Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 -2022 by Print Innovation Asia

Print INNOVATION

Asia

Magazine

Serving Printing, Packaging and Publishing Industries across Asia Pacific since 1985 Issue 2- 2022

2022 ASIAN

PRINT AWARDS

INNOVATION PRINT AWARDS

FUJIFILM Business Innovation Asia Pacific congratulates winners of INNOVATION PRINT AWARDS 2021

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Asian PrintAwards 2022 th

PACKAGING EXCELLENCE AWARDS: 2022

2022

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2022 Label & Packaging Trends 6 of the hottest trends! FUJIFILM Business Innovation Asia Pacific congratulates winners of the Innovation Print Awards 2021 EFI Connect conference highlights New digital print innovations Stunning designs achieved with Fujifilm cuity B1 press Kartonplus uses Xeikon’s digital technology for Sustainable Packaging Production Kick off for drupa 2024 COLORADO 1650 in Japan Digital print prowess meets offset sensibilities Illuminate print with precious metal opulence Tamil Nadu’s first Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 75 five-color press. Elna Press Joins QLM Group " Wing Fat Striving for a Brilliant Future " New Lithrone G40 boosts production for p ackaging printer MPS launches EF next generation press: the connected printing solution’ The Rising Importance of Colour Consistency in Packaging in Southeast Asia International toymaker uses Speedmaster technology from Heidelberg Is Sustainable Print Finishing Actually Possible? How large format supports business resilience in todays print enviroment Indusrty news from the region & around the world

Issue 2 - 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 2 2022

2022 Label & Pac

6 of the hottest trends

2022 is cautiously seen as a break-out opportunity for many businesses. It is vital you look at what is happening in the market to ensure your business and products look awesome! Adapting and pivoting requires inspiration and connectivity. These are the hottest trends we predict will have the biggest impact, for your labels & packaging to stand-out! The QR code is seeing a resurgence on labels and packaging, but with more tailored thought. QR codes can deliver way more information in many more ways. Links can be updated and used to show the origin of products (‘where do I come from’ and ‘how was I made’) as well as authentication of provenance or certifications. In addition to detailed information you can show images, videos or simply entertain (don’t underestimate the power of gaming). attainable sustainable start going circular

QR Codes check-in and check this out! Use QR codes to replace busy packaging with too much info, connect with customers & offer deals. Make it easy to buy & test to make sure it works! The QR code is evolving from a simple check-in option to a check this out experience! Scanning behaviours are being used to initiate interactive sales opportunities that people are totally into. The key is a well-defined call to action, whereby customers know why they are scanning and what they are going to get. By incorporating features and promotions that add value, they perform more than just function, they become engagement.

Gather information BEFORE you design or set goals. Consider overall environmental impact when evaluating options. Be flexible with decisions and changing circumstances. Recyclability became sustainability and now it’s all about circularity. This label & packaging trend is about sustainability options that are easily understood, evaluated and achievable. Be careful of ‘green washing’, where people state options achieve things that they don’t. A broader discussion on the ‘war on plastic’ takes into consideration the impact of all elements of the label and packaging process. While eco-friendly looking designs remain popular, the acceptance of imperfect packaging is struggling, largely due to the perception that products have been damaged or

tampered with. ecooptions showcase the 3 R’s of sustainability: Responsible sourcing, Reduction strategies & Recycling options. Setting goals for labels and packaging can involve a complex series of interactions. We have a range of product options and packaging strategies to improve your overall sustainability, talk to us so you are circular & not going in circles. bright pastels soft shades go hard core Bright pastels & colour palettes are setting the tone for 2022. Pastels are being explored with a wider range and experimentation with different backgrounds.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

ckaging Trends

By Lindsay Nutley Director of Marketing QLM Label Makers

The calming & softer pastels are being given new life with brighter versions, combinations and treatments to visually represent the current world transition. These ‘new’ Pastels are merging with a range of black backgrounds, mono and duo-tones as well as contrasting colours (a nod to flares, colour mists and gradients).

Forget muted colours only, pastels now feature a range of tones and it’s all about shades! Pantone Color of the Year 2022: Very Peri is part of a bright new season of pastel colours. Colour label & packaging trends indicate a desire for visual exploration, but with an understatement that isn’t too shouty (wait till 2023 for the screamy colours to explode again).

Ideal for multiple SKUs, combinations can effectively create different emotions and evoke feelings for products. Whilst once the domain of cosmetics and healthcare products, pastels are re-emerging in logos, branding and graphic design across a much wider range of industries. design is inside–out where’s the party They say “it’s what’s inside that counts”. Reflecting the changing

delivery environment and world experience, designs have refined exteriors with colour and surprise inside. This design aesthetic keeps it simple and clear on the outer packaging and design and uses fun and discovery on the inside elements. An awesome way to surprise and wow customers with customised designs, colour and branding based on the end user or campaign. It elevates unboxing experiences with much more consideration and overall messaging. Research consistently shows customers are prepared to spend more on customised items, yet we often spend thousands researching consumer

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

6 behaviour only to fail to allocate sufficient resources and budget to the packaging side. Delivery boxes that have long been plain white or kraft, now come with a range of colourful options. This current label & packaging trend utilises the element of surprise by teasing or delaying gratification and giving the receiver something special. Given how many things are now being delivered is it time you stepped your box up! easy tiger! it’s a jungle out there The Year of the Tiger will see this beast featured on packaging & design. Creative designs will highlight tigers and creatures, rising up with colourful and creative forms, patterns and surprises. Tigers are renowned for being brave, loyal and forceful. The ultimate symbol of power. Yet they are also often used as a deity for children who wear shoes or

hats with tiger patterns for good luck. From a design perspective, tigers are often associated with jungle themes and elaborate floral or symbolic patterns. You can also expect a general revisiting of a vast range of animal prints, with everything from leopard, cheetah and zebra prints as well as some more creative new animal inspired patterns & themes to go with them. Orange, black and grey are popular tones but expect to see some creativity with crazy colour combinations and the subtlety of single tones for stunning contrast. The eye of the tiger can also

be used to create dramatic effects and embody a wide range of emotions. 2022 is a ‘Water Tiger’ year which has the added characteristics of a strong sense of self-esteem & learning ability, traits that may come in handy. make me feel textures & touches Tactile elements will feature on packaging, evoking emotion by engaging other senses to create a ‘feeling’ around a product. The best way to achieve dimension is by using texture & engaging the sense of touch. Embossing is one of the easiest ways to create this dimension, lifting or lowering elements from the base to give status and refinement.

Textured materials also give an earthiness and tactile feel. They are inherently harder to print on and often give a ‘grainy’ effect, so include that in the design considerations. Laminates and varnishes are often used for a ‘tack’ sensation. High build varnish and spot varnishes create contrasts of texture and light to encourage product interaction. Velvet or soft touch laminates are more common in packaging now (having featured on book covers for years) as the pricing becomes more economical. There are other ways to create ‘feeling’ though. How something makes you feel is a combination of senses and how they interact with each other to create colour, movement and evoke feelings.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

FUJIFILM Business Innovatio winners of the Innovation Pr Entries from across APAC were assessed on output quality, degree of innovation, business effectiveness and overall creativity FUJIFILM Business Innovation Asia Pacific today announced the winners of the 14th Innovation Print Awards (IPA) 2021. The annual competition honours the most outstanding and innovative users of Fujifilm graphic communication solutions across the region with a total of 248 entries received this year from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The award welcomed entries of digitally printed communications created on any FUJIFILM Business Innovation or Fujifilm products. Out of 28 winning entries, 22 entries were printed using

the IridesseTM Production Press. The winning entry of the “Best Innovation Award” from Art Book Coop. online in Japan was printed on both IridesseTM Production Press and FUJIFILM Jet Press 750S. Entries were judged based on the works submitted, and details of the individuals behind the submissions including name and company were kept from the judging panel. A panel of independent judges with print and design expertise, and regional judging experience in print competitions were at the heart of these awards. They include head judge, Paul Callaghan, and member judges, Major Wong Wing Kwong and Sarah Tang.

Paul Callaghan holds several leadership positions in the print industry such as chairman of the Regional Asian Packaging Conference and chairman of the Asian Print Awards committee since 2001. He is also a publisher at Print Innovation Asia magazine, the region's only print industry magazine. Major Wong Wing Kwong was the past President and General Secretary of the previous Institute of Printing (Singapore), and has extensive experience as a print consultant and judge in local and regional print awards. Sarah Tang is the co-founder of Sarah and Schooling, a graphic design practice that supports local publishers in Singapore and she is an adjunct lecturer at the prestigious Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). “We are simply in awe with these amazing colours and would not have seen them just a few years back,” said Paul Callaghan, Head Judge of the Independent judging panel. “The sheer highlights of Gold, Silver and Pink simply stood out in this year’s competition, and we were heartened to see businesses adopting new technology and applications. The judging process is definitely tougher than previous years, as the entries received this year are truly world-class.” “When it comes to design, I have to look at the entry in its entirety – it’s not just about the visual aesthetics. Rather, it’s about how well the concept is executed. It's about effective communication,” said new judge, Sarah Tang, Co-founder of Sarah and Schooling. “Graphic designers will have to update themselves with new technologies and tools to bring out the best for their clients.”

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

on Asia Pacific congratulates rint Awards 2021

“The winner of the Best Innovation Award contains exceptional design creativity while applying technological ability to raise the bar once again,” said Scott Mackie, General Manager, Graphic Communications Business Group at FUJIFILM Business Innovation Asia Pacific. “From the materials, metallic duotones, beautiful photography and simple complexity of print, it is truly a fantastic piece of work, made to look easy. We would like to thank our customers for their hard work and taking time to make a submission. I’m very encouraged to see the remarkable quality of entries submitted this year. The works really exuded boundless creativity and showed everyone’s persistent drive for innovation.” The winning entries will be showcased

in the FUJIFILM Business Innovation Graphic Communication showroom in Tokyo, Japan and in regional Graphic Communication industry events. To

further profile these talents, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. will submit all entries

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

2021 Innovation Print Awards Winners Category Award Company Name Location Books Winner Image Quality Lab Co., Ltd. Thailand Runner-up Colourman Online Sdn Bhd Malaysia Brochures Winner Art Book Coop. online Japan Runner-up Image Quality Lab Co., Ltd. Thailand Catalogues Winner Shoei Printing Co., Ltd. Japan Multi-Piece Campaign Winner Marga Kirana Printing Indonesia Runner-up Shirahashi Co., Ltd. Japan Large Format/Poster/Banner Winner Art Book Coop. online Japan Runner-up All Flags Signs and Banners Australia Folding Cartons & Packaging Winner Artech Printing & Graphix Pte Ltd Singapore Runner-up Colourman Online Sdn Bhd Malaysia Calendars Winner Colourman Online Sdn Bhd Malaysia Runner-up Home Making Creative Printing Co., Ltd. Taiwan Food/Drink Menus Winner M.I.W. Group Company Limited Thailand Runner-up PT. Panca Sampurna Indah (Sampurna Print Shop) Indonesia Art Production Winner TVG Thai Co., Ltd. Thailand Runner-up SpeedJet Company Limited Thailand Direct Mails Winner Intertype Australia Runner-up Pen’s Wedding Invitation House Vietnam Open Category Winner Artech Printing & Graphix Pte Ltd Singapore Labels Note 2 Winner GMW Creative Prints Malaysia Environments Winner Takeda Printing Co., Ltd. Japan Use of Specialty Colour Winner Fingerprint Ltd Hong Kong Company Self-Promotion Winner Fandata Pty Ltd Australia Runner-up Man Sang Envelope Manufacturing Co. Ltd.Hong Kong Special Recognition Award Note 3 Winner PLUS Collaboratives Singapore Runner-up Kult3d Pte Ltd Singapore Best Innovation Award Winner Art Book Coop. online Japan

Note 1: Innovation Print Awards 2021 entries from Australia and New Zealand are not eligible for the Asian Print Awards as they have their own local award. Note 2: New category created for the large number of labels received in the Open Category this year. Entries in this category were judged independently from entries received in the Open Category Note 3: New category created to differentiate overlapped entries submitted under the “Company Self-Promotion” category. This award was presented to exceptional winning entries on business effectiveness and creativity.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

“Digital innovator and UPS CMO Kevin Warren (left) and EFI CEO Jeff Jacobson speaking in a Jan. 18 EFI Connect fireside chat keynote session.”

