Print Innovation Asia Dec/Jan

Print INNOVATION

Asia

2022 ASIAN

PRINT AWARDS

Magazine

Serving Printing, Packaging and Publishing Industries across Asia Pacific since 1985 Dec/Jan 2022

Italiya Graphics - Digital Packaging takes a major leap forward in Australia

Read our full indepth interview on page 4

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Asian PrintAwards 2022 th

_018 022 Contents Page 4

The sustainability warriors: Italiya Graphics disrupts

digital packaging printing in Australia

10

Canon partners Arrow in Large Format segment

12

CGS ORIS - set to blaze the colour trail in

Asia Pacific in 2022

16

Challenges and Opportunities for Mono-Material

Packaging Businesses in Asia

20

Digitization of Packaging – the opportunities

of drupa!

26

Heidelberg sells 1,000th printing unit of new

Speedmaster CX 104

28

Compnay installs Rotajet press for packaging

30

Heidelberg customers in Asia are ordering

customised presses

34

Increases efficiency of high-quality art printing

by 30 percent

38

XSYS emphasises on supporting converters

in uncertain times

40

Partner up for digital watermarking

packaging solution

42

Future Development by Careful Planning

44

India’s Concord Printing installs Bobst c

orrugated solutio

46

Another new MPS flexo press to meet demand for

linerless labels

48

Pioneering flexo trade shop embraces new

PureFlexo™ Printing from Miraclon

52

LEGO Group announces plans to build new factory

in Vietnam - support long-term growth

54

Indusrty news from the region & around the world

Issue Dec/Jan 22

Print INNOVATION

Asia Magazine

Published by Asian Print Awards Management Pte Ltd 65 Chulia Street #46-23 OCBC Centre 049513 Singapore Print Innovation Asia Labels and Packaging Innovation Asia Asian Print Awards Packageing Excellence Awards Label and Packaging Conferences Publisher

Paul Callaghan paul@printinnovationasia.com

Editorial

Elizabeth Liew elizabeth@printinnovationasia.com Editor Sha Jumari sha@printinnovationasia.com Packaging Sales

Elizabeth Liew elizabeth@printinnovationasia.com

2022 ASIAN PRINT AWARDS

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

4

The sustainability warrio disrupts digital packagin With the first HP PageWide C500 in the region, the family business sets off on its mission to deliver high quality, sustainable print alternatives on a mass production scale.

Italiya Graphics will install the first ever HP PageWide C500 press in Asia Pacific. The HP PageWide C500 acquisition propels Italiya Graphics to the forefront of high graphics and sustainable digital packaging printing in Australia.

Based on HP Thermal Inkjet technology, The HP PageWide C500 provides offset print quality for an array of corrugated packaging and display applications on both coated and uncoated sheets. With the new installation, Italiya Graphics is uniquely positioned to drive mainstream production of high quality digital prints with ground-breaking time to market.

technology that open the doors to new possibilities.”

“With the C500 press Italiya and their customers can deliver packages faster to the market, meet tight deadlines, and with a higher flexibility to make last minute changes. Being a sustainable solution, there would also be less waste and obsolescence. This is unique to digital production which the C500 can provide to Italiya,” said Price.

Founded in 2017 by cousins Vimal and Paras Italiya, Victoria-based Italiya Graphics prides itself as being a family business. In recent years, Italiya Graphics has emerged as one of the most breakthrough success stories in Australia.

“We live by one rule: Can-Do,” said General Manager, Paras Italiya.

“Quality is expected, but we go above and beyond for customer service, and

“We love disrupting the market. Being a water-based, single pass press that has inline aqueous coating, the C500 is the perfect press to ensure that our clients’ work is 100% recyclable & compostable, while meeting and exceeding their quality requirements,” said Vimal Italiya, managing director of Italiya Graphics.

“We are proud to partner with Italiya Graphics, a company that shares our bold vision to innovate and provide the best solutions for the world,” said Nick Price, Asia Pacific Business Manager, HP PageWide Industrial.

“We understand the growing focus for brands to offer both high-quality and sustainable solutions, especially in the digitally printed packaging industry. Our PageWide Corrugated Presses are designed to promote and contribute to a circular economy, to grow our customers’ printing portfolio with true water-based inks and proven

Vimal Italiya, managing director of Italiya Graphics

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

ors: Italiya Graphics ng printing in Australia

From left to right - General Manager, Paras Italiya, Vimal Italiya, Managing Director of Italiya Graphics and Bruce Caldwell, HP PageWide Industrial Sales Consultant, South Pacific Region we have trouble saying no to clients.

We see our clients as family. This is one of the key reasons we’ve been able to see vertical growth even in Covid-19 times.”

To gain better understanding of the local printing business, Vimal and Paras had their start working in large format print shops in Australia. Over the years, with the experience gained working on all the major brands and with different types of equipment, Vimal and Paras bit the bullet to start Italiya Graphics.

“We knew right from the beginning that we needed to stand out in the crowd because we’re the new guys on the block. Australia is a very well established market, and very hard to break into. We could continue to try,

and win with price, or we could try and be the best in terms of quality. But these days, clients expect everything to be the right quality at a low price,” said Vimal. “We quickly realised no one was really in that market of water-based, short to medium runs that is a familytype business with the ability to do the highest quality.”

Standing out in the Large Format Crowd With its ‘Can-Do’ mantra, Italiya Graphics quickly became established in the marketplace for its point of sale (POS) material, which suited the company’s arsenal of flatbed presses.

Italiya also has specially developed unique and proprietary construction methods – such as a ‘liquid laminate’ that provides an ultra glossy finish to

eliminate the use of plastics – which earned the company confidence and loyalty from its clients. This led to opportunities in short run packaging.

“We work with a lot of major global brands for our point of sale display materials, and 99% of the work is cardboard. That's where our main strength is. We started getting inquiries for packaging from our existing clients, and we began picking up a few small orders from them. That's how we began to understand that there is a lot of growth in this area,” said Paras.

“There’s always a gap for short to medium run packaging. For many years, we’ve always done small to medium runs of packaging, but not in the scale that we could now get into.

5

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

6 to high volumes of sheets. The press’ unique corrugated grip technology offers the handling of industry grade boards for smooth production flow.

It also utilises a virtual belt technology that delivers accurate dot placement and media motion for high-quality digital print.

“Another key advantage with the C500 is that the water-based inks are 100% free of UV-reactive chemistries meeting the most stringent food packaging standards, so finally there is an alternative to traditional offset and flexo that offers all the digital advantages that is food safe,” said Vimal.

We never had the opportunity nor were we capable enough to offer our clients the larger scale service that they were asking for,” Paras continued.

When the Covid-19 crisis hit and the world took a backseat, Italiya Graphics took this opportunity to re-evaluate its business and where it wanted to go.

“Do we just want to be another printer doing large format? We were always in this constant fighting in auction-type arrangements with other companies, and the lowest price wins the bid. We could win those jobs and no doubt be successful, but it could get stressful because we work 24-hours, round-theclock, to make it work,” said Vimal.

“With the pandemic, we were given the chance to switch directions and specialise where the market had gaps.

With all the big players here in Australia, they will always crush us in terms of pricing for the bigger runs. With the smaller runs however, clients were not getting looked after. During Covid, a lot of these clients were told they have to wait up to two to three months to get a delivery,” Vimal continued.

“Another feedback that I kept hearing from the clients is that the major players in packaging can be very difficult to deal with in terms of lead times and flexibility, especially if any

kind of variable data print (VDP) was required,” Paras added.

“Our clients have been asking for more environmentally friendly processes for some time now and we needed to answer that call and leapfrog the traditional suppliers. We’ve identified this gap in the market for a truly green large format printer in Australia, because no one at the moment is doing water based, high volume direct to carton printing at all,” said Paras.

Checking all the boxes: HP PageWide C500 Corrugated Press “We already had the HP Scitex 15500 machine and the HP Scitex FB7600 sitting on the floor already, so we were very familiar with HP. We started looking at water-based technology and talked to HP about what we were looking for, and were introduced to the HP PageWide C500,” said Paras.

“No-one was offering a fast, flexible, high quality and sustainable solution, and this is exactly the area we want to disrupt with a water-based solution of the highest digital quality,” said Vimal.

The HP PageWide C500 prints at 75 linear mt/min (246 linear ft/min) in top print quality with 1200 npi resolution using one million nozzles. It delivers sharp text and barcodes, smooth tone transitions and vivid colours for low

HP true water-based inks will allow the company to further its sustainability position, and open it up for other opportunities. Italiya can now print the most sensitive corrugated box applications for food products and produce that come in direct contact with the inside of the box. The inks meet stringent food safety requirements such as USDA FDA 21 CFR, Nestlé guidance, Swiss Ordinance, and EuPIA. Italiya Graphics can also take full advantage of VDP: “The ability to do VDP and vary the data sheet by sheet, that was a real bonus. We can literally change 100% of the image for each board if required, which will allow our clients to truly explore VDP and run split tests for marketing based on regions, demographics, product etc.,” said Vimal.

Another winning factor of the C500 against offset technology is the press’ ability to print direct-to-board and on a much bigger sheet. The reduced set up times and makeready can help to save costs while significantly speeding up time to market. Italiya Graphics can print a client’s proof on the press for the most accurate ‘real’ proof, while still being competitive for the many runs that would normally be produced on offset presses.

Bring Work Back Locally There has been a growing trend of an onshoring of jobs, that Vimal added the company has been benefitting from: “At this stage we’re focusing a lot on producing offshore work locally. A lot the work that would otherwise go

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to China, are now coming to us. There has been less confidence in China as it has become increasingly more difficult to deal with them of recent times. Lead times are being blown out not by days, but months, and costs of international freight has skyrocketed.”

“This year alone we have seen many large campaigns that are worth millions of dollars being revoked from China and assigned to us because when the cost of additional freight is added in, and our ability to turn work around fast, suddenly local production becomes a real alternative and the C500 will only improve this for us,” said Paras.

“We love helping our clients, we love winning work against China and providing jobs to locals. Combine the C500 with some of our unique processes, we will be able turn work around even quicker, while providing more opportunities in the short to medium run packaging, while improving our position with point of sale material," said Vimal.

The HP Service Factor COVID-19 not only gave Italiya Graphics the opportunity to change its business trajectory, it highlighted other pain points that were not as prevalent before. One of which were the importance of servicing. When Italiya first took on the packaging jobs, it had been using several of its European flatbed presses.

“With these flatbed inkjet printers, we have had quite a few problems with parts and support which became even more obvious during the pandemic.

We realised we needed to partner with someone we could get round-theclock, 24-hour support for all the parts and servicing we need. If HP does not have the part right now, they put it on a plane immediately and they get it here very quickly. HP has been very much instrumental in that whole process,” said Paras.

“When you make a huge investment in a HP machine like this, it is a big commitment. With this, also comes the investment for the finishing equipment.

