Inkjet & Digital Printing
Digitizing the Orient – Singapore printer installs Xeikon 3030 Label & Package Printing Press
Thursday 07. March 2013 - In its search for cutting-edge label printing technologies that both aid production efficiency and provide quality in print, Singapore-based Orient Quality Print Pte Ltd selected Xeikon's high-performing digital printing technology as the best solution.
A relatively young printer-converter, Orient Quality Print is involved in intermittent letterpress and label finishing, producing labels for different vertical markets including the health and beauty, food and industrial segments. The Singaporean label and packaging printer needed a print solution that would cater to the growing trend of variable content, extremely short lead times and high lightfastness colors, while gaining production efficiency in Singapore’s high-cost labor market.
Realizing that digital print was the only way forward, Orient Quality Print made sure to be the first commercial printer to offer this highly productive solution to its market. The company owners Mr. Alex Tan, Mr. J Te & Mr. Ben Chua evaluated different digital printing brands available in the industry for several months and confirmed Xeikon to be the best investment choice that would bring a good ROI (Return on Investment).
The full rotary direct printing press gave Orient Quality Print the capability to print extra-long labels – essential for the industrial labels it prints. Xeikon toners’ very high lightfastness (6 to 8 on the blue wool scale) is also vital for certain types of applications which the printer-converter runs. Through CGS Pte Ltd, the sole authorized partner of Xeikon for Singapore and Malaysia, Orient Quality Print ordered a complete Xeikon 3030 digital printing system.
In October 2012, the Xeikon 3030 line was installed by specialists from Xeikon and the CGS trained technical team, and the system was in full production status in just three weeks, operating full 24-hour shifts on an almost 24/7 basis. Orient Print Quality runs the Xeikon press in a roll to roll configuration, and handles the finishing process offline.
“We were really impressed by Xeikon 3030 extremely fast start-up during production, print quality, color stability throughout the production run, low material wastage, highly efficient daily files handling and use of standard / non-pre-treated substrates allow us to reduce cost and the ease of material inventory control,” said Mr. Alex Tan, CEO of Orient Quality Print. “The efficiencies and benefits are phenomenal and we couldn’t be happier!”.
Josep Roca, Area sales manager for Asia comments: “We are delighted that Orient in Singapore embraces the Xeikon 3030. They are living proof that after Europe and North America, Asia is now embracing the label and packaging digital printing presses from Xeikon. To support this trend, two active service hubs are installed in the region with engineers operating out of Singapore and India”
Combining productivity and quality benefits
The Xeikon 3030 is a member of the high performing Xeikon 3000 Series of five-color digital label presses, which was launched in 2010. Utilizing LED-array-based, dry-toner electrophotography, the Xeikon 3030 is standard-equipped with five color stations – four for the standard process colors, while the 5th allows the use of spot colors, security toner, or opaque white to create a desired ‘no-label look’ on transparent labels.
It features true 1200 x 3600 dpi addressability and quality, and runs at a maximum speed of 9,6m/min at 5 colors, and at a maximum web width of 330mm. Print speed is unaffected by the number of colors used, nor by the repeat length of the job. The digital press runs on Xeikon’s QA-I toner, that allows for substrate use without specific pre-treatment and is compliant with FDA food-approval regulations.
An entry-level printing technology, the Xeikon 3030 can be easily upgraded on site to a higher speed (Xeikon 3300) or a higher speed and wider web (Xeikon 3500) without making any concession on print quality.