EFI Connect conference highlights New digital print innovations during the 22nd annual Connect conference at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort, Electronics For Imaging, Inc. is highlighting state-of-the art digital print innovations that give print businesses more capability and profit potential in a range of market applications. Display graphics inkjet offerings at Connect from the company’s leadingedge product portfolio include the new EFI™ Pro 30h production printer. Plus, Connect features the first-ever live demonstration of the new EFI Fiery® FS500 Pro digital front end (DFE) – the most-advanced print server in EFI’s 30+ year history – and the debut of the EFI Fiery Impress™ DFE, a scalable, flexible server and color management solution for inkjet label and packaging applications as well as for inline manufacturing lines that need variable print. EFI Connect has more than 130 breakout sessions presenting the latest tips and trends across all the industry segments EFI supports. This includes sessions addressing the growing analogto-digital transformation opportunities using EFI’s industrial Corrugated & Packaging, Textile, and Building Materials/Décor solutions. EFI Connect also marks the debut of an innovative prepress product for display graphics businesses, EFI Fiery

Prep-it™ software for the preparation, layout, and automated production of print-for-cut jobs. Designed to address productivity needs amid continued labor shortages, this powerful and cost-saving true-shape nesting solution reduces the time needed to nest complex objects for wide-format printing by up to 90%. Compared with competing products, Fiery Prep-it software also reduces media usage by 10% or more, helping to alleviate media supply constraints. With the media savings it generates, this affordable, effective software can pay for itself in four months or less, helping print shops become more competitive. An early user of the software, Hossein Rasoulian, technical specialist at Irvine, California-based Super Color Digital, found that it reduced the time spent nesting jobs by 50%. “Fiery Prepit is a very powerful and easy-to-use solution,” said Rasoulian. “It can nest irregular-shaped jobs very quickly and uses media extremely efficiently. We can also fully automate our print-andcut process using Prep-it’s integration

capabilities to get a high quantity of jobs produced accurately, without errors.” The EFI Pro 30h: Versatility drives improved profit potential The newly launched, 126-inch-wide EFI Pro 30h UV LED printer at Connect prints up to 2,477 square feet per hour, offering a combination of speed and efficiency that makes it an ideal hybrid flatbed/roll-toroll superwide-format solution for businesses targeting production display graphics as a growth opportunity. Designed to provide broader application capability, versatility, and profit potential, the printer maximizes productivity by printing large boards or multiple small boards continuously. Switching from rigid to flexible media with the printer is easy, and the Pro 30h can print on dual rolls, giving users high throughput and the ability to run multiple jobs simultaneously.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

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 2 2022

14 Catch up to Super High Speed productivity Connect attendees are also learning about the accelerating signage production opportunities empowered by EFI’s advanced Super High Speed class of superwide-format inkjet printers. Conference sessions exploring the faster, better, state-ofart possibilities in high-quality display graphics showed how these solutions can drive digital production to new, higher levels. This power trio of printers includes: The EFI VUTEk® XT, a robust, 126-inch-wide hybrid solution with available media handling automation that prints at speeds above 375 boards per hour. A new and unique CP5G system for the XT model delivers complete ink circulation, superior dot placement, 5-picoliter drops and grayscale imaging for near-lithographic quality without expanding beyond four-color CMYK ink sets. The EFI VUTEk Q5r, a 208-inch-wide UV LED inkjet production workhorse that is the fastest roll-to-roll printer in its class, thanks to throughput speeds that reach 7,233 square feet per hour. Users can establish a complete printto-finished-graphic workflow on the VUTEk Q5r with in-line slitting, trimming and other value-enhancing options, including a new in-line visual inspection system available this year.

The EFI Nozomi 18000+ LED singlepass printer for display graphics, a groundbreaking 71-inch-wide signage solution. Available with up to six colors, plus white ink, it prints on synthetic and paper-based media at up to 1,000 sheets or boards per hour – a speed that is three or four times faster than the most productive shuttle-based/

multi-pass display graphics printers. Faster printing – and faster printer development – with Fiery innovation Connect is also where print professionals are witnessing, for the first time, the FS500 Pro platform scheduled for release this quarter with

“New EFI Fiery Prep-it software launched at EFI Connect delivers significant media savings in true shape nesting for wide-format printing.”

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Imaging and eProductivity Software, features one of the most dynamic speaker lineups in the event’s 22-year history. The conference’s in-depth educational agenda gives customers a broader range of knowledge to strengthen their position and capture new market opportunities. “As the industry works to regain its footing after a very difficult couple of years, EFI customers and partners are coming to Connect to learn about the actionable strategies and important tech developments that could be essential to their future success,” said Ken Hanulec, vice president of worldwide marketing, EFI. “And, more than anything, this year’s conference reflects the community, collaboration and innovation that print businesses can use to capture the growing opportunities of the industry’s analogto-digital transformation.” new office and cut-sheet production systems from many of the world’s leading digital printer manufacturers. The advanced, new DFE platform for commercial and cut-sheet digital printing RIPs graphics-intensive jobs up to 50% faster than previous EFI Fiery DFEs. And, a Fiery JobExpert feature for the DFE can streamline job prep tasks, saving valuable time by automatically choosing correct color and imaging settings. Fiery FS500 Pro also provides an extensive collection of additional, innovative new features that address top challenges print businesses face, such as shorter runs, faster turnaround times, less experienced staff, increased security standards and the need to reduce costs. EFI is also expanding its leading DFE technology offerings at Connect with the worldwide debut of the Fiery Impress DFE, a scalable, flexible offthe-shelf server and color management solution. The Fiery Impress DFE helps equipment manufacturers achieve outstanding productivity and image quality. Specialty inkjet equipment

vendors with low unit volumes, as well as single manufacturing lines that want to add in variable or personalized print with a print bar, can expand their digital offerings with this innovative new technology. The Fiery Impress DFE can drive entry-level, mid-range or high-volume inkjet equipment on a range of hardware platforms. For example, users can output TIFFs to a storage location for entry-level CMYK digital presses, or produce rapid, RIP-while-printing output of variable-data content to highvolume, continuous-feed 7-color digital presses. Fiery Command WorkStation® – the industry’s #1 operator interface for job management – is standard with the Fiery Impress DFE. A wide range of integrated software options are also available, including prepress, color management, workflow automation, and EFI IQ™ cloud analytics. Technology, training and remarkable guest speakers Connect 2022, a joint conference for customers of print and packaging technology companies Electronics For

Conference offerings include a twoday, accelerated Expert/Professional training for certification on Idealliance® G7® print specifications. Connect 2022 also features top executive presentations and breakout sessions on printing, packaging, business management, marketing and more. In addition, the conference featured special keynotes from UPS Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Warren and Hall of Fame Pitcher and MLB AllTime Saves Leader Mariano Rivera. Along with the latest EFI and eProductivity Software offerings on display, this year’s conference also features exhibits and technologies from many participating partners, including: Aberdeen Fabrics; the Cal Poly Graphic Communication Department; the Clemson University Department of Graphic Communications; Duplo; Esko; ISCorp; LoyaltyLoop®; the Mariano Rivera Foundation; Plan Prophet; the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation; Print Speak; PRINTING United Alliance; Progress® Software Corp.; Ricoh® USA; and Zünd®.

https://www.efi.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Stunning designs achieved with Fujifilm Acuity B1 press Fine-tune colour adjustment process for complex patterns made possible with digital technology Luxury homeware brand Liberty and paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball have collaborated to launch a range of limited edition tin designs, which were printed using Fujifilm’s Acuity B1 digital press. Each tin design, comprising multiple colours, had to exactly match Farrow & Ball’s brand colours, as well as the shades and complex designs of textile fabrics manufactured by Liberty. Tin specialist William Say & Co Ltd manufactures the 57mm wide lever lid tins, which can hold 100ml of paint, at its site in Bermondsey, London. Commenting on the success of the project, Stuart Wilkinson, Sales and Marketing Director at William Say & Co Ltd, said: “This is a milestone for

both William Say & Co Ltd, and the industry as a whole. Having personally been involved in the development stages over the last two years doing various trials and tests with Fujifilm, we have been extremely happy to be able to use this new digital technology in order to successfully deliver such a complex print project for our customer Farrow & Ball. I think everyone will agree that these new tins look absolutely fantastic.” William Say & Co Ltd’s supplier, Tinmasters, printed the complex designs with its Acuity B1 press. Liberty and Farrow & Ball’s brand managers were present during the colour adjustment process, which involved more than 70 fine-tune adjustments of 25 colours in less than four hours.

Richard O’Neill, CEO at Tinmasters, explained: “There are a number of factors that would have been very challenging from a lithographic point of view. The repeat runs on this project are likely to be 200 sheets with six different designs on each sheet. The designs are not appropriate for composite printing where you buy a lithographic press and put different designs on one sheet to try and get the run lengths up. That was not what Liberty was doing here; they were randomising the designs, but with each design being very different with different colours. “We composite printed complicated patterns, randomised on the sheets. It would have not only been expensive to print litho, but almost impossible to do what Liberty wanted because of the complexity of the patterns and the criticality of the colours.” Oliver Mills, Technical Marketing Specialist at Fujifilm Wide Format Inkjet Systems, said: “We are delighted to see Fujifilm’s inkjet technology helping to deliver yet another creative metal packaging project. Limited edition projects like this are simply not possible using lithographic technology and, until now, digital alternatives have lacked the necessary quality. Fujifilm’s Acuity B1 digital inkjet press is redefining the creative possibilities for metal packaging companies and the brands they serve.” Since early October, all six designs of the paint-filled tins have been showcased in Liberty stores alongside its textile fabrics. The tins are also being sold in Farrow & Ball showrooms, as well as on its website.

https://www.fujifilm.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Kartonplus uses Xeikon’s dig Sustainable Packaging Prod Kartonplus, has installed a Xeikon 3500REX digital press as the beating heart of its new operation. The folding carton company based in Enschede in the Netherlands was set up as a subsidiary of Labelplus a leading label printing company in the region. Kartonplus has been fully operational since March 2021. The Xeikon 3500 investment at Kartonplus is housed alongside two Xeikon CX30 digital presses in production at parent company Labelplus. Driven by Xeikon’s X-800 digital front end, the Xeikon 3500 folding carton packaging press is designed for versatility and productivity. Operators have full flexibility from this top performing dry toner press, printing with an extended colour gamut on a wide range of board types up to B2 at exceptional speeds. The emphasis at this family run business is sustainable efficiency and customer service. Both Labelplus and Kartonplus operate as separate businesses but are housed in the same

building. Father Bertjan Lempsink runs Labelplus and brothers Tom and Bas Lempsink run Kartonplus. Bertjan states, “We have seen continual business growth since we moved to Xeikon as our digital supplier. Digital printing fits perfectly with our business model. When we saw the rising demand for folding cartons, we set up Kartonplus. Now we can refer our Labelplus customers to Kartonplus. We also have large warehouse facilities stocked with an extensive range of paper, board and label materials. The Xeikon 3500 digital press is already running at full speed at Kartonplus and with an image resolution of 1200dpi, the quality of the product is unparalleled. It is no problem at all for us to deliver complex orders with a fast turnaround. We can

print one million different bar codes in one run with this press.” Sustainable digital production The Lempsink family see digital production as the sustainable option. By ordering what is needed and no more their customers can reduce their costs. Brand owners can switch designs and still be sure of a top quality

