Labelling: Get set for digital

From 23-26 September, printers, converters, equipment and consumables manufacturers and brand owners will gather in Brussels for Labelexpo. With most European countries in deep recession, coping with the economic climate is expected to be a topic on everyone’s lips.

“Delivering in these tough economic times will of course be one of the topics of discussion at Labelexpo,” says Frank Vanmeenen, global marketing manager with Punch Graphix International. “End users are looking at reducing costs, therefore ordering smaller quantities to minimise inventory.”

This drive to shorter print runs plays into the hands of digital printing, as Mike Bacon, vice president sales and marketing at Spartanics, explains. “As runs become shorter and larger label houses look for ways to increase market share, short-run jobs are looking more and more attractive, and the only way to do these cost-effectively is to have a digital printing and cutting solution that virtually eliminates changeover time and expense.”

Eager to grab a slice of the action, equipment manufacturers have been investing heavily in their digital print offerings, many of which will make an appearance at Labelexpo.

“We are convinced that digital printing technologies will be of major interest at Labelexpo,” says Bernhard Thomma, marketing manager at Atlantic Zeiser. “Therefore it is logical that developments such as new full-colour inkjet systems for single-pass printing at high resolution and high speed will be presented at the show.” Thomma is referring to the company’s Gamma 70 full-colour inkjet printing module, which will be on show for the first time in Europe. The print engine incorporates Xaar 1001 print nozzles, enabling it to print at 360dpi, at speeds of up to 24 metres per minute on plastics, films, metallic foils, cardboard and paper.

HP has responded to the trend towards shorter print runs with its HP Indigo WS6000 digital press, which will be on show in Brussels. The press is targeted at printers requiring a capacity of 300,000 metres per month (single shift). It prints at a rate of 30 metres per minute in four-colour mode, and is compatible with a range of substrates from 12-450 microns.

Another press for the short to medium print run market is the Xeikon 3300 from Punch Graphix International. The press is designed for monthly duties of 750,000 metres. Its top speed is 19.2 metres per minute, with press speed independent of the number of colours being printed.

Xeikon has also extended its digital offering with the introduction of a large capacity unwinder, which is capable of handling larger substrate rolls. “Because the Xeikon 3300 was developed for larger print runs, the large capacity unwinder was a logical step,” says Vanmeenen. “It allows a press to operate longer without replacing rolls of stock, reducing operator intervention by 50%. This allows printers to reconsider a cut-off point before going to more traditional presses such as flexo.”

Inkjet workshops
Edale and Agfa will be holding workshops on single-pass inkjet printing at the nearby otrix factory, where Agfa’s otrix single-pass UV inkjet presses (which incorporate Edale’s web transport systems) are built. The otrix is aimed at the flexible packaging, industrial label, folding carton and POP market segments for small to medium runs. It is positioned as a high capacity machine that can print on a variety of substrates, from 20-micron flexible foils, to 600-micron folding carton.

There look set to be several interesting die-cutting innovations at Labelexpo, too, as designers of this equipment keep pace with developments in digital printing.

“Digital die-cutting is new technology that is making its way into the UK along with digital printing technologies,” says Spartanics’ Mike Bacon. “Because you eliminate the time and cost for tool production, laser cutting provides faster turnaround for short-run jobs. This year, we are going to see many converters and packagers switching to laser cutting instead of rotary die-cutters.” Spartanics is showing what it claims is the only single laser head cutting system that can achieve web speeds of 125 metres per minute at the event.

There is certainly going to be a lot of buzz around digital technology, but that doesn’t mean innovation in other printing techniques is dead. In fact, Gallus is previewing a major breakthrough in flexo printing which it believes could blow the cost arguments used for digital printing out of the water. The ECS 340, which is hailed as ‘heralding a new era for commodity label printing’, is designed for printing six- to eight-colour flexo labels for food and other commodity markets.

