Xeikon promotes digital future in Asia-Pacific

At Labelexpo Asia Xeikon is showcasing a 3030 digital press, producing digital labels live and featuring digital front end options such as MyPress and VariLane and off-line solutions as XCC (Xeikon Colour Control). 

 

Josep Roca, Asia Pacific Sales Manager, Labels & Packaging and Commercial Digital Presses, joined Xeikon early last year after 17 years of promoting conventional printing solutions in the region.

 

Labels & Labeling (L&L): Tell us about the web campaign, See the Proof, at Xeikon? 

 

Josep Roca (JR): See the Proof is a web based campaign where label converters can upload some of their existing designs in a pdf file onto a server with a fully automated safe workflow to preserve job confidentiality. They will get a printed sample of those designs on different SA substrates including high gloss paper, metallized BOPP and PE85 printed on a Xeikon. This service is free of charge and allows label converters from around the world to have a first hand feeling of what our technology has to offer in terms of printing quality, resolution, opacity, etc. They can either collect them at Labelexpo Asia in Shanghai or we will deliver them to their factories personally in order to provide them with the necessary information about how our technology can assist them in their business.

 

L&L: How did Xeikon come up with the ICE dry toner technology? 

 

JR: Before that allow me to explain that dry toner was not a coincidence. It was a choice we made. We decided to go with dry toner because we were aware of all the inherent advantages such as color stability, food safety, lightfastness, environmental friendliness and the opacity of the white that could be achieved using this technology. It is also completely  VOC  free and is  extremely environment friendly. It is more stable because it’s not a combination of elements to play with. One doesn’t have to add water, mineral oil, solvents or take care of pH, viscosity, concentration, etc. Indeed it’s a plastic toner which is encapsulating pigments. ICE toner is basically a blend of different plastic resins to reduce melting point therefore allowing us to print on heat sensitive materials such as PE and direct thermal paper. PE SA labelstock plays an important role in food labels and health and beauty industries. Earlier, we could not print it because the melting point of our toner was too high and PE was too heat sensitive. But now we can. The ICE dry toner technology is available with the new Xeikon presses which can use both conventional and new toner. But for existing presses, we will launch an upgrade kit by March 2014. 

 

L&L: Are shrink sleeves and flexible packaging a possibility using the ICE dry toner?

 

JR: Xeikon is not focussing on flexible packaging or shrink sleeves. We choose to focus on specific markets and applications: self adhesive Labels, folding carton, IML labels, heat transfer labels. 

 

L&L: Will Xeikon add more colours to its press? 

 

JR: We don’t want to work in that direction because with a 5-color press you can cost effectively cover an impressive colour range via gamut extension CMYK+X. We have several spot colors available of the shelf that can be used in the fifth station. Our opaque white is the best on the digital market. Playing around with more colors and even having an ink kitchen to mix spot colors in-house means owning a digital press but still thinking conventionally.

 

The full text of this interview can be read in the next edition of India Label News