Greek converter TS Converting has installed a bespoke UV inkjet-based digital printing system to allow it to meet the changing market for printing of blister packaging for the pharmaceutical industry.
Based in the town of Koropi, TS Converting is the primary supplier to the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Greece, as well as being an approved supplier to some of the largest international pharmaceutical companies. The company supplies the pharmaceutical industry with printed flexible packaging products, such as blister foils, sachet foil, strip packaging foils, and other foil products. These are traditionally printed using gravure.
However, to keep up with changes in the market, TS Converting has looked to digital printing to provide it with the means to produce shorter runs while maintaining print quality comparable to that it produces using gravure.
To provide such a system, DG Italia and S2 Converting have collaborated to construct a line, Alusilver Phoenix HDF, which runs at 70m/min and offers a 450mm width. The current configuration features an inkjet bar that can print in monochrome but the system is prepared for a second print bar for spot colours. Printing in four colours at 600 × 600dpi is also possible. Similarly, the machine in this configuration as made for TS Converting only prints digitally but is prepared for the addition of up to two flexo units, should the customer decide upon this implementation. Austria-based Tiger Coatings has created Tigital branded inks for the system, which are compliant with the Swiss Ordinance for printing inks applied on the non-food contact surface of food contact materials, and therefore also applicable to the pharmaceutical world. A pinning system downstream of the inkjet bar(s) secures the inkjet inks in place before final converting to help ensure the required quality of very small characters.
S2 Converting specialises in the construction of machines for flexo printing on aluminium film, while DG Italia has developed a new system for digital printing, including variable data, on flexible metal substrates. The companies have previously collaborated to combine their expertise in printing and converting, and while the basic concept of this latest technology is already widely tested through 11 machines that S2 Converting has in the market, the Alusilver Phoenix HDF is the first machine of its kind, and has been designed based on customer requests.
Yiannis Tselikas, managing director and co-owner at TS Converting, said, ‘We have always printed blisters and pharmaceutical packaging with rotogravure machines. But lately the market is also asking for medium and short runs that we wanted to achieve by facing a reasonable investment while maintaining the high quality of the rotogravure.
‘When we decided that we would print part of our production in digital, we did careful research but it was not possible to find a machine on the market that would answer all our requests with precision. We then started to select the best partner to entrust with the study of the digital solution and this choice we found, after a series of technical evaluations and press tests, in DG Italia, which in turn proposed for the construction of the reel line S2 Converting, which we already knew for its flexo applications, for example for the printing of yogurt lids. We also knew of S2’s ability to build custom-made machines and therefore the possibility of having these two companies realise this project seemed the best solution.’
Mr Tselikas continued, ‘With Alusilver Phoenix HDF we are certain of having made the best investment to be more competitive on the market. Now we can also provide our customers with blister packs in short runs at competitive but high-quality prices. And being the first to take this step benefits us on the market.’
