The potential of personalised packaging – Nessan Cleary @ Print21 magazine
Digital printers are increasingly targeting the label and packaging markets with quite a few available or just about to launch.
The great strength of digital printing has been its ability to handle very short runs, not something that you'd immediately associate with labelling or packaging, which are normally characterised by very long runs. But there are many different strands to packaging and printer vendors are actively looking at all of these now, partly because digital printing is now handling longer runs than ever before, and partly because packaging runs are often split into shorter run versions, but mostly because packaging represents the biggest opportunity in printing right now.
For now most vendors have concentrated on labelling and in the last couple of years a lot of digital label solutions have become available. Carlo Sammarco, business manager for packaging solutions at Screen Europe, says that the main issue for people is the cost of the ink which is quite expensive compared to conventional inks on a flexo press. He explains: “People focus on the amount of ink and the cost of that ink but they forget the additional cost that you have such as making plates. If you are using the same substrates then you could gang jobs together and print multiple jobs with no makereadies or set up cost and time.”
Screen has developed its first digital label printer, the L350UV, which can produce 50mpm or roughly 1,000 labels in a minute. It prints white followed by CMYK, with LED pining between the colours, followed by a main cure from a conventional lamp.
It uses Kyocera KJ4 printheads, which should last from one to four years. However, it's an engineer call out to change the heads, though Sammarco says that Screen can train the operators up to engineer level for some remote sites.
There's a corona unit though in practice Sammarco says that its only needed with certain substrates such as tamper-proof materials. It also has a very short path that uses roughly eight metres of substrate when changing rolls, which is an important consideration given that the substrates could cost more than the ink.
Marc Tinkler, senior manager for business development of Epson Europe’s industrial printing division, argues that there’s more to digital printing than just shorter runs. He says: “You could order jobs less frequently and try to do something more interesting. You could have events where you personalise a label, say on a wine bottle. Or a food product which might have a recipe on the back. If you could vary that recipe label by label so that there was a variety of labels then you have added value through the label. So the ability to vary labels is quite interesting.”
Epson, EFI, Durst and Domino
Epson launched its first label printer, the Surepress L4033AW just over three years ago and has some 120 installed worldwide. It uses water-based resin inks that will work with most conventional label stocks. But it uses several passes to print each label, limiting it to just 5mpm at 720dpi resolution.
The customer base is mainly established label converters and commercial printers looking to diversify as well as a handful of end customers. Tinkler says that it's really designed for very short runs of just 100 metres or so but adds: “But they are also used for runs of a few hundred metres where quality is key or they are using something special like textured label substrate or where there are really high value labels.”
Epson has also demonstrated a second label press, the SurePress L6034VW which uses UV inks and takes a fairly standard approach with the roll fed continuously past the heads. It’s fitted with Epson’s PrecisionCore printhead, which has a native resolution of 600x600dpi and will be slightly faster at around 15mpm. This is still in beta testing with commercial launch due for early next year. Tinkler says there's a place for both: “UV is great for durability but the water based ink has huge capability in terms of quality and how it looks on certain materials like textured paper.”
EFI has had considerable success with its Jetrion range of inkjet lable presses. The latest of these is the 4950LX, which has LED curing for all four colours plus the optional white channel. It has a much higher resolution and speed than other models, running at 33mpm at 720x720dpi and 48mpm at 720x360dpi. It takes a 350mm wide web printing up to 330mm wide. There are several inline finishing options, including laser die cutting, varnishing and lamination.
Durst has developed the Tau 330, a UV label printer sold in both 200mm and 330mm widths. It uses Xaar 1002 printheads with resolution up to 720 x 1260dpi. The basic model prints in CMYK but there are options to add orange, violet and white. It takes standard label stocks from 100 to 500 microns and films and foils up to 20 microns. It runs at 48mpm, though this drops to 37mpm for the highest resolution. There’s also a version that comes complete with an inline laser die cutting system from Spartanics.
Domino has developed its N-series label printers, with both the four colour N600i and the more recent N610i that takes up to seven colours with the addition of white, orange and violet. Both use Kyocera printheads and can run at up to 75mpm. Both take a web width of 340mm and use UV inks that will work with most standard label stocks.
HP Indigo still dominant
HP still has the largest slice of the digital label market, having been selling narrow web versions of its Indigo liquid toner printers for some years now. The latest of these is the ws6800, which can run at up to 30mpm with four colours with 40 m/pm EPM & 60 m/pm 1 or 2 colours. As with all Indigo printers, it can take up to seven colours, but because the colours are laid down one a time, each additional colour slows the press down. However, this uses HP’s Enhanced Productivity mode to create colour images from CMY, which runs at 21mpm. It takes media up to 330mm wide and up to 350 microns and has an inline priming unit so that it can work with standard substrates though the priming will add to the cost of those substrates.
Xeikon has been a leading player in the digital label space with its dry toner technology. This has a major advantage over the Indigo presses in that it can handle a wide range of substrates without any special coating. Recently Xeikon has been showing off a faster press, the Cheetah, which it claims is 60% faster than its other models. It’s designed for use with self-adhesive and pressure sensitive label stocks from 40 gsm to 350 gsm. It uses CMYK plus white. It can run at up to 30 mpm with a resolution of 1200 x 3600 dpi. It takes a standard web width of 330mm.
Allen Datagraph Systems has built two complete benchtop label printing systems that both use LED toner printing and work with standard stocks. The iTech Axxis HS has a 216 mm print width and prints at up to 7.6 meters per minute with 1200 X 600 dpi resolution. There’s a larger printer, the iTech Centra HS, that takes substrates up to 330mm. It runs at speeds up to 9.1mpm. Both come with a finishing unit that can laminate and contour-cut labels of any size and shape on-demand using knives.
