, the same thing
For Added Extras LLC, which markets licensed and
private-label cosmetics and personal-care items,
switching to a think4D label has boosted packaging
consistency for a new line of Sesame Street bath
products and yielded operational benefits.
The “6 Piece Bath & Body Set,” a Sesame Street
licensing project, will roll out in Walmart stores during the
2014 holiday season. The line includes
Elmo and Cookie Monster versions.
Added Extras, based in New York City, is
owned by Li & Fung Ltd., Hong Kong.
Each Sesame Street box set
(far right photo) includes several
products, including an empty 16-oz,
blow-molded, PET pump bottle.
This bottle, or decanter, is the
item decorated with think4D
technology, in the form of a
pressure-sensitive label.
The labels are made of
similar PET material.
Think4D prints
the labels on its high-
definition flexo press—
red for Elmo and blue for
Cookie Monster—and then
applies a UV coating. Next,
the labels are thermoformed,
with a shallow draw, in the
shape of the characters’ faces.
After thermoforming, pressure-
sensitive adhesive (plus liner) is applied to the back of the
sheet and the labels are die cut.
When Added Extras developed similar Star Wars- and
Batman-themed box sets for the 2013 holiday season, the
pump bottles were molded with the characters’ features
and finished with hand painting. In addition to being labor
intensive, this decorating approach led to variability.
“It was a hand-painted item, so there were
variables and defects with the painting,” says
Dianna Ruth, Added Extras’ director of brand
management and product development. “There
were issues with the overall standards,”
she adds, which is a serious issue for
any licensee. “The painting wasn’t
consistent.”
To solve the problem without
sacrificing the look and feel of
a molded decanter, Added
Extras completely changed
its approach. It simplified
the bottle design, leaving a
flat space on the front panel
for application of the tactile
think4D label, and eliminated
the painting. The labels are
manually applied by Added
Extra’s packaging vendor in
China.
With the tactile label, Ruth
says, “the consistency has been
great—there’ve been no variables.
Cookie Monster [always] looks the same. We can pull the
first one or the twentieth one, [and] it’s consistent.”
The change also has made decanter manufacturing
more efficient. The numerous steps required to create
a custom bottle mold, including licensor approvals,
takes about 30 days, Ruth says, adding that the cycle is
significantly faster for think4D labels.
And while think4D is making the labels, the Chinese
vendor is manufacturing the decanters, which also saves
time. The time line “just matched much better,” Ruth says.
Thinking up a dimensional label for kids’ bath products
Mordens’ of Winnipeg Candy Manufacturing Ltd., a
Canadian chocolatier and nut purveyor, is celebrating its
55th anniversary this year—and a plastic folding carton
from think4D is part of the celebration.
The Mordens’ of Winnipeg Deluxe Mixed Nuts carton,
made from amorphous polyethylene terephthalate
(APET), is flexographically printed with photo-realistic
images of the nuts inside the box and then topped with
a UV coating. The front, back and top panels are further
enhanced with think4D’s tactile treatment.
Each nut in the image is thermoformed in register
with its high-definition print representation, and to a
realistic height; cashews stand out more than almonds,
for example. The nuts appear to be “popping out of that
box,” says Fred Morden, the company’s president.
The company soft launched its think4D package
earlier this year and is planning a hard launch for the
2014 winter holiday/sports season. Each box contains 454
grams of hand-packed nuts in a heat-sealed film pouch.
With the new package, the goal was to “make a box
that you can leave on a coffee table or an office table as
opposed to pouring the nuts into a bowl,” Morden says.
“Then [we] can actually showcase the nuts and the box
itself, and the brand.”
The innovative aspect of think4D’s technology also
caught his attention. “We always try to be one step
ahead of our competitors,” Morden says, adding that his
company is “one of the first in North America to jump on
this new technology.”
Local sourcing is also a plus. The think4D plant is
located just south of Mordens’ home town of Winnipeg.
The cost differential for the new package is minimal,
and consumers will see no upcharge. The cost of the
think4D package versus the previous package—a plastic
tub with a lid and two labels—is “very, very competitive,”
Morden says.