“This machine has an extremely short web path and it is my belief that it will change the cost calculations for digital and conventional printing completely,” says Wim Brunsting, managing director of Gallus Group UK. “The conventional print industry has always had the problem of plate costs, while running costs are a problem for the digital print industry. The difference is that digital printers will never be able to improve their running costs because ‘click’ charges are fixed, whereas if you run a conventional machine a bit smarter, it can offer some savings.”

Cutting costs
According to Brunsting, it is the use of granite as a stability component that has enabled Gallus to develop a flexo machine with a short web path, that is easy to operate and that offers negligible set-up waste and reduced cost per label.

Reduced set-up wastage is also a feature of the Gamma, the latest innovation to come out of the Edale factory. With two independent servo drives on each print station, features such as pre-register, auto-register and print length control and a new printhead design, the Gamma is said to reduce job change times and set-up wastage.

EskoArtwork is demonstrating its HD Flexo imaging technology for flexo platemaking. The system is said to combine high-definition optics (4,000dpi) with new screening technology to take advantage of sharper and more accurate imaging. According to Esko, with HD Flexo, printers can reproduce the full tonal range of offset litho, while maintaining easy set-up and implementation in production by reducing the need to edit images in prepress. It says the plates produced with HD Flexo deliver consistent print quality compared to conventional plates and can be used in longer press runs, resulting in better press uptime. The company is also showing its CDI Spark 1712 flexo plate and film imager for narrow-web tag and label printers for the first time in Europe.

On Bobst Group’s stand, meanwhile, staff from Fischer & Krecke will be providing information on the smart GPS (Graphic Positioning System), which it claims “makes impression and registration setting a thing of the past”.

Quality control
Even in a climate of severe cost pressure, printers and converters operating in consumer markets still have to ensure print quality. The importance of quality control is apparent from the number of developments in this area at Labelexpo.

Prati is adding two new models to its Jupiter range of inspection systems: the Jupiter 450, for 450mm web widths, and the Jupiter 280 Univocal Sign, which processes and inspects anti-counterfeiting labels – mainly used in luxury markets.

AVT is presenting the PrintVision/Helios II – a new system for online verification of bar codes, datamatrix codes and variable data, integrated into its print inspection system.

Tectonic, meanwhile, is claiming an industry first with the launch of the K3 – a print inspection system that uses digital technology to help printers achieve high-level print monitoring and on-line colour monitoring.

“Colour quality is considered by many to be the biggest challenge in the print industry and printers will go down every avenue to achieve the colour standard required by the customer, who will use colour as the most important criterion to accept, or reject, a print job,” says a Tectonic spokesperson.

RK Print Coat Instruments is showing its new Paste Ink Proofer (PIP) with integrated UV curing capability. The device has been designed, says RK, to meet the quality control requirements of a growing number of offset and other paste ink process users who are upgrading systems to UV in order to win business.

While the recession may have dampened spirits it certainly hasn’t dampened innovation. Labelling equipment still needs to produce top-notch quality, something it looks like the exhibitors at Labelexpo can deliver.

MIMAKI MOVES INTO LABELS
Mimaki, an established supplier of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting machines for the sign/graphics, textile/apparel and industrial markets, will be making a foray into label printing at Labelexpo – another indicator that digital printing is poised for growth.

Mimaki will be displaying equipment for short-run label production in the form of its new UV LED curing UJV-160 printer. The printer is said to enable label printing on heat-sensitive media and offer an environmentally friendly footprint, thanks to the fact UV LED does not emit ozone or UV rays and uses a third of the energy required by conventional UV printers.
The printer can be used in conjunction with the CG-FX series of die-cutters, which are claimed to overcome the problem of high costs that prevent many companies from using die-cutting for short runs.

“Mimaki’s proprietary digital die-cutting technology is cost-effective for one label, let alone 100 or 1,000,” says Duncan Jeffries, marketing manager for Mimaki’s UK and Ireland distributor, Hybrid Services. “The use of a soft cutting strip, in combination with our drag knife cutting plotters and a patented cutting technique, leaves tiny tabs to hold the die-cut label in place. By kiss cutting a path inside the die-cut, a label can be produced on a shaped backing sheet with a protective border that can be weeded prior to delivering to the customer.”

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