Indusrty news from the region & around the world

High adhesion ink now available for EFI wide format flatbed and hybrids

EFI announced the availability of EFI ProGraphics XA high-adhesion ink – a versatile UV LED display graphics inkjet ink that is suitable for a wide range of rigid and flexible media for EFI Wide Format flatbed and hybrid roll/flatbed printers.

According to EFI, ProGraphics XA ink delivers superior results on corrugated plastics and other substrates with adhesion challenges.

EFI customer Kurt Kahmnke, owner of Fenton, Missouri-based Payler Signs & Graphics, has gained greater adhesion and durability on rigid substrate prints he produces on his company’s new EFI Pro 30h hybrid wide-format printer. The ink gives Payler Signs superior results compared to the UV inks the company uses on a flatbed inkjet printer.

“We’ve tested prints produced with the ProGraphics XA ink in our EFI Pro 30h printer in a variety of modes on Coroplast, acrylic, aluminum composites and other challenging materials by spraying them with water, leaving them outside in the heat, and stacking them ink side to ink side,” said Kahmnke. “We are very pleased with the ink’s adhesion, quality, and performance and are confident that we made the right choice.” The ProGraphics XA ink does not chip during cutting when used on standard acrylic, corrugated plastic or other fluted polypropylene media. Plus, ProGraphics XA ink is flexible enough for 180-degree heat forming applications.

Bringing this advanced ink to the EFI Pro 24f, Pro 30f, Pro 16h and Pro 30h wide-format printers gives sign and display graphics operations more capabilities in the range of applications they offer to customers.

“We are pleased to bring this exceptional high-adhesion ink to our wide format printer owners,” said Ken Hanulec, EFI’s vice president of worldwide marketing. “We continually strive to increase the value of EFI investments, and now customers will have the benefit of ProGraphics XA ink’s versatility, durability and flexibility to extend the range of substrates and surfaces they can print on.”

When purchasing an EFI Wide Format printer, customers can choose the ProGraphics Series UV LED ink set that best meets their application needs.

Other ProGraphics inks include:

• EFI - 3M ProGraphics UV LED ink for flexible applications, including those that need to be stretched or heated or require the 3M™ MCS™ Warranty; • EFI ProGraphics UV LED POP ink for rigid board and flexible media printing of indoor and outdoor applications;

• EFI ProGraphics UV LED Rigid ink provides the best surface mar resistance and is ideal for printing on specialty rigid media, such as lenticular lenses, steel, aluminum, and wood;

• EFI ProGraphics UV LED Ultra ink for a highly diverse range of flexible and rigid media applications, such as banners, exterior signage, retail signs, interior architectural design, and those that need the best outdoor weathering performance without lamination.

Packaging company awarded Singapore’s Outstanding SME of the Year

Packaging company, Containers Printers Pte Ltd has won the Outstanding SME of the Year Award. The award recognises Singapore SMEs in manufacturing or industrial business activities that have demonstrated a high level of commitment to energy management.

Established in 2011, the EENP Awards aim to recognise companies for their efforts and achievements in improving energy efficiency. The award programme is organised annually by the National Environment Agency, Energy Market Authority and the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Containers Printers had its start in 1981 producing and printing metal packaging. some of which included square tins for cooking oil, which are common throughout Southeast Asia. Over the years, the company evolved to provide innovative metal and flexible laminate packaging solutions to customers in more than 30 countries. The company serves brands in the nutrition, food, and medical industries.

In a statement to Singapore newspaper, The Business Times, Amy Chung, CEO of Containers Printers said: "We have built a dedicated energy management team involving members from different departments, invested in training, and established

new data driven processes on energy usage tracking and performance monitoring."

According to Containers Printers, some of its recent sustainability programs include the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels across all of its factories to tap into renewable energy. The company also upgraded energy-intensive equipment, such as air compressors, to use energy efficient fixed speed and variable speed compressors to the meet the varying compressed air demands of production at an efficient rate. In addition, Containers Printers upgraded all factory lighting to LED and its air conditioning units to more energy-efficient units (rated 4 or 5 ticks under NEA’s Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme). has unveiled the VariJET 106 in a world premiere with exclusive live demonstrations for customers and stakeholders in Radebeul, near Dresden, Germany. The VariJET 106 is a modular single pass sheetfed digital printing press for the folding carton market and has been jointly developed by Koenig & Bauer and Durst. Using market-proven industrial expertise from Durst and Koenig & Bauer, beta testing is due to start in the coming weeks. The first units of the VariJET 106 are due to be installed at customer sites in Europe and America in the second half of 2022. Target groups include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, tobacco and food industries, as well as folding carton converters. At the launch, which included presentations in the Customer Experience Center, senior executives unveiled further insights into Koenig & Bauer’s packaging strategy. Updates were provided on how the

As a signatory to the Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA), Containers Printers commit to reduce packaging waste, which constitutes about one-third by weight of Singapore’s domestic waste. In 2020, the company snagged two awards at the CFI.co Sustainability Awards: Best Sustainable Packaging Technology (Southeast Asia) and Most Innovative Packaging Team (Southeast Asia).

