EFI to highlight inkjet developments at Labelexpo Americas

Labelexpo Americas will host EFI’s largest ever Labelexpo presence, with four inkjet presses on display unveiling new developments in white ink, LED curing technology, UL durability and an expanded breadth of substrates including printing on uncoated semi-gloss paper. EFI Radius will make its first appearance since the July acquisition of Radius Solutions and EFI will demonstrate the strategic advantage brought by the acquisition. EFI will also display the breadth of its technology offering by showing an updated version of its Fiery XF software, demonstrating its ability to match spot colors easily as well as demonstrations of Digital Store Front, and Web Control software options.  

On display for the first time, the EFI Jetrion 4830 LED UV inkjet system and a newly developed flexible ink set allow printing on unsupported and heat sensitive materials, including shrink sleeve, opening up new opportunities for label converters in the flexible packaging market. Current and future Jetrion 4830 users can upgrade their presses to utilize the flexible ink set by retrofitting their systems with the new LED lamp technology. 

A second Jetrion 4830 digital label press will be running a variety of materials showcasing EFI’s UL durability and the expanded breadth of substrates, including printing on an uncoated semi-gloss paper. A third Jetrion 4830 will show single-pass digital white printing aimed at applications such as clear film and metallic substrates.

With a wider web width and faster linear speeds, the Jetrion 4830 increases throughput by over two times compared to the Jetrion 4000. It prints 8.3 inches (21 cm) wide, enabling 2-up 4-inch labels. The wider print zone allows label converters to take on more print jobs efficiently. With its higher speed print mode of greater than 120 feet per minute (36.6 meters per minute), the new system significantly increases productivity.

EFI has installed its award-winning Jetrion UV inkjet label press on six continents with support from a worldwide network of distributors.  

EFI Radius  

The event marks the debut of EFI Radius, whose management/ERP software products will add to the expanding EFI presence in the packaging and converting markets. 

‘Eight of the 11 largest label companies in North America, as well as half of the largest folding carton producers in Europe, operate Radius software,’ said David Taylor, general manager of EFI Radius and former president of Radius Solutions. ‘With EFI’s global footprint and robust print technology portfolio, we hope to expand this success around the world as well as bring EFI Radius to many more label printers in the US.’  

‘The recent acquisition of Radius Solutions has further enhanced our product offering. With our range of digital UV inkjet presses complemented by advanced ink and workflow solutions, EFI now offers the broadest portfolio of technologies for digital label printing, and we are excited to share our recent developments with visitors to Labelexpo Americas,’ said EFI’s general manager and senior vice president, Dr Kenneth Stack. ‘We are redefining digital economics with our range of complementary technologies and lack of click charges. The only number that matters is the cost per label, and Jetrion’s ability to print with no under or overcoat, combined with being the largest UV inkjet ink manufacturer in the world, ensures that we offer our customers the lowest costs available.’ 

EFI will demonstrate its Digital StoreFront e-commerce web site for label printers, showing the ability to allow the printer’s customers to order stock labels from the Radius finished goods inventory as the first step of integration with Radius.   

EFI will also be demonstrating the use of EFI Radius ERP/MIS, in the digital workflow.  For the first time, the company will show the integration of EFI Radius with EskoArtwork’s Automation Engine 10. This streamlines business processes by reducing manual user interaction with EskoArtwork’s pre-press systems to a minimum, ultimately increasing customers’ throughput and efficiency. 

Technology workshop 

A fourth Jetrion 4830 with white will be present in the Technology Workshop at the show. It will run daily alongside three other digital / analog print technologies, where the results of the same short run label job will be compared between the different printing technologies.