UK printer CS Labels has installed a Xeikon PX3000 UV inkjet digital label press, in the latest round of investments to upgrade its production capabilities.
PX3000 is based on Xeikon’s Panther UV inkjet technology and runs PantherCure UV inks. With a 330mm width, it has a maximum printing speed of 50m/min and a press throughput of 990sqm an hour. It is driven by the X-800 DFE. It sits alongside the entry-level PX2000 and Jetrion press portfolio as Xeikon’s offer for inkjet printing. This complements its established dry toner portfolio.
At CS Labels, the PX3000 inkjet press sits alongside five dry toner presses, three CX3 engines and two CX500s. This allows the printer to offer complementary capabilities, with dry toner noted for its food-safe credentials and inkjet offering characteristics better suited for durable, industrial, and health and beauty labels.
CS Labels managing director Simon Smith said, ‘We are working with Xeikon to push the boundaries of what can be done with the technology.
‘We are identifying new markets with inkjet, such as beverages where metallics are stronger and more translucent when printed with inkjet, and in the health and beauty segment, where we are not strong. For peel and reveal labels, we are combining dry toner and inkjet to offer the best solution; by combining the technologies in this way you can cover a lot of different bases.’
CS Labels also operates an extensive fleet of Grafisk Maskinfabrik (GM) finishing systems, including a DC550 and recently added DC350 digital converting line. A GM SR350 inspection slitter rewinder has also been installed. This is the printer’s first slitter rewinder, and features integrated 100% inspection.
CS Labels has used its dry toner presses to enter the flexible packaging market, a product which it has invested time and resources into to work up and commercialise whilst overcoming the perceived barriers and limitations of dry toner technology to manufacture flexible packaging. Xeikon has used this development work and collaborative relationship with CS Labels to formally add stand-up pouches as an option for those using its presses.
For its work in flexible packaging, CS Labels has principally used its CX500, which allows larger formats to be printed, better suited to the needs of the flexible packaging market. It has also deployed thermal lamination technology to construct food-safe packaging. These are then formed into stand-up pouches on a purpose-built QuadroPack line installed within its rapidly expanding manufacturing environment.
This is shortly to be replaced with a next-generation Karlville KS-DSUP-400-GSW pouch making line. This is a compact, single-lane quick changeover pouch making machine, designed for short- and medium-run production of multiple pouch formats, and that features multi-web synchronisation.
Much like the use of the CX500, this machine will allow CS Labels to manufacture flexible packaging in larger formats, so opening up its offer to a wider range of end-use applications.
Read more about CS Labels and its latest investments in the March/April issue of Digital Labels & Packaging; register here to receive the magazine
