Inkjet & Digital Printing
Integrity Print Expands into Digital Labels with Xeikon
Friday 04. December 2009 - Specialist trade print business, Integrity Print, Midsomer Norton, has announced details of an investment that will expand the companys presence into the digital label market. The Xeikon 3300 digital label press, complete with in-line finishing, will be installed at the company during December 2009, working alongside the companys existing flexographic narrow-web presses.
Commenting on the order for Xeikon digital label printing equipment, Andrew Law, Commercial Manager at Integrity Print, said: “Following the acquisition of various trading assets of the Topflite Labels business back in February of this year, we were keen to further invest and expand the capabilities of our flexographic-based label department. Our analysis of the workload in labels showed us that some half-a-million pounds worth of existing work was actually more suited to digital production.”
“Whilst that alone was a good enough reason to establish a digital printing section, the knock-on effect of taking that business off the flexographic presses would immediately give us significantly more capacity on these machines. The short-run jobs, often consisting of a three hour make-ready for one hour, or less, of printing time, were making it quite difficult for us to schedule in our long-run work. The addition of the Xeikon will ensure that the flexo presses are much better utilised, whilst also allowing us to be much more efficient in the production of short-run labels. It really does provide our customers, and us, with a win-win situation!”
Integrity Print handles a wide range of print business for the trade, with print management companies and print brokers providing its sole customer focus. The £60 million turnover company employs 385 people, and runs 50 different presses – the new Xeikon machine being the 51st.
With regard to the decision to purchase the Xeikon press, Andrew Law added: “We had a project team review the options available to us in the market. They evaluated the digital label machines that were on the market by quality, price, and the cost per label produced. The evaluation also took in visits to customer reference sites. Overall, the Xeikon certainly proved to be the best machine to meet our needs. The 1200 x 3600 dpi imaging resolution coupled with Xeikons FA toner gave some of the highest quality images that I have seen from a digital label press.”
The five-unit press features the ability to print standard four-colour process along with an opaque white, a special colour, or a security toner. The Xeikon 3300 will print at up to 19.2 meters per minute, with a monthly duty cycle of up to 700,000 meters. Imaging width is up to 322mm, and the machine can print on materials from as light as 40gsm right through to 350gsm. The dry toner electrophotography imaging process enables the use of conventional substrates without coating or pre-treatment.
Xeikon label presses can handle an unrivalled range of substrates including self-adhesive films, co-extruded films, unsupported films, paper, transparent and opaque foils, and paperboard. The press handles a substrate width of 330mm, and provides for an imaging width of 322mm. The environmentally friendly dry toner electrophotography imaging process enables the use of conventional substrates without the need for coating or pre-treatment.
For job preparation, the Xeikon presses are equipped with the truly open, scalable and modular X-800 Digital Front-End (DFE), combining extensive pre-press functionality including a high-speed RIP with impressive variable data printing processing. In addition, the X-800 DFE is designed to deliver the highest print quality level, a practical die marker function and precise step-and-repeat functionality. The system is also equipped to handle complex operations such as sequential numbering and barcodes.
To complete new production unit a miniDCoat converting line will be connected to the digital press. The miniDCoat, launched at the recent Labelexpo, is an ideal investment in the current economic climate. The unit will run at a speed of up to 32 meters per minute, and can perform varnishing, semi-rotary die-cutting, slitting, and rewinding. The unit is also equipped with a buffer section to allow adjustment to the miniDCoat without stopping output from the press.
Commenting on the Integrity Print order, Greg Neesham, Sales Director for Punch Graphix UK, said: “We are delighted to be working with Integrity Print. Digital label production will certainly ensure a more efficient and cost effective print solution for a large amount of the work already produced by the company and, because of the markets that the company works in, I can imagine that the Xeikon at Integrity will be kept extremely busy.”