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

gital technology for duction

product with a fast delivery. Kartonplus has also made a number of sustainable choices in its manufacturing operation. For example, the printed material being used on the Xeikon 3500 five colour digital press is coated with a water-based dispersion varnish. “This solution is more environmentally friendly than a UV-dried coating,” Bas Lempsink explains. “In addition, our customers can opt for matt or gloss coating and spot colours can also be added In addition to CMYK.” The Kartonplus portfolio of folding boxes is diverse. The Enschede packaging printer can produce boxes with a variety of closures including auto-lock with flap and lid, euro pendant with flap closure and a sprinter or lock box. Other products such as letterbox boxes, sleeves, hangtags, blister cards and candy boxes are also available. Kartonplus distinguishes itself from its competitors with its use of high-quality board in weights of 220, 260, 280 and 300 grams and a special frozen product

weight of 510 mµ, which translates into a grammage of 305 grams. According to Bas Lempsink, the great advantage of having both companies under one roof is that their customers can place orders for labels and boxes in one go and the combined order can also be delivered at the same time, in the same

shipment. Bas Lempsink concludes, “As a company we are constantly reviewing and improving our equipment to ensure customer satisfaction. The installation of the Xeikon 3500 at Kartonplus means we can offer a fast response and the highest quality products.

https://www.xeikon.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Kick off for drupa 2024: Exhibitor registrations now possible In 2024 the international print and packaging industries will again meet at drupa, the world’s leading trade fair for printing technologies. As of now exhibitors can register online at www.drupa.com in order to present their innovations in Düsseldorf, Germany from 28 May to 7 June 2024. The deadline for registrations is 31 October 2022. is synonymous with dynamism, motion and especially with water as the most important resource on our planet,” explains Sabine Geldermann, Director Print Technologies Messe Düsseldorf. “It also visualises the top themes digitalisation and sustainability which drive the print & packaging industries, confront them with new challenges but also offer excellent opportunities. International faces represent the target group of drupa which is looking forward to networking in a fascinating atmosphere characterised by diversity. The organic structures stand for aesthetics, design and the beauty of nature. The new claim ‘we create the future’ underscores the clear commitment of the community to jointly and proactively participate in the continuous development and design of the sector. And it represents thought leaders as well as high-quality knowledge transfer.” New exhibitor brochure sustainably produced drupa is equally committed to the topic of sustainability – which is

also successfully reflected in the new exhibitor brochure. Using state-of-theart technology as well as environmentfriendly resources this brochure was produced in a sustainable and climateneutral way. The digital version can now be downloaded at www.drupa.com. Forums for interaction and dialogue At drupa 2024 there will once again be a high-calibre lecture programme by top international speakers offering a valuable knowledge to stay competitive.

At the drupa cube and at various touchpoints focusing on the segments Packaging, Textile and Sustainability participants will gain detailed insights into relevant topics and impulses for growth potential as well as the further development of their business models. Start-ups will be hosted at “dna – drupa next age” using this opportunity to showcase their innovative services and ideas to a highly international and interested audience. Outlook on events in the industry Numerous international trade shows will also be held in 2022 as part of drupa's global portfolio: printpack alger in Algiers (16 – 18 May), PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION (22 – 23 June), Indoprint in Jakarta (31 August – 3 September), PackPrintPlas Philippines in Manila (6 – 8 October), All in Print in Shanghai (11 – 15 October) as well as PackPrint International and Corrutec Asia in Bangkok (19 – 22 October). For more information about these trade fairs please visit: www.drupa.com/en/ drupa_global

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

So you’re a QUALITY Printer then

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SHOW ME!

If you Win in the Asian Print Awards then you can! 2022 ASIAN PRINT AWARDS Details coming soon

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

COLORADO 1650 in Japan

Introduction of the Colorado 1650 printer with UVgel ink. Photobition Japan to combine environmental friendliness with high productivity.

In early November 2021, Photobition Japan, one of Japan’s leading print centres, introduced the Colorado 1650, a UVgel ink-equipped printer capable of producing both gloss and matte prints in a single unit, and began fullscale operations. We were looking for a printer that would be ideal for printing on wallpaper and plain paper, as end users are increasingly demanding output materials that can replace PVC,” says Mikio Hino, General Manager of the company. He had been looking for a machine that would be ideal for printing on wallpaper and plain paper. He continues, “We looked at a number of different machines with water-based inks, and the Colorado’s unparalleled

productivity was a decisive factor in our decision”. The company’s new UVgel inkjet printer is now in production. Mr. Hino said, “I have the impression that we have developed new inks and printheads in just three years since its predecessor, and we have cleanly improved all the parts of the chassis that were considered problematic. The introduction of the Colorado 1650 is the start of a company-wide effort to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This is why end users have such a strong need to be environmentally conscious. This is a different situation from the past, where we had to consider the price.

In the future, the Colorado 1650 will be used to produce more paper and PET prints, as well as PVC media to replace solvent-based prints. The Colorado 1650 features a new UVgel ink with an elongation rate of 185%, making it softer and better able to handle projects such as pasting on tertiary curved surfaces. The gloss level of each CMYK sheet is now more even and consistent, while the excellent rub resistance means that lamination is generally not required for short-term outdoor applications. The carriage is unique in that the printhead and the curing unit are independent. This has resulted in an increase in productivity of up to 159m2/h. The finish is matte when the curing unit follows the ink head and gloss when it crosses it. The curing temperature of the ink is very low, so there is almost no risk of deformation of the media due to heat load. The new Colorado 1650 is the perfect solution for our customers who are looking for a new way of printing. We hope that the new Colorado 1650 will help to solve environmental issues such as the reduction of VOC emissions and contribute to the productivity of sign graphics. (Satoru Kubono, Chief of Digital Press Market Development Group, Canon Production Printing Systems)

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Digital print prowess me Producing offset-quality, vivid prints while managing quality standards with digital printing gave Kato Bunmeisha the winning edge to strike Gold at the Asian Print Awards. By Sha Jumari. At the Asian Print Awards 2021, Japan’s Kato Bunmeisha won the coveted Gold award for Digital Book Printing. Edging out other entries to clinch the top prize is its entry of a catalog for a museum art exhibition. Established since 1914, Kato Bunmeisha is a printing company that specialises in offset book printing. Submitted under Kato Bunmeisha’s printing studio, atelier gray, the entry stood out for its strikingly vivid colours, offset-like quality and elevated consumer experience. “It is a great honour to receive the Gold Award in this historic award. I would like to give a big applause and thanks to Bijyutsu Shuppan Publications and Mori Art Museum for giving us this opportunity, and to our printing directors and operators for their hard work,” said Fumio Kato, President, Kato Bunmeisha Co. Ltd.

The winning entry is a catalog for an exhibition at the Mori Art Museum, titled “Roppongi Crossing 2019 Exhibition: Tsunaidemiru". The entry was produced on a Fujifilm Jet Press 720S inkjet digital press, with only 3,000 copies in circulation. The standout feature of the catalog was that all 3,000 covers of the copies produced for the museum were totally different. Sold exclusively at the museum store, the catalog succeeded in creating a buzz by providing a new purchasing experience, as buyers can now pick and choose their favourite cover. “When you go to a museum store, you usually see the same book with the same design being sold. This time round, there were different copies with the different variable covers. The museum placed the different catalogs up on the wall, so that people who come to the

Fumio Kato, President of Kato Bunme exhibition can actually choose which catalog they want. It’s not just about buying a book or catalog off the shelf,” Kato added. “This provided such a unique and new purchase experience. In most cases, people would only buy one catalog. This time, some would buy multiple copies, which is unreal,” Kato continued. The Simple - but not easy - Request “It all started with a consultation with the customer who simply said: “I want each book to look different!” As an offset printing company, this was an unprecedented request,” Kato said. To recreate the covers, the company had first attempted to design each cover individually. However, this became very time-consuming and costly. “We gathered our sales staff, printing directors and designers to discuss various ideas. We tried a combination of different inks, papers and processes. However, we found that there would be huge costs and technical limitations involved,” said Kato.

The Winning Entry for Digital Book Printing: “Roppongi Crossing 2019 Exhibition: Tsunaidemiru".

“In the end, we were able to give shape to the customer’s unprecedented idea by utilising our development team for programming and database automatic typesetting technology. With this programming, we were able to get the job done,” Kato continued.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

eets offset sensibilities

eisha Co. Ltd. The different cover was enabled by variable data printing with the Fujifilm Jet Press. With variable printable data which was developed by Kato Bunmeisha's development team, 3,000 different copies of the catalog cover were able to be produced by automatically generating layers of text, photographs and patterns. Each individual cover was designed based on artwork presented in the exhibition. One of the main challenges for atelier gray was to produce designs that were cohesive yet varied enough.

atelier gray studio at Kato Bunmeisha (R)

Managing Quality Control and Client Expectations Another challenge in producing the book was that since every copy is a different design, there is no one proof or sample for the print operators to compare against. As such, quality control became an issue. “Let’s imagine, each printed piece are coming out differently from the Jet Press. The binding machine is also producing a different cover for each book. How would the operators check for quality control? What should the operator check and control? It was

“We received design components from the designer, and we combined them to create variations. The challenge then was how do we come up with combinations that would make the original design look more different? If the program is too conservative, then the designs would not look too different cover to cover. Every design needed to look aggressively different,” explained Kato. “We created many samples and communicated with the designer and the customer as we proceeded. One of atelier gray's strengths is the workflow that enables us to immediately print samples and deliver it in front of the customer straight away,” Kato continued. The Fujifilm Jet Press 720S

not easy for the print operators. It was hard for the customer as well, who also would not have a referral print ” Kato explained. In order to ensure that quality control is achieved and customer expectations are met, a printing director was present during production: “The printing director was able to bridge the gap between mass reproduction and variable print. This way, we could maintain quality control, and the customer could also proceed without anxiety. With limited manpower, equipment, time, and budget, we tried

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

to maximise the effectiveness of the printed materials that the customer requested,” said Kato. 100-Year-Old Offset Expertise While the digital Jet Press was used for variable printing of this distinctive cover, the body of the book were printed using the company’s conventional sheet-fed offset press. “This is mainly due to productivity and cost, but it also leverages on the reliability of our strengths in offset printing, such as plate making technology and colour management, which we have built up over many years in book printing. We are actually a 100-year old company, so we have a long history and expertise in offset. By combining these factors as needed, we were able to offer our customers the advantages of both offset and digital printing in a flexible manner,” said Kato. To be more precise, Kato Bunmeisha will be celebrating its 108th anniversary this year. Operating out of five locations in Japan, Kato Bunmeisha is a onestop shop for printing needs, offering the full spectrum from design to DTP, development, printing, binding, and distribution. Kato Bunmeisha’s current offset printing repertoire includes four sheet-fed presses, three web presses, and a bookbinding plant.

