Canon to showcase new LabelStream LS2000

Canon has confirmed it will use its drupa 2024 participation to demonstrate its commitment to become a significant, trusted partner to the label and packaging markets, and show a new digital press and product concepts that confirm its clear progress towards that goal.

Indicating the importance of labels and packaging as strategic areas for growth, a dedicated zone on the Canon stand will feature live production of label, corrugated and folding carton applications. 

Canon will show the new LabelStream LS2000 digital label press outside Japan for the first time. It is designed for industrial-scale label printing and is the company’s first water-based inkjet label press.

Available in the EMEA region in 2025, the device prints CMYK plus white on self-adhesive substrates, with a new ink set designed to comply with food safety standards. Visitors to Canon at drupa will be able to see live label production on paper and film media, printing the labels on the LabelStream LS2000, which are then ready for varnishing, die-cutting and slitting on stand on a nearline converting device from Grafisk Maskinfabrik. Print samples from the Canon group company Edale FL3 flexographic label press will also be available.

Thanks to its 2022 acquisition of Edale, Canon has started to establish a presence in the folding carton market. At drupa, an in-line folding carton production process will be shown, taking preprinted reels which will then be embellished live on the Edale FL5-Single-Pass Carton Production Line, adding either cold foil, cast, cure or varnish. The carton will move in-line to the Edale FDC600 flatbed die cutter for cutting, creasing, braille/embossing, and waste stripping, ultimately delivering finished carton blanks in a single pass.

Jennifer Kolloczek, senior director of marketing and innovation for production print at Canon EMEA, commented: ‘While flexo and offset printing processes are suited to the mass production of high-volume jobs, converters are now struggling to maximize plant productivity in the face of more frequent reprints, short runs and versioning, as brand owners create ever increasing numbers of SKUs - all in the context of significantly reduced turnaround times.

‘As the global leader in high-volume production inkjet, our digital presses already operate side-by-side with analogue equipment in complex, high-volume, industrial environments across a variety of commercial print segments, giving us a good understanding of converters’ requirements. Our market-leading inkjet expertise, experience with challenging substrates, and extensive track record of building high-performance production lines, together with the additional insight gained from our acquisition of Edale, mean Canon is ideally placed to help label, corrugated and folding carton converters to gain competitive advantage by increasing operational effectiveness and differentiating their offering.

‘Working with a diverse range of technology partners, we are highly proficient in devising complete end-to-end solutions, hybrid workflows and smart automation. Our systems, together with Canon’s ongoing expert technical and business development support, have enabled hundreds of businesses worldwide to unlock additional productive capacity and tap into profitable new revenue streams and business models. We’re committed to extending those same advantages to label and packaging converters.’