Inkjet & Digital Printing

Guaranteed flight document security thanks to twin Xeikon 8500s

Wednesday 23. October 2013 - Edelmann Leaflet Solutions installed two Xeikon 8500 digital presses, further establishing its pioneering role in document printing for the aviation industry

The Lindauer Druckerei offset printing operation was set up in the early 1960s. With its workforce of 200 and under the name of Edelmann Leaflet Solutions GmbH it has been a member of the Edelmann Group since 2010. The company specializes in the production of security-related printed products. Along with printing approximately 500 million packaging leaflets worldwide for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, just-in-time production for the aviation industry is one of the company’s core activities. Printing time-critical, individualized flight documents calls above all for a high level of productivity and requires the digital printing system to be absolutely fail-safe. High demands are also imposed in terms of print quality: it must be reliable, exact in every detail and of a consistently high standard.
After working for several years with digital sheet printing systems, it was time to consider a new investment. The requirements for the new system were crystal clear: it was to handle a weekly production volume of at least one million documents, offer a processing width of 512 mm for 3up DIN A5 printing and be able to process lightweight papers under 60g/m² in both front and back printing.
A comprehensive analysis of the market showed that the Xeikon 8500 was the most suitable machine for the production of security-relevant documents. The digital web-fed printing system is renowned for its high productivity, especially when it comes to minimal print runs. It allows simultaneous 5-color printing on both sides in a single production run, with DIN A4/A5 documents set out as an exact match and for maximum benefit. With a true resolution of 1200 dpi and variable color density, the Xeikon 8500 allows to print on a variety of materials up to maximum media width of 512 mm and weight of 40 to 350 g/m² in practically unlimited lengths. Thanks to the electro-photographic dry-toner process, standard offset printing papers can be used without the need for pre-treatment or lacquering. The digitally printed paper is de-inkable and fully recyclable.
Due to the level of productivity to be guaranteed, Edelmann Leaflet Solutions decided in March of this year to purchase two Xeikon 8500 digital presses, allowing the company to manage production peaks and handle different orders in parallel operations. Upon the installation of the Xeikon 8500 end of June, the company also installed a MBO Near-Line-Finishing unit for variable and selective folding, that is supported by the intelligent codes contributed by the Xeikon systems. In the downstream processing line, individual sheets or 4-page folded leaflets are further processed and merged inline and “on-the-fly” – through barcode control and including quality control – in a folding unit designed especially for digital printing, resulting in individual flight documents.
Danny Mertens, Director Marketing & Business Development Document, states: “The co-operation with MBO is a successful example of our “Aura Network”, within which we bring together the skills of experienced suppliers in the various sectors of the printing industry to offer an all-in, customer-tailored solution.”
Marcus Vierkorn, Operations Manager at Edelmann Leaflet Solutions, is delighted with the investment in the Xeikon 8500s web-fed printing systems and downstream processing. “Continuous roll printing guarantees complete format flexibility and requires fewer stops for operators to load and unload. Also paper jams are completely eliminated. This results in considerably leaner process operations in the print room and therefore an overall improvement of production times,” says Vierkorn. “For us, the two Xeikon 8500s and the efficient, flexible downstream processing technology from MBO are the perfect combination for printing both individualized time-critical documents and packaging inserts. We are now producing about one million security-relevant documents per week – this means that we make full use of the available system capacity.”