Koenig & Bauer Durst debuts VariJET 106

Koenig & Bauer Durst GmbH digitalization of business processes for new products and services is progressing.

The B1 5,500sph press combines the best of digital inkjet and classic offset printing.

The VariJET 106 is based on waterbased inkjet processes to provide the highest print quality. The innovative digital printing system is at the heart of the collaborative development between Koenig & Bauer and Durst. The VariJET 106 platform is based on Koenig & Bauer’s standard high performance Rapida 106 platform and Durst printhead electronics, inkjet expertise and Durst workflow and RIP technology. This includes Durst Analytics, Smartshop and Workflow. Using 7 colour water-based food compliant inkjet technology (CMYK plus orange, green and violet), the VariJET 106 is suitable for food applications that meet the stringent requirements for food safe primary packaging utilising proprietary waterbased ink technology. The VariJET 106 can produce personalized and individualised print products or alternate between short and medium runs.

The VariJET 106 offers: • Modular integration of upstream and downstream processes • Combination of digital print with proven modules of the Rapida platform • Perfect register accuracy thanks to inline production • Highly competitive TCO, efficient production of ultra-short to medium runs • Reduced resource consumption, storage costs and waste • Absolute flexibility for test packaging and new campaigns • Fastest possible response to market demands

Koenig & Bauer and Durst first announced they had joined forces and set up an independent joint venture company in 2019. The VariJET 106 is the first product jointly and developed by the two companies. Already in production and part of the Koenig & Bauer Durst portfolio are the Delta SPC 130 Series and the CorruJET 170 Series – aimed at corrugated packaging.

The VariJET 106, Delta SPC 130 and CorruJET 170 are designed with core technologies to provide automated, productive, food safe printing systems. They deliver shorter response times, more variants, shorter run lengths, individualization and enable more and more small value orders. They also answer the increasing customer demand for brand security, sustainability and the ability to meet brand owners’ requirements for multichannel communication including e-commerce.

CANON SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.

Robert Stabler, Managing Director, Koenig & Bauer Durst, said: “This world premiere marks a proud moment – and what a journey it has been! We are really excited by the progress we have made and the opportunities with our VariJET 106 despite these testing times. We have beta sites at an advanced stage of planning.

These potential customers already have a vision for mass customization will be working with us in partnership Feedback from our customers is that shorter run lengths, mass customization and the need to be more agile are the compelling reasons for moving to digital production. “Successful companies need to be able to embrace the trends that are occurring and offer solutions. Brand owners continually want their products to stand out, require shorter lead times, while at the same time eliminate waste and conform to sustainability and track-and-trace requirements.

Brand owners are also looking to ensure the new production methods are reliable, compliant and cost effective while converters need to have the capabilities and competencies to mass customize without any compromise on quality. We deliver on this.” companies, the focus is on optimising and increasing the efficiency of processes and results for print service providers and their customers.

"The extensive portfolio of CGS ORIS fits seamlessly into the 'smart quality hub' concept of iQIP. Through this cooperation, we can provide our customers a complete package of tools from data optimization, brand colour communication, all the way to quality control. We are convinced that our current and future customers will massively benefit from this partnership because we consider CGS ORIS´s software to be one of the highest quality colour management tools in the market. The team behind is innovative, responsive and reliable. Therefore, we are very much looking forward to this cooperation," said iQIP’s CEO Stefan Spengler.

"In addition to the match between our solutions in terms of content, this partnership also demonstrates very However, many users were not aware of this at the time of purchase and want to decide independently and put together individually what suits them best and their specific requirements. But to do that, the systems have to be open and able to communicate with each other," said Rückert.

Due to the advancing digitalization, an easy and fast integrability of software tools into existing infrastructures has become more and more important. Today, the colour experts at CGS ORIS are also increasingly acting as "colour consultants", advising on the optimization and automation of workflows and putting together holistic solutions for managing and optimizing colour in all aspects of the printing process.

Meanwhile, iQIP has undergone a complete overhaul. Previously known as impakt-medien, In 2021, the Munich-based company rebranded as iQIP with a new website and new software features.

