AVT—Hall 9, Stand C05
Visitors to AVT’s stand will discover how its solutions tie into print automation and “smart factory” production excellence. Its iCenter platform empowers printers to manage and control quality and production standards for facilities around the world—ensuring global consistency. Printers can auto-analyze PDF files for inspection, and utilize business intelligence from the production floor with seamless connectivity to MIS and prepress solutions for optimized, automated workflows. SpectraLab II, a new generation of inline, automatic spectral measurement for nearly any application—including transparent flexible, paper, cartons, etc.—offers a compact design, advanced color workflow management and improved inline-to-offline measurement correlation. SpectraLab II also meets color specialist X-Rite’s strict, ISO-compliant XRGA standard for the graphic arts industry.
Helios D (digital), a high-end, 100 percent automatic inspection system, is specifically designed to address digital printing challenges, such as missing nozzles, ink drips and color uniformity—all in real time. Jet-IQ, a closed-loop solution, allows digital printers to gain a competitive advantage through enhanced print quality at high speeds, reduced press downtime and full reporting capabilities.
Unilux—Hall 4, Stand C68
Unilux will unveil new controls for the LED-2000 series strobes designed to make it easier to set up, operate and access powerful features and capabilities for high-speed surface and print inspection. The new controls provide on-screen help and instructions in various languages to assist operators using the units.
Unilux will also demonstrate a complete line of handheld LED strobes. These portable strobes allow label printers and converters to clearly view print and surface quality anywhere on the press at full production speed. UV LED strobes, the only source for UV LED inspection lighting, will also be on display.
Alphasonics—Hall 7, Stand B41
Alphasonics, a leading supplier of anilox cleaning systems will be presenting a number of new developments at Labelexpo Europe 2017. Aimed entirely at the concept of “Control,” Alphasonics has further developed its range of equipment along with developing various add-ons and optional extras which give the end user a much tighter grip on the cleaning process. Exhibiting for its 23rd consecutive year at the show, Alphasonics is of the firm belief that what it is presenting this time around is the most comprehensive range of cleaning equipment to have ever been offered to the label printing industry.
Christopher Jones, marketing manager, explains, “We as an industry know the importance of the anilox roll in the flexography process. As a crucial part of the process, it is an absolute necessity to ensure it is in the best condition at all times, and to us that doesn’t just mean cleaning—it’s about keeping control of it. That’s been at the heart at how we’ve looked to develop the kit over the past several years with the belief that we can give 100 percent volume and therefore, complete control over the press and therefore, the printed output.”
The latest developments include current monitoring systems, automatic roll reversal for improved cleaning, storage and racking systems and automatic chemical dilution. In addition, the company will introduce a chemical measurement system—giving the user an accurate indication of the condition of the system’s fluid and when it requires changing. The aim of this is to allow the customer to get a handle of its consumable costs and to also ensure it is getting the very best from the system.
After extolling the virtues of controlling the roll with an effective cleaning system, Alphasonics has noted a change in approach in many parts of the industry, with some of the larger groups taking the lead in this approach. The company notes the control element its systems offer gives five tangible benefits: a vast reduction in waste; quicker makeready and setup times; removing of the need for mediums and pigment enhancers; an improvement in production quality and a much easier monitoring of anilox lifetime across an inventory.
Finally, by way of showing the safety of an anilox roll in the system, Alphasonics will be running a third anilox cleaning trial of its kind for the full duration of the show. At the opening of Labelexpo, Alphasonics will begin cleaning of two 1,200 lpi rolls in a Megan ultrasonic cleaning system. This will run until the closing of the show three days later and will not stop at any point for the three full days.
The aim is to illustrate that Alphasonics cleaning systems do not have the capability to damage a delicate anilox roll—an issue found in some ultrasonic systems. After the successes of the demonstrations at Alphasonics facility and also at Labelexpo Americas last year, the company has decided to bring the trial to Brussels to prove the safety of its systems and the control paradigm. All in all, the cleaning cycles will run for 79 hours, meaning more than 900 cleaning cycles will take place with rolls being tested for volume and damage before and after the show.
Grafikontrol—Hall 11, Stand D09
Grafikontrol’s LYNEX is a 100 percent inspection system offering continuous full-width image inspection. LYNEX is a highly flexible system and combines one or more linear color cameras, configurable as needed, that can work at production speeds up to 2952.76 fpm without changing the image resolution. LYNEX is suitable for defect checking on any type of printing and substrate. White LED lighting ensures quality and light distribution without any degradation of the image, even on reflective materials and inks.
Harper Corporation of America—Hall 7, Stand B21
Harper Corporation of America is eager to showcase and deliver briefings on how its programs, services, surface technology and engravings can enhance efficient print repeatability and improve profitability. Harper will display its award-winning, patented QD ink proofing and flatbed printing system, which has become the color matching proofer of choice by many of the leading ink manufacturers. Harper representatives will provide information and insight regarding the company’s latest QD Printer, the ultimate in flatbed printing using flexographic and gravure processes. The QD Printer can be configured in four speed units with a maximum travel speed of 150 fpm. The travel distance can be set from 12-in. to 33-in. and is available in proofer widths of 2.75-in. or 5-in. Representatives will be ready to answer any questions on its product line of pressroom and cleaning supplies for care and maintenance, like the CeramClean II ink cleaner.
