I’ve seen digital labelling on cans and was keen to see how it works on other substrates, so when CS Labels invited me along to see its latest Xeikon machinery in action, I was happy enough to travel a few hundred miles north to Walsall in the West Midlands.
It’s been a full-on day and managing director and company owner Simon Smith was a great speaker, explaining how the company CS Labels has moved from screen printing to digital with great success and yet not afraid to talk about a few business ups and downs along the way. The company was open enough to invite lots of other label manufacturers along to view the set up, some of whom already have invested in Xeikon equipment.
The most impressive was the new VariLine which enables cost efficiencies by computing the jobs lined up and suggesting the best use of substrate material – as it is able to run two completely different jobs at the same time – both wide and narrow labels alongside each other.
Hans Gerinckx of Xeikon Labels and packaging opened the day with a quick resume of all that can be done in anti counterfeiting from hidden images and embedded holograms and foils to security toner which only shows up under UV light. As he pointed out the future is not just digital printing but digital production.
John Hill of adhesive specialists Herma UK explained how two different coating weights do not stick together making label stripping for recycling easier. Migration of chemicals is a hot topic – especially when it comes to labels used directly onto foods with a high fat content such as cheese. Herma has developed 62Gpt which is safest in use.
Jeroen Van Bauwel of Xeikon spoke on integrating digital printing and speeding up the process using a separate press production to optimize flow. A cloud based colour management system to ensure exact Pantone colour accuracy is a big step forward and patent pending laser die cutting is hot news and key to automating label production. The laser Vectorizer can read barcodes, QR codes and camera inspection systems sort potential defects.
“Digital printing gives manufacturers the ability to develop their brand image,” concluded Simon – “it’s not just cost cutting that wins but quality and getting the job out to the customer”.
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