Printing Innovation Asia Issue 11 2020
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Digital Print for Corrugated – The Future Condition of Things by Nick Kirby My great grandfather, Thomas Kirby, once said: “Wisdom lies not in regretting the inevitable but in adapting oneself to the altered condition of things”. He printed this statement in his publication, “Saddlery and Harness”, in response to the uproar from his readers after the first car was seen in Walsall, UK in 1896.
The internal combustion engine was perceived as the beginning of the end for the local allied horse trades and consequently his readers wanted to destroy its threat to protect their equine related businesses. Thomas was a brave man to challenge his customers’ cynicism by urging them to change! In many ways I relate Thomas’ statement to the digital world we live in today as it has challenged traditional analogue methods. From smart phones to the internet and Amazon, we have witnessed dramatic change in the last 25 years or so as a result of digitised technologies. Buying a digital printer is not like buying early cars where the choice in 1896 was very limited. Manufacturers, brave enough to invest the vast sums required for the R&D to develop the latest digital print technologies, have been met with trepidation from potential buyers of their equipment due to a history of failed or unstable installations. This has not been good for the future confidence of digital in the corrugated sector, but the tide is turning. So, which digital print machine do I buy? Despite the technology’s relative infancy, the choice of digital printers is already so widespread that you have to understand every detail of what you are buying before making a decision. Getting it wrong is likely to be very costly! Consequently, let’s start by
looking at the platform technologies in brief: Multi-Pass These machines were developed specifically for the large format signage and POS sectors and they have played a big part in the demise of new ultra large format litho machine installations. Typically, the most modern multi- pass machines will happily run at between 500 and 1,000 m2/hour using UV inks at very high quality. Single Pass Sheet Fed These state-of-the-art high-volume production machines use single pass technology where the sheet passes under the print heads once and is
finished. More suited to packaging and long run PoS specifications, the print quality is slightly lower than their multi-pass brothers, but with output at between 5,000 to 7,000 m2/hour, it is good enough to challenge mid-quantity, high-quality post print (HQPP) and litho laminated alternatives. Machines are available with UV, water based or hybrid inks. Web Digital Wide web digital (2.8m) is the Formula 1 for digital print output at over 25,000 m2/hour, but maybe controversially, I do not see pre-printed web digital reels being aligned with the corrugating process. Using water-based inks, this impressive marvel of innovation
