At LabelExpo Europe 2011 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is presenting its digital print solutions for label printers and packaging manufacturers.

The trade fair sees the products of recently acquired digital printing system manufacturer CSAT offered under the Heidelberg umbrella for the first time. The CSAT iTS 6oo will be on display at LabelExpo on Stand 9F10. Visitors will also have the chance to see the Linoprint DriveLine B on Stand 5B50 of partner company Gallus. The CSAT and Linoprint portfolios offer solutions for the cost-effective production of variable and short to medium runs of print products in the packaging sector.

Leveraging growth opportunities in the packaging sector
“Digital print is an important growth segment in the print media industry. This also applies to packaging and labels,” says Daniel Dreyer, Head of Digital Packaging Printing at Heidelberg. “Drop-on-demand inkjet technology in particular has gained in significance for the packaging industry in recent years. Heidelberg was quick to invest in the development of this technology and has offered solutions in this market segment for some time now through Linoprint. The addition of CSAT printing systems enables us to widen our portfolio, continue the expansion of our digital print strategy, and strengthen our position first and foremost in high-quality print applications in the packaging and label sector.”
High-quality label printing
The iTS 6oo digital drop-on-demand inkjet printing system from CSAT is ideally suited to variable label printing and places high demands on print quality, variability, and productivity while ensuring low production costs. It also meets the strict requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). The full-color printing system uses UV inks and prints paper, plastic, foils and composite materials in a native resolution of 600 dpi with multiple gray scales. All substrates can be printed with a printing width of up to 420 mm at a maximum speed of 48 m/min. Consistently high print quality is maintained across the entire speed range by means of LED UV intermediate drying. Fully automatic print head cleaning ensures reliable printing. Cleaning is only started during longer breaks in the machine, thus preventing unnecessary stops during production. The system is available as either a roll-to-roll print system or can be integrated directly into the packaging line as an inline solution. As an offline machine, the iTS 6oo can also be connected directly to postpress.
Solution for pharmaceutical applications
The flexible digital inkjet UV print system Linoprint DriveLine B also handles multicolor printing of sensitive substrates such as foils, composites and blister materials in different formats and in high quality – regardless of whether it involves late stage customer-specific personalization or changes that affect the entire print image. DriveLine B is capable of printing material widths up to 340 mm at a maximum speed of 24 m/min. As a stand-alone solution, DriveLine B can handle several packaging lines at the same time and is thus ideal for central foil printing on several packaging lines.
More info:
www.heidelberg.com