Heidelberg customers report success with inkjet label printing

Printers around the world are tapping into the growth opportunities presented by digital inkjet label printing, as highlighted by Heidelberg and its 20-plus customers for the Gallus Labelfire.

Austrian company Insignis-Etiketten has established a new business unit that has been offering new applications in digital printing since spring of this year with the Gallus Labelfire 340

Heidelberg has noted that while the label market accounts for just five percent of the worldwide print volume of around €400 billion (US$455 billion), it has the biggest growth potential in the industry. This is driven by high demand for labels with unusual embellishments and just-in-time delivery, the company explained. Annual growth in self-adhesive labels is reported at over four percent, increasing to double digits for digital inkjet printing with Asia the fastest growing label market in the world with over 40 percent, followed by Europe with 25 percent and the US with almost 20 percent.

A new report from Vandagraf has reiterated how growth in color inkjet digital printing for labels and packaging will accelerate through to 2023 and beyond as the relentless roll-out of new technologies to meet previously unmet needs continues.

Such statistics have led Austrian company Insignis-Etiketten to establish a new business unit that has been offering new applications in digital printing since spring of this year with the Gallus Labelfire 340. Insignis has restructured and reorganized its operations through the establishment of two independent business units: Insignis-Etiketten and Insignis Digital, the latter installing the first Gallus Labelfire in Eastern Europe.

‘Flexo printing, screen printing, coating and inkjet are brought together perfectly in this system, enabling us to produce a fully embellished and die-cut label,’ commented Ferdinand Hager, CEO at Insignis. ‘We save time, costs and material, and can also approach new clients in the agency sector to show the possibilities offered by personalization and versioning.’

Hub Labels, based in Hagerstown, US has been a Gallus customer for many years in conventional label production, but has extended its capability in inkjet label printing with a Gallus Labelfire 340.

Hub Labels president Thomas Dahbura said: ‘The Labelfire enables us to reliably and repeatable produce high quality color consistent premium labels from run to run. This has allowed us to win numerous orders that we have had to leave to our competitors in the past.’

Heidelberg has now introduced the Gallus Smartfire as an entry-level digital press, targeted at commercial printers looking to diversify into labels, brand owners looking for an in-house on-demand label print facility, and label converters looking to enter the digital market or complement production-scale digital presses. Read more here. Buyers are already in place in Switzerland and Poland.

Heidelberg and Gallus are also working intensively on new service offerings to promote digitization in businesses and offer customers a further added value. For example, M-Call offers automated ticket creation based on an autonomous process from the machine to the Gallus helpdesk that enables a faster response by the service team. Customers also benefit from the virtually completed integration of the Gallus sales and service organizations into the Heidelberg Group, which means they can leverage Heidelberg’s worldwide service network.

Find out more about other users of the Gallus Labelfire around the world here.

Heidelberg has also reported further strength across Asia for Gallus conventional printing technology.

Heidelberg USA is exhibiting at Labelexpo Americas 2018, taking place September 25-27 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois

See Labels & Labeling issue 4, 2018 for a comprehensive preview of Labelexpo Americas 2018

Heidelberg has also reported further strength across Asia for Gallus conventional printing technology.

Heidelberg has also reported further strength across Asia for Gallus conventional printing technology.