We were looking at a few digital presses from other top manufacturers, and to be absolutely honest, HP was the only one that was able to cover us when we really needed it. Getting back up and support is just as important as the actual mechanical machine itself,” added Paras.

“At the end of the day, I’m sure all the presses do a great job. But if you can’t get the support, you can’t get the parts when you really need them, there’s no point in having the press since it can’t work. That was one of the key strengths with HP – it cares about its clients’ uptimes. What became obvious throughout the process of evaluating the press was that HP are true partners in the journey and they are truly committed to creating the most

sustainable solution that allows for a high level of future proofing,” Vimal continued.

“It’s fair to say in terms of press evolution and technical specifications, we were well advanced with the HP PageWide C500. With the HP Scitex industrial machines that Italiya Graphics had on site already, we were able to give them first-hand experience with the level and quality of our servicing, so that was helpful. It was great that they were able to experience HP from a response point of view, and it clearly helped with their decision,” said Bruce Caldwell, HP PageWide Industrial Sales Consultant, South Pacific Region.

“What really did it for us was how the relationship was with Bruce and the entire HP service team. They’ve become a part of the family, and once you’re in this circle, we’ll sit down and have a meal with you and break bread with you. It’s a family business!

That’s how we treat our clients and our partners as well,” Paras continued.

The Green Road Ahead The HP PageWide C500 is set to provide the best truly sustainable waterbased solution for Italiya’s client base of many of the world’s biggest brands.

“Italiya aims to be a one-stop sustainable shop for brands. We want to be the market leader and at the forefront in the direction towards totally sustainable,

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green printing. It’s not just about the machinery, it’s the entire packaging process that we also take into account.

The aim is to become carbon neutral, without the need to purchase carbon credits,” said Vimal.

There are plans for a 900+ KW Solar panel installation that will be followed by a 400 - 500KW battery installation to help ensure their carbon footprint is reduced significantly. In addition, Italiya will continue to invest efforts in its plastic-free alternatives, waterbased adhesives, and minimal wastage initiatives.

With the C500 at the centre of Italiya’s green roadmap, Vimal and Paras has also adopted the ‘Printing with Conscious’ philosophy, highlighting their goal for Italiya Graphics to be market leaders in digital sustainable printing in Australia.

“We want to provide that extra service We want to make sure we’re ticking all the boxes in service, pricing and turnaround. We want our customers to feel at home with us, we emphasise our family business values and helping to bring print back to Australia whilst being sustainable. That’s really our

whole idea,” said Vimal.

Any last words? “Yes, although we retain a relaxed attitude, we deliver on every aspect of professionalism across our business to ensure the customer’s journey and expectations are met on every level,” said Vimal. “That said, anyone planning to drop by Italiya Graphics, make sure you come during mealtimes. We’d love to have you share a meal with us and our kitchen is always open!”

www.hp.com/go/corrugatedpackaging

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Canon partners Arrow in Large Format segment Canon Singapore announces Arrow Digital as its Large Format Graphics Printers Distribution Partner in India.

Canon Singapore has announced the appointment of Arrow Digital as its Large Format Graphics Printers distribution partner in India. This distribution agreement is planned to grow the indirect B2B channel for the Large Format Graphics printers in Asia. With effect from 1 January 2022, Canon Large Format Graphics products, including Canon Colorado series, 64” roll to roll production printers, UVgel Wallpaper Factory solutions and Arizona UV Flatbed printers, will be sold and serviced

through Arrow Digital’s extensive distribution network.

Established in 2003, Arrow Digital has been providing digital printing solutions to the India market in various applications and industries. This strategic partnership is designed to provide large format inkjet customers with a complete solution provider across the sign and display market.

“India is a very important market for our growing expansion in South and

South East Asia. We take great pride in working closely with organizations that are committed to offering topquality products, solutions and services to customers as it directly aligns with our objective at Canon. We believe that Arrow Digital is the right distribution partner to support Canon’s market penetration.

Our commitment to the Large Format Graphics business remains at the highest level with the new appointment, and we will ensure a smooth transition for our product and services, to deliver best-in-class solutions and exceptional customer service to our customers,” said Steve Ford, Managing Director, Regional Production Printing Asia, Canon Marketing Asia.

Besides handling the domestic market, Canon Singapore covers 23 other countries and regions including subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The parent company is Canon Inc. with a global network of more than 300 companies worldwide.

https://cpp.canon

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www.cgs-oris.com

Quality improvement Environmental resistance Faster drying Eco friendly

Ink Saving is so much more than just reducing costs: It helps optimizing the entire production process. How?

Learn more

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

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CGS ORIS - set to blaze the colour trail in Asia Pacific in 2022 As we enter 2022, Print Innovation Asia caught up with Christoph Thommessen, Managing Director Global Sales for CGS ORIS to review the past year and lay out exciting plans to extend its colour expertise reach in Asia Pacific even more.

1. As we close for 2021, kindly give us an update on how CGS ORIS has been doing overall, and comment on Asia Pacific specifically?

Of course, CGS ORIS has also not been completely unaffected by the current pandemic. Initially, it was difficult to understand the impact of all the restrictions as they came in gradually, step-by-step. We could not imagine a world without traveling as we usually try to keep close personal contact to both our clients and our dealer network. But as everybody else

we had to adopt to the (still) unreal scenario: meetings on MS Teams or Zoom became a common practice, trainings and installations were done remotely.

Despite all those difficulties we managed to have a good year overall, both globally, and also in the Asia Pacific region. In some areas, we have actually enjoyed growth, compared to 2019, since we have a strong foothold in many geographic and vertical markets and we were able to shift our focus on lucrative markets and niches.

We have had several major upgrades in our software despite the pandemic, and a lot of these tools are addressing the packaging market. We noticed people in Asia Pacific are very curious about new developments and willing to be entrepreneurs in their segment.

Take extended gamut printing as an example: Besides being very critical about the impression of the colour, many printers are interested to print more sustainably. In this area, we can definitely help with our solutions, supported by our strong technical team in Asia Pacific.

They have shown their technical expertise by helping our client Huayuan in China to achieve the world’s first G7 certification for metal printing, just as an example.

2. What are your thoughts on CGS’ current reach in Asia? What plans do you have to grow in this region?

During Covid, we spent the time preparing our team and channel partners for when the pandemic ends.

We have had some restructuring of our Asia team, which already started before the Covid-19 outbreak, and will most likely take more people on board. This is especially so in China as the growth there is exponential.

All our team members are very enthusiastic about colour; and they all know what they are talking about.

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Unbox faster turnarounds Make the move to digital – and unbox your business with the flexibility to accommodate fast turns, versioning requests, last minute edits, and changing buying decisions.

With the EFITM Nozomi C18000 Plus digital press for corrugated packaging and POS, you can reduce process steps from weeks and days to hours and minutes. And personalize runs from one to infinity at higher margins and with lower costs – all in a single pass.

Let’s build your brilliant future. Together. Visit nozomi.efi.com to learn how corrugated converters and packaging printers are opening up new ways to say, “Yes!”

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

14 CGS ORIS XGAMUT

that is capable of implementing new procedures without delay.

On the other hand, we realised the value of a personal meeting: it is higher than ever before. I really miss my regular visits to Asia, seeing clients, business partners, and friends. The next time we are able to travel again, I will definitely appreciate every minute I can spend with these people.

Due to their knowledge, we managed to partner with new resellers in certain countries, so our current reach is actually very well-shaped. Once travelling is no longer restricted, we expect further growth.

In addition to that, we have new strategic partners in the region, which will enable us to tackle the business in new emerging markets like industrial printing.

3. Moving forward, what are your main growth focuses for 2022?

There are a couple of aces in my sleeve I cannot yet tell you about.

Our intention is to supply really open products (no propriety formats!) in a modular way, so clients can implement what they need easily and smoothly.

The use of spectral data in the colour communication process will gain further momentum as it erases disputes and guarantees the same colour from design to print. The colour definitions are stored in the cloud and administered by the brand owner, making it really simple and straight forward. Plus, it uses CxF as an open data format!

Extended gamut printing in the packaging segment will also continue to grow. For several years already, CGS has put a particular focus on the needs of the packaging Industry. This year has seen some exciting new and exclusive developments, with the introduction of direct-to-substrate proofing in cooperation with Mutoh, Japan. This will be another game changer in 2022.

CGS has also entered a cooperation with Sun Chemical, which has led to a special proofing system for the beverage can industry.

You will also see CGS ORIS expanding

with new products into emerging markets like the flooring in home decoration industry, which is rapidly turning to digital. In that context, we already have entered into new strategic partnerships. This, we will continue to do so.

4. There has been challenges in the market due to the pandemic. What has changed and how has CGS ORIS responded? As we move into an endemic state globally, which of these changes do you foresee will continue to remain?

With global travel being restricted, the one thing that will remain here is a big push towards technology. For us at CGS ORIS, we will continue to help customers streamline their approval process and monitor quality on a global level, like cloud based colour exchange systems, or remote proofing technologies.

6. You rebranded to a more integrated CGS ORIS in 2020. Is the transition complete?

Yes, we have had a corporate identity change, and our Marketing, especially Dr. Isabel Bracker, really did a fantastic job. It is definitely worth having a look on our website (www.cgs-oris.com) and social media channels, especially LinkedIn. Of course, this is an ongoing process, but it has already helped to establish the brand even further globally. Not only due to Covid, we have put emphasis on a multi-channel approach, particularly using social media and virtual events to connect with existing and potential customers.

CGS PRODUCTS 7. Tell us more about the hero products from CGS ORIS, and

Even if the pandemic was over tomorrow, we would still have to manage the following issues: problems in the supply chain, problems in logistics, sharply rising energy and raw material cost, just to mention a few.

These are factors that are out of our control, and we will have to adapt and accommodate on the parts that we can influence. The way we’ve set up our business during the pandemic is very robust, but of course the less restrictions there are, the easier it is for all of us.

5. What are some business lessons that you have learnt from the pandemic?

On one hand, we saw how important it is to always be prepared to quickly and flexibly adapt your business concept to a radically changed environment and the huge value of having a team

CGS ORIS Flex Pack

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

15 what is growing traction in Asia Pacific? What has been doing well, what has the customers in Asia been using the most of ?

Our direct-to-substrate proofing, FLEX PACK, has probably been the most successful newly launched product.

Colour accuracy is the key component of the FLEX PACK system. Flex Pack is the most colour accurate package proofing and prototyping system in the market. It’s the only inkjet-based packaging solution that delivers colour accuracy, spot varnish, embossing and foiling effects.

Other packaging products are also seeing a lot of traction in the region, like the CXF TOOLS for spectral colour prediction and X GAMUT for fixed palette printing.

8. What is the process of creating workflow solutions like? Can you bring us through the creative development process?

CGS is not developing new solutions based solely on internal considerations.

We pride ourselves to partner closely with customers, suppliers, industry partners and leading associations in the printing industry, allowing us to react

very early to new technologic trends and adapting to new emerging fields.

has done recently that made you go “wow”?