“98% of our sales are from book printing, mainly textbooks, educational books, and catalogs. In addition, we are also involved in the development of digital educational materials and contents.” Kato added. The Collaborative Studio: atelier gray atelier gray is one of Kato Bunmeisha’s print studio. In this collaborative space, customers are able to drop by and communicate their printing needs in a more efficient and immediate manner. At the heart of atelier gray is Kato Bunmeisha’s only digital press: the Fujifilm Jet Press 720S, a B2 sheetfed inkjet printer that can print at 2,700 sheets per hour.

Customers can resolve their problems in the shortest possible time and arrive at what they want,” Kato continued. “As a result our customers can spend more time creating products because we minimise that production and decision making time. This is the benefit of atelier gray.”

(R)

“Our approach was to install the Jet Press not as a printing press, but as a service. By creating “atelier gray”, we were able to share the meeting space, the equipment, and the various knowledge about book production with the designers and customers. This is a refreshing change from the old model of salespeople visiting customers. This way, customers get the full breadth of our products and services,” said Kato. “With the Jet Press installed in-house, Kato Bunmeisha is able to offer rapid prototyping, so customers can discuss, try a different variety of papers and produce samples on the spot.

Fujifilm Jet Press 720S: Quality over Quantity Although the Jet Press 720S was installed in 2018, Kato Bunmeisha had waited 10 years before investing in the digital machine.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

27 sheets per hour. The 750S also uses “SAMBA” printheads and prints at a resolution of 1,200 dpi x 1,200 dpi. The Road to Globalisation The catalog is no stranger to award recognition; prior to its win at the Asian Print Awards 2021, the catalog was a book printing runner-up at Fujifilm’s 2020 Innovation Print Awards. Using the award win as a propellant and backed by more than 100 years of expertise, Kato Bunmeisha is preparing for its next growth step: to spread its wings abroad.

We wanted to wait until digital presses were able to meet our expectations. Since then, digital presses have evolved in many ways, such as the Jet Press' adoption of the “SAMBA” head,” explained Kato. “What we were looking for in a digital press was quality and potential, rather than productivity. It was important for us to be able to choose from a variety of paper types, to have a high level of consistent quality, and to be able to do variable printing.

It was also important that the people involved with the Jet Press would be able to fully recognise its capabilities.” The Fujifilm Jet Press uses advanced ultra-high-density and high-precision “SAMBA” printheads and the widegamut aqueous pigment “VIVIDIA” ink, to produce high quality prints that can rival or are even better than offset. Due to this, users can transfer a wider range of offset jobs to digital, reducing the total cost of ownership. “There are a lot of faster machines out there, but we value quality more. When we print using the Jet Press, a lot of people are actually surprised that inkjet printing can produce such high quality; in fact most people cannot even tell the difference!” Kato emphasised. Kato added that the company’s requirements further include the ability to handle offset papers, a true expression of colours, sharp text resolution, the capacity to preserve paper texture, and good support from manufacturer. The Jet Press effortlessly fulfilled Kato Bunmeisha’s criteria with its ability to deliver single-pass printing at 1200 x 1200 dpi resolutions and greyscale dots, resulting in great detail and bright images. The digital inkjet series includes the high end Fujifilm Jet Press 750S, which has a production speed of 3,600 B2

“We are more than ready to show our success in the global market. We believe that this award means that our service, quality and technology has been recognised by the people outside of Japan,” said Kato. “This gives confidence to the employees involved and encouragement to our management. For creators and companies who wants to use Japanese materials, technologies, services and manufacturing networks to enhance their brand image and professional work, we believe we have everything it takes.” With 25 years of printing industry experience, Kato’s global viewpoint is unsurprising, given his background. Before helming Kato Bunmeisha as President, he had worked at Toppan Printing, one of the largest global printing companies. At Toppan, he supported digital printing from a marketing standpoint, and from there realised the appeal of the printing business and in digital printing presses. “The printing market is going through a period of great change, not only in Japan, but all over the world. Simply renewing equipment based on the existing business model will not ensure future growth,” said Kato. “We did not just decide to invest in a digital press for the sake of it. It was with the time I had spent with creators and understanding their concerns that led to the establishment of atelier gray.” “Ultimately, what we want to achieve through the manufacture of textbooks and educational books, as well as through atelier gray, is to continue to support the publishing industry. We are also focused on nurturing talents for the future,” Kato concluded.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Illuminate print with precious metal opulence Illuminated manuscripts – the elaborate decoration of a handwritten book with gold or silver to make the pages shimmer with opulence – was an art form practised for centuries. Described by Herodotus as far back as 420 BC, it was widely used by Islamic and Asian societies and had one of the longest and most cultivated traditions in Europe. Also called miniature, after the latin word ‘miniare’ which means to colour with minium (a red lead), the process grew more elaborate and gold was introduced. Its complexity and cost meant illumination was reserved for special books like an altar Bible. There were three main types of gold and silver application: - Metallic leaf laid on a wet glue design and polished with a burnishing tool when dry. - A sticky gesso (thick, water-based paint, often formed of plaster, chalk or gypsum, bound with glue) built up to create a 3D effect, with the metal then applied and burnished. - Metallic powder and gum arabic

mixed into an ink and applied with pen or brush. This form of decorative print evolved when the invention of the Gutenburg press made widespread book production possible. Mechanisation also shaped other areas of book design including the cover. At the same time gold leaf became too expensive to keep up with the increased production of books. Today, the addition of gold or silver is

typically a commercial print process. For offset print, gold and silver ink can be used although this is not always without its challenges. Foil blocking requires a separate post-production step, where a heated die is stamped onto the foil and then onto the surface of the paper leaving the design behind. For digital print the metallic colour is reproduced directly from a file on the computer. Fast and simple, there are no set up costs. This makes it ideal for short runs and smaller orders.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Tamil Nadu’s first Heidelb five-color press. Tirupur-based, Abarna Colours has installed a Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 75 5+L, the first press in Tamil Nadu, India. we are very happy to achieve these figures consistently with the new CX 75 A.P. Murugan, added, “We began our journey with a Heidelberg singlecolor SORM press and then added a Heidelberg a Five color Speedmaster. The challenge for us is to take advantage of the technolo-gy that the Heidelberg brings in terms of improvement of quality and machine intelligence, and how to introduce it into our production workflows.

Abarna Colours, started its operations in 2017, it then started its association with Heidelberg following the installation of a new Speedmaster CX 75 five-color press into their 30,000 sq/ft facility in August 2021. The organization has also installed screenprinting equipment for labels and tags and die-cutting equipment for postpress operations. Currently, they produce garment packaging cartons, paper covers, hang tags, packaging boxes, folding tags, hangers, band rolls, etc., for garment manufacturers all using their specialty paperboards. A.P.Murugan, Managing Director at Abarna Colours, said, “The Heidelberg CX 75 is our company’s latest addition. This new multi-functional press will enable us to move to the next level of quality assurance and to expedite deliveries on time as

per our commitment to our clients. Our average daily production ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 Sheets,

This aspect has pushed us to go for our first brand-new Heidelberg press. Also, the guarantee given by team Heidelberg on the reduced environmental impact of the new machine in terms of energy savings, paper waste and VOC reductions has resulted in adding the Speedmaster CX 75 into our production We are growing as an organization and are on a constant upward learning curve. We have a more areas within the company that we want to improve and

From left to right: Mr. A.P. Murugan, Mr. G. Mohanraj and Mr. Sumith P Nair

"W S M

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

berg Speedmaster CX 75

Speedmaster CX 104 coating unit anilox roller change

We began our journey with a Heidelberg single-color SORM press and then added a Heidelberg SM 72 five-color press in our arsenal based on the business volumes." Mr. A.P. Murugan - Managing Director of Abarna Colours.

adapt to and con-sider learning from and growing with our partners, who are also our suppliers is paramount to success! Import-antly, not forgetting our customers who share the same belief of quality principles and a timely delivery.”

packaging. With our new Speedmaster CX 75, we add more value to the ecosystem, and that’s also thanks to the new Heidelberg press.” An excellent feature of Speedmaster CX 75 is that it can take a maximum sheet size of 605 mm × 750 mm.

“The production quality is exceptional and the job setting times have come down considerably. The service and installation were done on time by the Heidelberg service team, and we are very happy,” added, Sumith P Nair, Head – Production at Abarna Colours. G. Mohanraj, Managing Partner at Abarna colours added, “

As important to us was the fact that the Speedmaster CX 75 has a very small footprint and is a significant advanta-ge Heidelberg has considered in its design of the press. “Our vision is based on a step-bystep growth strategy with a focus on having less impact on nature. We aim to have 50% growth every year and try

environment-friend-ly ways of printing techniques and with more focus on sustainability and growth,” concluded, A.P. Murugan. Abarna Colours has already secured the FSC certification and is currently working towards securing ISO and other printing certifications to cater for their growing custo-mer base. About Abarna Colours Abarna Colours, started its operations in 2017, and installed a new Speedmaster CX 75 five-color in 2021. Specialized in garment packaging cartons, paper covers, hang tags, packaging boxes, folding tags, hangers and band rolls.

We are solely committed to the ecofriendly printing process, our partner company, Punarbhavaa Sustainable Products, supplies the required paper stock material to us, which is made from recycled cotton. We constantly strive to ensure our printing processes are as ecological as possible, our clients are using only recycled paper for

https://www.heidelberg.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Elna Press Joins QLM Group Elna Press and QLM combine two proudly Australian owned and operated companies with extensive experience at their respective factories in Melbourne and Brisbane, both committed to investing in Australian manufacturing, innovation and development.

are always looking for strategic and innovative investments in Australia, especially in great people, technology and also companies such as Elna which add to the depth of the Group. Elna Press’ prestigious history of service and innovation combined with QLM’s modern manufacturing facilities & CARES values create a comprehensive Australian manufacturing platform for the QLM Group, significantly adding to their manufacturing capabilities. Elna customers will see an expanded range of products and services including premium & blank labels, folded cartons, flexible packaging and the sale & service of thermal & colour label printers & consumables. Elna Press will continue to manufacture at their Moorabbin address, with QLM’s Victorian operation to relocate to this location during 2022. Trevor Coon, former Managing Director of Elna Press states “After 63 years in business, as one of the founding label manufacturers in Australia, our family has decided to pass the baton on to a new team to take Elna to the next level. We are delighted that Elna Press will be in the capable hands of Simon Pugh and his team at QLM. It has been a privilege for us to have worked with so many wonderful clients, often over many years. Their support and loyalty have meant a great deal to myself and our team.” QLM Group CEO Simon Pugh states “QLM was attracted to Elna Press as much for its strong history and

manufacturing base, as we were for its culture aligning with our CARES values.” The acquisition of Elna Press comes after an extensive due diligence with CDI Global and completes a number of acquisitions and machinery investment for the QLM Group in 2021/22, including the addition of a separate flexible packaging manufacturing facility in Melbourne. Pugh goes on to state “The QLM Group maintains the need for strong Australian ownership and diverse manufacturing operations that offer an alternative to the multinationals who now own the majority of the label space. The completion of this acquisition takes the QLM Group to a local market presence where it is able to compete with multinational companies, while still remaining true to QLM’s mission to create long-term, mutually rewarding relationships with all of our stakeholders.” The QLM Group has built its success on providing a diverse and flexible manufacturing platform, delivering a range of options that work for client and job sizes ranging from local heroes through to multinationals. Such investments clearly demonstrate QLM’s commitment to reinvesting profits into the development of Australian manufacturing and personnel. Pugh goes on to state “We

QLM also works to develop strong localised companies across Asia Pacific. We are the only Australian owned label company with a presence in APAC and we are proud ambassadors of brand Australia in Cambodia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, employing over 380 people across 5 factories in Asia.” The QLM Group has been adapting to dramatically changing business and manufacturing environments. Supply chain disruptions, government & travel restrictions and the substantial uncertainty surrounding business and personnel have seen the company work on maintaining stable and supportive working environments to ensure the continued safety of the company’s team and the ability to maintain service to clients. Pugh states “Our teams have been amazing during the pandemic, including the General Manager in Vietnam who lived onsite at our factory with a team of 82 for 9 weeks during a government imposed mandate for factory staff to live, eat and work on site. He was the only GM in Vietnam in this market who did so and it speaks to the company’s values that no-one is more or less important, we just have different job responsibilities.”

