Offset Printing

The hybrid MPS EF SYMJET saves costs and labour for Liepajas Papirs

Tuesday 02. July 2019 - Combining the best of both worlds in flexo and digital inkjet printing, the MPS EF SYMJET press significantly helped Liepajas Papirs save material and labour costs. The MPS EF SYMJET is a symbiotic combination of the established MPS EF flexo press platform with an integrated Domino N610i inkjet unit.

Based in Latvia, Liepajas Papirs is one of the leading printing companies in the Baltics with over 120 years of experience and 100+ employees. 50% of their 1000+ monthly orders are exported internationally.
Liepajas Papirs installed an MPS EF 340 UV flexo press in May 2018, reporting the press proved 30% more productive than any of their existing UV flexo presses.
The choice for hybrid printing
“Our journey towards hybrid printing began at Labelexpo 2017, where we truly recognized the substantial improvements UV inkjet printing made in recent years,” explained Juris Hoijers, Production Manager of Liepajas Papirs.
“As we began discussions with Domino regarding a possible future investment in their inkjet press, at the same time a new MPS EF 340 UV flexo press was installed at our factory. With our excellent cooperation experience with MPS in mind, when we learned Domino and MPS partnered in offering a hybrid press combining UV inkjet and flexo printing, choosing the EF SYMJET press became an easy decision.”
Advantages of hybrid printing for Liepajas Papirs include ability to print shrink films, addition of flexo spot colours and spot varnishing, and elimination of most post-press processes.
Significant savings in time, material and labour
Prevention of ‘log-jam’ in post-press reduces order lead-time for Liepajas Papirs, as the inclusion of cold-foiling, laminating and rotary die cutting units on their EF SYMJET hybrid press eliminates most post-press processes — with printing and converting capability all in a single pass.
Cost-saving benefits include reduced waste, as less substrate is required when compared to a standalone digital press combined with several post-press processes. In addition, ink costs are controlled by replacing large solid areas with less expensive flexo UV inks.
Normunds Jansons, Chairman of the Board of JSC Liepajas Papirs said: “Significant savings in material and labour costs are proven with our EF SYMJET, as this press produces in one hour what took incomparably more time with our previous printing press solutions.”
Perfect solution for mid-range runs
For more competitive label runs, Liepajas Papirs will offer customers label print runs of up to 50.000 pieces on their EF SYMJET press.
Arturs Gabalins, Head of the Sales Department, explained: “Previously, we could not offer customers the best price for this quantity of labels as it was too high for our digital printing machine, and too small for a flexo press to reach the most favourable selling point. With our EF SYMJET press, we can offer an attractive price with embellishments for mid-range label runs.”