Developing new applications and workflows is a constant dialogue with customers, who willing to test and trial new products, thus eliminating weak points and leading us to new ideas and improved functionality.

There are a few things that come to mind, such as the G7 certification in metal printing. Great achievement by the client!

Some of those partnerships include our long-lasting relationship with Fujifilm Business Innovations (formerly Fuji Xerox) across Asia Pacific, and we have just inked a collaboration with Hanglobal.

Obviously the pandemic has not assisted in driving these relationships further, but we are on a good way. We are also talking to some other players in a different field, but I cannot really comment on this yet! Rest assured, we will keep you updated on that!

9. What are some of the innovative applications that your customer

Also, I received the other day a sample book that Fujifilm in China printed for their clients on a Jet Press 750S, together with our software! It compares offset and JetPress and you really cannot tell the difference. Amazing.

10. Any last messages?

A big thank you to all our clients and resellers, without your loyalty and trust in our products we were nothing!

Therefore, we appreciate all you do for and with us!

To all of you have a fabulous start into 2022 and may it be a better year for all of us!

https://www.cgs-oris.com

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Challenges and Opportunities for Mono-Material Packaging Businesses in Asia The present global demand for mono-material flexible polymer packaging is estimated at 21.5 million tons per annum with a value of nearly USD 59 billion. According to the Smithers report, The Future of Mono-Material Plastic Packaging Film to 2025, the demand for more sustainable solutions will continue to accelerate and exceed USD 71 billion by 2025 with a total of over 26 million tons consumed each year.

What is this mono-material that is generating so much interest? It is a product that is composed of a single type of material or a product with components that are made of a single type of material. Mono-materials can ease the maintenance, re-use, and provide effective disassembly and recycling of products.

By Karen PRAGER Senior Manager, Business Development, Packaging, Printing and Converting, Technology - DKSH

Common Applications At present, polyethylene (PE) is the most widely used polymer for monomaterial film packaging, accounting for over half of the global consumption.

Although PE continues to grow, the demand for polypropylene (PP) grades is rapidly growing. Another alternative material seeing increased interest is the use of regenerated cellulose fiber.

Manufacturers of fresh foods, snacks, and confectionery are the largest users of mono-material film in recent years.

The Smithers report also showed that fresh foods will see the highest

increase in demand over the next five years. Other fast-growing applications for mono-material film packaging include chilled foods, frozen foods, pharmaceutical, and medical-related products.

Benefits of Mono-materials 1. Recyclable. There is a rising demand for easier to recycle polymer formats across the packaging value chain

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

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to help reduce pollution associated with plastic. Conventional multi-layer composite films are difficult to recycle because of the need to separate the different film layers and many markets lack the necessary recycling systems and processes to do so. Mono-material films on the other hand are fully recyclable.

2. High-barrier properties. Full PP laminated with high-barrier properties is a better alternative for packaging purposes as compared to using aluminum foil. As aluminum foil uses an inseparable barrier layer, it is often tedious for the recycling process.

3. Enhances value chain to customers.

As the industry becomes more challenging, adopting mono-materials can offer a significant impact on packaging converters and their value chain. Leveraging on these innovations and technology capabilities could lead to new partnership opportunities to support customers in enhancing their packaging and service portfolios.

Examples of these applications include sustainability areas and regulatory requirements.

Challenges in Adopting Mono-material While flexible mono-material packaging is leaning towards eco-friendly and sustainable features, not everyone involved in the industry can keep up

with the pace. As it stands, the final link in the chain appears to be the weakest: if there is no optimal sorting or proper retrieval, the initiative will collapse before the crucial circular phase.

There are currently limited opportunities for re-utilization due to the lack of facilities that can process new high-value materials. As such, compromises are made on functionality and the overall quality of the final product.

To create effective packaging, coatings formulators and packaging manufacturers must prevent materials from migrating into food packaging.

They also need to ensure adhesion and cohesion in multi-layer laminate systems. At the same time, to remain competitive, they need to create original sensory brand experiences.

Finding the right solution that achieves all this responsibly and sustainably without adding matting agents and toxic compounds, will be the biggest challenge. Here are some potential solutions to consider: • Blown film lines capable of manufacturing mono layer are required with higher barrier properties to replace laminate structures. Achieving the barrier properties, for example, liquids with higher performance requirements,

remains a challenge, however, manufacturers of resins and packaging materials are investing heavily in R&D to overcome this challenge • Ultrasonic sealing solutions for mono-materials to improve the sealing capabilities are recommended • Efficient waste extraction systems for packaging machines, slitters, rewinders, and extrusion lines • Flexographic printing machines with an innovative UV LED drying system which are suitable for fully recyclable mono materials due to their excellent external print properties The printing and packaging industries in Asia are progressing ahead with the advancement of technologies, and it is not easy to keep up with the continuous innovation and advanced industrial solutions. Here is where a proven partner like DKSH can come in to help businesses with the right solutions to achieve higher efficiency and performance reliability.

If you are considering the best approach to leverage sustainable flexible packaging solutions or simply to learn more about the benefits of mono-materials packaging, start by talking to us to learn more about what is readily available to you.

https://www.dksh.com/ppc

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Digitization of Packaging – the opportunities of drupa!

Digital Printing is widely used in labels and packaging in 2019, and it will be further ensconced.

Dr Sean Smyth is a Senior Analyst & Consultant at Smithers. He is closely monitoring the digital transformation of the printing and packaging industry. part of manufacturing and filling lines.

This shows the high number of players now competing in the wide range of packaging applications, offering new capabilities and functionalities, with steadily increasing productivity and lower costs.

I was right that the map did get more crowded, as suppliers launch new Technology map 2019

and improved models, but there was a high-profile exit. Smithers tracks developments in this market sector, publishing reports and running conferences on the future of digital packaging, bringing together hundreds of brands, retailers, packer/fillers, converters, designers, agencies and designers meet with equipment and ink/toner suppliers, with workflow and logistics companies also involved. It is an excellent forum and over the years the conversation has moved on from the technology and does it actually

Author - Dr Sean Smyth is a Senior Analyst & Consultant at Smithers.

He is closely monitoring the digital transformation of the printing and packaging industry.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

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Technology map 2021 Inkjet

Boxmaking Machinery, Colordyne, Domino, Fujifilm, Inca/Fujifilm, Kolbus, Konica Minolta, K&B/Durst, KM/ Komori, Landa, Landa/ Komori, MGI, Ricoh, WinJet, Xanté

​Barberán, Baysek, Bobst, BME, DPi, Domino, Durst, EFI, Flora, Foshan Winlink, Fujifilm, HP, HRB Pack, JS Machine, Kento Hybrid, King Tau, Kodak, Koenig & Bauer, K&B/Durst, Kolbus, Konica Minolta, Limitronic, Macarbox, MasterWorks, MTex, NSE, Panotech, PinLong, Qingzhou Yiheng, Shenzhen Hanway, Suzhou Tektronix, Sun Automation, Taiyi Precision, Teckwin, Xanté, Xeikon, Winjet, WonderJet ​DPi, HP, BHS/ Screen, Conprinta hybrid, Engico

Inkjet Colordyne, Gallus, HP, Kodak, Koenig & Bauer, PCMC (Barry-Wehmiller)

EP HP Indigo, Kodak, KM, Xerox, Ricoh

Inkjet Afinia, Astro Nova, Bitek, Colordyne, Comexi, Durst, Fujifilm, Hapa, HP (for paper), K&B, Landa, Miyakoshi, Rigoli, Screen, Uteco/ Kodak, V-Shapes, W&H, WiPak

EP HP Indigo, Xeikon

Webfed

Sheetfed

Webfed

Postprint Inkjet

Liner inkjet

EP Xeikon

​Corrugated

Direct to shape

​Flexibles

​Cartons

PACKAGING

​Rigids Glass, plastic, metal

​Flat sheet

3Sixty, Bergstein, CAPrint, Cyan Tec, EPS, Fermac, Hapa, Heidelberg, Hinterkopf, IIJ, Inkcups, Isimat, ITW Morlock, KHS, K&B Kammann and MetalPrint, Krones (Till/Dekron), LSINC, Machines Dubuit, Martinenghi, NTS Group, Omso, OPM Europa, Plastipak, Sacmi, SMTD, Tapematic, Tonejet, Wifag Polytype, Velox, Xerox

Fujifilm (Inca), K&B Metalprint

Labels ​HP Indigo, Xeikon, Konica Minolta, Mark Andy

​EP Entry Level ADSI, DTM Print (Primera), Isys Label, OKI, Cut Sheet

Inkjet Amica Systems, Atlantic Zeiser, Bobst (Mouvent), Canon Océ, Coaso, Colordyne, CSat, Daco, Dantex, Dilli, Domino, DropJet, Durst, Edale/FFEI; Epson, Founder, Fujifilm, Gallus, Hanglory, Hapa, IIJ, IN2PS, INX, Iwatsu, Mark Andy, Miyakoshi, Monotech JetSci, Mprint, MTex, Multitec, New Solution, ​ UP Group, Uteco, Winjet, Xeikon PCMC, Rapid, Screen, Shiki, Systec, Trojan,

work, to the business benefits from digital and how consumers will respond to the new capabilities.

Quality, reliability and speed are no longer issues for inkjet and electrophotography package printers.

Nor is speed with sheetfed machines offering 10,200 B1 sheets per hour and web presses up to 305m per minute in formats up to 2.8m wide making productivity comparable to litho, flexo and gravure competitors.

Printhead and equipment manufacturers have developed many solutions that eliminate inkjet artefacts, compensating for nozzle outs in real time that extend the life of the heads and machine uptime. Inkjet will be the real winner, with faster machines being shown, particularly in flexible packaging.

The wide-web Kodak Ultrastream system from Uteco, Windmöller & Hölscher and Comexi have announced systems as have Fujifilm and Screen, with others in development and Koenig & Bauer are pushing their RotaJet into high volume applications.

It is used in cartons, along with the sheetfed VariJET from the K&B Durst joint venture. EFI will doubtless try to widen their market into cartons and probably flexible packaging, after all the Bolt textile machine from Reggiani looks like it would be a pretty powerful flexible packaging device with a few modifications.

Inkjet hybrid Entry Level Afinia, Bitek, Epson, Isys Label, NTS Print, Valloy

Bobst (Mouvent), Canon Océ, Edale (FFEI/Fujifilm), Colordyne, Domino/ MPS/ABG/CEI/Lombardi/Multitec/ Spande, Edale/FFEI, Focus, Gallus, IIJ, Mark Andy, MonoTech, Nilpeter/ Screen, Omet/Durst, PCMC, PPSI, Prati/Screen; also white/high build varnish print bars

Some from the myriad of narrow web label printers will show wider, faster inkjet presses, as will some of the current wide-format inkjet suppliers.

