Heidelberg highlights Gallus Labelmaster 440 in India

The knowledge-sharing sessions on the Labelmaster 440 were showcased to more than 90 converters across the labels and packaging segment, and ADIKC partners including Esko, DuPont, Flint, Royal Coat, RotoMetrics, Univacco and tesa. 

Ferdinand Rüesch, senior vice president, global key accounts, Gallus, said: ‘The Labelmaster 440 fulfills some critical criteria for label printers. With shorter print run lengths leading to several job changes and potential material waste, there is a greater need than ever before for a resource-efficient label press with shorter set-up times. The Gallus Labelmaster 440 fits the bill perfectly, while also addressing key performance demands for producing self-adhesive labels, mono films, shrink sleeves, in-mold labels and cartons.’

During the two-day forum, multiple jobs were printed on the Labelmaster 440 to underscore its dexterity in handling a broad array of substrates. The print demonstrations included a multi-color carton printed on a 200gsm board with matt gloss varnish and die-cut, all in one pass; a cosmetics label printed on 50 micron transparent shrink substrate with reverse printing in a single pass; and a self-adhesive label with cold foil and matt and gloss varnish and die-cut. 

Samir Patkar, president of Heidelberg India, said: ‘This press ensures low wastage, high performance and high efficiency. Configuration flexibility and agility facilitate the quickest adaptability to evolving market conditions. This futuristic design of the Labelmaster protects the investment of the printer, while providing competitive differentiation and profitable returns.

‘The modular design of the Labelmaster 440 makes it a compelling value buy. The press can be configured to meet distinct business needs. You can add a screen printing unit, gravure print unit, hot foil stamping unit, multilayer, a die-cutting unit in print position, quick-change front-loading die-cutting system and more to produce premium labels or cartons. The press can also be integrated with newly launched, digital print bar, printing inkjet white on the labelmaster displayed at Labelexpo Brussels 2019,’ Patkar added.

According to the company, the Labelmaster 440 supports printing speeds of up to 200m/min and produces premium print quality at high speed with high-end finishing, as the printed image is always in register. At all times, an ink chamber optimized for high speeds facilitates optimal ink transfer to anilox rollers with minimal splashing and foaming. 

Labelmaster 440 
Discussing the Indian label industry with Labels & Labeling, Patkar said: ‘There is a lot of light left in self-adhesive label printing. Each segment is very unique. Labels are so fragmented in the way they are printed and finished that there are still a lot of opportunities in this segment.’

Explaining the category of printers who should opt for Labelmaster 440, Patkar said: ‘Any label printer with either the volume high enough to run on a 440mm wide press or with certain value-addition jobs that can run efficiently on a 440mm wide press, should opt for it.’ 

Printers ideally should be able to use the wide width of the press instead of investing in it to follow a trend,’ he cautioned. ‘The press is well-equipped to print cartons, however, as I stated at LMAI Conference in 2019, each printer must calculate cost of printing on a flexo press versus a sheet-fed press to make a sound business decision. If they want to print screen, special value adds on the board, lamination, cold foil, lamination and other value-added features in-line then the Labelmaster 440 is a great investment.’

In the flexible packaging segment, there is an increasing demand for short runs and converters are challenged with producing them profitably. ‘Technology on conventional presses has advanced so printing 1,000sqm of run length can also be made profitable. A while ago, when a printer was challenged, the only option was intermittent offset or digital technology. It is all about how a business takes strategic decisions and complements its production with different printing and finishing technologies,’ said Patkar.

The Gallus Labelmaster 440 is equipped to print on pressure-sensitive labels, cartons, flexible packaging, flexible aluminum applications, mono-foil labels, wraparound labels, in-mold labels, shrink sleeves, multi-layer and coupon labels, as well as mono paper for wet-glue labels, among others. The press has more than 100 installations worldwide since its debut in 2017.

Patkar’s thoughts resonated well with attendees at the ADIKC. Nirav Shah, director of Indian converter Letra Graphics, commented: ‘We thoroughly enjoyed the live job runs, especially the multi-substrate printing with coating and finishing all in one go. It is exciting to see label printing move beyond the best.’

Echoing similar thoughts, Bhrigav Jain, owner of Monarch Graphics, added: ‘Heidelberg has always strived to create bespoke brand experiences for clients. This event was no exception. The Labelmaster 440 demonstrations were impressive.’

Ferdinand Rüesch said: ‘The ADIKC was a great platform to interact with CEOs operating in flexo, gravure and sheet-fed offset segments, and understand their challenges and needs. The forum also led to some interesting discussions with printers exploring a foray into labels, as well as converting cartons by flexo.’

Sustainability
Discussing sustainability, Patkar said that Gallus launched its ECS press with a granite base back in 2009 and introduced UV LED in 2011. ‘It is one of the lowest carbon-emission presses in the market,’ he said. ‘Today, we are focusing on low migration inks on Gallus Labelfire. Therefore we as a company are very focused on offering sustainable presses with short web path and UV LED units and many other features to printers. However, sustainability is primarily driven by brand owners.

‘Sustainability is a new trend, as was very clear at Labelexpo Europe 2019, and it will get stronger with government regulations on environment in various parts of the world. While the entire packaging supply chain plays a critical role to achieve the sustainability goals, there will be early adopters of the evolution process and the industry will eventually come together for a greener planet,’ Patkar concludes,’ Patkar concluded.