Driving change in packaging printing Uteco Group

DRIVING CHANGE IN PACKAGING PRINTING

The Uteco Group of Italy is the global leader in the development and manufacture of printing and converting machinery. It outperforms all others thanks to its commitment to driving change in the functionality and sustainability of its products. Philip Yorke reports.

Uteco Converting is the clear world leader in the production of printing machines designed for the most diverse flexible packaging applications. Uteco offers innovative solutions through its wide range of flexographic and rotogravure printing machines, coating and laminating machines, ink-jet hybrid and digital production machines. The company is headquartered east of Verona and comprises more than 100,000 square metres of production space, spread across four modern production facilities

The Uteco Group today counts on an installed base of more than 3,000 machines worldwide, it operates four plants in Italy and sells its products through a direct salesforce as well as a network of over 50 agents. Uteco has been present in North America since 1991, with its own sales and service network and in Singapore with a sales office since 2016. In 2018 the company recorded sales of more than €130 million.

New Ultrastream technology

In February this year, Uteco signed an agreement with Kodak to purchase its latest inkjet printing systems that feature its advanced ‘Ultrastream Technology’. The Kodak Ultrastream Technology was first debuted as a conceptual demonstration at the Drupa Trade Fair in 2016 with development plans for its availability to OEM Partners in 2019.

This futuristic and sustainable ink-jet technology delivers 600X1800dpi with production speeds up to 150mpm, uniquely utilising environmentally friendly and economic water-based inks for both plastic and paper applications.

Uteco introduced its first Saphire EVO solutions in 2018 which immediately captured the interest of the industry for both their performance and sustainability profiles. The company will be among the first equipment manufacturers to employ Kodak Ultrastream Technology, to expand its high-productivity digital press portfolio for flexible packing into 2020 and beyond.

Aldo Peretti, CEO of the Uteco Group said, “Our customers are looking for sustainably advantaged hybrid digital production solutions to enable short run versioning with compelling economics. These combine traditional flexo and gravure, along with the latest digital inkjet technologies. These solutions optimise film handling across the board for priming, post-coating and drying to deliver the high-performance requirements for the packaging industry. Kodak’s continuous ink-jet system continues to be the technology of choice which delivers great quality, high-productivity and cost-effective running costs”.

Unique zero-impact solutions

Recently Uteco launched its Data Acquisition Analysis system that consists of four modules: the ink module is concerned with consumption measurement and operational history, the OEE Module measures 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 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. Thanks to Uteco’s major investment programme in both innovation and resources, the company has developed a unique multi-process solution that has zero-impact on the environment.

This unique print-packaging solution is based upon four processes that are integrated into the same machine and cover all printing, coating, laminating, and slitting operations. These highly innovative processes were developed thanks to the inclusion of a number of Uteco’s patented technologies and through the latest electron beam technology. This futuristic 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®, exceptional production speeds of up to 400mpm can be achieved.

An increasing international presence

Strong and consistent growth over the years has enabled the Uteco Group to strengthen its role as a champion of the “Made in Italy” programme throughout the world, with an even stronger presence in all international markets thanks to expansion via acquisitions in Italy and worldwide. At the same time the Verona operations remain the central hub for all new developments.

The momentum for this strong growth has now been enhanced by the recent acquisition of Uteco by the private investor group: NB Renaissance Partners.

Marco Cerrina Feroni and Stephano Bontempelli, senior partners of NB Renaissance said, “Uteco represents an Italian leader with global reach and a strong positioning in printing machines for flexible packaging, a sector underpinned by important long-term growth trends worldwide. As a result of its continuous investment in R&D and product development, Uteco today represents a unique player in the sector and our goal is to support its management team in order to further accelerate the Group’s expansion in the international marketplace” n For more details of Uteco’s latest innovative printing machines and services visit: www.uteco.com