Edelmann Graphics enjoys offset trend

Visual impressions help make decisions. At the point of sale labels and packaging influence the success of the product. Creativity and high print quality will be deciding sales factors. The demands laid on the print industry are increasing. To meet the demand for higher quality, with more flexibility at an acceptable cost, more and more print houses are turning to offset.

Edelmann Graphics has a range of narrow web web-presses tailored specifically to this trend for the inline production of labels and packaging.

Julius Friedrich, director of the press manufacturer from Beerfelden, Germany, is convinced that ‘with our new label and packaging range we are perfectly prepared to meet the increased demands. Our high degree of automation and our proven machine build technology are responsible for high print quality and outstanding price performance ratio which are the perfect argument for midway size printers with middle size runs’.

According to Friedrich the label range is suitable for practically anything that can be produced from a reel: paper, carton, foil or aluminum. Whether it is self adhesive labels, wet glue labels, in-mold labels through to flexible packaging or folding cartons. Wet offset is the basis and through the adaptation of peripheral processes such as dry offset, letterpress, flexo, screen print and gravure, the machine range achieves ‘an almost inexhaustible flexibility and variability’. This applies also to the web widths from 43cm to 48cm and 52cm through to 72/76cm which are available with cylinder sizes from 280mm to 1,220mm. The advantages of bigger cylinder sizes pay off as differing labels can make better use of the printing plates – this reduces the size related print inserts. Drive technology provides for up to 12 print units.

‘Our machines from the label range are delivered with 2-cylinder print inserts which run bearer to bearer,’ continues Friedrich. ‘With these inserts size changes can be made without breaking the web, making big reductions in waste and time when changing jobs. Running costs are reduced. Especially with reducing job sizes this is a clear cost argument. Low plate costs for offset which are usually processed in-house are a further cost argument for the use of offset to produce labels. The quality of the offset print is as good as sheet fed offset. This is provided by the design of our print towers via helical hardened gears, automatic color control, motorized ink feed rollers and temperature controlled ink recip and ink duct rollers.

‘On our shaftless version we work with two motors per print tower. The first motor drives the print insert and the other the inking roller train, having a separate ink duct roller drive. This allows towers not in use to be readied for the next job during a production run. In addition we offer as an option densitometer based inline color measurement with closed loop. This also reduces stand still to a minimum.'

Friedrich assures customers that they are not forced to purchase a standard machine but can specify a machine exactly matching their requirements. This way market demands are addressed with flexibility. ‘Together with our customers we have equipped the first plants so individually that the resulting thrifty, flexible production with highest quality has markedly increased the competitiveness of our customers.’