Müller Martini sees package printing grow at label show

Müller Martini said the printing of flexible packaging was a key topic for its customers at the recent Labelexpo Europe 2011 tradeshow in Brussels, Belgium.
 
Müller Martini said it attracted record visitor numbers to its stand at Labelexpo Europe 2011, which included a Variable Sleeve Offset Printing (VSOP) press that was used to demonstrate its use in package printing. This included snacks and drinks pouches that were available, filled, on the stand.
 
The VSOP printing unit on the Müller Martini stand, used to showcase stepless, variable size offset printing and its applications, met with great interest, it said, with the interest of many visitors to its stand focused on the printing of flexible packaging, especially food packaging, rather than on labels first and foremost.
 
Müller Martini provided information about the printing of safe food packaging using electron beam hardening (EB drying) at the exhibition stand of ink manufacturer Sun Chemical. The stand showcased industrially manufactured packaging that had been printed on VSOP printing presses by combining offset and flexo printing techniques. The printing inks on these items were hardened by means of electron beams.
 
Billed as ‘the greatest label show on earth’, Labelexpo Europe 2011 included for the first time a Package Printing Zone, an area devoted to the printing of flexible packaging and cartons. This hosted presentations from Müller Martini and other leading names, such as Xeikon, Comexi Group, Flint Group, Agfa and EskoArtwork.
 
Müller Martini’s Package Printing  Zone  presentation on web offset printing with EB drying was delivered by product and marketing manager Bernd Schopferer, who said: ‘EB drying is especially well suited to foodstuff packaging, since the ink film is immediately hardened all the way through. The result is a high-quality, low-odor and low-migration print product, manufactured under reliable production conditions, without the use of photoinitiators or the emission of pollutants.’
 
Andreas Hitzler, head of marketing and sales at Müller Martini Printing Presses, said: ‘Our stand was very well attended on all four days and we made a lot of new contacts. The VSOP printing unit used to showcase stepless, variable size offset printing and its applications went down very well with visitors.’

See photo highlights from the Package Printing Zone at Labelexpo Europe 2011 here.