Key Takeaways:
- Kala replaced imprecise dyne pens with Brighton Science's Surface Analyst technology to improve vendor compliance and surface quality control.
- They identified and documented microscopic surface energy inconsistencies in supplier film, leading to rapid vendor response and over $80,000 in material credits.
- This transition prevented major downtime, preserved print quality, and enabled proactive process control across multiple stages of manufacturing.
- Kala's success with the Surface Analyst laid the foundation for broader implementation as a process validation and product development tool.
- Kala Packaging was acquired by Fortis Solutions Group in December 2020 and now operates under the Fortis brand.
Kala, a technology-forward flexible packaging company, was built on continuous improvement through process innovation. So when their team sought to improve lamination bond performance and reduce inconsistencies from incoming film, they turned to Brighton Science for a better way to measure and control surface quality.
At the time, Kala was relying on dyne pens to inspect incoming material. But as Ryan Chai, Director of Flexible Packaging, explained, "It became clear that we needed to adopt a method that could be done very quickly, would be non-destructive and could be done right on the production line, if needed."
Dyne pens couldn’t deliver the precision they needed to flag slight but critical variations in surface energy. Kala adopted Brighton's Surface Analyst technology and began gathering quantifiable, repeatable contact angle data at multiple Critical Control Points. Almost immediately, this gave them leverage with suppliers and insight into why certain films were failing to print.
When faced with unexplained print adhesion issues, the team used the Surface Analyst to analyze microscopic regions on the film. In one instance, they uncovered a narrow 0.5-inch band of contamination—far too small to detect with dyne ink. This precise data, paired with high-resolution images, empowered Kala to notify the vendor with evidence. The vendor swiftly responded, picked up the affected 40 rolls, and issued a credit worth over $80,000.
"There was an unprecedented level of speed relative to what our experience has been in the past with vendors once we sent an email and had one phone call with their engineers," said Chai.
In addition to the direct material cost savings, Kala avoided over $16,000 in potential downtime—time that would’ve been spent manually identifying defective rolls or reacting to print failure mid-run. The broader cost of undetected defects moving through the supply chain would have been even greater.
Encouraged by this success, Kala expanded their use of the Surface Analyst from incoming material inspection to validating corona treatment before printing and throughout their lamination and product development processes.
"We're measuring the impact of our treatments on polypropylene or polyester and a myriad of different structures," Chai noted. "It was helpful just recently through an issue we had with our lamination process. Just having that data and the ability to look at it in the context of everything else helped make sure nothing was out of spec."
By adopting contact angle measurements as a standard internal metric, Kala has built a stronger feedback loop for process control, supplier accountability, and cross-functional problem solving.
In December 2020, Kala Packaging was acquired by Fortis Solutions Group, a leading provider of labels and flexible packaging solutions. As part of Fortis, Kala continues to raise the bar on surface quality standards through precision, speed, and continuous process improvement.
Q&A With Kala
Q: What triggered your shift from dyne pens to a more advanced method?
A: We were seeing ambiguous results with dyne pens. Surface energy readings weren’t consistent or actionable. We needed something precise and fast that we could use on the production floor.
Q: What was the impact of having real surface energy data?
A: It helped us identify the root cause of print issues quickly, and it gave us the confidence to escalate to vendors with evidence. It completely changed the tone and speed of resolution.
Q: How has the Surface Analyst influenced other parts of your process?
A: It’s now used throughout our production and product development. Whether we’re laminating or testing new materials, we now rely on surface data to validate each step.
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