The technology behind Mouvent

The Mouvent Cluster is described by the company as a ‘radical new approach’, using a cluster configuration instead of fixed size print bars by color, arranging them in a modular, scalable matrix. The result is one system that can be simply adapted for all substrates, of all widths, for all markets.

‘This is game-changing technology,’ says Piero Pierantozzi, co-founder of Mouvent. ‘Until now, printing systems have been tailor-made to the requirements of each industry. The cluster technology is completely flexible and can be adapted and used for any market and any substrate. We believe this will completely revolutionize digital printing, making it more accessible, more flexible, cheaper and simpler, while maintaining the highest quality standards.’

The cluster technology was developed by Radex, a start-up company owned by multiple stakeholders with a track record in the field of drop-on-demand inkjet digital printing. Radex and Bobst created Mouvent as a joint venture earlier this year. The cluster technology is the centerpiece of the new machines developed by Mouvent for a wide variety of markets such as textile, labels, corrugated board, flexible packaging, folding carton and more. Mouvent’s first label printing presses are two single-pass, high-speed 7-color UV ink printers (LB701-UV and LB702-UV), with the substrate running at up to 100m/min below the fixed clusters, at one color per cluster, with a native resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 DPI and an optical resolution of 2,000 DPI.

Each Mouvent Cluster prints up to 170mm wide. Additional clusters can be added, so two clusters is 340mm wide, and so on, without a theoretical limit. Therefore, whatever the substrate width, the technology can be adapted accordingly, claims Mouvent. The clusters are light weight, at around 1.8kg, and can be easily replaced. With 10,000 operating hours, the life cycle of the cluster is also claimed as extremely long.

Beyond digital printing presses, Mouvent offers a fully integrated, complete system, as it: develops, engineers, tests and industrializes digital printers based on the Mouvent Cluster; it writes the software around the printers; develops inks and coatings for various substrates; and provides a full servicing offering.

The company is promising a new standard in inkjet label production cost and quality, in ink pricing, head durability, quality and machine performance, as Pierantozzi explains: ‘By using the same clusters, the same software, the same spare parts and the same ink systems for all machines, we can design them as simple and compact as possible while keeping operating costs for our customers at a minimum and predictable. Simplicity is our engineering philosophy.’

Mouvent will present its digital label presses and cluster technology at Labelexpo Europe 2017.

Read L&L’s comprehensive preview of Labelexpo Europe 2017 in issue 4

Read more about the founding of Mouvent in L&L issue 5, 2017