Labelexpo Americas 2022 / Press Technology | 109DIGITAL PRESSES TAKE CENTER STAGEThere were no fexo presses on display at Labelexpo Americas 2022, so the show was dominated by the impressive advances made in digital printing and embellishment technology. Andy Thomas-Emans reportst has been three years since the last Labelexpo show so there “THIS LABELEXPO REPRESENTED A TURNING was much to catch up on, and a clutch of world frsts greeted POINT IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FLEXO the 13,500 Americas 2022 show attendees.IAND DIGITAL PRINTING. A NEW GENERATION This Labelexpo in many ways represented a turning point in the relationship between fexo and digital printing. Up to OF DIGITAL PRESSES DEVELOPED OVER now, digital has been seen mainly as a way for converters to THE PANDEMIC YEARS IS NOW MATCHING offoad their short-run work, allowing the fexo press to handle THE SPEEDS COMMONLY REACHED BY the medium-to-long runs. But a new generation of digital presses developed over the pandemic years is now challenging FLEXOGRAPHIC PRESSES IN REAL-WORLD that assumption, matching the speeds commonly reached by PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS”fexographic presses in real-world production environments.Expectations were sky-high after HP Indigo announced that it would be showing its new V12 press at Labelexpo Americas, and analytics software allowing real-time machine monitoring. after a hair-raising journey to Chicago from the New York docks Optional is Durst’s Smart Shop software, which enables that involved lost cargo and multiple teams setting it up in time web-to-print operation. for its debut, the V12 arrived safely at the show – the frst time Dantex Group launched the next generation of its Pico UV this press has been seen outside of HP’s demo and production inkjet digital press series. Four different modular print platforms building in Israel. It was certainly worth the wait, printing at 394ft/ will be available from entry-level to full hybrid, 8-color and min (120m/min) in six colors at 1,600 DPI, fully matching the high-speed models. productivity and quality of fexography. Developed over the last two years, the range includes the The V12 makes use of HP Indigo’s new LEPx technology, which PicoColour HD 1200, PicoJet 1200, PicoJet 1200i, and the fagship replaces the intermittent digital plate cylinder found in all previous high-speed PicoJet 1200s which was on the Dantex stand. The HP Indigo label presses with a continuous rotary blanket, building presses use Ricoh’s latest inkjet print heads. up the colors sequentially and then depositing the fnished image Each press in the series is based on a modular design onto the substrate. There are a total of 12 color stations, any six of incorporating in-line fnishing and a wide format touch screen which can be engaged for full-speed printing. If more than six colors which takes up two panels of the press side frame and allows easy are required two rotations of the blanket are required, halving the access to all press parameters. The PicoJet 1200s launched at the print speed. It is expected that most standard jobs will be covered show was confgured with one fexo unit after the digital engine, a by six colors. lamination unit and a slide-in/slide-out rotary die-cutting station. Both near-line and in-line fnishing systems are under The press is designed to register against the die station, allowing development by HP Indigo’s long-term converting equipment rapid end-to-end job setup with minimal waste. partner ABG. Dantex’s SuperWhite and DecoTactile technologies are included Also present on the HP Indigo stand was Maximilliano Martino, as standard. SuperWhite ink delivers up to 92 percent opacity in a chief technology offcer of the global All4Labels group, which is the single pass, while DecoTactile can create a wide range of textured frst beta site for the new press at its Hamburg, Germany plant. embellishments. Additional OGV color options are now offered, Inkjet technology is also closing in on fexo productivity. Durst extending the color gamut to a claimed 96 percent of Pantone Group gave the global tradeshow premier to its 20in wide Tau RSCi, colors at a Delta E of 3 and below. printing four colors at 100m/min (328ft/min). The Pico press software has been strengthened through The RSCi was shown in a roll-to-roll confguration incorporating partnerships with leading workfow suppliers, including Esko. two UV fexo units, one before and after the digital print engine – Domino showed for the frst time its N730i UV inkjet press, the allowing, for example, a frst down white and varnish to be applied. frst Domino label press to use the 1,200 DPI Bitstar print heads The press was demonstrated with Durst’s own workfow and developed by parent company Brother Group.Oct - Dec 2022