A number of the smaller label printers have used Memjet printheads. These systems are very fast and relatively cheap to buy but they use water-based inks and therefore will only print to a coated label stock, which limits the materials available and pushes up their cost. The latest of these is the Colordyne CDT3600, which uses Memjet’s Aspen printhead. This can run at 69mpm at full colour resolutions with up to 1600 x 1375 dpi. It includes a laser die cutting system. It’s also possible to update the core subassemblies as new technology becomes available.
Hybrid flexo presses
There are quite a number of hybrid presses around, with most narrow web flexo press vendors now actively trying to incorporate some level of digital printing. There’s an obvious advantage in that you only need to buy one machine. But it could be argued that you have to run all the jobs through that machine, whereas dedicated solutions would make it easier to separate out the short run work and squeeze the most profit from each job.
Heidelberg has demonstrated its new label press, the Gallus DCS 340, having recently acquired Gallus outright. It uses Fujifilm Dimatix printheads alongside two flexo units and a flexo varnish unit. It prints in eight colours – CMYK plus orange, violet, green and white and runs at 50 mpm with a resolution of 1200 dpi. This should be available later in 2015.
FFEI has developed the Graphium, which is built on the chassis from a narrow web flexo press from Edale. Thus the Graphium press has a 410mm print width so that although it’s been billed as a label press it could potentially satisfy a number of applications. It can be used as a standalone digital press but can also be integrated with multiple flexo units for a hybrid solution. It uses Xaar 1001 printheads and will run at a maximum speed of 50mpm at a resolution of 180x360dpi. It’s sold through Fujifilm and uses Fuji UVijet UV curable inks.
Mark Andy has also launched a hybrid press, the Digital Series, based on its existing P7 press. It uses UV-curable inks with in-line flexographic printing modules including metallics, various converting options and cold foil. It has a 336mm web width and runs at up to 76mpm. It uses CMYK plus orange, violet and white and has 600dpi resolution. It includes a corona unit and will handle pressure sensitive paper and films from 25 to 356 microns.
Digital beyond
While labels can be considered as the low hanging fruit, many vendors are now turning their attention to other areas in packaging. The biggest slice of the market is corrugated printing, which Ronen Zioni, marketing director for HP’s Graphics Solutions business in Europe, estimates to be worth $91bn globally overall, with digital able to reach $1.5bn worth of this business.
Thus HP has developed two corrugated solutions. The first of these is the Scitex 15000, which has been adapted from its high production FB10000 wide format flatbed. The 15000 can run at up to 600 sqm/hr and is meant for very short runs of just a few hundred boxes.
But HP has also adapted its T400 Inkjet Web Press, developing a T400 simplex that can print in CMYK direct to corrugated. This can produce around 12,000 sqm/hr. It’s a web fed device, with a web width of 107cm. It uses HP’s 1200 dpi thermal printheads, with water-based inks and a bonding agent for handling uncoated substrates. The first one has been installed at a packaging printer in the Czech republic and HP is planning on several more sites in 2015 while it learns the market but Zioni says that it will be 2016 before the company really starts to push it.
HP has also developed two versions of its B2 Indigo platform to target different parts of the market. Thus the 20000, which is due to be launched in Australia in Q2 2015, is aimed at flexible films while the 30000 targets folding carton. Both use the standard Indigo approach of taking up to seven colours. The 20000 can produce 31mpm in four colour mode and takes films and paper from 10 to 250 microns. The 30000 can print 3450 B2 sheets per hour and takes paperboard from 200 to 600 microns
HP has worked with a number of other vendors to develop complete lines that will work with these printers. This includes AB Graphics, with its Digicon 3000 for converting pressure-sensitive labels and flexible packaging films and Tresu, which has demonstrated its iCoat 3000 with the Indigo 30000, which is capable of using both UV and aqueous varnishes.
Canon also has turned to liquid toner technology for its Océ InfiniStream. This is a large B1 web-fed simplex printer aimed at the folding carton market. It can handle standard offset cardboard substrates up to a thickness of 600 microns. There’s a separate print tower for each colour and each print tower includes an LED bar that writes a latent image to the imaging cylinder, plus an inking system that adds the liquid toner to that cylinder. The image is then transferred first to a blanket cylinder and then to the substrate so that all the colours come together directly on the substrate before fixing.
It runs at around 120mpm and can produce up to 14,400 B2 or 7,200 B1 sheets per hour. Canon claims that it will be competitive against offset for runs of up to 4,000 B1 sheets.
The first unit is currently being beta tested at a German packaging printer, Joh. Leupold GmbH. Bernd Assmann, Managing Director of Leupold, says that he looked at this to counter falling run lengths and increased versioning, adding: “Brand owners are requesting shorter turn-around times and faster campaign execution, as well as waste and cost reduction.”
The digital packaging market has yet to take off and we are bound to see more presses announced in the next couple of years. Fujfilm, for example, has demonstrated its Jetpress F, a derivative of the Jetpress 720 that uses Dimatix print heads with a hybrid water-based UV inks, that’s designed to handle folding carton. Landa also is due to start beta testing its first nanographic presses shortly, including a B1 press configured for folding carton applications.
Digital technology has gained a firm foothold in the label market and is likely to grow from here. Several vendors report that customers have asked about running thin films through their label presses and some vendors are clearly thinking about developing wider versions to address the flexible films market.