"Already in the past, we were perceived as the iQIP® team. With the harmonization of company and product name, we´ve created a clear brand recognition value and facilitated our brand communication," said Spengler.

iQIP has been on the market as Print Quality Cloud since 2010 and was a technological pioneer at a time when other companies were still relying on desktop applications. As a central

CGS ORIS partners software company iQIP

CGS ORIS announced it has formed a strategic partnership with software company, iQIP® GmbH & Co. KG. With the partnership, iQIP will integrate the product portfolio of CGS ORIS in its consulting and sales activities. For both software well how beneficial it is to be able to combine software from different manufacturers in an uncomplicated manner - in other words, to actually provide open systems with which users get the maximum out," added Bernd Rückert, CEO of CGS ORIS. "Recently, we have often spoken to customers using software that can only be combined with products from the same manufacturer. hub for communication and quality management, the company combines printer and print buyers in the cloud. With its intelligent evaluation algorithm, iQIP provides a reliable quality metric that serves as a central variable for all stakeholders.

BillerudKorsnäs partners Oatly for sustainable packaging that can withstand hot Singapore weather

Packaging company, BillerudKorsnäs

has partnered with oat drink company, Oatly, to develop corrugated transport boxes for Oatly’s Singapore produced products.

Oatly recently opened its first production facility in Asia to supply the nearby markets. Products produced in the Singapore factory will be packed in boxes and transported on pallets during demanding hot and humid climate conditions, which generates challenging logistics chains. The conventional packaging solution to manage high humidity is to add extra material for sturdier packaging. BillerudKorsnäs BoxLab found a different solution to ensure enhanced sustainability performance while maintaining the high quality standards of Oatly’s secondary packaging.

The solution was built based sustainable principles including being able to minimise damage and waste throughout the logistics chain, while using as little material as possible and minimising water usage. The recyclable packaging material comes from renewable sources and transparency throughout the value chain is promoted.

As a result, the corrugated transport boxes designed to hold six 1-litre cartons of oat drink for distribution was introduced. The corrugated transport boxes enabled a reduction in secondary packaging material by up to 35% and an estimated reduction of CO2 emissions from secondary packaging by up to 50%, compared to conventional packaging solutions.

“To challenge conventional packaging solutions for a sustainable future has long been the guiding star for BillerudKorsnäs. Oatly is a company that strives to produce sustainable and responsible products. We think alike in many ways,” said Henrik Ahlgren, Sales Director Asia & Pacific, BillerudKorsnäs.

According to BillerudKorsnäs, packaging material based on strong primary fibres can make a remarkable difference in demanding logistics chains. The reduction in secondary packaging material with up to 35% can generate substantial savings of packaging material per year. BillerudKorsnäs added that the renewable paper material originates from responsibly managed forests. After use, the packaging can be recycled and used for less demanding packaging multiple times.

“We always look to find solutions to make our production chain more sustainable, transparent and resource efficient. Therefore it’s great that we are able to work with BillerudKorsnäs to find this solution to lower the climate impact and optimise the design of our Asian packaging,” said Jenny Belsö Trojer, Global Cat Manager Packaging Material at Oatly.

EFI grows Asia Pacific packaging team with new hire

EFI announced the appointment of Paul Sanelli as its new packaging and display business development manager in the Asia Pacific region.

Based in Melbourne, Sanelli’s reach extends beyond Australian shores; he will be driving business development activities across APAC, and work closely with EFI’s territory sales managers.

With the appointment, EFI highlighted its commitment to grow the packaging business in APAC. Sanelli will be working with customers in the packaging space across the APAC region, including growing the EFI Nozomi footprint.

“I am excited about the digital growth happening in the packaging industry and about EFI’s culture and innovative technology, its focus in helping customers discover the opportunities and the commercial benefits that can be realised through digital printing,” said Sanelli. Sanelli is a graphic communications expert with more than 25 years of industry experience. Prior to EFI, Sanelli had his start in graphic arts in prepress, before moving into sales for leading suppliers in the print industry.

“From stripping films and washing down a proofing press in my early days, I have seen many step-changes and transitions to digital workflow and production. Observing the early adopters through to dedicated and digital-only operations has given me a sense of what works, and some of the potential challenges’ companies have had to work through when using their current conventional go-to-market strategy,” said Sanelli.

“EFI has become such a relevant supplier to the packaging market through its e-Commerce, workflow, production scheduling, plant management, ERP solutions and printing and converting offerings. I am a believer that one size doesn’t fit all and, therefore, our goal is to focus on our customers’ success by providing them a customised solution tailored for their business needs,” he continued.

‘’I am very pleased to have Paul join our team at EFI. He comes with a wealth of knowledge not just in packaging, but also in digital printing in general, and has a proven track record of project management in complex sales processes. He is wellrespected in the industry for his experience and his approach and is a great addition to our growing team,” said Rodd Harrison, EFI’s Asia-Pacific vice-president of sales.

“Paul coming on board reinforces our commitment to packaging in general, the importance of the APAC region as a whole and A/NZ specifically to our business, and to build a great team of people to service our customers and the industry through innovation,” Harrison concluded.