Print Industry News
Koenig & Bauer expands into corrugated The OEM’s entire sales team across Canada and the U.S. will now represent three major products in this sector – CorruCUT, CorruFLEX and Omega Magnus. Koenig & Bauer’s CorruCUT Rotary Die Cutter was designed for the high-performance production of die-cut corrugated products. It can handle corrugated sheets up to 110.24” wide and thicknesses up to .354” while running at speeds up to 12,000 sph. CorruFLEX technology produces high quality post-printing on corrugated board. It features a vacuum-belt feeder that operates without feed rollers, and an innovative anilox roller-changing system. Omega Magnus is a folder-gluer that utilizes carrier motorcontrol buttons on both sides, a colour monitor on the feeder for surveying delivery, an additional control board at the end of delivery, and remote control. “We are pleased to expand our dedication to the corrugated market,” said Kilian Renschler, President and CEO of Koenig & Bauer (Canada/USA). “All three of our new products are being operated successfully at a customer’s facility. Our North American sales team is the most experienced in all facets of packaging – from folding carton, to lithographic laminates, to flexible Kilian Renschler substrates, to the label markets.”
Researchers create flexible packaging film made from plants Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England have developed a method to create a compostable, plantbased “plastic-like” material that’s as robust as engineering plastics. In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers from the Knowles Group describe how they can create polymer film from plant proteins in a sustainable and scalable way. The new material is as strong as the most common plastics and could replace plastic in many common household products. It’s home compostable and will degrade naturally in a marine environment and in fresh water. To create the material, researchers developed a new approach for assembling plant proteins into materials that mimic silk on a molecular level. The method, which uses sustainable ingredients, results in a plastic-like, freestanding film that can be produced at industrial scale. Non-fading ‘structural’ colour can be added, and the polymer can also be used to make water-resistant coatings. The new product will be commercialized by Xampla which is a Knowles “spinout” that develops replacements for single-use plastic and microplastics.
Heidelberg reports high orders and improved profitability Heidelberg made a positive start to its financial year 2021/2022 (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022), delivering on promised improvements in sales and operating profitability in its first quarter. Sales increased by about 30% compared to the previous year – from € 330 million to € 441 million. EBITDA improved to € 15 million, exceeding the pre-pandemic level in financial year 2019/20 of € 11 million. “As demonstrated by our encouraging initial quarter, Heidelberg is really delivering. Buoyed by the global economic recovery and the notable improvement in operating profitability, we are also very optimistic about meeting the targets announced for the year as a whole,” said Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer. Confidence was also fuelled by orders from its recent successful tradeshow in China, which led to incoming orders of € 652 million – an increase of about 89% versus the previous year. Given the increased demand, especially for new products such as the Speedmaster CX 104 universal press, Heidelberg is convinced it can continue building on the company’s market-leading position in China and is expecting this profitable upward trend to Rainer Hundsdörfer continue.
@graphicarts
Samples of sustainable plastic polymer film made from plant protein
HP discontinues some PageWide office products HP will end sales of smaller PageWide A3 and A4 office products that use an inkjet array instead of a laser engine. The OEM plans to focus on expanding its LaserJet products but will continue investing in its PageWide technology in the largeformat, commercial and industrial-print sectors. It will also continue to support previously installed PageWide A3 and A4 devices for a period of five years, including parts and supplies. According to HP, the differences between office laser and inkjet technologies have been decreasing when it comes to device footprint, acquisition cost, ongoing running costs and energy consumption. Plus, HP’s LaserJet innovations have driven improvements in these areas – including up to a 20% reduction in hardware costs, weight and size, nearly a 250% increase in cartridge capacity, up to a 30% reduction in service costs, and reductions in energy consumption of up to 87%.
GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | September | 11