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Trevor Coon former Managing Director - Elna Press congratulates Simon Pugh CEO QLM Group.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

" Wing Fat Striving for a Brilliant Future " The Wing Fat Printing (SICHUAN) CO., Ltd. introduced a brand new ROLAND 706 LV Evolution The Wing Fat Printing (SICHUAN) CO., Ltd. (Wing Fat Sichuan) is one of the subsidiaries of the Wing Fat Printing Co., Ltd. which was founded in 1913 with headquarters in Hong Kong. Wing Fat Sichuan, which was officially established in 2011, specializes in the high quality packaging product design and printing for the industries of alcohol, cigarettes, medicine, food, beverages, daily necessities, and electronics. Adhering to the core values of "integrity, modesty, pragmatism, and co-prosperity", the company adopts the world's advanced packaging printing technologies from Manroland, fully automated production lines and highly efficient enterprise management systems to provide the premium products and services for its large and medium-sized brand customers. It has been in the leading position in the printing industry in the west of China with its comprehensive strength and economic performance. It was also ranked the fourth in the list of Top 100 printing companies in China in 2010. According to the company's deputy general manager, Mr. Deng Xiangbin, since the establishment of Wing Fat Sichuan 10 years ago, the company has earned numerous qualifications and awards. "With the cutting-edge packaging printing technology, our company has always paid great attention to quality.

Wingfat Printing (Sichuan) Co.,Ltd introduced and successfully installed a brand new ROLAND 706 LV Evolution

We are the first printing company in Southwest China that has passed the ISO:9001 quality management system certification", Mr. Deng said very proudly. "Our company has multiple sheetfed offsets, such as ROLAND 706 HiPrint and ROLAND 707

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

LV HiPrint, more than 1,000 staff members and a production scale with an annual output value of more than 800 million yuan."

operation. In addition, coupled with the integrated job index function, the productivity of operators can be increased to a very large extent.

In order to better meet the increasing market demand and the requirements of the company’s continuous development, through the vigorous national tender, Wing Fat Sichuan finally decided to introduce a ROLAND 706 LV Evolution that fully met the parameters required in the tender. "This new machine stood out from the fierce competition and screening with its unique advantages in the printing speed (up to 18,200 sheets per hour), productivity and reduction of total production cost. By now, its installation has been completed smoothly and officially put into production", said Mr. Deng.

Feeder The feeder head is strengthened and fixed, which reduces both the risk of downtime of the feeder head and vibration. Adjustments can be done without the use of tools, which greatly improves the efficiency of operators. Furthermore, when printing thinner substrates, the sheet transport stability is greatly enhanced, and the risk of downtime is lowered. In addition, the automatic paper skew correction is carried out through the sheet transfer suction belt. It is hard to cause deformation when printing on a lightweight substrate thanks to the concave design of the suction belt.

With the futuristic design and numerous innovative technologies, ROLAND 700 EVOLUTION aims to significantly improve the production efficiency, operation and print quality. In the following, four of its innovative technologies which help the company to increase its productivity and print quality will be highlighted.

Inking and Dampening Units The unique features include TripleFlow inking unit, intelligent speed compensation for inking and dampening units, and effective antighosting solutions. Moreover, the TripleFlow inker delivers more control than any other comparable technology on the market. With three different ink distributions at the push of a button, it offers high color consistency during the whole print run and drastic savings in waste.

"Visual" Operating System Based on the concept of "visualization", the operating system integrates various adjustment functions such as ink key control, registration adjustment, ink roller and ink flow adjustment onto the touch- screen, which provides the operators with the more ergonomic interface and more convenience in

In addition, the dampening roller system, which has been newly optimized, not only has a better anti-ghosting effect, but also at the same time can significantly shorten

the cleaning time and increase the efficiency of job changes. 3B plus format (optional configuration) Compared with the 3B format, the 3B plus format (1060 mm x 780 mm) is only 30 mm more in width. However, the productivity of one run could be increased by up to 50% depending on the different print jobs. The reason lies in the way of imposition. Under the hypothetically extreme circumstance, certain print job is allowed to print only one page on one sheet because of the size. However, if the sheet size is 30mm wider, two pages can be done on one sheet. Thus, its productivity and the yields of the substrates could be increased by 100%. More importantly, it saves the material cost and time, further improves the overall productivity and shortens the lead time. In addition, Mr. Deng extended his gratitude to his long-term partner Manroland for their great support. “The installation of the machine happened to be done during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the concerted efforts of us and the Manroland technical team, we overcame various difficulties and finally managed to get the machine installed successfully on time.” With the installation of the new press, the Wing Fat Printing (SICHUAN) CO., Ltd. is confidently marching towards a brilliant future!

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

New Lithrone G40 boos packaging printer Founded as a bookstore and school supply store by William Lim and his son Johnny Limchesing, Williams Commercial Company expanded into a small printing shop and catered to the printing requirements of print buyers in Cebu. Due mainly to their passion to provide the best possible products for their clients' and their dedication to constantly improving their capabilities, they are now one of the biggest printing companies in Cebu, supplying packaging products for food and other products both locally and in other countries as well. Williams Commercial has been operating older vintage offset printing presses, but since growth and the demand for packaging products are constantly increasing, their 15-20 year old machines (two six-color Lithrone 40s with coater and two other Japanese presses) could not cope with the rigorous 24 hours a day, 6 days a week schedule. The non-automated machines take an average of 1.5 hours for every job changeover and have a maximum production speed of 7,500 sph, dragging down the company's production rates and proving to be non-competitive in the market. Anticipating the increasing demands of their customers, Williams

Commercial decided to invest in a new offset press with the latest automation technology. Pandemic drives food packaging demand "Packaging for food products and other consumer products is among the jobs that are constantly increasing, most notably since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We noticed that some of our clients' orders were becoming smaller and requiring shorter delivery times. This is one of the reasons we invested in a brand-new Komori press," says Tristan Limchesing, Manager of Plant 1. Owing to their experience on their current Japanese machines, they decided to go to Japan to check out the latest model of Komori. They joined the Packaging Open House held at the Komori Tsukuba Plant in 2019. The visit to Tsukuba turned out to be an enlightenment as they saw the latest Lithrone G40 model with all the automated features that are lacking

on their old machines. They were impressed by the performance of the highly automated press and amazed by the short changeover time between jobs. Right then and there, they were convinced that their next machine would be a Komori. When they returned home from the Japan trip, they started preparing for the anticipated new investment. And after a little more than a year, they signed the contract for the new sixcolor Lithrone G40 plus coater (IR) with Full-APC. After its installation in early 2021, their excitement was rewarded with an increase of 35 percent in total plant production. They expect it to increase by another 15 percent by year end as new jobs keep coming in. Printing speed and set-up time big factors "With the new machine, our production has significantly increased, and backlog issues were addressed. Production before the new investment was much slower in terms of output capacity. The superior print speed and considerably shorter set-up time of our new machine significantly improved production," says Daniel Ching, Manager of Plant 2. "We have an average speed of 7,500 sheets per hour with our old Komori press, but with our new Lithrone G40 with coater, we can run at almost twice that speed with fewer rejects and shorter set-up time. Comparatively, we have increased our production capacity Equipped with PDC-SX, enabling digital numeric color management by automatically scanning the color bar

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

sts production for

From left: Daniel Ching, Manager of Plant 2 and Tristan Limchesing, Manager of Plant 1

by 35 percent with the new press." "We have several years of experience with Komori presses, and we are impressed with their high print quality, ease of operation, and low maintenance cost. The new press with the latest automation drastically shortens makereadies and minimizes waste. The operator was totally overwhelmed with

the exceptional print quality, the ease of operation and the short makeready time with minimal downtime. With this press, we have no reason to look anywhere else." The owners are now inclined to continue to replace the older fleet of machines and will begin the process of acquiring their next Lithrone G40

advance. "We are at the stage of looking at how far this new machine can take us in terms of profitability, efficiency and flexibility, after which we will decide on how we will go forward," concludes Ching.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

MPS launches EF next ‘the connected printing s For 25 years, MPS has constantly advanced their presses with innovative technologies in response to customer feedback, market demand, and industry developments. The MPS next generation EF flexo platform provides technology enhancements and new features in connectivity, for even better press performance and output. MPS was one of the first to provide innovative technologies for directdrive machines and has patented a wide range of innovative designs. This commitment to innovation is reflected in the design and capabilities of its EF next generation press. “By going beyond the machine in product innovation and intensive cooperation with our customers, MPS continually improves the printing process and operator experience,” said Atze Bosma, CEO of MPS Systems. “It’s in our DNA.” Improved press features As a fully automated multi-substrate flexo press ready for 24 x 7 operations,

the EF has provided printers years of high-level automation, flexibility, connectivity, and ease of operation. Based on the successful foundation of six previous EF platform generations, including MPS innovations such as Crisp.Dot Technology, Non-stop Print Change, and the Ultraflex Rail System, many enhancements were made to the next generation EF machine. These improved features include the MPS designed slide-out ink drawer for faster changeovers as standard on

all machines, MPS E-sleeve with quick release, advanced job memory, M2M (Mark-to-Mark) register, extended web width to 580mm, improved robust rail units, standard finger bar safety protection, and ergonomic improvements. For full servo driven automation of all print pressure settings, the Advanced Automation option is available. New features to maximize performance and connectivity To help customers improve their press performance, MPS added

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

generation press: solution’ these new features to the EF platform: MPSConnect, operational & management dashboards, and user management/personalized performance. MPSConnect provides ongoing performance monitoring of the printing press through sensor technology combined with the Internet of Things, for real-time data collection and valuable 24x7 fact-based insights. From this collected data, MPS experts help customers make continuous performance improvements in waste, speed, and uptime to increase their competitive advantages and maximize their profits. The operational dashboard provides the operator easy access to information such as press performance, manuals, and videos about best practices. The

management dashboard provides focused information such as press performance trends, analytics, and benchmarking. With the user management/ personalized performance feature,operators can be logged in individually, and access default settings can be set and stored according to print management.

Putting printers in pole position With its new brand promise—Connect to Grow, MPS helps customers increase their profitability by offering much more than a machine. “Having a state-of-the-art printing press in your production is great. However, this press alone doesn’t make you win the race. To be even more successful in the future, connectivity is key.

“The MPS EF next generation press puts printers in pole position. The new and improved features of the EF plus the collection and analysis of performance data through MPSConnect and Performance Programs will drive their success formula for profit,” Atze concluded.

https://www.mps4u.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

The Rising Importance of Colour Consistency in Packaging in Southeast Asia Print Innovation Asia catches up with Yan Wei Phin, CGS ORIS’ regional manager for Southeast Asia and discuss the company’s reach in the region and what customers can look forward to in 2022. By Sha Jumari. As logistics and supply shortages continue to create instability globally, print and packaging jobs are expected to funnel to Southeast Asia in 2022.