He adds, “When you’re talking…a few pennies more,
and you’ve got this beautiful package, it was a no-
brainer” to make the switch.
Mordens’ goes nuts for tactile folding carton
Continued on page 48

3. 48 NEW TECHNOLOGY // September 2014 www.PackagingDigest.com
happens. They look, they pick up, they run their
fingers over the texture and they say “wow” or
“cool.” We call this the Wow Factor.
To test how well our packages do in this
regard, we have conducted a great deal of research,
including studies with major brands as well as
independent studies. Our packages have gone
through several consumer trials with at least
two of the largest consumer-goods companies.
The favorable results have strengthened our
relationships, because the brand owners believe
what we do strengthens their messages and brands.
We’ve also had our products studied by
Rochester Institute of Technology. The objective
was to understand the perceived quality and
difference in worth of items containing images
created with think4D forming technology. The
research showed:
• Participants, on average, would pay 50% more
for a product presented in a think4D package.
• 80% of the time, participants believed
think4D technology added value.
• 96% of participants chose a think4D product
as a thank-you gift for participating in the study.
How important is texture in your business
proposition, as a way to engage consumers and
for brand equity?
Hayet: Brand owners are always looking for
differentiation and shelf appeal. Based on our
customer feedback, texture is very important. Our
customers view our technology as filling a void
in the packaging space today. Certainly it’s not
for everyone, but judging by levels of interest in
tactile packaging, we believe there’s a large need
and a strong alignment to what we can deliver.
We have a slogan: “Liberate your senses and
touch the moment.” Consumer spending is often
triggered at the emotional level, and we help brand
owners engage consumers at the sensory and
emotional levels.
Every brand owner wants consumers to pick up
and handle its packaged product. After it’s in their
Cosmetics-packaging supplier HCP Packaging USA Inc.
has found an unusually good fit for think4D’s technology,
specifically in decorating HCP Radii Square and Radii
Round compacts.
The covers of the stock compacts are designed with a
slight inset for insertion of a decorative top plate, which,
when made with the think4D process, adds both visual and
tactile interest to the package. In the past, HCP has used
paper, metal, liquid epoxy and other materials to create top
plates for these families of injection-molded compacts.
Creating think4D top plates “allows us to bring a
completely new ‘dimension’” to the compacts, says
Damien Dossin, president, HCP Packaging USA. “The
compacts become very tactile, and once you pick up a
piece, it’s hard to put it down.”
HCP and think4D do not yet have a commercial
example of a compact decorated this way. However, think4D
used commercial graphics designed by HCP to create
a sample top plate.The samples, made of amorphous
polyethylene terephthalate (APET), were flexo printed, UV
coated and then thermoformed to add depth to the graphics.
Tactile top plates could be made with a pressure-
sensitive backing or without; in the latter case, HCP would
use double-sided tape to attach the plates to the compacts.
The think4D technology also could be used inside a
compact, for a tray to hold make-up pans. “Up until now,
typically the pan wells have been one color, and they
typically match the color that the compact is molded
in,” Dossin says. “Now you could do them in multicolor.
You could print instructions. You could print them with
numbers. You have a lot of flexibility.”
He says he expects “sophisticated brands as well as
the edgier, younger brands” in the cosmetics industry to
be drawn to this decorating technique. Prestigious brands
likely would use it as a subtle touch, perhaps just on a logo.
But younger brands will probably use it more boldly.
“Some the edgier brands come out with…eye-popping
artwork, and to add this tactile element to it would be
taking it to the next level,” Dossin explains.
As for cost, he says that “for the right volumes, this is
quite affordable compared with some of the other inserts,
like metal plates or paper inserts with gel. It’s not cheap.
But, for what you’re getting, it’s a good value.”
HCP Packaging USA Inc., 203-924-2408
www.hcpackaging.com
Touch-friendly top plates add glam to cosmetics compacts
A women’s razor package from Procter & Gamble was
the first commercial example of think4D technology used
in the creation of a decorative, tactile, deep-draw blister.
