Inkjet & Digital Printing

AccurioLabel at Kuhls printing company – a digital milestone

Friday 27. August 2021 - The topics of shorter delivery times and shorter runs with a simultaneously increasing variety of types run through all areas of the printing industry - they have also been shaping events in label production for many years.

Digital label production: a milestone in the company’s development
In addition, manufacturers are confronted with increasing cost pressures. Demands that can only be met to a limited extent with analogue printing technologies. Against this background, the Kuhls printing company in Hamburg has taken the first step towards digital label production by installing an AccurioLabel 230 from Konica Minolta. “In our 100-year company history we have always tried to be technically up to date. The entry into digital label production represents another milestone in our company’s development,” assures managing director Ronald Kuhls.
Small-scale order structure forces digitalisation
Ronald Kuhls is already the third generation to run the company and has geared production to the growing market for self-adhesive labels in reels and sheets. The machinery combines versatility with the highest production quality and covers a broad spectrum: labels with a maximum width of up to 410 mm and with up to 12 colours can be produced. Finishing options such as hot foil stamping, lamination as well as glue-free zones, consecutive numbering, coding etc. are part of the daily business. The Kuhls printing company currently employs 15 people and generated a turnover of around 2.1 million euros in 2020. Every year, around 5,500 jobs are processed on narrow web presses. A figure that illustrates the small-scale nature of the order structure and also underlines the need for entry into digital label production. In spring 2021, the decision was made to invest in the toner-based AccurioLabel 230 roll-to-roll printing system from Konica Minolta. ITA Systeme GmbH & Co. KG from Norderstedt, a Konica Minolta sales partner, installed and commissioned the system and provided comprehensive training for the staff. Alexander Hildebrandt, Managing Director of ITA Systeme: “With us, you are in good hands – from consulting to technical service and ongoing support. Our extensive and long-standing experience in professional printing comes into its own here.”
Break-even point at 1,500
During the evaluation phase, the AccurioLabel 230 impressed Ronald Kuhls above all with its exact colour reproduction and register accuracy. Although the system only works with CMYK process colours, the issue of spot colours is very well implemented via a sophisticated colour management solution, assures the managing director, who also points to the break-even point compared to analogue printing processes, which in multicolour printing is around 1,500 running metres.
Daniel Schulz, Product Marketing Manager Professional Printing at Konica Minolta Germany, comments: “The label printing market in general, but also for Konica Minolta, has been a growing segment for years. In just five years, we have already placed over 800 systems worldwide. By working in partnership with our customers, we provide corresponding impulses for new applications and business models. The experience gained from this has been incorporated into the AccurioLabel 230, which has once again increased productivity, flexibility and stability.”
In the meantime, 35 systems have been installed in Germany alone. Smaller label manufacturers in particular have realised that they can transfer up to 60 per cent of their existing jobs to the digital production line. Ronald Kuhls confirms this: “After a relatively short start-up phase, the calculation has shown that we can produce more and more jobs on the AccurioLabel 230. Although the fixed costs per running metre are a little unusual at first, this puts us on the safe side in terms of costing, no matter how high the toner consumption may be.”
Job changeover in just one minute
The innovations contained in the AccurioLabel 230 can be seen in the following functions, among others: The maximum print speed has been increased by Konica Minolta compared to the AccurioLabel 190 up to 23.4 m/min, depending on the media type, which is an increase of 73 per cent. In addition, the maximum print speed is achieved across a very wide range of adhesive papers and films including PP, PET and Yupo. Job changes within one minute are absolutely feasible with the same material. Thanks to the overprint function, pre-prints from offset or flexo printing can also be easily enhanced with personalisation. Another application is a pre-printed white background that is overprinted on the AccurioLabel 230 – because the system works with the process colours CMYK. The fuser now continues to run for 30 minutes after each print job, eliminating the need to reboot when a job is changed. Waiting times between print jobs are now a thing of the past – helping to save both time and materials.
User-friendliness makes it easy to get started
The AccurioLabel 230 supports reels from 250 to 330 mm wide and handles most papers and substrates in a grammage range from 81 to 256 g/m² or a substrate thickness from 120 to 160 ?m. Thanks to the maximum print resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 dpi at 8-bit colour depth, there is no need to compromise on quality, confirms Ronald Kuhls, who at this point also refers to the integrated “Speed Detector”, which automatically adjusts the feed speed of the material, increases register accuracy and reduces waste. Another tool that contributes to optimal material utilisation is the integrated software “AccurioPro Label Impose”. The user-friendliness of the software in particular helps to keep the productivity of the AccurioLabel high. In one minute, a PDF is imposed into a multiple-up job, and the job can then be sent directly to the press. And by means of the additional AccurioPro Variable Data software (as an InDesign plug-in), personalised and individualised labels, including barcodes, are created in no time at all.
“After a relatively short start-up phase, the calculation has shown that we can produce more and more jobs on the AccurioLabel 230. Although the fixed costs per running metre are a little unusual at first, this puts us on the safe side in terms of costing, no matter how high the toner consumption turns out to be.”
Successful start
“Now we can handle the ever-shrinking print runs from as little as 500 labels. This is not economically feasible with conventional label printing because the fixed costs are too high,” emphasises Ronald Kuhls. “The deep black surfaces, the small and still legible negative fonts, the fast makeready times with virtually no waste, as well as the variety of materials without the use of a primer, as well as the abrasion resistance and high quality – all this amazes me anew every day,” Ronald Kuhls continues. Kuhls’ entry into digital label production has thus been a success, and the Hamburg-based label specialist is already thinking hard about its next investment decision. The next step will be to install an end-to-end solution that integrates printing, finishing and finishing.