It is not just printing. Some vendors have single pass, highly automated systems to print and finish corrugated boxes, cartons and flexibles in a single pass. This is commonplace in labels, for other packaging the enabler is combining digital print with digital finishing, adding automated control systems to drive the press, measure and check the print then track through finishing which may be coating, laminating, cutting, creasing, folding and gluing, together with a wide variety of embellishments.

The digital front end controller is becoming increasingly powerful, to drive the digital print section, to measure and control quality and then to set and drive the finishing technology.

This approach replaces the traditional skills of the press minder and finishing

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journeymen operators which is important because skilled labour is a resource that is increasingly difficult to recruit and retain.

While digital presses are the new, shiny and sexy headline grabbers, more important is the enabling software, because the only way of making money from a digital press is to print saleable output and a powerful workflow is vital to prepare the artwork files and keep the print queue well stocked. In 2019 this was a barrier for packaging converters getting into the sector as many do not have prepress and data handling skills.

The good news is there are many companies providing solutions, integrating into management information systems to automate administration and automation functions which is necessary to handle many short run jobs, and to prepare variable content. Workflow is becoming collaborative and automated, where designs are produced and approved, then loaded into job queues for automated colour management and imposition with no manual involvement at the converter. The MIS is linked, ordering substrates and planning the production on printer and finishing to meet the customer requirements and optimise capacity at the converter.

Digital workflow can be daunting for packaging converters used to handle a few large jobs but it is the way of the world. At least you can explore

solutions at drupa because simplifying supply chains is the key to future success supplying packaging and labels.

Esko is the market leader with a broad variety of specialist packaging software tools showing how to automate the repetitive processes involved with packaging design, approvals and prepress with integrations to third party MIS and digital presses. They are joined by Hybrid Software and many small specialist providers selling apps and solutions.

print (plus finishing) will very much be on the agenda. There will be more machines for labels, corrugated – post and preprint, replacements for litholam, for folding cartons, for flexible packaging, for metal and there will be several direct-to-shape machines doing interesting things on plastic and glass. Established players will show improvements to quality, speed and formats, with new inks and toners broadening the types of packaging they can produce.

All these packaging developments are ultimately driven by end customer expectations, or rather demands. In the increasingly connected world

It was sad the physical drupa did not happen, but the digital alternative showed the appetite for innovation has not been diminished. Companies are taking stock and developing their future strategies and digital is firmly on the mainstream. The pandemic allowed many business leaders time to assess their operations in light of changing customer needs as demand patterns changed. Innovation is key, with techniques to overcome cognitive barriers (past experiences stopping changes) under traditional corporate control valves.

(accelerated by COVID-19) these demands and expectations are changing, with more engagement and interaction to improve the consumer experience of the brand. Digital printing allows brands to make content decisions closer to the consumer, helping them to provide more than just the traditional containment and protection functions of the pack, with information and promotion. Digital print and finishing of packaging can provide a wider range of functions beyond analogue capabilities, which is why it is growing so quickly.

Drupa is the most important print show, because the exhibitors (and all the important ones will be there) show what they have and they also use the event to showcase what they may well be working on. And digital packaging

Companies need accelerators to change following McKinsey Analysis that courage one of the defining success factors. Waiting for cheaper and better technology to mature does not pay off in the short term, but companies making inkjet work for themselves are seeing the pay offs now. More will join in.

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Heidelberg sells 1,000th printing unit of new Speedmaster CX 104 • Subscription Smart contract complements investment in equipment • Gafs Kartong expects Push to Stop configuration to deliver big boost in productivity •Prinect Production Manager covers key packaging functions • State-of-the-art sheetfed offset technology targets vast market potential with outstanding price-performance ratio

before the global market launch this summer, we had orders for over 500 printing units – a figure we’ve doubled in the space of just three months,” he adds.

In its core business, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is seeing a growing global recovery that is making customers keen to invest in the latest technologies and solutions. The Swedish packaging printer Gafs Kartong (Gafs), which is based in Värnamo, is set to take delivery of what is already the 1,000th printing unit of the new Speedmaster CX 104 that Heidelberg unveiled in the summer. Founded as a packaging board supplier in 1947, Gafs now has a 22-strong workforce and generates sales of over four million euros. The Speedmaster CX 104-6+L with newly developed coating unit in the Push to Stop configuration is supposed to be supplied together with a Suprasetter 106 platesetter and will arrive before Christmas.

“Our new universal press, the Speedmaster CX 104, is proving

to be a big hit on the market,” says Stefan Hasenzahl, Head of Product Management at Heidelberg. “Even

Gafs, which produces folding cartons primarily for Swedish customers from a range of different industries, is complementing its investment in equipment with a Subscription Smart contract that includes the supply of all consumables and software over a period of several years.

Consequently, Gafs will also be using Prinect Production Manager, which covers all the key functions for packaging printing. One example is a CAD-based solution that ensures

The 1,000th printing unit of the Speedmaster CX 104 unveiled by Heidelberg in summer 2021 goes to Swedish packaging printer Gafs Kartong. From left to right: Heidelberg Sales Manager Lars Lindberg, Gafs Kartong owners Lasse Svärd and Annelill Annvik, and Oscar Runesson Stenmark from Heidelberg Sweden.

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Speedmaster CX 104 coating unit anilox roller change quick and easy impositioning and also includes all typical packaging marks.

Crucially, the Prinect workflow provides all data that is relevant for production, ensuring reliable production and repeat jobs of a consistently high quality. What’s more, production data feedback gives Prinect a full overview of performance at all times.

The new press is replacing a Speedmaster CD 102 at Gafs. Annelill Annvik, one of the owners of Gafs Kartong, justifies the investment decision as follows: “We scrutinized and compared both digital and offset options, but the arrival of the Speedmaster CX 104 on the market put an end to our search. Significant improvements in makeready times and quality control, combined with integration into the workflow, make us very confident about the benefits and progress for the entire company.”

Lasse Svärd, also an owner of Gafs Kartong, has the following to add: “The new Speedmaster CX 104 from Heidelberg perfectly meets our requirements. We were won over by this company’s cutting-edge offset technology and service portfolio, along with an excellent price-performance ratio. We’re expecting the Push to Stop

function in particular to deliver a big boost in productivity.”

Heidelberg strengthens position in commercial and packaging printing with new universal press With the new Speedmaster CX 104, Heidelberg is looking to further build on its strong position in the expanding packaging segment and meet the growing demand for flexible printing systems with a variety of automation solutions and variants in the commercial sector. When selecting equipment variants, customers benefit from the system’s free scalability – which extends all the way through to Push to Stop functionality – and also from tailored configurations with as many as 15 printing/coating units.

Highlights include unique operating philosophy, new coating unit, and inking/dampening unit innovations The Speedmaster CX 104 boasts a new, ergonomic design with excellent accessibility and offers users a completely new operating philosophy (Heidelberg UX) with the Prinect Press Center XL 3, plus a whole host of assistance systems that are included as standard. Heidelberg thus provides an integrated solution

portfolio for the globally increasing level of industrialization at small and medium-sized print shop businesses.

Another highlight of the Speedmaster CX 104 is its new coating unit based on XL technology, which focuses firmly on simplified operation, faster makeready, and a further improvement in coating quality.

The arrangement of key elements optimizes accessibility. Thanks to a 30 percent lower roller weight, changing the screen rollers is more ergonomic and far faster, too. A time saving of up to 75 percent based on one-person operation has already been confirmed under real-life conditions by pilot customers.

The inking/dampening unit on the new Speedmaster CX 104 is geared to optimum quality and productivity.

Furthermore, optional functions such as an integrated ink mist extractor, an automatic ink agitator, and an additional washup solution supply for mixed operation combining conventional and UV ink enable customers to further boost the inking/dampening unit’s performance, especially in UV printing.

https://www.heidelberg.com

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Another Rotajet digital press to packaging Koenig & Bauer announced that another packaging company has invested in its single-pass RotaJet digital press for packaging printing. The press will be delivered in the upcoming year and is scheduled to commence production in 2023.

With this press, Koenig & Bauer said it has achieved its breakthrough into the packaging segment. This follows in the wake of the company’s sales successes in the decor segment, where several RotaJET installations have been commissioned successfully. The RotaJET digital print solution is a versatile high volume single pass inkjet printing press.

In total, more than 20 industrial singlepass digital presses from Koenig & Bauer, including HP PageWide T1190 and T1100 models, with web widths from 1.38 m to 2.8 m are currently already in use, or have been sold and are awaiting installation.

“This means we have now arrived in almost all important market segments for digital print. Our RotaJET is one of a kind, and one of the most productive digital presses on the market anywhere in the world. A glance across supermarket shelves suffices to grasp the sheer range of different types of packaging. Sustainability, time-tomarket and increasingly small runs, paired with a growing numbers of

variants, are the customer demands that we are addressing with the RotaJET,” said Christoph Müller, member of the executive board of Koenig & Bauer AG. More and more consumers today are not only demanding foods and beverages from fair-trade sources and in a higher quality than ever before, but also innovative product packaging.

The RotaJET is able to print on all sorts of different substrates, from lightweight paper to solid board.

Packaging, decors, posters, patient information leaflets, folding cartons,

books or even coffee bags – practically anything is possible on the RotaJET. In the field of decor printing, cutoff lengths of more than 5 metres are possible. For Koenig & Bauer's customers, this opens up a whole series of new possibilities that other technologies are still unable to offer.

Digital film printing with water-based inks is another segment in which Koenig & Bauer is currently positioning the RotaJET together with a globally active partner. The production start on this press is scheduled for 2022.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

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Shortly after the new Speedmaster CX 104 entered production at the Heidelberg site in Shanghai, the first customized configuration with twelve units left the plant and was installed and commissioned by its Chinese owner, which operates in the packaging segment.

Heidelberg customers in Asia are ordering customised presses In a trend that has been emerging for a long time now, a growing number of print shop customers are demanding printed products with sophisticated coatings and special effects.

This development is particularly striking in folding carton and label printing, with branded goods manufacturers aiming to generate a steady stream of new purchasing incentives through the use of particularly effective, stand-out packaging designs.

Moreover, print shop customers in the commercial segment also want to run their marketing campaigns with custom-designed print products that stand out from the crowd thanks to striking and sophisticated coatings and special effects.

At Heidelberg, these market requirements are being met by presses with increasingly long custom configurations and a wide variety of equipment. As many as 20 printing and coating units with interdeck and end-

of-press dryers as well as multiple cold foil modules can be installed in one press.

“The general market recovery is also being clearly reflected in the demand for customized machines,” said Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer.

“The trend toward print products with increasingly sophisticated surface finishing is still growing and is boosting the profitability of branded goods manufacturers and print shops in equal measure.”

Special configurations of the Speedmaster XL 106 in particular demand Over the past three years, Heidelberg has delivered an average of one customized press per week in the 70 x 100 centimeter, and 50 x 70 centimeter

formats. No other manufacturer has supplied as many customized presses. Presses with customer-specific modifications currently account for 80 percent of all the Speedmaster XL 106 presses delivered.