Yan Wei Phin

“We see a growth in Indonesia, Thailand and as well as upcoming Vietnam. Due to the trade war between US and China, many jobs are being sent back to Southeast Asia to print,” said Yan Wei Phin, regional manager for Southeast Asia for CGS. “This is great for printers in this region, as they are now able to get more orders shifted from China. Previously, printers here were not able to compete due to the lower cost of production in China,” Yan continued. “For 2022, packaging will continue to grow, and with that the need for colour consistency. As more brands take their jobs back to Southeast Asia, colour consistency will be extremely important and in-demand, especially when handling brand or spot colours,” said Yan. While some parts of the world are moving into endemic states, some countries in Southeast Asia especially are still in lockdown. “We expect that there will still be less chances in Southeast Asia especially to meet the customers. It was hard at the beginning of the pandemic, but our customers and us are now used to the online arrangements,” Yan commented. “Thankfully we have long and close relationships with our CGS ORIS resellers in the region. This is why even with almost 2 years of no traveling, we are still very much connected thanks to

technology like Zoom and Whatsapp that allow the business to continue almost like before,” he continued. Packaging Proofing On the Rise “We see the growing trend in packaging in which our customers require mockup proofing with our FLEX PACK solution. Due to the pandemic, most brand owners are not able to do site approval, therefore they require a proof to be submitted before sending

it off to the printing company for production,” said Yan. The FLEX PACK solution is one of the most colour accurate packaging proofing and prototyping system. The inkjet-based packaging solution delivers colour accuracy, spot varnish, embossing and foiling effects. “Another solution that we are working with printer manufacturer Mutoh is a

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Learn more

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

www.cgs-oris.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

CGS ORIS FLEX PACK

direct-to-substrate proofing solution. We are so excited and looking forward to bringing this solution to the region, since direct-to-substrate proofing is the way forward,” said Yan. The solution consists of CGS ORIS´ packaging proofing and mock-up system FLEX PACK with the Mutoh ValueJet 628 MP, 630mm wide digital piezo inkjet printer, specially optimised for the specific requirements of the packaging industry. The end-toend digital print product will enable companies to produce realistic mockups of final products. “The solution is perfect for packaging printers that require a colour accurate packaging proof on actual substrates. FLEX PACK, combined with Mutoh ValueJet 628MP, is a real breakthrough for the industry,” Yan continued. “In addition, I have also noticed a lot more requests for consultation from packaging printers that need our consulting on process control,” said Yan. Yan added that more and more customers in Southeast Asia are looking to get certified: “Recently we have many printers in Southeast Asia that require certification of G7 and Fogra based on ISO 12647-2 ProcessStandard Offset. This certification has been fundamental in them being able to get packaging jobs.” Award-Winning Cloud Tools that Work Together Colour management and consistency will continue to be on the rise in Southeast Asia as print and packaging jobs get funnelled back to the region. “I will continue to focus on the brand owner that need our colour expertise on how to handle the process of printing. This is going to be even more in-demand, as Pantone Color libraries

are going to be removed from Adobe applications,” said Yan. Beginning March 2022, Adobe announced that it will no longer offer Pantone Color Libraries in its Creative Cloud products, and will be removed from future software updates. Yan explained the implications of this on the industry: “Printers will likely have the libraries on file, but since the Creative Cloud is already on a subscription basis, how many graphic designers and creative agencies would want to pick up another subscription for the Pantone library? CGS ORIS has the perfect solution to facilitate colour communication and exchange, and that is with our CXF TOOLS.” CGS ORIS’ CXF TOOLS allow users to easily generate, manage and analyse CxF data (Colour Exchange Format). The technology from PDF that embeds the spectral data of spot colour will be the new way to help the supply chain. Along with CGS ORIS’ COLOR CLOUD, the CxF tool recently scored an European Digital Print (EDP) award as the best cloudbased workflow solution. “Communication will be easy and clear using of CxF/X-4 in the PDF documents, based on open standard ISO 17972-4. With the solution, it is now possible to transport all characteristics of brand and spot colours,” Yan added. Additionally, the company won at the EDP Awards in 2019 for its X GAMUT solution, which saw more and more packaging printers implementing the Extended Color Gamut (ECG) workflow by using the CMYKOGV inkset.

CXF Toolbox Color Cloud

“The best thing about our solutions is that all of our award-winning products, including FLEX PACK and X GAMUT, seamlessly connect to COLOR CLOUD to enable a smooth and effective workflow,” said Yan. As regional manager of the region, Yan lives and breathes colour management. When asked where this passion stemmed from: “I’m an E&E engineer, and part fanatic on speed, power and precision of the Germany Automative company, BMW! This was part of the reason why as a German company, CGS ORIS was very attractive to me.” “CGS ORIS has the complete range of solutions for the print industry, allowing me to practise all of knowledge and ideals to the my customer! It’s great that I get to use my electronics and computer engineering background in the printing industry, where many customers lack this knowledge. With CGS ORIS you have the pinnacle of performance, agility of perfect steering and chassis balance – much like the iconic BMW E30 M3!”, Yan continued. “At CGS ORIS I was able to apply my colour management and process control know-how to our customers, so it was a great fit. The best part is the company is that it is very flexible and transparent, especially in working with the senior management,” Yan continued. Yan concluded: “Print is craft and print is science. To love the craftsmanship of the printer, we need to learn the relevant skills and knowledge to unleash its full capabilities. Always be open to new print technologies!”

https://www.cgs-oris.com/

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

International toymaker u technology from Heidel • Highly automated Speedmaster XL 106-5+L with Plate to Galleryand pallet logistics • Push to Stop concept for autonomous job processing • Press delivers on performance promise in extensive tests Ravensburger AG is one of the world’s leading producers of board and card games, toys, jigsaw puzzles, and children’s books. Boasting both German and international brands such as Brio, Think-Fun, and Wonder-Forge, the company employs over 2,300 staff worldwide. Most of its products are developed and manufactured in-house. The demand for jigsaws and games is currently exhibiting strong growth. This is demonstrated, among other things, by Ravensburger’s in-house print volume, which has increased significantly in recent years. The company’s Head of Production, Tobias Liebing, has the figures to prove it: “In the space of three years, the number of sheets printed at Ravensburger has risen from 37 million to 49 million.” A highly automated printing system Sheetfed offset printing is used in the competence center for print production at the company’s site in Ravensburg. Paper grades, formats, and the ink

sequence are largely standardized. A Speedmaster XL 106-5+L from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) – a five-color system with coating unit – was taken into operation in summer 2021. An extended sheet format of 76 x 106 centimeters (standard format: 75 x 106 centimeters) means utilization of the printable sheet area can be optimized when producing multiple-ups. The Speedmaster XL 106 is a highly automated system from the 2020 generation with a Push to Stop configuration. Jobs that are added to the job queue are therefore completed automatically. The Intellistart 3 assistance software analyzes the jobs in the list and determines independently which makeready sequences to activate during a job change. The Speedmaster Operating System guides print engineers through the production process, indicating when manual intervention is required.

Plate to Gallery for faster printing plate logistics Plate to Gallery is an automated plate logistics solution that lifts the printing plates to gallery level on the press. Thanks to AutoPlate Pro, it takes little more than two minutes to change an entire set of plates fully automatically in all five printing units. The Prinect Inpress Control fully automatic color measuring system adjusts the ink feed and register within around one hundred sheets, while the Quality Assistant system monitors all quality parameters. As soon as the target values are achieved, Intellistart 3 automatically switches to production speed. To maximize net outputs, the press stands on a foundation elevated by 525 millimeters. The delivery supports non-stop production, with an underfloor conveyor system automatically supplying the empty pallets as each pile is removed. In the delivery pile, InsertStar separates the individual jobs (by automatically inserting tapes). Liebing considers process automation to be extremely important. “With four or five job changes an hour, the speed of makeready processes determines how cost-effective production is,” he explains.

With four or five job changes an hour at Ravensburger, the speed of makeready processes determines how cost-effective production is. The press shown here is the Speedmaster XL 106-5+L.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

uses Speedmaster lberg

Sheetfed offset press availability of 99.4 percent Ravensburger carried out an extensive test run before taking the decision to invest in a sheetfed offset press from Heidelberg. The Speedmaster XL 106 in the Heidelberg demonstration center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site had to prove how efficiently it could produce the customer’s print jobs using the same consumables as in Ravensburg.

system has well and truly won us over,” he says.

“The high demands we placed on the technology in terms of paper waste and net output were met in full,” confirms Liebing, who is particularly impressed by how reliably the press runs, even with relatively thin printing materials.

Automatic compensation of paper distortion Besides cardboard, much of Ravensburger’s work also involves standard paper grades. Paper of this kind is prone to distortion during the printing process, which can lead to register inaccuracies from printing unit to printing unit. This can be counteracted using Prinect Automat ic Paper Stretch Compensation. The level of distortion can be predicted for each specific paper grade, and the software compensates for this during plate imaging.

The outstanding results of the test run were borne out in practice. Six months on from commissioning, Liebing reports the technical availability of the press is 99.4 percent. “This printing

Prinect Automatic Paper Stretch Co mpensation is particularly effective when printing motif sheets with fine hairlines, and also when a large number of repeats are spread across the sheet.

“The software from Heidelberg contributes to quality standards and is a tool we no longer want to do without when it comes to meeting our high requirements,” insists Liebing. Customer relationship based on trust and partnership “Convincing a company like Ravensburger of the benefits of Speedmaster XL 106 technology once again demonstrates the competitiveness of our Push to Stop concept,” says Dr. David Schmedding, Managing Director of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Vertrieb Deutschland GmbH. “Our long-standing customer relationship with Ravensburger is based on trust and partnership. The company knows it can always rely on the Heidelberg team and our expertise,” adds Mirco Klumpp, who is responsible for sales and customer service.

https://www.heidelberg.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Is Sustainable Print Finishing Actually Possible? Finishing printed products is one way to make the final product more attractive. And it’s the right mix of design, substrate and finishing that has a bigger impact on sales as you probably already know. Some special methods thus make it possible to change the final product in an improved way. Finishing techniques are often not environmentally friendly though. Is it still possible to focus on sustainability and guarantee highquality finishing at the same time? Problems with the "Deinking“ Process Take a look at the current focus on sustainable substrates to be clear about a few things. Certain forms of finishing lead to a high energy input and make the recycling process more difficult. Here’s an example: A printed product is to be produced sustainably and has been printed climate neutrally on an uncoated 100% recycled material and then receives a foil embossing and/or a UV coating. Obviously, it is contradictory and may look like a nonsolvable issue. But why is this the case? Due to the high energy yield that occurs through these forms of refinement, the recycling process of such print products is complicated. Print finishes (especially varnish) can therefore not be removed from the paper compared to tried and tested products of the offset printing process with a deinking process, for example. UV-curable inks are a challenging issue in deinking. They cross-link through the polymerization induced by UV light and lie film-like on the paper. However, since UV inks offer enormous advantages in the printing process due to their fast drying, they are being used more and more. Maintaining the balance between efficiency and the recycling process that suffers from it is no easy task as you can see. Is there any way of inventing techniques or systems that can help out of this discord?

Do Sustainable Finishes Exist? Making print finishing consistently sustainable is proving to be very difficult. However, there are already some alternatives that become increasingly in demand in today’s world. Finishing with water-based systems based on renewable raw materials is one of these possibilities next to a few others, such as blind embossing or (laser) punching. From a technical point of view, the implementation is already possible through flex printing or the screen-printing process.

of graphic print products. They are committed to various issues, which include not only the promotion of companies and projects in this area, but also the necessary public relations work in Europe regarding the recycling of graphic print products. Alternatives are ultimately more than necessary and inevitable nowadays.

