colordruck Baiersbronn, a packaging service provider operating throughout Europe, has reached a milestone in building its new digital business model in packaging printing.
It has now successfully completed field testing of its Heidelberg Primefire 106 B1-format simplex seven-colour inkjet press, including integration into its existing workflow and production environment.
Three years ago, colordruck Baiersbronn added the ‘Packaging Digital’ division, which offers packaging in runs of one and up via an online shop – designyourpackaging.de. This has been complemented by it signing up as pilot site for the Primefire 106 inket press back in 2017.
With almost all criteria successfully met and the Primefire 106 fully adapted to colordruck Baiersbronn’s web-to-pack portal, the field test was successfully completed at the end of 2019.
Integration has included with the printer’s existing production workflow, with the Prinect digital frontend (DFE) acting as the link between the hardware and the software used at colordruck Baiersbronn.
Martin Bruttel, managing director at colordruck Baiersbronn, said, ‘Through the consistent development of a digital business model, we were able to further optimise our processes and make them fit for the future. Heidelberg provided outstanding support as a partner in incorporating the Primefire 106 into our workflow.
‘Wanting to offer our discerning customers new business ideas in digital packaging printing meant that our requirements for the digital printing press were very high. Working with the team from Heidelberg, we have now met these requirements and are more than happy with the results for our customers.’
A complex issue in building the new business model with the Primefire 106 was the variable data printing (VDP), the prerequisite for mass customisation.
Tom Streefkerk, who heads up the Packaging Digital division at colordruck Baiersbronn, explained, ‘The teams from colordruck Baiersbronn and Heidelberg have invested a lot of expertise and effort here, and developed VDP together. Today, the Primefire at colordruck Baiersbronn can produce an unlimited number of custom printed sheets without any interruption and in consistently high quality.’
He continued, ‘The Primefire offers excellent colour brilliance, outstanding register accuracy, the same impressive colour consistency, and very good reproducibility. Customers who attach particular importance to these criteria will have an immediate benefit.’
The company has acquired a multitude of new customers and its existing customers are impressed with its expanded services. Personalised Advent calendars has been one area where colordruck Baiersbronn has reported success, both for B2B and B2C customers.
In addition to digital printing, the company also produces premium packaging using offset printing on four highly automated Heidelberg Speedmaster presses. Shorter runs are increasingly being transferred to digital printing to free up capacities in offset. colordruck Baiersbronn also offers its customers systematic options for adapting spot colours in offset and digital printing. In addition, the B1 format of the Primefire 106 enables the company to use die-cutting tools in post-press that are also used for offset runs.
Thomas Pfefferle, also managing director at colordruck Baiersbronn, added, ‘The integration of digital printing allowed us to gain a lot of flexibility and optimise our efficiency in all run lengths. Digital printing is setting new standards in colour fidelity across the entire run.’
Montserrat Peidro-Insa, head of the digital business unit at Heidelberg, said, ‘colordruck Baiersbronn had high requirements for digital packaging printing, which we were able to meet by working together and will continue to develop together in the future. We learned a lot on both sides and thank colordruck Baiersbronn for adding to our knowledge of digital business models.’
Read more about the digital folding carton market in the March/April issue of Digital Labels & Packaging; register here to receive the magazine for free