The customers ordering these bespoke machines are primarily based in Europe, the USA, and Asia, with the principal market being Japan.

The leading market position of Heidelberg is due to its unparalleled expertise in building sheetfed offset presses and its in-depth understanding of the associated applications. This includes development, production, and service equally.

Over the past 15 years, Heidelberg has installed approximately 200 presses

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Typically, these are dual-coating presses.

Around half of the very long presses in use on the market handle double-sided printing and surface finishing. This is where the specific expertise Heidelberg has in sheet travel and perfecting technology really comes into its own, particularly when ever more demanding printing stocks such as recycled paper and ultra-thin materials are being used.

Great potential for the new Speedmaster CX 104 The new Speedmaster CX 104 also has a great deal of potential for long configurations. Heidelberg has already sold more than 1000 printing units since the machine’s market launch in summer 2021.

solution that balances what is technically feasible with what will bring the biggest benefits for the customer.

This is why Heidelberg collaborates

Operators are systematically guided through all the processes at the Prinect Press Center XL 3 control station.

The number of installed customized presses is growing. As many as 20 printing and coating units with interdeck and end-of-press dryers as well as multiple cold foil modules can be installed in one sheetfed offset printing press from Heidelberg. Here a Speedmaster XL 106-2+LYY-P-8+LYY-1+L with 2 FoilStar cold transfer modules for efficient inline finishing of the inside and outside of folding cartons.

In the key packaging market of China in particular, the company is seeing a rapid growth in demand for long special machines that print shops can use to meet local demand for packaging that features sophisticated coatings and special effects.

The first Speedmaster CX 104 systems with twelve and more units have already been delivered from the production plant at the Shanghai site. As a result, Heidelberg is further expanding its strong position in the key market of China and in the Asia-Pacific region.

Customer benefits come first The long presses combine numerous different processes in one inline workflow. The aim is for the final products to be available quickly and for outlay on logistics to be reduced to a minimum. However, it is not just about packing as many applications as possible into a press. Instead, the challenge is to find a proportionate

very closely with customers to specify the dimensions of their press. “We work with our customers to cover as many processes as possible inline and in premium quality. Ultimately, it is about manufacturing the type of press that the customer can use to produce their products cost-effectively,” said Markus Leichtle, Senior Manager, Product Management Sheetfed at Heidelberg.

However, how a press is configured with printing and coating units is not the only key consideration. The amount of automation involved is just as important. As print runs get ever shorter, the ability to execute job changes quickly becomes particularly important. Heidelberg meets this requirement in two ways. Firstly, fully automated systems are available for changing printing and coating plates.

Secondly, intelligent assistants in the Speedmaster Operating System safeguard makeready processes that run on a largely automated basis.

Subscription options also available for special presses The Heidelberg Subscription Plus and Subscription Smart contract models are also available for customized presses and are proving to be increasingly popular with customers, primarily because they focus on boosting productivity. Under the Subscription Plus model, for which Heidelberg has secured MunichRe as a strategic financing partner, customers obtain a full package of services that includes the sheetfed offset press, the Prinect workflow, consumables, service, and performance consulting.

Under the Subscription Smart model, the press is not part of the contract.

This means Subscription Smart can be taken out for presses that are already in use, including presses manufactured by a third party. Both models are billed based on the number of sheets printed per year.

https://www.heidelberg.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

Connect to Grow

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Increases efficiency of high by 30 percent Founded in 1993, the Artron Art Group has made a name for itself around the world as an integrated company committed to the enterprise of culture. Artron's mission is to "serve the people with art by serving the people's art." By integrating a range of technologies, Artron has become one of the world's top cultural and art-related service providers, conveying the beauty of art to the world.

Artron Shanghai was established in 2006 and is their third integrated operation base in China after Shenzhen and Beijing. In 2013, the company moved their headquarters to the Jiading District of Shanghai, and their industrial park now has a very rich artistic atmosphere and covers an area of 22,000 square meters. Artron's policy throughout is to serve companies in the fields of high-quality art, fine art, art auctions, and luxury brand products as well as prestigious businesses, and such firms now make up their main customer base.

Artron: leader in fine art printing Zhang Yao-kang, Executive Vice President of Artron Shanghai, says, "We have been using Komori presses since our founding. The first were the Lithrone 40 series presses, followed by the Lithrone S40 and the Lithrone G40 series, and now the Lithrone

G40 advance series press introduced this year. The Shanghai plant is now running a total of eight Komori presses.

The main reason for the introduction of the five-color Lithrone G40 advance press with coater is that we are printing "The Collection of Chinese Historical Paintings." This very important art book published by Zhejiang University Press collects the best paintings of Chinese dynasties from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and has been designated a national publication fund project.

The collection demands a very high degree of integrity and requires the use of 280-line high-definition screen printing and very sophisticated reproduction of the original paintings.

Therefore, the specifications for printing and binding quality are extremely strict and the constraints are very high. In addition, the customer

is also making demands regarding the performance, condition, and operating life of the printing presses. Against this background, we proactively contacted Komori and they overcame a number of difficulties amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, arranged a variety of resources, and installed the advance machine for us in July 2021. The timing of the press installation was very good, and it saved us a lot of trouble."

Lithrone G40 advance increases highdefinition printing efficiency by 30 percent Commenting on the effects of the new press, Vice President Zhang Yao-kang says, "The introduction of the new press has greatly helped to improve our overall efficiency, which has increased by 30 percent. In the past, we were limited to five or six jobs per shift, but now we can print up to eight jobs.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

h-quality art printing

We also feel that the advance model has significantly improved feeder and delivery performance, and the overall stability of the press's operation has been significantly improved. This goes a long way in ensuring our overall productivity and efficiency.

In addition, when printing with the state-of-the-art Lithrone G40 advance, dot and color reproduction is excellent, and our customer is very satisfied with the print quality of the finished product for our most important project, "The Collection of Chinese Historical Paintings."

The ultra-high-definition color reproduction by Artron, an enterprise synonymous with high quality printing, can only be achieved by using the most advanced printing machines.

The performance of the press in the printing process plays a crucial role in reproducing the originals. Technology such as the unique Komorimatic continuous dampener on the Lithone G40 advance model maintains the minimum water supply required and provides a more stable supply of dampening solution.

By reducing UV ink smearing and maximizing the benefits of the Komori

dampening system, the press achieves even faster color reproduction and more reliable color management. This kind of subtle differentiation and design, which is not easily captured, has resulted in the sharp halftone dot reproduction of Komori presses and has contributed significantly to Artron winning numerous printing awards.

Lithrone G40 advance more convenient and intuitive This overall increase in efficiency is closely related to the wide range of performance improvements that the advance series press brings to the table.

Liu Lei, a printing manager who has operated different series of Komori presses, commented on a number of improvements in the new model.

"With the feeder, the operator used to manually stack the paper and align it with the center point. Now we can track it automatically with the monitoring sensors on both sides and with automatic adjustment to the proper pile position, which is even more convenient. For the delivery, the number of suction wheels has been increased on the latest model, enabling more stable and neater paper delivery even at high printing speeds."

Zhang Yao-kang, Executive Vice President of Artron Shanghai "The operation screen of the PQC Print Quality Control System is more intuitive than ever, allowing us to visually check the current and preset values of each ink application quantity, and to control the increase and decrease of ink supply.

Another major improvement is the adjustment of the ink distributing roller. In the past, it was necessary to climb up the steps of the machine, open the safety cover, and adjust the ink distributing roller by loosening the screws, but now it can be checked

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simply by touching the screen, reducing adjustment time. Also, for replacing the blanket, when attaching or detaching the blanket cylinder gap cover, damage to the press resulted if the plate was misaligned.

Now we use a fixed gap cover, which reduces manual operation and significantly reduces the safety risk.

By simply scanning the color bar with the PDC Print Density Control System scanner, the density and Lab values are neatly displayed on the screen, and with the P4 pre-inking function, the balance between the dampening solution and ink quickly reaches an OK level, leading to reduced paper loss."

Artron and Komori: a strategic partnership Artron and Komori first met 25 years ago in 1996. Commenting on the partnership between Artron and Komori over the years, Vice President Zhang Yao-kang says, "As Artron has grown, we have also witnessed the expansion of Komori's business in the Chinese market. Moreover, Komori has played a very important role in our growth process, providing us not only with the indispensable printing presses but also a great deal of support, including technical cooperation, establishing printing standards, and training.

Several years ago, Artron and Komori collaborated on a project called "Chomolungma Action." Specifically, we invited experts from Komori's

technical and production fields to help us improve Artron's overall management of production technology, printing site management, and efficiency, and this was very helpful."

Zhang describes the collaboration between Artron and Komori: "In the past few years, Komori has also started sales of digital printing systems.

Artron Beijing has already installed two Komori Impremia IS29 digital printing systems, and we are planning to install a Komori Impremia NS40 digital printing system using nanotechnology in the spring of 2022. In the future, Artron and Komori will have more opportunities to collaborate. I think there are better opportunities for both companies, not only in the area of production equipment but also in exploring business models. And we hope that Komori will develop many more superb machines and provide us with more technical assistance and support."

In 2022, four Lithrone G40 advance presses will be newly installed to contribute to Artron's art business.

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19 – 22 October 2022

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XSYS emphasises on in uncertain times In 2021, supply chains have struggled to cope with the challenges and pressures presented by the pandemic, while manufacturers at all levels have had to work harder to ensure that their customers could deliver in an unprecedented business climate.

As we look towards 2022, there is no doubt that conditions will remain difficult with the cost of raw materials, energy and transportation set to rise further.

XSYS continues to focus on maintaining a consistently high level of product quality and service to customers during these challenging times.

Under the ‘Be Brilliant’ tagline, the company supports converters to achieve the best possible result as a partner throughout the value chain, with great solutions in plate and platemaking technology, complemented by a full range of sleeves and adapters.

“As we exit another challenging year, we enter 2022 with some apprehension but also with hope on the horizon. In the short term, we will all need to manage raw material shortages, soaring energy costs and supply chain issues that will invariably cause more price increases

across the board, affecting the entire value chain and the end consumers alike,” XSYS Commercial VP Friedrich von Rechteren commented.

“The mid-to longer term always carries some uncertainty, but we know that the packaging industry will endure and grow further. For XSYS, the mission is, as always, to enable converters to succeed in a highly competitive market even as we face a very unpredictable future. They can rely on our dedication to bring brilliance to our customers and to our industry,” added von Rechteren.

Market conditions Customers are challenged on margins, efficient manufacturing and on delivering sustainability improvements, as shorter run lengths and demands for quicker turnaround call for increasing OEE and faster ROI than ever before.

They need to manage increasing complexities in the process, including multiple SKUs, brand colour consistency across many different packaging types, and printing on a vast array of substrates, while remaining competitive against digital printing technology and reducing the impact on the environment.

The corrugated market has seen significant growth – a trend that is set to continue in 2022 as brands seek to further improve the consumer experience on shelf and in the home.