The latter offers a lot of scope and optimally allows a variety of metallic effects to be achieved by adding pigments. Ink manufacturers, such as Siegwerk, are already working on improving the deinkability of their UV inks and presented a UV/LED offset ink system for different paper grades. This was an important step in consistently striving for sustainability.

However, this situation can be made an opportunity for those who want to advocate sustainability. But as it has always been, the client must also show interest in and support this path in order to achieve sustainable goals.

The “INGEDE e. V.” Association The International Research Association Deinking Technology e.V. aims to maintain and improve the recyclability

Commodity prices and the price of oil are rising, leading to higher logistics costs. Some manufacturers cannot even produce due to the shortage.

Sustainable print finishing is definitely possible and not a contradiction. Saving energy and resources can be in line with effectiveness and efficiency when the printing industry works together. Progress in this area is guaranteed and will certainly bring successful innovations in the future, that’s for sure.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

https://fujifilm-gcb.info/FBNZ_Re

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

How large format supports business resilience in todays print enviroment While key print production markets were heavily impacted by the pandemic, the wide format sector experienced less disruption and is expected to enjoy strong growth in the next five years. In fact, global consultancy Shingetsu Research predicts a CAGR of 5.4% from 2021 to 2027forthe worldwide large format printer market. It expects it toreach $11.4 billion by 2027 from $8.8 billion in 2020. Driving this is greater adoption in the advertising, packaging, and textile industries as well as expansion into new and emerging market segments like vehicle wrap, architectural layouts, home furnishing, and décor applications. This was reflected by a 2% worldwide lift in large format printer shipments according to the IDC. It reported the market returned to pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2021. There are five reasons why large format has proven to be so resilient: 1. Communication It was the first technology that

businesses and institutions pivoted to when the pandemic hit. It was used to quickly explain and identify what safety precautions to take, where to stand and even where to sanitise hands. It allowed print service providers such as Italian

graphic design and print specialist Beepag to develop a new range of products, Others, such as Scottish print and signage solutions specialist Appeal Media, manufactured thousands of hand sanitiser stations for schools and

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

councils to help vital services to remain open while Cartesio Fullcard produced protective visors for Italian healthcare personnel. 2. Quality The report from Shingetsu Research states the quality delivered by large format systems is instrumental in print operations investing in the technology to help them deliver a broader range of services. The ability to produce high quality imagesallows specific detail to be shown in an engaging format. In fact, global consultancy Shingetsu Research predicts a CAGR of 5.4% from 2021 to 2027forthe worldwide large format printer market. It expects it toreach $11.4 billion by 2027 from $8.8 billion in 2020. Driving this is greater adoption in the advertising, packaging, and textile industries as well as expansion into new and emerging market segments like vehicle wrap, architectural layouts, home furnishing, and décor applications.

This was reflected by a 2% worldwide lift in large format printer shipments according to the IDC. It reported the market returned to pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2021. There are five reasons why large format has proven to be so resilient: 1. Communication It was the first technology that businesses and institutions pivoted to when the pandemic hit. It was used to quickly explain and identify what safety precautions to take, where to stand and even where to sanitise hands. It allowed print service providers such as Italian graphic design and print specialist Beepag to develop a new range of products, Others, such as Scottish print and signage solutions specialist Appeal Media, manufactured thousands of hand sanitiser stations for schools and councils to help vital services to remain open while Cartesio Fullcard produced protective visors for Italian healthcare personnel. 2. Quality The report from Shingetsu Research

states the quality delivered by large format systems is instrumental in print operations investing in the technology to help them deliver a broader range of services. The ability to produce high quality imagesallows specific detail to be shown in an engaging format. 5. Application diversity Traditional applications remain the core business for wide format such as indoor and outdoor signage, Point of Purchase, vehicle wraps, posters, art, event and floor graphics, and décor such as wallpaper. But as previously mentioned the technology can be used effectively in other markets thanks to its versatility. These include short run jobs within the commercial, packaging, label, and industrial sectors, as well as proofing and even printed electronics and RFID conductive products. Wide format digital print’s strength lies in its ability to enable cost-effective, fast turnaround of orders while at the same time offering environmentally friendly solutions with low power consumption, minimal waste and producing only what is required.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

DIGITAL PRINTING SOLUTIONS LIKE NO OTHER Ready for the next turn. Just like you. As truly direct and dedicated printing technology specialists, we believe you should deal with your challenges in your very own way. That is why we offer a wider range of digital technologies for a wide range of applications. From wine labels to wall decoration; from toner to inkjet – how can we help you to make your business ready for the next turn? www.xeikon.com

Direct. Dedicated. Digital.

Xeikon_CorporateAdv_210x297_EN.indd 1

24/08/17 09:45

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

Siflex Packaging saves u Since setting up business in 2014, Siflex Packaging has focused on developing and improving processes related to the production of flexible packaging in Chile. To this end, it has 52 experienced employees working in a 5,000 m² facility located in the northern part of the capital, Santiago, and has invested heavily in machinery, processes and systems boasting the highest industry standards. One key piece of equipment is the KODAK FLEXCEL NX System installed by Miraclon in 2018 which, together with the FLEXCEL NX Plates, has enabled the company to cut white ink consumption by up to 23%. Luis Sirhan, founder and General Manager of Siflex Packaging, explains that choosing the FLEXCEL

NX System was the only option he considered, as he had already experienced its advantages firsthand when working for another company. “As I was already well aware of the strengths of FLEXCEL NX Technology, including the ink savings and increased productivity it enables, investing in it was a no-brainer.” Ink savings To confirm and further explore the benefits of this installation, Siflex Packaging decided to undertake a project where the objective was to measure the white ink savings that

could be achieved with FLEXCEL NX Plates. During this time, the company worked closely with Carlos Alejandro Moraga, Printing Applications Specialist Flexo at Miraclon, who audited the entire production process and advised Siflex Packaging on how to implement best practices, while also helping it to optimize its production workflow to take full advantage of the KODAK FLEXCEL NX Technology. Luis Sirhan explains: “We really appreciate how much Miraclon supported us on this project when they could have perfectly well walked away as the sale was already sealed and signed, but they accepted the challenge and it shows that they care about their customers. We have a very close relationship with them and will continue to work together on new projects and challenges.” The company founder adds: “It has been a joint effort between Miraclon and our entire pre-press and print team, who have been fully involved in recording data on all the jobs for months. In addition, we can also put this achievement down to the ongoing maintenance we always carry out on the machines and equipment, which also plays a role in achieving these savings and lowering ink consumption, which in turn allows us to cut our environmental emissions”. Raúl Azocar, Head of Production at Siflex Packaging, adds that “This study also demonstrated that we could achieve good white opacity with less ink; by using a FLEXCEL NX Plate we have been able to save 23% white ink”. Cristian Mella, Head of Development at Siflex Packaging, points out that “the correct use of DIGICAP NX Patterning has also been fundamental in this saving, which we check when characterizing the press in relation to the plate, the aim being to achieve

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

up to 23% on white inks

greater opacity while applying a smaller amount of ink. We adapt the DIGICAP NX Patterning to achieve higher ink densities on the press”. Plate advantages Siflex Packaging's Production Manager, Raúl Azocar, is also very satisfied with the performance of the plates because they maximize productivity on press, with fewer unscheduled press stops and less waste. "FLEXCEL NX Plates guarantee us excellent ink transfer, smooth solids and robust on-press performance. In addition, they allow us to accurately reproduce the sharpest image detail, offer high strength for high press speeds and greater durability for consistency throughout the press run and in replenishments”. Raúl Azocar, says: “My experience with the FLEXCEL NX Plates has been very good, and what is really extraordinary is the fact that there are no unscheduled stops on the press, and with a single adjustment this plate no longer needs to be adjusted or stopped for jobs sharing the same characteristics.

We have been able to increase speeds without having to apply more pressure, and the plates withstand these runs and stay in the same condition, so we have been able to be more efficient. At Siflex we have no press stops caused by the plates and this helps us to work without interruptions, to be able to repeat prints and to save on-press time and energy. We are convinced that we have the best print quality, and we don't have to replace plates due to dot loss, so all this underscores the quality and value of FLEXCEL NX plates.” Quality and sustainability Luis Sirhan says: “Since we have been working with the FLEXCEL NX System, we have been producing a higher print resolution than we did before. Added to this benefit is the peace of mind of having in-house plate production, which allows us to respond to any demand from our customers and to adjust job times as we need to.” Siflex Packaging's General Manager concludes: “The investment in FLEXCEL NX Technology has been worthwhile, because not only has it

allowed us to reach more customers, but it also generates concrete benefits such as printing with fewer colors and achieving the same result as printing with eight colors, for example. Thanks to this and the other savings achieved with the equipment from Miraclon, such as using fewer plates, less need for equipment usage and therefore also less solvent usage, we are a more sustainable business. It also brings us other benefits such as not having problems with plates as we did before. So, all of that translates into an economic benefit”. The pandemic has been a challenge for Siflex Packaging, but by being classified as an essential company it has been able to maintain production, despite the problems caused by the shortage of raw materials. Luis Sirhan is positive about the future. “This year the company is already growing, and we hope to continue to do so in the coming year, as we have a very close relationship with our customers, and we strive to build customer loyalty with the best quality and service”.

https://www.miraclon.com

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

56 New generation Xeikon Label Converting Units support scalability and flexibility Xeikon continues on its pathway to full digitalization with the launch of its new Xeikon LCU series (Label Converting Units), specifically developed and designed for the converting industries in high-end label production and manufacturing. Moving to the next technological generation, Xeikon’s Label Converting Units are designed with modular and scalable architecture for added flexibility, cloud connection and full integration. They come in two models, the Xeikon LCU350 with its new modular platform for added flexibility and scalability to support business growth – and the Xeikon LCU33, a basic version and entry-level choice. The new LCU series is now available for demonstration at Xeikon’s Global Innovation Center. Jeroen Van Bauwel, Director Product Management, states, “A key value of our new Xeikon LCU series is in the various different options and levels of investment available to suit the customer’s requirements. As with many of our digital solutions, the Xeikon LCU series is designed to adapt and grow with our customer’s business needs. Through our Xeikon

Solution Services (XSS), customised versions and different configurations are possible as the customer’s business grows, depending on the application and volumes required, e.g. from a basic varnish through to automatic laser die-cut capability and wider web versions up to 520mm. The integration of the units in the Xeikon LCU series along with cloud connection offers full automation possibilities for both process and information exchange across all equipment. The Xeikon LCU Series are designed to work inline and offline with both Xeikon’s Panther and Cheetah digital presses.”

new LCU series is highly accurate in terms of precision for cutting and precise registration.

With Xeikon’s LCU series, automation is available for (a) processes: such as optional automatic turret rewind or optional die plate change, and (b) job information: which allows data transfer to different units, giving transparency and insight to the operator of the various status and functionality of the converting steps.

The die-cutting can happen semirotary at 80m/min to a maximum full rotary speed of 130m/min. Every facet and operational step of the LCU series has been carefully considered and geared for higher efficiency.

The Xeikon LCUs next generation machine/machine and man/machine interfaces give the operator full insight into the progress of each converting step. Operators can monitor every process from lamination, die-cutting, slitting, winding, hot foiling and screen printing. The varnishing station comes with increased varnishing width and varnishing register, and an easy upgrade to spot varnishing. Xeikon’s

The Xeikon LCU series has exceptional functionality and can be expanded with options that increase the overall OEE of an operation – such as additional flexo stations to avoid change-over between different varnishes, automated laser die-cutting to avoid die-plate change-over and increase turnaround, auto die-plate change to reduce setup time and hot foil, and screen-printing stations to expand application range.

