Hammer to install first Speedmaster CX 102 in North America

Hammer Packaging has become the first North American company to purchase Heidelberg’s new Speedmaster CX 102 press. The Rochester, New York-based converter, among the largest packaging producers in the US, chose a UV-capable Speedmaster CX 102-8+L with CutStar roll sheeter, Prinect Press Center with Intellistart operator guidance system, integrated Wallscreen, and Axis Control color measurement and control system. An integrated IST UV system uses the new Electronic Lamp Control (ELC) that will enable the system to operate at low energy consumption and take up 50 percent less floor space.

‘Technological leadership is the cornerstone of Hammer Packaging’s business philosophy,’ said Louis Iovoli, vice president of strategic partnerships. ‘The pending installation of Heidelberg’s first generation CX 102 platform permits us to take advantage of gains in technology to configure a press that will enable us to meet our customers’ package decorating demands at the lowest possible cost.’ 

‘Hammer Packaging has once again demonstrated its future-orientated investment strategy with its purchase of the first Speedmaster CX 102 in North America,’ said Jim Dunn, president of Heidelberg USA. 

Following its evaluation of the press at the Heidelberg factory in Wiesloch, Germany, Hammer Packaging selected the Speedmaster CX 102 primarily for the speed and efficiency with which the press handles the 2 to 3.2 mil film stock that is a staple of the company’s application repertoire. 

‘In the film category, the CX 102 will expand our capacity and improve our redundancy during peak periods,’ said Iovoli, noting that the addition of CutStar will make the printing of film ‘even more cost-effective, based on the way it controls the sheet as it feeds into the press’. 

Positioned between the Speedmaster XL 105 and the CD 102, and targeted at commercial, label and packaging printers. The Speedmaster CX 102 has a web width of 40 inches. It makes key components of the Speedmaster XL platform available in the CD 102 format for the first time. 

‘With new equipment, especially in the packaging world, you need to have the assurance of predictability that will minimize inconsistencies in quality from job to job and run to run, even at the highest running speeds,’ continued Iovoli. ‘Our two existing CD 102s have always performed precisely as billed, and we anticipate the same results with the CX 102, which is built out of the same platform with the transfers of key high-performance features of Heidelberg’s flagship Speedmaster XL 105.’ 

Roughly 70 percent of Hammer’s capacity supports the production of litho-based labels for the food and beverage industry, with web offset and flexo-printed labels accounting for the rest. The company employs more than 400 people at three plants in the Rochester area. 

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