The customers are utilising the strengths of nyloflex® plates developed specifically for this market, such as the FTC, FTL, FAC and FSC, which enable them to reduce costs and improve sustainability by printing on liners with a higher content of recycled fibers, while optimizing print quality

Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

supporting converters

to produce brilliant colors, straighter lines and better reverses, and delivering superior fluting reduction.

The flexible packaging segment is also thriving, due to the growing need for consumer convenience. At the same time, it is extremely challenging for converters to deliver on brand owners’ requirements for high quality, lower costs and better sustainability, and also meet increasingly stringent legislation aimed at reducing plastic usage.

XSYS is set to introduce an important addition to the already broad portfolio; another plate that has been fully optimised for LED exposure.

Building a future In 2022 and beyond, higher levels of automation, full optimisation of all processes and sustainability will be key

to growth for converters, who need to eliminate human errors, produce rightfirst-time labels and packaging, and reduce waste to satisfy the demands from brand owners.

Following the launch in 2020 of the ThermoFlexX Catena platemaking equipment, the market saw an acceleration of installations in 2021, as more and more customers chose to implement the highly automated Catena solutions for delivering best-inclass printing plates at competitive cost and with low waste.

Combined with a highly productive imager from the ThermoFlexX range, the Catena modules can be connected to form a fully automated plate processing line, the Catena+, which opens the door to the future of flexo plate production.

In addition, Woodpecker surface screening technology is also helping

printers to print faster and reduce costs in a more sustainable way.

“The combination of ThermoFlexX and Woodpecker technologies has had a great impact on our flexo plate production, and the quality is second to none,” said Ezequiel Fernandez, founder and owner of São Paulo-based Cliart, in Brazil.

“We take our environmental responsibility very seriously, and it is important that we can demonstrate to our customers that the technology we invest in is the best-in-class, not just for quality and costs, but also less wasteful in production,” he added.

“It continues to be a cornerstone for much of our own innovation and will be for years to come,” added Gavin Lowes, Global Manufacturing Manager at Reproflex3 in the UK.

https:// www.xsysglobal.com

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Partner up for digital watermarking packaging solution HYBRID Software has entered into a partnership with Digimarc Corporation. This agreement positions HYBRID Software as the ideal solution for driving sustainability and efficiency in the packaging printing market.

Combined with HYBRID’s software, this partnership will leverage Digimarc’s expertise in digital watermarking techniques to deliver a seamless solution in the automation of brand protection and traceability.

“Our partnership with Digimarc will allow HYBRID Software to enhance our technology to address our customers’ increasing needs in sustainable packaging and brand integrity solutions,” said Patrick Coussement, Managing Director HYBRID Software. “We look forward to a long relationship with Digimarc and a shared commitment in providing scalable technology for our customers and partners.”

HYBRID and Digimarc have a longstanding history of providing leading technology to the packaging print market. Digimarc Verify has been available to select customers since 2020, in HYBRID Software’s CLOUDFLOW software to allow for error-free inspection of Digimarc digital watermarks within automated workflow processes.

Digimarc digital watermarks offer covert and overt protection for physical products, packaging and digital assets, adding a crucial layer that supports brand protection.

These digital watermarks are fully compliant with industry standards, yet imperceptible to the human eye.

Since the imperceptible watermark is embedded throughout the artwork’s entire surface area, scanning is expedited.

Users of Digimarc Verify benefit from an extra level of security due to the integrated robust workflow automation. The margin for error from the creation until the approval cycle is drastically reduced, and expensive printing mistakes will be avoided.

Building on the integration already available in CLOUDFLOW, HYBRID Software also plans to add Digimarc support to its PACKZ PDF editing software enabling application and detection of digital watermarks during the prepress phase.

Packaging provider implemented new functionality in

SGK has Digimarc HYBRID's

CLOUDFLOW packaging workflow system, across its facilities worldwide.

"We believe that our partnership with HYBRID Software and Digimarc directly benefits SGK’s global clients by offering advanced levels of automation and quality control on jobs with Digimarc watermarks," said Francois Estellon SVP, Global Operations & Chief Technology Officer. "Our intent is to play a key role in the future development of greater integration of Digimarc watermarking into HYBRID Software solutions, thereby helping the world's leading brands and retailers accelerate their packaging connectivity and sustainability initiatives."

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Learn more

New solution for direct-to-substrate proofing on uncoated packaging media - now available for FLEX PACK!

www.cgs-oris.com

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Future Development by Huasi Paper Products Co., Ltd. introduced its first ROLAND 706 LV Lite Evolution

Founded in 2009, Huasi Paper Products Co., Ltd. is a fast-growing packaging printer mainly providing high quality packaging printing products and services for the well-known domestic telecommunications companies.

Adhering to the quality policy of "In search of excellence, continuous growth, quality improvement, and customer satisfaction" since its establishment, the company produces the printed products in full compliance with international standards with the advanced production equipment, the high quality raw materials and the precise testing equipment.

In addition, according to Mr. Wang Feng, the company’s general manager, Huasi Paper Products Co., Ltd. has introduced ISO9001:2008 international quality certification and ISO14001:2004 international environmental management system.

With the support of IOS9001 and IOS14001, the implementation of

TQM management mode, and the experienced management personnel, the company is becoming more competitive in the printing industry.

When taking about the company’s

future development plan, Mr. Wang said, “Our company currently employs about 250 staff members with an area of ​​ 25,000 square meters. Looking to the future, our company aims to become bigger and stronger. We plan to

Factory manager Mr.Li

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y Careful Planning expand our plant area to 42,000 square meters. We also plan to continuously improve our product quality, reduce management costs, enhance market competitiveness, create more social and economic benefits, as well as secure a larger market share among the fierce competition."

In order to realize this future development plan as soon as possible, after a comprehensive and meticulous market research and comparison, the company decided to cooperate with Manroland for the first time introducing a brand new ROLAND 706 LV Lite Evolution. Recently the new press has been successfully installed and officially put into production.

"Manroland's century-old brand name could not only significantly enhance our brand image in the market, but also strengthen our customers' confidence in us!" Mr. Wang continued. "The ROLAND 706 LV Lite Evolution equipped with a massive amount of cutting-edge automation technologies not only ensures the premium print quality and the highly stable and consistent colours, but also increases productivity and saves the total production costs, which thereby further strengthens our company's market competitiveness."

The following are some of the massive amount of cutting-edge automation technologies mentioned by Mr. Wang: With three different ink distributions at the push of a button, TripleFlow offers high color consistency during the whole print run and drastic savings in waste, which could further reduce the production costs.

InlineInspector 3.0 detects even the smallest hickeys, splashes, scratches, creases, streaks, scumming or smearing just as reliably as it detects color deviations or substrate defects, which

could lower the manpower costs.

InlineColorPilot 3.0 measures and controls register and color automatically without the need of a pull sheet, which not only ensures the high color stability, but also at the same time significantly saves time and wasted sheets and increase productivity.

InlineFoiler 2.0 is a groundbreaking enhancement solution that meets market demands for more creative, more eye-catching and more vibrant print. With the InlineFoiler, printers can cold foil and overprint a full spectrum

of colours inline on a broad range of substrates in a single pass and it can be combined with delicate embossing and effect or spot coatings or varnishes for maximum impact. It could achieve excellent printing effects, while at the same time the productivity could be increased to a very large extent.

With the full running of the new press ROLAND 706 LV Lite Evolution, Huasi Paper Products Co., Ltd. has become more powerful and continues to steadily move towards the development goal of becoming bigger and stronger.

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India’s Concord Printing installs Bobst corrugated solution Concord Printing, based in Gujarat, India, has set up a new printing and packaging plant in the city’s Halol industrial area. To boost packaging production and meet increased demand, a BOBST EXPERTFOLD 110 A2 folder-gluer with corrugation kit has been installed at the new facility.

first, but if the bottleneck persists and is around 35% to 40%, opting for an additional machine is the best decision.

So that’s what we did,” said Memon.

One of India’s largest manufacturers of packaging, promotional and print design material, Concord Printing serves domestic and international clients across FMCG, real estate, pharmaceutical and other sectors.

About 85% of the business is packaging, of which 50% is mono cartons and 35% is corrugated packaging.

Situated some 20 km away from the company’s city unit, the new 125,000 sqft plant is still in its first phase of construction. Once fully operational, it will increase Concord’s monthly capacity by more than 50% to over 300 tonnes of paper and paperboard with the BOBST EXPERTFOLD playing a key role.

“Right now, we are operating the Halol plant in parts, where we have the infrastructure for lamination and converting,” said director Arshad Memon, who is the younger of the two Memon brothers running the company together – Kayyum being the elder brother.

The new BOBST EXPERTFOLD 110 A2 was installed in July 2021. The versatile folder-gluer enables highly flexible production of a wide variety of box styles, combining consistency with quality to increase productivity.

At Concord, the new A2 model joins investments made at the start of 2020, which include a slew of corrugation machines for die-cutting, hot foil stamping and window patching.

The company was already running a BOBST VISIONFOLD 110 foldergluer installed in 2015, and a BOBST NOVACUT 106 die-cutter from in 2017, at the city plant. According to Arshad Memon, the VISIONFOLD enabled Concord to fulfil the increased demand for packaging, particularly in the food and pharma sectors, which began soon after the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

“Our packaging production grew massively during this time, which meant we were doing around 40% more work than we normally did,” said Memon.

“Our existing BOBST VISIONFOLD 110 folder-gluer configured with fourand six-corner device has served us well. It gave us the ability to process all the new demands we were receiving quickly and easily,” Memon added.

“Whenever we find a bottleneck in our process, we think that’s the right time to add a new kit. That being said, we do increase the hours on the machine

The second reason for choosing the new EXPERTFOLD was the confidence in the BOBST brand: “We are not very comfortable with other brands, particularly when buying critical equipment like folder-gluers, we prefer BOBST,” he said.

The third reason was timing. “Believe it or not, the hardest times are actually the best times to invest. There’s a fear of the future, and hence a fear of spending money. This low demand means machines are often available for quick delivery. We also believe that when the worst is over, the demand for products will double, so we wanted to be ready for the surge,” Memon concluded.

Established in 1968, Concord Printing is a second-generation family company previously known as Pravin Printing Press and Concord Enterprise. Besides the converting machines, the company is equipped with three offset presses – an RMGT six-colour plus UV coater, a Heidelberg SM 74 four-colour, and a Roland 200 single-colour.

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RIGHT LABELS, RIGHT TIME, RIGHT COST.

New! VP500/550* DESKTOP COLOR LABEL PRINTER

Budget-friendly print solution for professional-quality labels designed for small to medium-size businesses and multi-location enterprises.

New! VP610/660* DESKTOP COLOR LABEL PRINTER

Streamline your labeling workflow and deliver up to 2,400 labels (4x6") in 10 min. with these new supercharged print solutions.

www.vipcolor.com

*VP550/VP660 provide enhanced water-resistant inks for chilled food and beverages and most moisture exposed product labels.

