The first three of Landa’s groundbreaking S10 Nanographic Printing Presses will go into beta sites in Israel, USA and Germany later this year signalling the first step in what many see as a new era for the printing industry.
Adhering to his promised schedule, Landa announced the very first of the long-awaited S10 nano presses will go into traditional offset print house Graphica Bezalel, an award-winning Israeli folding carton, packaging and label convertor, in July 2017.
US-based leader of point-of-purchase solutions, Imagine!, will take delivery of its Landa S10 in November 2017 while Landa’s first European beta site will be German-based Edelmann, one of the world’s leading providers of folding carton and packaging systems, which will receive its S10 press in December 2017.
“I am thrilled that after many years of development, we are now reaching the milestone of delivering our first Landa Nanographic Printing Presses to customers,” said Landa chairman, Benny Landa, who said in February that the first Nano presses would be ready for the northern summer. “We are very proud that these industry leaders, and others who share their vision, have chosen to become our beta partners in this program.
“As promised, Landa press stability, print quality and speed are now consistently high. It’s exciting to think that in only a matter of months we will see Nanographic print in the market, representing a paradigm shift in print economics and empowering brands like never before.”
The Landa Nangraphy presses were first launched at drupa 2012. Since then the revolutionary imaging technology has undergone further intensive development before being represented to the industry again at last year's drupa. Mindful of the critical reception that greeted his premature launch of the first Indigo digital press in 1993, Landa was determined to only launch the new presses when he was convinced they were ready for industrial print production.
According to Michael Mogridge, channel development manager for Asia Pacific, there is pent up interest in the Australian and New Zealand industries for the new presses. Already there are at least three companies that have signed on to take the Landa technology: CMYKhub, Heroprint and Blue Star. "There are many other printers throughout the region who are desperate to get their hands on Landa presses. It is truly a new era for the printing industry," said Mogridge.
Engineered for the packaging and converting industries, the Landa S10 Nanographic Printing® Press enables mainstream packaging productivity with plate-free, offset print quality.
The single-sided B1 (41 in. / 1,050 mm) format Landa S10 enables just-in-time mainstream efficiency for the production of folding carton, POP/POS and corrugated boxes. With a crossover point of around 30,000 boxes and even higher when ganging jobs or adding variable barcodes, the Landa S10 provides a digital solution for more than 50% of all packaging jobs.
As a traditional offset print house, Graphica Bezalel, based at Yavne in Israel, selected the Landa S10 Nanographic Printing Press as its first digital solution.
“Nanography® is the first technology to tempt us into the world of digital print,” said Eyal Harpak, director of Graphica Bezalel. “Until we saw what the Landa S10 could produce, we couldn’t believe that any digital press could match offset print quality at the high-speeds required to open-up the medium-run folding carton market. We were astonished with what Landa and the team have achieved.”
“Working with leading companies like Calvin Klein, Carlsberg Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Sodastream and others, we know that brands are always looking for new ways to increase on-shelf appeal and sales. With the incredible colour palette provided by the Nanographic printing process – colours that really stand out - customers will be excited with what the Landa S10 has to offer. Through increased production flexibility, the Landa S10 provides a unique ability to both reduce inventory costs through shorter runs, respond quicker to customer needs, as well as increase the ability to version with customized packaging and special promotions.”
Yishai Amir, Landa CEO, said: “Graphica Bezalel are great visionaries in packaging printing and converting and have won a number of prestigious Israeli and international awards. We are thrilled that they have embraced the technological and business benefits of Nanography, and we look forward to pioneering print packaging together.”
Landa and Graphica Bezalel will hold a worldwide customer event during the week of September 12, 2017, to demonstrate the Landa S10 in a customer production environment.
Edelmann, Germany’s largest independent packaging converter, will use its new Nanographic Printing capability to generate business growth from high-quality, high-speed, medium-run folding carton work.
“Nanography® is breakthrough technology with the potential to transform the print, packaging and communication markets,” said Dierk Schröder, chairman, Edelmann.
“Our business is all about customer service. Staying in tune with the market and delivering what it needs, but also anticipating, innovating and then proactively offering what it didn’t know it needed. We’re excited to be working with Landa; this is a value-based partnership that will drive long-lasting end customer relationships.”
Oliver Sattel, technical director, Edelmann, said: “Brands are actively looking to streamline their operations to remain lean and efficient, but not at the expense of product quality or price. The Landa S10 delivers this. It removes the previous barriers of minimum order quantities, with money tied-up in unnecessary printed stock and storage. We already have lots of interest for this new service, and are confident that Landa is the right partner and Nanography the only technology to deliver this capability.”
With operations in nine countries, employing 2,700 people, sales of 300 million euros and producing 5.5 billion packages and leaflets per year, Edelmann is one of the world’s leading packaging manufacturers and system suppliers. Specializing in packaging solutions for health care, beauty care and consumer brands, the company has operations in Europe, Asia, North and South America.
“For us, Edelmann represents the perfect beta partner,” said Amir. “They not only understand the value of Nanography and its unique benefits, but have a clear plan for its successful roll-out and customer adoption. We look forward to working closely with Edelman and supporting their growth as they pioneer the use of medium run-length B1 digital print.
The Landa S10 will be installed at Edelmann's Heidenheim production site, the largest of its kind in Europe. Edelmann will also exhibit at Interpack 2017 (Hall 11 / A14.A18) to showcase the benefits of Nanographic Printing.
In November 2017, Landa will ship North America’s first Landa S10 Nanographic Printing Press to Imagine!, a US leader of point-of-purchase solutions, based at Minneapolis, MN.
“We bought this press because of Benny Landa’s track record in developing innovative, industry-changing technology,” said Bob Lothenbach, Founder at Imagine!. “We don’t usually chase technology trends; however, we believe in Nanography® and want to be instrumental in the digital-for-mainstream revolution. Nanography is the first digital printing solution with the format sizes and speeds that will let us migrate our applications away from offset. The reduced setup costs and improved turnaround times will bring substantial growth to our business.”
Headed by Indigo founder, Benny Landa, the Landa Group is comprised of four units: Landa Digital Printing, whose Nanographic Printing® presses combine the versatility of digital with the qualities and speed of offset to produce short-to-medium runs with the lowest cost per digitally-printed page in the industry; Landa Labs, the group’s innovation arm, which explores nanotechnology for use in alternative energy, industrial coatings, cosmetics, packaging, drug delivery and other fields; Landa Ventures, which invests in early stage companies with complementary disruptive technology; and the Landa Fund, which helps underprivileged youth pursue higher education.