Digital Domain - November 2011
McCoy Printing Invests in Wide-Format Inkjet
VALHALLA, N.Y.—FUJIFILM North America Corp., Graphic Systems Division announced that McCoy Printing of Torrington, Conn. has installed an Inca Onset S40 wide-format UV inkjet printer to boost efficiencies, increase output quality, speed up job turnaround, and lower costs for its customers. McCoy, a family-owned business since 1998, specializes in screen, offset, and wide-format digital printing, producing demanding POP and outdoor campaigns.
"We believe in employing the latest technology to improve quality, consistency, and efficiency in the printing process," said Andy Riberdy, president of McCoy, Ltd. "We looked at our existing equipment and decided that new digital inkjet technologies could increase our print quality and speed up turnaround times. We felt that we needed to make new investments to enable us to offer our customers more value and effectively compete for new business."
McCoy considered a number of wide-format inkjet printing platforms, eventually narrowing its focus to the Inca Onset S40. The print quality of the Inca Onset S40 was a good match for McCoy's demanding requirements. "The S40's high quality gave us the edge we were looking for," Riberdy said. "A good portion of our clients do fashion work where flesh tones are critical along with color and gloss. We're producing near-offset quality on the S40, and our customers have been very impressed."
Digital Finishing System
DERRY, N.H.—At Labelexpo Europe, Allen Datagraph Systems Inc. (ADSI) launched its new iTech CENTRA HS Digital Finishing System—up to four times faster than the original CENTRA system, and introduced its iTech AXXIS SR Digital Label System for proofing and prototyping of labels to the European market.
"When companies digitally print short runs of labels, they still have another step—the need to finish the labels. No one wants to pay for the cost of a die nor wait for the delay of manufacturing the die," explains Mark Vanover, VP sales and marketing at ADSI. "The CENTRA HS Digital Finishing System, shown for the first time at Labelexpo Europe, is fast enough to finish labels from any digital press."
The iTech CENTRA HS is a high-speed, roll-to-roll digital converting system that allows users to laminate, die-less cut, strip the waste matrix, and slit custom labels in one production pass. It can diecut any custom shape right from Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw using the same vector file that would normally be sent out for die manufacture. It can convert printed materials from any digital or analog print platform, including inkjet and thermal printers or a conventional flexo press in roll lengths up to 1,250 feet (381 m) and up to 14 inches wide (356 mm). The computer-driven technology can also cut multiple depths within the same cut file, allowing for perforations or multi-layer applications.
EFI Digital Printing System
BRUSSELS, Belgium—EFI™ launched the Jetrion 4900, a UV inkjet digital printing system that combines high-quality digital printing with in-line laser finishing for label converters. The new system makes short-run digital label jobs more efficient and profitable by eliminating set-up time, substrate waste, and inventory requirements associated with the label finishing process. It was shown for the first time at Labelexpo Europe.
"EFI's Jetrion 4900 is a robust industrial press that is ideal for label converters looking to transfer high-cost, short- and medium-run jobs to digital systems—from print file straight through to finished roll," says Sean Skelly, VP and general manager of EFI Jetrion.
By integrating printing and finishing for the entire production run, the Jetrion 4900 offers label converters substantial savings with no additional plates, dies, changeovers and makeready labor needed. It prints 4-color and highly opaque white UV inks in a single pass, delivering flexo-quality labels that are heat, cold and chemical resistant, and UL-certified on select substrates. The finishing system features high-powered dual lasers from SEI Laser Converting, offering capabilities such as diecutting, slitting, and backscoring on a wide range of substrates from paper, foil, and film to speciality stock.
"Demand for targeted, variable label content continues to rise, and our system allows converters to keep these frequently outsourced short-run jobs—and profits—in house," adds Skelly.
HP Indigo Enhances Digital Press Line
BRUSSELS, Belgium—HP introduced the HP Indigo WS6600 Digital Press, which is capable of printing more than 131 linear fpm in full color and features a new in-line priming unit. Other productivity enhancements include a new common digital front-end from EskoArtwork, an improved white ink option, and new converting solutions from AB Graphic International.
The in-line priming (ILP) unit enables the use of standard, untreated paper substrates and gives converters faster turnaround times and greater flexibility. Using a water-based primer from Michelman, the ILP option allows converters to use the same substrates on their analog and HP Indigo digital presses, while eliminating the extra step of off-line substrate preparation. pP
