Managing director of The Label Makers, David Webster, with the new Durst Tau 330
‘We have always bought the best technology so we can offer our customers the best labels,’ said managing director, David Webster, about The Label Makers’ recent purchase of the first Durst Tau 330 inkjet label printer in the UK. ‘Someone has to jump in first and the results are very exciting.’ By Neel Madsen.
Installed at the Label Makers in April this year, the Durst Tau 330 was first shown to the world at drupa last year in Düsseldorf. Featuring a printing speed of up to 48 m/min, it is available is two printing widths, 200 mm and 330 mm, and up to seven colours, CMYK plus optional white, orange and violet. Its single pass UV inkjet printing technology, drop on demand and variable drop size, with Xaar 1001 print heads, produces an apparent resolution of approximately 1000 dpi. The non contact printing method allows for a multitude of substrates to be used.
A specialist in short run, high quality, embellished labels, and multiple award winner at both the FlexoTech and Digital Printer awards, The Label Makers was established in 1963 and thus celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The company entered the digital arena with the purchase of a Xeikon 3300 in 2011, complemented by a Digicon finishing line incorporating two flexo stations for metallics and varnish or matte gloss, hot and cold foil, silk screen, lamination and embossing.
The new machine installed at the Label Makers is the wider version of the Durst press with a full complement of seven colours. Mr Webster explained that it was bought for print runs in the region of 10,000 to 50,000 for customers in the cosmetics and toiletries market where multiple SKUs make conventional processes very expensive. This will remove jobs from the five existing flexo presses that are working to full capacity to keep up with demand.
The press is housed in a spacious air-conditioned room where there is plenty of space for a new Digicon 2 finishing line that is due to arrive imminently from AB Graphics International.
Mr Webster excitement about the new investment is obvious and he clearly enjoys being the first UK label printer to take delivery of the Durst Tau 330. ‘We looked at quite a few competing inkjet technologies,’ he said, ‘but we found that it was the Tau 330 that ticked all the boxes for us.’ He particularly favoured the high printing speed, excellent web transportation and ink finish, which he said is comparable to silk screen printing. He added, ‘The white ink is very opaque and allows clear substrates to be printed with superb results.’
Read the full story in the next issue of Digital Labels & Packaging out in July
