Martens Brouwerij in Belgium has become the first to use a direct to pack printing system for its beer bottles for a new campaign. The innovative brewery now prints directly onto PET beer bottles to deliver on demand customisation.
The Direct Print system has been developed by KHS GmbH and commercialised by its subsidiary, NMP Systems GmbH. The equipment uses Xaar 1002 GS6 printheads to jet high resolution text and images in five colours (CMYK+W) using low migration LED-cured inks directly onto 12,000 bottles per hour at a resolution of 1080 dpi.
‘Direct printing onto empty PET bottles using Xaar 1002 greyscale printheads is breakthrough technology that enables beverage companies to change graphics within minutes instead of weeks,’ said Phil Johnson, managing director of NMP. ‘The use of digital technologies for micro marketing in the packaging sector to maximise consumer engagement is accelerating. The ability to create designs and print them directly onto bottles quickly virtually ‘on-the-fly’, is a powerful marketing tool which will give brands the ability to localise, personalise and customise their products to drive highly-effective promotional campaigns. Direct Print Powered by KHS performance system, including certified low-migration ink, artwork and pre-press solutions, sampling and industrial printing, will move PET bottle decoration into the filling and packaging world on an industrial scale.’
Printhead performance and reliability are important to ensure high-quality imaging onto bottles at high speed. ‘KHS works in synergy with Xaar because of its market leading unique technologies and willingness to adapt according to technical requirements,’ said Mr Johnson. ‘Xaar 1002 printheads enable us to print high quality graphics at PET line production speeds in single-pass directly onto PET bottles with excellent reliability. Particularly important is Xaar’s TF Technology, which keeps the inks in continuous circulation. This allows us to mount the printheads vertically in skyscraper mode on the print station carousels confident that they will jet inks, smoothly and accurately onto the bottles. The bottles are printed at maximal jetting speed with excellent registration and consistent print quality through the Direct Print industrial printer.’
The system jets graphics up to 70 mm in height onto bottles ranging from 40 to 125 mm in diameter with fast, automatic changeover from one bottle size to another when required.
‘Talking bottles’
Martens is an innovative brewery and one of the first companies to launch beer in PET bottles. While these are prevalent in Eastern Europe and Russia, PET bottles have only recently started to be used for premium brand beers in Western Europe. There are many benefits to using PET bottles – they are safe, strong, flexible, light and easy to transport and recycle.
The Direct Print inks were developed in partnership with Agfa Graphics, and are produced by Agfa according to Good Manufacturing Principles with formulations according to Swiss Ordinance and EuPIA. The Direct Print low migration decoration application for PET is certified for food safety.
Martens recently demonstrated the creative and marketing capabilities of its new system by launching a new brand of beer in association with a well-known Belgian sitcom to promote an upcoming. The beer bottles carry images of different actors who come to life using a special smartphone app and interact if two bottles are placed next to each other. The beer, available in 400 outlets across Belgium, has attracted national attention and Martens is in full production using the Xaar-based system to meet demand.
The brewery has been an early adopter of several KHS new technology solutions through many years of working together. ‘KHS and NMP Systems have a great partnership with Martens,’ said Mr Johnson. ‘It is an extremely innovative company and a pioneer in brewing and PET technology for beer. Martens clearly intends to leverage the speed-to-market and new capabilities which Direct Print Powered by KHS will bring to filling and packaging.’