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Another new MPS flexo press to meet demand for linerless labels Expanding on an over 20-year corporate relationship, Bizerba UK has purchased an MPS 10-colour EFA 530 flexo press with full LED drying from GEW. The press is destined for a brand new production site for Bizerba and will be used predominately to print their CleanCut® linerless labels for the UK market. The Bizerba group currently operates 13 MPS presses across Europe.

Morag Ash, Head of Labels at Bizerba UK, provided key input in the decision to purchase the MPS EFA 530 press.

“We were looking for a press with improved performance and technology which would enable the business to have minimal make ready-times and improve overall productivity. Considering all the options and our existing relationship with MPS since 2001 which has been excellent over the years, choosing the latest EFA 530 LED press was an easy decision.

“MPS flexo presses have proven outstanding performance plus the added advantage of being servodriven. They also have an innovative concept on how to control printing and web tension separately which allows improved printing results. Overall, MPS provides very high reliability, maximum automation and high-quality service.”

The sale was led by Nick Tyrer from MPS UK Ltd., and Niels van Groenendaal, Regional Sales Director.

First MPS press in the UK with full LED drying When choosing their new flexo press, full LED drying was Bizerba UK’s first choice. This purchase will mark the first MPS press in the UK with full LED drying from GEW. “We have seen the adoption of LED in both Europe and the USA over the last few years and it is great to see this trend continuing at pace in the UK, as more and more printers realise the many benefits of LED,“ said Marcus

Greenbrook, Director of International Sales for GEW (EC) Limited.

“Thanks to Bizerba for being one of the pioneering printers to move to LED, and it made complete sense to purchase their first MPS with LED when starting a new site in the UK. I am sure this will be the first of many.”

MPSConnect for connectivity and performance improvement Bizerba considered all of the industries leading manufacturers before deciding the MPS EFA 530, deciding that MPS was the press that ticked all the boxes. The ability to add innovative expandable features such as the latest MPSConnect feature was another major plus.

-read moreMPSConnect is a proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which allows an MPS press to be monitored in real time. MPSConnect tracks essential data and provides up to date reports to

assist customers by providing insights into limiting down time, reducing cost, and preventing breakdowns, along with ordering just in time parts and supplies to be available as and when required.

“We are looking forward to adopting MPSConnect in the near future, the benefits of the programme will allow us to further enhance and improve our performance and output,” concluded Ash. About Bizerba UK Bizerba UK was started in 1983 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Germanybased Bizerba SE & Co. KG, affording customers all the benefits and support of being part of a multinational company. Headquartered in Balingen, Germany, Bizerba has around 4.300 employees worldwide. The company has now been in the same family for five generations. Additional production facilities are located in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, China and USA

https://www.mps4u.com

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https://fujifilm-gcb.info/FBNZ_Re

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Pioneering flexo trade shop embraces new PureFlexo™ Printing from Miraclon Trisoft Graphics, based in Costa Mesa, California, is an innovative flexographic prepress provider that serves narrow, mid and wideweb flexible packaging and label printers globally.

Nearly 30 years ago, in 1993, the business was founded by President Tristan Zafra and partner Johnny Hong, who together identified a market opportunity that became the catalyst to build a full-service prepress business; delivering artwork design to pressready plates for printers. Tristan recalls: “It was a time when a lot of prepress providers were primarily concentrating on quantity instead of quality of jobs and chasing lower-margin work. We decided there was greater potential and opportunity to serve more printers and their brand clients by focusing on efficient and high-quality work.”

Trisoft was an early adopter of KODAK FLEXCEL NX Technology in 2008 — being the first prepress customer west of the Mississippi.

Tristan describes his first reaction to the technology: “At the time we were using digital plates from another major manufacturer, but when Kodak showed me FLEXCEL NX Technology, I’d never seen anything like it. We were used to getting dot sharpening with digital plates and bumping up the

minimum dot to compensate. But with FLEXCEL NX Technology the MinDot was 1-to-1 — there was no distortion, no sharpening.”

In a vivid example of technological exploration, the Trisoft team tested their existing digital plate to try to replicate the FLEXCEL NX plate

results. “To eliminate the oxygen layer, we wrapped the plate and got a flat-top dot. It was the same when we submerged the plate in water and exposed it. Our incumbent plate supplier wasn’t interested in exploring this further, and this unwillingness to change made the decision for me. We terminated our account and signed up for a FLEXCEL NX System!”

With FLEXCEL NX plates, Trisoft was able to give customers the quality they sought and delivered results that were predictable, consistent and efficient, says Terry Clark, VP of Business Development. “When we started using FLEXCEL NX Technology we were reaching GRACoL color specs almost instantly. We were pushing into the commercial printing color space, offering increased gamut with greater productivity. It was a big leap forward.”

FLEXCEL NX Technology and DIGICAP NX Patterning became the foundation for Trisoft’s proven formula, FleXtremePLUS+, enabling the flexo process to be pushed to even

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higher levels of consistency and quality.

Tristan stresses that FleXtremePLUS+ is more than the plate and imaging technology alone. “It’s a combination of proprietary screening, separation, color management, and processing techniques and technologies that we’ve developed into a robust workflow over time. And it gives us a real edge over the competition — with FLEXCEL NX Technology and FleXtremePLUS+ we can go head-to-head with any other trade shop and win every time.”

“Exceptional productivity is now a reality” Recently, Trisoft again embraced the opportunity to beta test new technology to enhance their platemaking capabilities and further sharpen their competitive edge with the addition of

the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Print Suite for Flexible Packaging from Miraclon to enable PureFlexo Printing.

“FLEXCEL NX Technology has been an outstanding platform to build on,” says Terry Clark, “and PureFlexo Printing takes productivity to a higher level. By controlling unwanted ink spread it reduces dot gain even further, making the process even more stable and allows for a wider latitude on press.

It’s great to go out on press checks and see jobs coming up to color so quickly — sometimes even before they’re in register. This is a level of productivity we dreamed of years ago, and it’s now a reality!”

“The ability to demonstrate higher onpress productivity as well as outstanding quality is a strong closing argument

in Trisoft’s customer offering,” says Tristan. “In a competitive consumer market, demand for so-called ‘good enough’ quality is shrinking as brands want stand-out packaging on shelf with vibrant colors, and fine detail. Brands and printers look to companies like Trisoft to invest in new technology innovations that extend the color gamut and can deliver their branding intent. With FLEXCEL NX and FleXtremePLUS+, we have that technology. Then add PureFlexo Printing, we hit the numbers on press so quickly and the pressroom productivity becomes exceptional.”

A future of innovation and success Trisoft’s innovative implementation of FLEXCEL NX Technology, Trisoft’s FleXtremePLUS+ and PureFlexo Printing was recognized with Highest Honor as a Gold Winner in the 2021 Global Flexo Innovation Awards.

Tristan adds that the relationship with partners like Miraclon is a big part of the company’s success: “We appreciate working with a partner and team that value cutting-edge technology and the opportunity it brings to our business.

Together we can push the boundaries of flexo, continuously innovating and delivering these benefits to our customers. Miraclon’s innovation success enables success for us and our customers around the world.”

https://www.miraclon.com

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DIGITAL PRINTING SOLUTIONS LIKE NO OTHER Ready for the next turn.

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24/08/17 09:45

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LEGO Group announce factory in Vietnam - sup - Site set to be the LEGO Group’s first carbon neutral run factory.

- Investment of more than US $1billion to create up to 4,000 jobs.

- 6th LEGO® factory to expand Group’s global manufacturing footprint and support long-term growth in Asia-Pacific region. = New factory set to start production in 2024.

The LEGO Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Company Limited (VSIP) to build a new factory in Vietnam. The facility is planned to be the company’s first carbon neutral factory and will include investments in solar energy generation.

The LEGO Group will invest more than US $1 billion in the 44-hectare site in the Binh Duong Province around 50km from Ho Chi Minh City and create up to 4,000 jobs over the next 15 years.

Construction is set to begin in the second half of 2022 and production is due to start during 2024.

The new factory will be the LEGO Group’s sixth manufacturing site and second in Asia. It is being built to support additional long-term growth in the region so the company can continue to deliver play experiences to many more children in the years to come. The LEGO Group has achieved annual double digit growth in the region since 2019.

The new site expands the LEGO Group’s global supply chain network which locates factories close to its major markets. This provides the flexibility to respond quickly to shifts in local consumer demand, shortens the supply chain, and reduces the environmental impact of shipping long distances.

Chief Operations Officer, Carsten Rasmussen said: “We are very grateful for the support of the Vietnamese

government in helping us achieve our ambition to build our first carbon neutral factory. Their plans to invest in expanding renewable energy production infrastructure and a collaborative approach to working with foreign companies who are seeking to make high quality investments, were among the factors in our decision to build here.

“This investment will help us to bring the power of LEGO play to future generations of children. We want to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow, and it is critical that we do so by acting in the most sustainable way possible.

“We are also looking forward to partnering with VSIP to build this state-of-the-art factory which will directly provide thousands of jobs to the region and indirectly support local businesses and communities.”

Mr Nguyen Phu Thinh, General Director of VSIP said: “We are excited to collaborate with the LEGO Group on this important investment and honoured they selected Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park III in Binh Duong Province. We are committed to offering international companies high quality investments and sustainable solutions to create attractive long-term development opportunities.”

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es plans to build new pport long-term growth

Building a carbon neutral site The new factory will feature solar panels on its roof and VSIP will build a nearby solar project on behalf of the LEGO Group. Combined, these solar parks will produce enough renewable energy to match 100% of the factory’s annual energy requirements. It will

be constructed with an aim to meet a minimum standard of LEED Gold, which covers all areas of sustainability including energy, water, and waste.

The factory will be designed to accommodate electric vehicles and be outfitted with energy efficient production equipment.

The LEGO Group together with VSIP will plant 50,000 trees in Vietnam to compensate for vegetation removed during construction.

The new factory will meet the LEGO Group’s extraordinarily high quality and safety standards. Skilled local employees will be trained to operate the same high-tech production equipment used in every LEGO factory around the world. This will make sure that each brick is made to the accuracy of 1/10th of a hair’s width so that it fits perfectly with bricks and products made over the past 60 years.

Carsten Rasmussen said: “Every LEGO factory no matter where it’s located is designed to make the safest, best quality products, and provide a world class work environment for our colleagues, so we live up to our promise that only the best is good enough.

When you buy a LEGO set, you know

you are getting a play experience that will last for generations.”

50 years of diplomatic relations 2021 marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Denmark and the LEGO Group is excited to be able to announce such a significant investment in this anniversary year.

Denmark’s Ambassador to Vietnam and Laos, Mr. Kim Højlund Christensen said: “2021 is a milestone year for Danish and Vietnamese relations. During the past 50 years both countries benefited economically and culturally from developing close ties – from development cooperation to trade and investment. This is the largest investment in Vietnam made by a Danish company. It shows the confidence and optimism we have in the future of this important partnership.”

