The latest in Nuovo Gidue’s digital flexo press technology, the Combat M3, has gone in at R. Wagner Prestige Labels, boosting production and opening up new markets. The M3 landed in February, handled by the team at Gulmen Engineering, and it has already more than doubled throughput for the business.
The Combat M3 packs a punch, automating flexo print by digitally assisting the operator in setting up the press. Wagner Labels has been a traditional letterpress shop for over 70 years, but owner John Galea tells Print21 he is confident that the M3 delivers not only flexibility and speed, but also upholds the company’s commitment to quality.
- Adriano Melis (sales area manager, Gidue), Chris Galea (manager, Wager Labels), Ali Rezaki (Gulmen Engineering)
“It’s about pushing the boundaries a bit. I always thought I’d go offset or digital, but then everybody’s getting into digital so I thought I’d step in a different direction. I did some trials and I was very impressed. Gidue really handles the high-end stuff. What we’re achieving is quite impressive and it’s early days yet,” he says.
Galea adds that the M3’s 370mm wide web has doubled productivity on many jobs, but also means the business can tap into completely new markets, including flexible packaging. The press runs eight UV flexo printing stations and can handle unsupported films, pressure sensitive labels and special substrates.
Galea says, “It’s a market right now where you have to be versatile. Gidue is just really open to new technology. It’s all just a lot of little pluses, and you need those things to stay ahead in the market.
“Getting the M3, that was around a three-year plan. It’s just seeing the changes in the industry, and responding to the market. You’ve got to listen to your customers.”
Keeping the business in the family is floor manager Chris Galea, son of John. Chris talks through some of the opportunities that the new Gidue M3 presents.
“Our customers are always looking for something new, different, something that stands out. For us the benchmark is quality over everything else, and now the technology has come along that means we can still do that, but it’s faster and easier to do more complex work. The M3 also alleviates jobs on other machines, that have become more complicated,” says Galea.
He explains that as well as speed and quality, usability was a key factor in the decision. The digital automation process allows for time saving measures like saving job specifications for repeat work. It is also kitted up with Digigap technology for automated die-cutting pressure, pre-register and register.
“The wider web width has more than doubled our throughput, which allows us to be more competitive on a more even marketshare. It also means we can print bigger jobs like drum labels. We now have the opportunity to pick up that work too,” said Galea.
The press went in over two weeks and has been thoroughly put through its paces over the past three months. Gidue sent out four specialists from Italy to oversee the install, and Eddie Gulmen, Gulmen Engineering, was on site to make sure everything went in smoothly.
“This combination press is designed for flexible packaging and films as low as 20 microns for short, medium and long runs,” said Gulmen, “It’s a very, very nice machine."