To contribute to the digitalization of print manufacturing, the Xeikon LCU series has 1) built-in cloud connectivity for data collection and remote service. The collected data is translated into key information that helps operators in their day-to-day decisions making. 2) Machine/machine interfaces on Xeikon’s Panther 2.0 UV inkjet presses and Xeikon’s Cheetah 2.0 dry toner presses and (3) Man-machine interfaces which give additional autonomy to the operator. Van Bauwel concludes, “This is an exciting new development for the converting industries. From the converter’s point of view, not only will he now have the latest fully automated and high-quality finishing and embellishing capabilities, but he will also have the flexibility to customise his finishing department and combine a number of different processes to maximise his label applications and extend his label portfolio to grow his business. Xeikon is also addressing customers who are on a smaller budget. The Xeikon LCU33 is an entrylevel model designed for smaller business operations. It is an attractive investment, upgradeable and market competitive. With our new LCU series all, processes are now connected in one smooth process from file to finish. With the cloud connection, the

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

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

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

58 under one roof, from product design and prepress to the finished product, enabling a high level of customization and personalized service for its customers.

operators can now rely solely on the capabilities of the Xeikon machines. Converters today are constantly searching for new technologies and equipment to enable them to meet the high levels of demand from brand owners for the latest sophisticated and unique embellishments plus highquality finish to attract consumers. With Xeikon’s new LCU series, they will have all they need to take the next step to full digitalization in label production and manufacturing.” Shanghai Hengze Printing Company Levels Up with CrystalCleanConnect for Increased Productivity, Quality, Sustainability Asahi Photoproducts, a pioneer in flexographic photopolymer plate development, today reported that Shanghai Hengze Printing Company is in the process of installing a brandnew CrystalCleanConnect flexographic platemaking line. This Chinese label manufacturer had already adopted Asahi AWP™-DEF water-washable plates to boost quality and improve its competitive positioning. The addition of the CrystalCleanConnect line, and a switch to Asahi AWP™-DEW waterwashable plates that are optimized for use with CrystalCleanConnect, will take the company’s productivity, efficiency and sustainability to the next level, positioning it even more favorably in the highly competitive Chinese market. The company was founded in 2001 as a letterpress shop producing labels for products in daily use among the Chinese population. Shanghai Hengze offers complete end-to-end services

“Over the last two years, since we implemented the Asahi AWP™ CleanPrint water-washable plates, we have seen excellent quality improvement results,” said Mr. Li Xiaocheng, founder of Hengze. “When we learned about the added value CrystalCleanConnect could bring to our operation, we could hardly wait to get started. We are also very pleased to be an early adopter of this unique, highly productive and innovative solution.” CrystalCleanConnect was developed as a result of a collaboration among Asahi Photoproducts, ESKO and Kongsberg. It brings together key hardware and software technologies from all organizations to deliver a highly efficient and sustainable mountready water-washable flexo plate for the packaging industry, bringing a new level of standardization to flexographic printing. CrystalCleanConnect offers a number of breakthrough advantages, from design to print, including: A fully automated and connected process that begins with the operator loading plate material and pressing a button to initiate the process. Plates are then imaged, developed and cut in-line in a single integrated process, delivering mount-ready plates at the back end. Significantly reduced total cost of ownership. By reducing steps from 12 to 1, minimizing the need for operator intervention and automating the entire workflow, not only are labor costs

reduced but there is less wastage and reduced opportunity for error. Plates are also produced faster than with other methods, increasing throughput and decreasing time to market for flexo printed products. Excellence in print quality consistency. Automation of a proven platemaking process delivers plates that are more consistent, ultimately making the pressroom more efficient and costeffective. A best-in-class environmental footprint that includes less waste, elimination of VOC-based washout chemicals associated with solventbased platemaking, reduced energy use, and more. CleanPrint plates from Asahi Photoproducts, such as its AWP™DEW plates optimized for use with CrystalCleanConnect, have been specifically engineered to transfer all remaining ink to the printed substrate. This is due to the plate’s lower surface energy. CleanPrint technology plates do not need to be cleaned as often as conventional digital solvent plates. Reduction of plate cleaning stops creates a significant productivity improvement as well as more consistent quality.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

60 The Delta SPC 130 Automatic meets all those needs while providing customers with the latest, most reliable and cost effective production method available. We’re happy to deliver a solution that gives both TRG and its customers the capability and competency to mass customize without compromising quality.”

The Royal Group’s new Koenig & Bauer Durst SPC 130 press offers customers high-quality mass customization The Royal Group (TRG), one of the largest independent corrugated box and display manufacturers in the U.S., with more than 30 locations nationwide, has invested in a Delta SPC 130 Automatic single-pass press from Koenig & Bauer Durst to provide mass customization and high-volume, fully automated digital production to its customers. The six-color press, now installed at TRG’s Mid-Atlantic Packaging site near Philadelphia, gives customers the flexibility to print unique versions of high-quality graphics for brands and brand extensions, allowing for mass customization at a large scale. It’s one of many TRG solutions, which range in scope from industrial packaging and brown box shipping containers to high-end graphic packaging, ecommerce, in-store displays and shelf-ready packaging. These products serve a diverse array of markets, including retail, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, health and beauty, agriculture, tech and home goods, among others. The Delta SPC 130 Automatic, with its sustainable food grade certified water-based ink technology, provides specific solutions for the food and retail packaging and display industry. The new single-pass press reduces

lead times and provides excellent print quality, equivalent to flexo and offset production. Transferring work from traditional to digital production will empower TRG to meet customer needs as the demand for both corrugated packaging and speed to market grow. The printer’s expanded color range, adding orange and purple to the CMYK color wheel, allows it to achieve more than 90% of the 3,000+ Pantone colors, including spot coloration for specific brands. “As both a producer and a converter of corrugated packaging, The Royal Group has made significant investments to acquire the best machinery available in the industry,” said TRG’s Chief Executive Officer Bob McIlvaine. “The investment in the Delta SPC 130 for our Mid-Atlantic site underpins our commitment to process improvement. It will enable us to provide highly automated, worldclass printing capabilities at speed while remaining as flexible as possible for our clients as we continue to grow our business. Digital packaging is the future — and we aim to satisfy our customers and meet their needs with innovative solutions.” “Successful companies such as TRG embrace trends and offer high-impact solutions for their customers,” said Koenig & Bauer Durst Managing Director Robert Stabler. Brand owners want shorter lead times, sustainable manufacturing practices and products that stand out.

About TRG TRG, founded almost 100 years ago in Cicero, Ill., is among the nation’s largest independent corrugated box and display manufacturers, with over 30 locations nationwide. Since its start, TRG has grown its offerings from packaging to a wide assortment of products and services including big box, protective packaging, retailready packaging, displays, co-packing, fulfillment and shipping supplies. TRG is committed to fulfilling its mission is to provide value added solutions to the most demanding cutomers. Huizhou Tianjian, Spirit of Craftsman Founded in 2000, Huizhou Tianjian Color Printing Co., Ltd. is a wellknown packaging printer in Huizhou providing the high quality professional packaging printing services for the industries of electronic products, cosmetics, home appliances, food and hardware. It specializes in the products such as self-adhesive stickers, card boxes, magnet boxes, gift boxes, cartons, and blister cards.

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

61 According to Ms Huang Meihong, the company's general manager, since the establishment of the company, Huizhou Tianjian has attached great importance to product quality and operation management. It adopts the Manroland's world leading automated packaging printing technologies, introducing the ROLAND four-color, five-color, six-color sheetfed offsets. Moreover, it uses the smart ERP system for operation management. In addition, the company has passed the ISO 9001 quality system certification, ISO 14000 environmental system certification, FSC, BSCI, UL, WalMart, and high-tech enterprise certification. Ms Huang said, "During our company’s development for over two decades, adhering to the spirit of craftsmanship, we take one solid step at a time striving for the premium packaging printing quality. By this means, we have won high recognition from our customers and established long-term friendly partnership with them.” In order to better meet the growing demand of the market and further develop the company's business, Huizhou Tianjian has recently cooperated with Manroland again by introducing a brand new ROLAND 706 Evolution Lite. The new machine has been successfully installed and officially put into production.

"The ROLAND 706 Evolution Lite equipped with a massive amount of cutting-edge automation technologies enable us to realize the fully automatic production. It 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." Ms Huang said with great satisfaction. The following are some of the massive amount of cutting-edge automation. 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 installation of the new machine and the spirit of craftsmanship, Huizhou Tianjian is instilled with more strength and confidence to continuously strive to promote more Made-In-China products to the world!

All4Labels launches inspirational global showcase for wine & spirits A set of unique labels will display the precious essence of wine and spirits, leveraging advanced technologies, sustainable solutions, and interactive features. All4Labels Global Packaging Group has announced the launch of its new global business strategy to sustainably develop the wine & spirits sector starting with a dedicated marketing campaign, which is designed to shape consumers’ experience through unique, precious, and sustainable labels and packaging. This will take form in an inspiration project of a global itinerant showcase — called ‘Motherland’ — which will display the unique essence of each product and its local heritage through eye-catching design. In the coming months, All4Labels will be producing eight special label concepts on bottles of wine & spirits from Argentina, France, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Russia, China, and Germany. These countries represent the locations of the group’s blue-chip sites that are specialized in the wine & spirits segment, and each will feature a product that is typical of the local market. Created together with its newly launched packaging design division, All4Graphics, each label will seek to embody the natural beauty and traditions of the region of origin, while implicitly demonstrating All4Labels’ technical and innovational capabilities. The labeled bottles will be unveiled at dedicated local events starting with a kick-off in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 9, 2022. The showcase is an opportunity to address the importance of building an open environment with meaningful relationships throughout the entire value chain, and All4Labels is working closely with a group of leading partner companies to share this ethos. Motherland will also highlight the value of All4Labels Smart + Secure GmbH that would embed smart features such as Brand Security with QR fingerprint, Gamification and Traceability in order to support the

Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

62 way of producing premium labels. We have developed and deployed an embellishment process that avoids waste while ensuring an exclusive tactile and visual effect.” “Conscious of the new digital era where metaverse is evolving into a new reality we will explore how a virtual world can impact on people’s behaviors. With some real applications All4Labels can link bottles to an NFT marketplace, to show how advanced avatars could revolutionize virtual engagement,” added Paola Iannone, VP Marketing and Communication at All4Labels. The Motherland campaign will continue over the coming months demonstrating the global footprint and local knowledge of All4Labels along the way. Supplier partners in the project include Avery Dennison, Fedrigoni Self-Adhesive, Leonhard Kurz, H+M, Estal, Actega, Nilpeter, Omet, HP Indigo and Luxoro.

customer experience through analytics. “We are embarking on this campaign to highlight our presence as a main player in the wine & spirits market and to show our high premium solutions,” said CEO of All4Labels Adrian Tippenhauer. “Motherland will demonstrate in very real terms how All4Labels is pioneering innovation with bold creativity, high quality and sustainable packaging solutions for local and global wine & spirits brands.” The goal for All4Labels is to enlarge its presence in this developing market. Guido Iannone, All4Labels CSO said, “Wine & spirits has been a core focus for the All4Labels sales strategy for a long time, and we have developed an extremely high level of technical expertise in label production with exceptional finishes and embellishments for premium brands. We are now using this expertise to drive new growth opportunities for us, for our partners, and our customers.” All4Labels is committed to producing labels and packaging in the most efficient and responsible way. Massimiliano Martino All4Labels CTO said, “Motherland was produced using innovative materials and technologies to reduce the carbon footprint by 80% compared to the conventional

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Print Innovation Asia Issue 2 2022

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