Diversity – A convertible currency Uteco Group

DIVERSITy – A CONVERTIBLE CURRENCy

The Uteco Group is a global market leader in the design and manufacture of converting and printing machines and their related technologies. Its advanced, innovative products keep the company at the forefront of the industry. The Uteco Group recently doubled its turnover thanks to the launch of a stream of unique, high-tech solutions, as Philip Yorke reports.

The Uteco Group was founded in Italy in 1985 and its commitment to innovation and quality has resulted in the company becoming a global leader in its chosen disciplines, with a turnover of almost €100 million. Today the company offers a diverse range of advanced machinery and equipment for the converting and printing industries that includes the use of flexible film and paper for packaging, and countless other applications for the food, beverage and security industries.

In addition, the group offers highly specialised solutions to the automotive, aerospace and nano-technology industries. Its broad portfolio also includes flexo printers, rotogravure machines, coater-laminators, and roto-offset equipment as well as many other niche market products and services.

The Uteco Group is a truly global player with facilities in Europe, and Atlanta, Georgia (USA). It has also established a manufacturing facility in partnership with Kohli of India, to supply the fast-growing Asian markets with specially designed machinery. Recently the Uteco Group also set up a new office to cover sales in the Asia Pacific countries.

New digital solutions

At the most recent Label Expo international trade show, Uteco was able to showcase its latest and most innovative printing machines: the Gaia Onyx XS and the NXS 300. The new Gaia machine is a flexible, modular inkjet digital press, specially designed for high quality printing on flexible substrates. This ground-breaking equipment has been developed in association with ‘ebeam Technologies’ and ‘INX Digital’.

All brands of inks are compatible with the Gaia range, and can be used strategically to better satisfy the different requirements of both customers and markets. The new machine utilises EB’s latest polymerisation technologies. In addition, thanks to INX Digital’s latest solutions, there is zero migration of food inks. The all-new digital Gaia combines the abilities of the Uteco Group with the unrivalled digital experience of INX Technologies and the innovative know-how of ebeam Technologies.

Recently Uteco introduced its new entry-level model, with printing speeds of up to 25m/min, 720X360dpi resolution and the opportunity to customise the entire printing process with the addition of inline units such as flexographic options. This model is followed by a deluxe version with a printing engine capable of 1200X1200dpi, up to 100m/min. In both examples the machines are modular and therefore available in different printing widths.

Other main benefits of the Onyx range include a new, patented, triple energy-saving ventilation system, fully flexible configuration, and no ladders or stairs to access upper decks for easy and quick sleeve-change, as well as the most simplified maintenance operations.

Delivering the future today

The Uteco Group has always been at the cutting edge when it comes to innovative technologies and is currently investing heavily in Industry 4.0. There is a special focus on R&D and taking a global lead in the race for the future that involves UDAA systems (Uteco’s Data Acquisition & Analysis).

Uteco’s senior engineer Alessio Garonzi said, “We first introduced the UDAA in 2016 in Dusseldorf at Drupa, the most important trade fair in our industry, and we recorded lots of interest from numerous visitors and customers. This flexible system is interconnected with the printing machine, and collects all data related to the printing process, including consumables and the overall efficiency of the machine. This also makes the data readily available to the customer and, in doing so, contributes to the analysis, improvement and optimisation of the whole production process.”

The Uteco Data Acquisition Analysis system consists of four key modules: the Ink Module is concerned with consumption measurement and operational history; the OEE Module measures the machine’s progress and efficiency parameters; the Energy Module is designed to measure energy consumption and operational efficiency; and finally, the Data Logger Module is the machine’s process data management control system. Each module can automatically generate reports and process results in real time on the basis of the data acquired by the machine. The data is centralised on a controller and PC, and is available to the customer in a variety of formats.

unique, ‘zero-impact’ technology

Thanks to its huge, on-going investments in innovation and resources, Uteco Converting SpA, in collaboration with the biggest brand owners in various packaging sectors, the company has developed a unique multiprocess solution that has zero impact on the environment.

This unique solution is based upon four processes that are integrated into the same machine and covers printing, coating, laminating and slitting operations. These innovative processes were developed thanks to the inclusion of a number of Uteco’s patented technologies and obtained through the latest electron beam technology. This technology provides a big step forward and can be utilised with water-based, solvent-based or UV inks and is completely safe for human operations.

Furthermore, this technology guarantees no contamination at any stage of production and the inks and coatings do not require photoinitiators, which in turn means there are no migration problems. Thanks to the use of Uteco’s patented solution, Thermilox®, production speeds of up to 400m/min can be achieved. n For further details of the Uteco Group’s latest innovative products and services visit: www.Uteco.com