SPGPrints Labelexpo 2014 DSI UV-inkjet press presentation
Labelexpo Americas 2014 closed last week after enjoying its most successful show to date. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the show registered a 12% increase in footfall with more than 16,000 visitors.
With over 440 exhibitors, the event played host to many product launches. Highlights included new digital presses such as HP’s WS6800 and the Cheetah from Xeikon. In addition numerous new inks, ancillary products and label stocks were unveiled.
The conference programme attracted almost 1,100 delegates (its highest ever number) and consisted of 16 different sessions and 64 individual moderators, panellists and speakers.
Tasha Ventimiglia, Labelexpo Americas’ event director commented, ‘Thank you to everyone including the TLMI, all of our exhibitors and industry partners who have helped make our 25th year the best and biggest yet! The show’s success underlines just how much confidence has returned to the American label and package printing industry. People were there to do serious business and from the feedback we’ve had, we know many exhibitors have enjoyed healthy sales as well as generating a high volume of good quality sales leads.’
Show highlights
SPGPrints launched a low migration UV inkjet ink set for safe food and pharmaceutical packaging. Specially designed for the company’s DSI (Digital System Integrations) press, the inks meet the guidelines of the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA) and are compliant with the Swiss Ordinance on Materials and Articles. Furthermore, the inks do not contain any materials that have been excluded by the Nestlé Guidance on Packaging Inks.
Xeikon introduced its new Cheetah five colour digital press boasting a speed of 30 m/min, which 60% faster than any other model in its current press portfolio.
The new digital press is dedicated solely to self-adhesive/pressure-sensitive label production and was shown running live to visitors at the show in Chicago. It will be available commercially during 2015.
Visitors to the Xeikon stand also saw the company’s latest development in toner technology, called the SuperBlack toner. Normal black toner produces a density of 1.8, while the new SuperBlack provides a density of 2.2-2.4. The new spot colour can be applied using the fifth colour station of a Xeikon’s digital presses.
‘A solid, dense black on the packaging of a product conveys a sense of quality and high value, and is very appealing to companies selling luxury items,’ said Jeroen Van Bauwel, director of product management. ‘As a result, this effect is used often by brand owners in the wine and spirits markets as well as in the folding carton sector.
EFI showed a new faster version of its Jetrion 4950LX LED single pass press, printing high quality labels at 720 x 720 dpi with vibrant images and fine text at print speeds of up to 60 m/min. The 13 inch wide, modular press now also features a white ink module and can be configured to suit specific needs as a fully inline LED inkjet digital printing system with flexo varnish, lamination, inline laser cutting and slitting for lean label production.
The Jetrion 4950LX LED
‘The Jetrion 4950LX press’s productivity, quality, and low cost per label combined with the ability to go from blank substrate to finished labels in a single pass will serve as a tipping point for the many flexo converters looking for a way to profitably add digital printing capabilities,’ said Stephen Emery, vice president of Jetrion and ink businesses. ‘This press and our industry-leading Radius workflow exemplify the technical innovations that help so many EFI customers become top performers in the packaging market.’
Domino debuted its new N610i seven colour CMYKOV+W digital UV ink jet label press, its new N610i CMYK+W, and K600i monochrome digital UV ink jet printer. One of the N610i presses will be printing with inline finishing and the other will be printing roll-to-roll.
With 600 x 600 dpi print resolution, operating speeds up to 75m/min and up to seven colours including opaque white, the N610i combines the productivity associated with flexo, with the flexibility offered by rapid job change digital technology. Additional benefits include less labour and material waste, long-lasting print durability and the capability to print on a wide range of substrates.
The new N610i
ETI converting Equipment, presented the Mini-Cohesio, equipped with the Pellicut die-cutting unit, which attracted many visitors to see a compact unit capable of producing and die-cutting PS labels on a 18 micron liner at a speed of 150 m/min. This technology offers the industry a green solution by reducing landfill waste by almost half.
Fujifilm sold a Graphium digital hybrid, four colour plus white UV inkjet press, integrated with inline flexo and finishing, to Distinct Packabilities, a Shepherdsville, Kentucky-based print provider.
Distinct Packabilities, offers a wide range of flexible packaging and prime label converting capabilities, along with in-house art, graphics, prepress and platemaking services.
The JetConverter L350 from Screen was on display and performing demonstration runs at Labelexpo and the company is scheduled to begin sales of the label finishing line in October. This system can be used with Screen’s existing Truepress Jet L350UV inkjet label printing system to enable the construction of a fully integrated production line, spanning from data input to printing and processing and finishing.
Super Web Digital launched its newest press designed for the label and packaging market, the WEBJet 280C. With the integration of Memjet’s Waterfall Printhead Technology and SWD’s web handling and processing system, the WEBJet 280C is a high quality label converting press at a price capable of fitting into most investment budgets.
The WEBJet 280C has the capability of delivering five colours at 1600 dpi x 1375 dpi resolution with speeds up to 225 fpm utilising a Xitron-based workflow with a Harlequin RIP. The press also offers laminating, die cutting, inline slitting and optional flexo coating. Print widths are up to 8.77″ wide with a maximum media width of 11″.
