Goss to make packaging play

Goss International officially launched the Sunday Vpak series last year, with its first exposure to an international audience coming at Drupa. It has since hosted a number of Open House events in North America to showcase its technology further.

Goss International said the launch of the Sunday Vpak builds on its 170 years of history in offset printing, primarily in commercial print, to address the fast-changing market demands for shorter runs, higher print quality, shorter lead times and lower costs.

Goss International has launched two versions of the press series – the Vpak 3000 and the Vpak 500 – which together offer six standard web widths from 521mm (44in) to 1,905mm (75in). They also feature quick-change sleeve technology and the Goss Sunday gapless blanket technology.

Goss International will highlight the cost advantages of web offset for fast job changeovers, control of pre-setting, inking and dampening, and the significantly lower purchase price of litho offset printing plates.

While the benefits of offset printing on board and paper are widely understood for sheet-fed applications, Goss International said the broad spectrum of production advantages offered by web offset are not yet fully appreciated. These include the ability to print the same premium quality as sheet-fed, often in excess of double the output speeds, on less costly substrates and to finish in-line.

In addition, with the ability to print unsupported films as fine as nine microns in thickness, Goss Sunday Vpak presses offer the same production versatility on flexible substrates and on non-flexible substrates.

David Muncaster, director of EMEA business development for packaging at Goss International, said: ‘Consumer markets are looking for ever more variety from brands they know and trust, so the requirement to cost effectively produce more packaging variations in smaller quantities is a trend that will continue to build. The rise of SKUs is one of the key drivers behind the growth of web offset in packaging today.

‘Anyone who is finding their run lengths and lead times continually reducing and feeling increasingly squeezed on price should come and talk to us about web offset alternatives.

‘The web offset ROI advantage versus flexo and gravure becomes evident when looking at the cost of plates and plate imaging, which becomes more critical as the number of image changes increases.’

He added: ‘We’re excited to be exhibiting at Labelexpo Europe for the first time. This key European trade show gives us a perfect opportunity to showcase Sunday Vpak capabilities to brand owners and converters and to emphasize how this game-changing, web offset solution can meet their growing demands for higher print quality, lower costs, shorter runs and faster turn-around times.’