Mercian Labels takes world’s first Xeikon Cheetah

A Xeikon Cheetah will be installed in early February at Mercian Labels’ new factory in Staffordshire, and run alongside the printer’s existing Xeikon 3000 Series digital press, as well as hot foil, flexo and inkjet technologies.

Previously based in a 6.000 sq ft site in Cannock, the company’s new 24.000 sq ft factory in Staffordshire represents a significant increase in capacity, which has reported seven consecutive years of double-digit growth. Now spread over two sites, with 50 staff and 31.000 sq ft of label and carton manufacturing capacity, Mercian Labels has a customer base of approximately 9,000 and is acquiring around 40 new customers a month.

The Cheetah is a full rotary press that can print at 98ft/min (30m/min) in five colors at a true print resolution of 1,200 x 3,600dpi, with a web width of 7.9-13in (200-330mm). This places it directly in the narrow web market, according to Filip Weymans, director of segment marketing and business development for labels and packaging at Xeikon, and meets the needs of printers and converters that are looking to print higher volumes of self-adhesive labels more economically.

Xeikon said Mercian Labels has chosen the Cheetah platform to help it continue its double-digit growth path.

Dr Adrian Steele, Mercian Labels managing director, said: ‘We have chosen to adopt the latest generation of Xeikon digital label printing technology on the back of above-average growth in the digital part of our business, where we have run out of production capacity.

‘Adding the Xeikon Cheetah will better position us for expected growth and we are confident the capacity to be quickly filled.

‘We looked at competitive technologies from liquid toner to UV inkjet as well as the latest offers from Xeikon dry toner. Every investment has to have a ROI. We like to sweat our assets, regardless of whether they are software or hardware. We are in the business of making money – not just labels. Everything has to earn its keep, and we are convinced that the Xeikon Cheetah will definitely do just that.’

‘The Xeikon Cheetah represents the most important advancement in the digital label market in 15 years,’ said Weymans, ‘and we are delighted that innovative operations like Mercian Labels are adopting its cutting-edge technology.

‘Its unrivalled speed can deliver a previously unattainable mix of speed, quality and efficiency that will enable our customers to stand out from their competition.’

‘The advantages of the new press will be measurable in terms of speed and reduced running costs,’ added Steele. ‘As a result, we expect to take more market share from what is traditionally flexo territory as digital becomes more competitive on longer runs.

‘What is compelling is that it will open up a larger share of the market for us. We will look closely at how digital can grasp even more jobs that used to be printed in flexo, thanks to the faster running speed and lower consumables cost. With increased capacity, the cost point also goes down. And with a genuinely different cost base to our competitors, we can improve competitiveness.’

‘The Xeikon Cheetah will solve a number of headaches for us and it can count on a very warm welcome to the Mercian family by both our production and sales teams,’ Steele concluded.

To showcase the Cheetah, Mercian Labels and Xeikon will be holding an exclusive preview event at the Mercian Labels premises in Burntwood, Staffordshire. This two-day event will take place in the afternoon of February 24 and in the afternoon of February 25, the first day of the Packaging Innovations show at the NEC in Birmingham.