Inkjet & Digital Printing

Xeikon has developed a Digital Printing Solution for Pouches

Wednesday 27. March 2019 - Xeikon announces its digital printing solution for pouches. This latest innovation has been developed for consumer goods markets - food, beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The digital process for printing on pouches responds to current trends i.e. significant numbers of SKUs, shorter lead times and the rising popularity of pouches in store.

Brand owners looking for shelf impact for their products are drawn to flexible pouches for their ability to stand, their light weight and their sustainability. Xeikon has simplified a key part of the overall production process to provide a fast turnaround solution.
Filip Weymans, Xeikon VP Marketing states, “This is a prime example of what we call “customer driven innovation. By focusing on this application we are supporting our customers’ requirements and also responding to the current trends in consumer preference. This development takes our digital production portfolio to the next level. With our technological expertise, Xeikon is ideally positioned to provide innovative digital processes.”
Pouches can be reasonably complex to manufacture because of the flexible nature of their multi-layers. It is essentially a laminated bag made from several layers of material that require a number of different steps in production. Xeikon is helping to simplify the overall process to provide a fast turnaround solution. By firstly digitally printing the text and graphics on a thermal laminate the outside layer of the pouch is prepared and ready for the next steps. A variety of different layers are then constructed by laminating with a series of barriers for protection before the pouch is finally put together in the manufacturing process. Xeikon’s digital printing solution offers the lowest possible complexity and the broadest lamination construction possible.
Marketers and brand owners see a lot of value in this kind of packaging for a variety of reasons such as product presentation as well as functionality for the consumer. Pouches can also be sustainable: a pouch has a so-called “product-to-package” ratio of 35:1 which essentially means it can carry up to 35 times it’s own weight, resulting in less energy consumption to produce and to transport. Pouches can have a variety of different shapes depending on the size, end-use application and functionality. Many brands are transitioning from rigid types of packaging to more flexible versions such as pouches.
Digital printing with Xeikon’s dry toner technology has many advantages – not only the highest print quality on flexible substrates – there are reductions in start-up costs and no job change-over costs. Importantly the printer has the ability to print variable data information in both single and full colour. Xeikon’s digital dry toner technology allows JIT production, versioning and last minute adaptations on the fly. For busy print operations with a high volume and complexity of jobs looking to assess which process and technologies will give them an advantage, the cross-over point for flexo and the digital process is at least 4000lm.
Weymans concludes, “Xeikon continues to develop new innovations for diverse markets to meet today’s challenging and fast moving world of consumerism. With our broad technology portfolio we are in a perfect position to respond to current markets and develop any solution required. Our digital printing solution for pouches utilizes our dry toner technology which comes with a guarantee for food safety. This technology also ensures consistency and an equal finish to offset (am screen) and to flexo when colour matching is required. With our aXelerate programme, our dedicated teams provide direct and personal training and support for our customers every step of the way. Xeikon is committed to providing only the very best products and services.”