First Highcon Beam customers in China detail investment criteria

Highcon Beam was introduced last year and has a speed of up to 5,000sph for B1 (42in) sheets. It is intended to replace expensive and slow conventional die-making and set-up processes with a digital technology that delivers improved responsiveness, design flexibility and the ability to perform a wide range of applications in-house, explained Highcon, which added that the machine has been developed as a ‘robust solution to the challenges facing folding carton converters and print service providers’.

The first Highcon Beam installation in China is at Hugo Printing - Fortune Mile Package and Printing in Hong Kong, and Christopher Chow, deputy director of Hugo Printing, commented: ‘We are proud to be running the first Highcon Beam in Asia. We specialize in packaging for premium appliances and high-end cosmetics. With the Highcon Beam, we are able to provide top class designs that could never have been achieved before, including different versions, customization and even personalization. We can also move some of our ongoing production from an analog to a digital process.’

Highcon already has a presence in China, with Highcon Euclid customer installations already up and running in commercial and packaging applications. The company sees China as a major growth area of innovation in the industry, and following drupa 2016, Asia was the region with the fastest growth in installations with machines were installed in China, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Of the four flagship Highcon Beam installations worldwide, two are in China.

Highcon is presenting Beam at China Print 2017, the first time it has been shown publicly in Asia. The installation of the machine at the show will be at QP Quality Production, a printing company headquartered in Hong Kong with sites all over China.

QP Printing managing director Ricky Cheng said: ‘We understand that digital finishing is the way of the future and the Highcon Beam will enable us to produce our extensive range of applications for the high end market more rapidly and more efficiently.’

Euclid III and the Axis web-to-pack software are also presented by Highcon at China Print 2017.