The two companies jointly developed the heat-sealed
trapped-blister package for the new Gillette Venus Snap
with Embrace on-the-go razor.
Launched in early 2014, the product is a short-handled
razor that comes with an injection-molded storage pod.
The product’s compact size—the razor is only 2.5 inches
long—makes it easy to tuck into a purse, beach bag or
toiletry kit.
To complement the product’s small size, the brand
owner also wanted to minimize the size of the package.
Therefore, the razor is packed into the pod before the pod
is filled into the blister.
But with the razor not clearly visible through the
blister, the team needed a package-decorating approach
that would convey the product’s petite size, bright colors
and sculptural, fingertip-friendly design.
The solution was a think4D blister with 1.5-inch depth
of draw. Thermoformed into the blister’s consumer-facing
curve is a tactile, nearly life-size representation of the
product—with UV-coated, high-definition flexo printing
registered to the shape of the raised image. The blister is
made of amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET).
This approach eliminated the need for labels, including
not only their cost but also
the operational challenge of
applying a label to the complex
curve of the blister. The result
is a cost-effective package
with visual and tactile impact
that stops shoppers in their
tracks.
Mike Marcinkowski,
principal engineer, R&D, at
Procter & Gamble Global
PackDev, led the project team
on behalf of Gillette.
Gillette uses a deep-draw blister for a portable razor
“Every brand
owner wants
consumers
to pick up
and handle
its packaged
product.…We want to help
the brand owner drive the
consumer to that decision
point.”
— Jeffrey Hayet, think4D’s president
of sales
Continued on page 50

4. 50 NEW TECHNOLOGY // September 2014 www.PackagingDigest.com
hands, the brand owner is a long way
down the consumer’s decision path. We
want to help the brand owner drive the
consumer to that decision point.
What are the basics of the process,
and what’s required on the part of
customers?
Hayet: The think4D technique
connects with customers on sensory
and emotional levels by using
the power of multidimensional
printing, tactile inks, and metallic
and holographic effects. We are a
packaging converter, and we use
cutting-edge technologies like HD
Flexo, UV inks and environmentally
responsible substrates.
The process depends on the type
of package receiving a think4D
application. On a conventional, clear
blister, the process generally starts
with our team receiving or creating
a model of the package design,
followed by prototyping, tooling
and production. But for a think4D
blister, the process is more complex.
It again starts with package design but
requires development of a 3D model
and associated graphics.
Next, we Sculpt the part, adding
the think4D forming treatment
that creates the tactile effect. We
can give our customers a view of
this with a DigiProof. This is a soft
proof that electronically shows the
shape, graphics and application of the
think4D Sculpting. We can supply
various prototypes, depending on
the customer’s needs. After these are
approved, we work toward being
production-ready, including the
necessary print preparation and tooling.
How would you characterize the
current level of interest and the
number and types of applications
we’ll see in 2014?
Hayet: We had an initial vision of who
our customers would be, but we very
quickly adjusted our vision because of
the strong interest from much larger
customers than we had imagined...and
many of them. Most of our discussions
focus on blisters, clamshells, folding
cartons, point-of-purchase display
work and tip-on labels.
We believe we have spent money
wisely on equipment that meets
the needs of these customers, for
the volumes they require. Our
equipment includes the most state-
of-the-art flexo press currently in
North America.
Because of our combination of
printing capabilities and patented
thermoforming process, the interest
level from many market segments,
for diverse applications, is growing
continuously. The segments showing
the most interest for packaging
applications include cosmetics,
personal care, outdoor recreation,
pharmaceuticals, food and liquor.
Editor’s Note: Read more about
the think4D technology, including its
sustainability message, turnaround
times and costs—“The more
decoration required, the more cost
competitive we are,” Hayet says—at
pdlinks.com/HayetQA.
think4D, 877-732-0202 x370
www.think-4d.com;
jeffreyh@think-4d.com
“This is quite
affordable…. It’s
not cheap. But, for
what you’re getting,
it’s a good value.”
— Damien Dossin,
president, HCP Packaging
USA