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54 Fujifilm launches monochrome wide format MFPs The monochrome wide format multifunction printers target manufacturing, construction and facility management industries FUJIFILM Business Innovation Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. announced the launch of the ApeosWide 3030/6050 monochrome wide-format multifunction printers.

The series entails three new products under two models for scanning and printing A0 size drawings with enhanced security functions to prevent leakage of confidential drawings.

The wide format printers are already available for sale to Asia Pacific.

The ApeosWide 3030/6050 multifunction printers with its existing security print and copy management are further equipped with more robust network security functions with the latest version of the network security standard - Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3), which provides a stronger encryption for network communications.

For added protection, the single printer can also be connected to two independent networks, thereby enabling an environment where scanning and printing operations can be managed separately and securely.

For example, connection to the company intranet for employee’s usage, while the other is connected to the internet for external users.

There can be independent connections for different departments and users such as general users and departmental users only. These can be implemented via a secondary ethernet connection.

The ApeosWide 3030/6050 is also designed to provide enhanced experience to users with its new user interface (UI) via a 10.1-inch colour LCD panel and is equipped with an attention light to alert users that an error has occurred when the orange lighting flashes up for easier management and operation.

Siegwerk Thailand awarded for circular economy efforts The Thai subsidiary of Siegwerk has won the Thailand Prime Minister Industry Award in the Circular Economy category.

The Circular Economy is a new category in the annual Industry Awards. It focuses on cost-effective use of resources, taking into account the use of sustainable materials as much as possible, aiming to reduce pollution and environmental impacts sustainably by developing a stable economy along with preserving the environment and natural resources of the country.

To qualify for the award, Siegwerk Thailand had to undergo a rigorous three stage vetting process including a site audit in order to qualify for the award.

In the application, Siegwerk Thailand highlighted innovations to facilitate

recyclability in packaging, awarenessraising for paperization solutions, deinking/delamination technologies, collaboration with value chain partners for circularity solution and commitment to product safety among other achievements.

“This award builds the pride of the company and all employees as part of its success, and drives our company to continue to develop. We will also be an agent to raise awareness for partners as well as society, to focus on the circular economy in a sustainable way,” said Tussanee Leevongwat, Entity Manager, Thailand and Head of Human Resource for Siegwerk South East Asia.

The award serves as affirmation that Siegwerk is on the right track in it’s ambitions to become a leading enabler for circular packaging solutions.

ALPLA set up Asia Pacific arm in Singapore Global packaging company ALPLA announced that its Asia-Pacific (APAC) head office in Singapore will go live on 1 January 2022.

According to ALPLA, the APAC office is a merge of the company’s North East Asia and South East Asia subsidiaries. It includes current operations in China, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

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SPEED UP YOUR PROCESSES with optical systems for UV curing and drying

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Specialising in plastic packaging, ALPLA produces custom-made packaging systems, bottles, caps and moulded parts. It has around 21,600 employees worldwide at its 178 sites across 45 countries. The packaging is used in a wide range of areas, including for food and drinks, cosmetics and care products, household cleaning products, detergents and cleaning agents, pharmaceutical products, engine oils and lubricants.

The APAC region will have 2,750 employees and managed by Roland Wallner, currently ALPLA Managing Director North East Asia. Alongside extending the reach of the company’s moulding technology, a strong focus lies on the further development of circular economy activities in the region.

ALPLA operates its own recycling plants for PET and HDPE in Austria, Poland, Mexico, Italy and Spain, and in the form of joint ventures in Mexico and Germany. Other projects are being realised elsewhere around the world.

“We are convinced that establishing this new regional organisation is the right step to support our ambitions in the region. It will especially enable us to develop market-leading products and services for our growing customer base in Asia,” said ALPLA CEO Philipp Lehner.

“With this step we are bundling our extensive competences and resources in different markets of the region and aligning them in terms of strategic development, customer service, sales and purchasing,” Wallner added.

Pantone unveils 2022 Colour of the Year Pantone has unveiled its colour of the year for 2022, Very Peri (Pantone 173938).

The colour institute described the colour as being a “dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a vivifying violet red undertone”.

Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression.

“The Pantone Colour of the Year reflects what is taking place in our global culture, expressing what people are looking for that colour can hope to answer,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Colour Institute.

“Creating a new colour for the first time in the history of our Pantone Colour of the Year educational colour program reflects the global innovation and transformation taking place.”

“As society continues to recognise colour as a critical form of communication, and a way to express and affect ideas and emotions and engage and connect, the complexity of this new red violet infused blue hue

highlights the expansive possibilities that lay before us,” Pressman continued.

Amcor unveils state-of-the-art healthcare packaging facility in Singapore to serve accelerating customer demands in Asia Pacific Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging, today announced the opening of its greenfield packaging facility in Tuas, Singapore. The dedicated healthcare packaging facility will address a current and future market need, as demand for healthcare packaging is rapidly increasing across the region.

Amcor’s new Tuas facility comprises cleanroom manufacturing environments, capability in three-, seven- and nine-layer co-extrusion blown film, and state-of-the-art flexographic printing. It is also fully certified to ISO 13485, ensuring the ability to fully satisfy industry regulatory requirements.

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CANON SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.

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58 its distribution and servicing business across the Oceania region.

Under the new agreement, GMS Pacific will manage all sales, distribution, and servicing of the complete range of Kongsberg digital finishing solutions and tools, from its base in Melbourne, Australia.

GMS delivers product solutions for labels, packaging, carton and display manufacturers in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Pacific regions.

“With the Asia Pacific healthcare packaging market expected to grow at a more than 8% through 2026*, Amcor is laying the foundation to support that growth with this advanced facility in the region,” said Amcor’s Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Konieczny. “Our innovative and regional approach in this space, coupled with our commitment to sustainability, will ensure our continued industry leadership for customers of all sizes, as well as the environment.”

the packaging industry and creating a powerful incentive for companies to lead through innovation. Amcor is pleased to lead by example, having previously pledged that all of its packaging will be recyclable or reusable by 2025. To that end, the new facility in Singapore uses printing technology that is water based with no solvent emissions. Its multilayer blown films can produce recycle-ready products and its multilayer film technology allows new product innovation with a lower carbon footprint.

As part of a global initiative to expand the reach of Amcor’s innovation network, Amcor is establishing an innovation center for healthcare films in the Singapore facility to drive advancement in co-extrusion blown film technology. Amcor will leverage its global product platform and the strengthened innovation capabilities enabled by this new center to bring new technologies, innovations and compelling products to market to serve customers in Asia Pacific.

You can Watch a video here: https:// youtu.be/Fn39BV1Cg58

“Healthcare is one of the fastest growing industries in the region, and customers are looking for packaging suppliers that can improve their speed to the market,” said Scott Jackson, Amcor’s General Manager, Southeast Asia Healthcare. “Our new Singapore facility is a meaningful step towards expanding our product offerings and increasing our capacity to support customer growth, now and well into the future.”

Increasing consumer demand for more sustainable products is reshaping

Kongsberg appoints Oceania distribution partner EKongsberg Precision Cutting Systems announced a new agreement with GMS Pacific (GMS) to handle

“This latest agreement is a part of our ongoing process of moving towards a more efficient and effective way to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Stuart Fox, President of Kongsberg PCS. “The team at GMS Pacific has more than 20 years’ combined experience working with Kongsberg solutions. We are delighted to now begin this partnership as the exclusive digital finishing solution provider for its business.”

“With this distribution agreement, we are living up to our ethos of ‘global presence, local service’. While we realize a company our size doesn’t necessarily have the scale to offer the level of service we’d like in all parts of the world, having GMS Pacific as a local full-service distributor will enable us to give our customers across Australia and New Zealand the level of attention they deserve,” said Fox.

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 11 2021

60 “GMS Pacific holds stock of spare parts and Kongsberg consumables in their Australian and New Zealand warehouses, so customers can enjoy the full range of sales and follow-up services and speak to a representative in the same local time zone, improving their experience and removing potential delays,” Fox continued.

“One of our digital finishing tables will be installed at the company’s Australian headquarters, giving customers the opportunity to have a close-up look at the impressive machinery in action. This exciting new agreement is about Kongsberg PCS focusing on improvements where we can really make a difference, to deliver the best levels of service to our customers,” said Fox. GMS Pacific delivers solutions for label and packaging manufacturers for over 40 years. As well as introducing the latest technology products and supplying the highest quality equipment and consumables, the company provides expert advice to customers across Oceania.

According to GMS Pacific, the new distribution partnership would further complement the company’s own offering and strategic aspirations.

“We have built our business and reputation by consistently delivering quality, service and reliability, and developing long-term partnerships with leading brands that deliver profitable solutions to our customers,” said Andrew McNamara, Managing Director of GMS Pacific.

“Kongsberg PCS is the leader in its markets and a great fit with GMS Pacific. We are delighted to be cementing our relationship with Kongsberg, establishing a dedicated team to support customers achieve their own business growth through distributing the leading range of digital finishing solutions and technological advancements in the field,” McNamara concluded.

PepsiCo ramps up sustainable packaging in new initiative PepsiCo, Inc. introduced pep+ (pep Positive), a strategic end-to-end transformation with sustainability at its core. pep+ will guide how PepsiCo will transform its business operations: from sourcing ingredients and making and selling its products in a more sustainable way, to leveraging its more than one billion connections with consumers each day to take sustainability mainstream and engage people to make choices that are better for themselves and the planet.

One of the pillars of pep+ is to promote a positive value chain by introducing more sustainable packaging into the value chain.

In line with pep+, PepsiCo announced new goals to cut virgin plastic per serving by 50% across its global food & beverage portfolio by 2030 and using 50% recycled content in its plastic packaging.

PepsiCo will continue to scale new business models that require little or no single-use packaging, including its global SodaStream business, an icon of a Positive Choice and the largest sparkling water brand in the world by volume.

The SodaStream business is an innovative platform that almost entirely eliminates the need for beverage packaging, among other levers. SodaStream is already sold in more than 40 countries. Part of the brand's effort to help consumers avoid more than 200 billion plastic bottles by 2030.

Besides SodaStream, PepsiCo’s brands across its food & beverage portfolio are accelerating their efforts to realise the sustainable packaging vision and leveraging their influence to educate consumers on recycling and the planetary impacts of their choices.

11 European markets are moving

key Pepsi-branded products to 100% rPET bottles by 2022. Meanwhile in the U.S., all Pepsi-branded products will be converted to 100% rPET bottles by 2030, with Pepsi Zero Sugar beginning to be sold in 100% rPET bottles by 2022.

PepsiCo has been investing in breakthrough food packaging technology and is now introducing a fully compostable bag made with plant-based materials. Starting with Off The Eaten Path, one of Frito-Lay's plant-based brands, this industrially compostable packaging will be available to consumers in the U.S. Notably, the company also announced today that it is willing to work with other companies to license the same technology at no cost given the importance of creating a circular food packaging system.

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