Xeikon to show digital print portfolio at Labelexpo

Xeikon, a division of Punch Graphix, will demonstrate at Labelexpo Europe the Xeikon 3300, its digital press for label and package printers. In the Digital Experience in hall 9, stand H60, Xeikon will conduct live demonstrations showing a wide range of applications that are possible with a digital press. These include heat transfer applications as well as on-demand, personalized label printing on a broad variety of substrates. Xeikon will also be supporting the daily conference dedicated to digital printing, taking place in the Digital Experience Hall.

‘We consider it important to exhibit at Labelexpo 2009, as Xeikon makes tremendous strides offering digital presses to companies in the label and packaging industry,’ said Filip Weymans, business development manager of the company’s labels and packaging division. ‘Xeikon has always been a prominent participant at Labelexpo shows, since 1996. During these difficult economical times, the label and packaging market remains one of our strongest growth markets. End-users are looking at reducing costs, therefore ordering smaller quantities to minimize their inventory. This drives the need to produce labels more quickly, supporting the use of digital print as a time and cost effective print process.’

Xeikon will also unveil a new extension to its digital offerings, outfitted with a large capacity unwinder, which is capable of handling larger substrate rolls. ‘Because the Xeikon 3300 is developed for larger print runs, the large capacity unwinder was a logical step in our solution offerings,’ commented Weymans. ‘The introduction of a larger capacity unwinder allows a press to operate longer without the inconvenience of replacing rolls of stock, reducing operator intervention by 50 percent. This allows printers to reconsider a cut off point before going to more traditional presses such as flexo, and will move up the break-even point significantly.’

The Xeikon 3300 consists of five printing stations equipped with CMYK plus the option of a variety of standard or custom spot colors. The press can also apply a special security toner for anti-counterfeiting applications, and ‘one-pass’ opaque white to create a desired ‘no-label-look’ on transparent labels. The Xeikon 3300 press speed is independent of the number of colors that are printed for any specific job. According to Xeikon, this is significant because print companies build their business plans relying on predictable production speeds and print volumes. It also allows printers to sell extended colors without sacrificing productivity.

Xeikon will demonstrate a live example of JDF integration, the standard to simplifying the production process. In this case it will involve Deixis web portal software, CERM MIS software and Xeikon’s X-800 digital front-end. The application will allow end users to request a job through a web portal. Automatically, a price quotation generated by the MIS system gives the customer the choice to proceed with the order, or not. In case of a positive response, the MIS will gather all the relevant job settings and artwork, and submit it to the X-800 front end connected to the Xeikon press. Once the job is transferred to the Xeikon press, real-time job status will be reported.

Filip Weymans continued: ‘Digital printing provides a considerable improvement in terms of flexibility and efficiency in the printing environment. But to maximize the capabilities, integration with the other production steps is required, such as order intake, job management, etc – actually moving from digital printing to digital production.’

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