Mercian Labels has become the world’s company to buy the Xeikon Cheetah and has chosen the high-speed press to help it continue its growth plan.
The Cheetah, a highly productive five colour digital label press, will be installed in early February at Mercian Labels’ new factory in Staffordshire, and run alongside its existing Xeikon 3000 Series digital press.
Adrian Steele, managing director, commented, ‘We have chosen to adopt the latest generation of Xeikon digital label printing technology on the back of above-average growth in the digital part of our business, where we have run out of production capacity. Adding the Xeikon Cheetah will better position us for expected growth and we are confident the capacity to be quickly filled.’
‘The advantages of the new press will be measurable in terms of speed and reduced running costs,’ continued Dr Steele. ‘As a result, we expect to take more market share from what is traditionally flexo territory as digital becomes more competitive on longer runs. What is compelling is that it will open up a larger share of the market for us. We will look closely at how digital can grasp even more jobs that used to be printed in flexo, thanks to the faster running speed and lower consumables cost. With increased capacity, the cost point also goes down. And with a genuinely different cost base to our competitors, we can improve competitiveness.’
The Cheetah has a top speed of 30 m/min, 60% faster than any other model in its current press portfolio. The 1200 x 3600 dpi digital press is dedicated solely to the production of self-adhesive/pressure sensitive labels. It is able to use dry toners that meet FDA regulations for food contact and has the ability to print opaque white toner in one pass.
It also allows printing on heat-sensitive substrates due to incorporation of Xeikon’s ICE toner technology which requires a much lower fusing temperature than typical toner-based presses.
The presses can integrate into third-party workflow software and converting/finishing solutions and incorporate professional colour management capabilities. In addition to the standard CMYK + White, the fifth station on the Xeikon Cheetah can be used to print gamut expansion colours or security toner.
