Inkjet & Digital Printing
Xeikon and MOSS Collaborate on Innovative Process for Decorating Plastic Pails and Containers
Monday 12. October 2009 - Digital Decorating System to be Jointly Demonstrated at Open House Events on November 19th & 24th in Lier, Belgium
Xeikon, a division of Punch Graphix, and Italy-based MOSS, a leader in technologies for decorating containers and other articles, today announced the joint development of a patented Digital Decorating System that will enable fast and cost-efficient decoration of round, conical, rectangular and square pails and containers, even in very short runs.
“We have worked closely with MOSS over the past couple of years to develop and test this breakthrough solution,” said Brian Heegaard, Xeikons Business development manager of Specialty Printing. “It enables decoration of pails and containers of various shapes in two easy steps. First, one the Xeikon web presses is used to print the exact number of transfers required for the decorating effort. Then the roll of printed transfers is fed into the MOSS Digital Decorating System to perfectly apply transfers to pails or containers using a heat transfer process. It is as simple as that, and the result is a very high quality digitally printed and applied decoration that passes all of the typical tests, including scratching, tape, water and others. Opacity and image quality is superior to what direct offset printing is capable of producing. For applications requiring even more durability, an inline varnishing unit can be incorporated in the MOSS transfer machine”
Xeikon digital printing presses produce amazingly sharp details and head-turning photorealistic prints as well as graphics for labels that jump off the shelves. The five colour engine provides for the four standard process colours plus a choice of high opacity white or spot colours. The presses are capable of handling an unrivalled range of substrates including self-adhesive films, co-extruded films, unsupported films, paper, transparent and opaque foils, and paperboard.. The environmentally friendly dry toner electro photography imaging process enables the use of conventional substrates without the need for coating or pre-treatment.
Ultimate flexibility
The MOSS Digital Decorating System comes in two models for ultimate flexibility. Both DIGICON (for round and conical pails) and DIGIFLEX (for rectangular and square containers) deliver a perfect application of the pre-printed images on the plastic pails or containers and are cost effective in runs as small as 500. This system eliminates the need to create complicated graphic jobs, or prepare screens or plates, as well as the chemistry associated with these conventional methods. Machine set-up time is fast on the Xeikon presses, eliminating long machine make ready times required by traditional methods and reducing the high fixed costs associated with conventional setups that make short runs unaffordable. With the Xeikon presses, the cost per image remains at the same affordable level regardless of the quality produced. The Digital Decorating System allows for production of approximately 18 ppm with a round 10 L pail , giving the same output as a traditional direct offset printing press.
“We are pleased to be working with Xeikon in the development of this revolutionary product,” said Andrea Fantozzi Export Manager of MOSS. “The Digital Decorating System using Xeikon printed input offers an alternative solution to in-mold labelling with no compromise in quality but with the flexibility to produce shorter runs, something our customers have been seeking for some time. The combined system can be used for just-in-time production, or Xeikon-printed transfers can be produced in larger quantities and stored for application to pails and containers as needed.”
Representatives of Xeikon and MOSS point out that this system, while designed specifically for the decoration of buckets and containers, will also have a broader application within the label industry in general.
Open House November 19th & 24th
In order to showcase the Digital Decorating System, MOSS and Xeikon will be conducting a series of open houses at the Xeikon Demo Centre in Lier on November 19th and 24th. Demonstrations will be conducted showing end-to-end production using the Xeikon 3300 and 5000plus digital presses. Presentations will also be given discussing the technology and comparing the process in-depth with conventional pail and container labelling processes, including the advantages of toner-based printing over screen and offset for these applications.