Digital press manufacturer Xeikon has formally added hybrid printing to its offer to the label printing market, which sees one of its dry toner or inkjet digital presses combined with a converting unit, all powered by its proprietary digital front end.
Whilst hybrid printing is far from a new phenomenon, Xeikon stated that to expand the growth potential of digital, ‘new solutions are needed.’
This has led it to launch a fully digital hybrid option based on its Cheetah or Panther digital press technology, the recently developed Xeikon LCU label converting unit and its X-800 digital front end (DFE). Such a set-up can then be configured to the needs of the converter and becomes, ‘a powerful production system enabling label converters to step up their productivity whilst remaining fully flexible for all their customers’ needs.’
Specifically stated benefits of Xeikon’s hybrid offer include: a complete, single-pass production process flow; elimination of a number of production steps, resulting in higher productivity; reduced waste and set-up time; and the creation of new business opportunities.
Filip Weymans, vice president of marketing at Xeikon, said, ‘At Xeikon we take customer input seriously. Our solutions are Cloud-connected, providing us with a lot of data on how the equipment is performing. This results in the ability to provide more automation in combining production runs to increase efficiency. That is why, along with the presses, we develop fully digital converting and embellishing products such as the Xeikon LCU which can be configured into hybrid print and converting solutions.’
He continued, ‘Some of our customers call a hybrid solution the best of both worlds. All developments at Xeikon fit into our mantra of digitizing label manufacturing with the purpose of enabling label converters to develop a profitable and sustainable future-proof business.’