Martin Automatic—Hall 7, Stand A35
Martin Automatic will run demonstrations of the MBS automatic splicer and the LRD automatic transfer rewinder. The MBS splicer offers converters robust return on investment (ROI) for premium label, shrink sleeve, wrap-around label, tube laminate, pouch and pharma packaging. The LRD is a two-spindle transfer rewind that winds, changes and automatically offloads rolls, without any need for carts or additional roll-handling equipment.
The unit at Labelexpo Europe 2017 is loaded with features including a web guide and slitter package for inline slitting, a portability package for easy relocation between press lines and an articulating arm to offload rolls through the front of the LRD if product rolls require special handling. The LRD rewinder accommodates 31-in. diameter rolls in the standard model, with smaller and larger diameter models available.
Zecher GmbH—Hall 4, Stand E54
At Labelexpo Europe 2017, Zecher will be informing its trade visitors once again about the latest anilox technologies with the help of a team of experts. Anais Rath, responsible for marketing at Zecher, sees Labelexpo Europe as one of the most important trade fairs in Zecher’s event calendar: “Label printing is a rising market segment for us, in particular because packaging is increasingly being used as advertising space and thus high-quality printing is required. We are responding to the increase in the number of customers this year with a larger exhibition stand and are already looking forward to beating our number of visitors from the last Labelexpo.”
With the innovative SteppedHex engraving, Zecher is offering new opportunities for improved print performance and responding to the increased customer requirements. In addition, the anilox roller manufacturer will present laser cleaning as a new service in its portfolio. You can experience the performance of Zecher’s anilox rollers at Nilpeter’s stand 7B35/7B39 at Labelexpo, where you can see machine demonstrations.
Since the launch for all applications last year, the SteppedHex engraving from Zecher has already attracted a lot of interest. The tried-and-tested SteppedHex technology is based on an application of the parameters of 60 degree engraving, while offering an alternative to it and additional benefits.
- Increased resolution without loss of volume
- Improved emptying performance
- Uniform and homogeneous ink transfer
- Suitable for all inking systems
- Opportunities for cost saving
Conventional procedures remove only part of the accumulated residues concerned. Zecher’s laser cleaning system from LaserEcoClean gently eliminates all ink and varnish residues. Jörg Rohde, head of applications technology at Zecher GmbH, is convinced by this system’s cleaning performance: “After the cleaning process, the pickup volume of the anilox roller can once again be used to its full extent, and printers benefit from the same uniform inking performance as before.” As a relatively low-power laser beam is used, the temperature of the ceramic surface is well below the material’s melting point, which prevents any damages to the outside of the anilox roller.
EyeC—Hall 4, Stand C61
EyeC’s newest inspection systems support the most modern processes and ensure print quality throughout the entire production process. The EyeC Proofrunner Label delivers 100 percent print inspection, even on the fastest presses or rewinders on the market, running at speeds greater than 2,000 fpm without sacrificing resolution.
The EyeC Quality Link enables the inspection results from the press to be evaluated at a separate station and used later on the rewinder to remove all defective labels. The benefits are clear: The press operator can react quicker to avoid expensive material waste, while rewinders can run more efficiently by avoiding unnecessary stops.
The new EyeC Workflow Integration automates PDF proofing in the prepress stages process by incorporating EyeC’s prepress inspection software—the EyeC Proofiler Graphic—into workflow systems, such as Esko’s Automation Engine. The workflow system triggers inspection procedures automatically; the EyeC Proofiler Graphic retrieves job data, files and inspection parameters from the workflow system, and reports inspection results back to the workflow system.
GlobalVision—Hall 3, Stand D65
GlobalVision is set to unveil a new scanner and present its latest advancements in quality control tools. The firm will also showcase the enhanced 4.1 desktop version of its unified Quality Control Platform, with software advancements including faster speed of loading files and inspection time, and cloud-based deployment available in HTML 5.
Visitors to Labelexpo Europe 2017 will also see ticket updates of GlobalVision’s integrated Quality Control Platform with Esko’s workflow server Automation Engine 16, an award-winning customized solution that performs automatic quality control checks in spelling, text, bar codes, braille, colors and other packaging specific artwork in the prepress workflow.
Avery Dennison—Hall 5, Stand A31
Among the new products Avery Dennison will be demonstrating are a recycled paper facestock certified by FSC, the “Sensorial Collection” of textured label materials and clear hotmelt adhesive for chilled food packaging. FSC Recycled facestock is manufactured without chlorine bleaching, yet the facestock has similar whiteness and brightness compared to its conventional alternatives, converts as quickly and 
enables label converters to help customers meet sustainability targets while still delivering exceptional print results.
The Sensorial Collection gives designers a broad toolset to create soft, textured or patterned papers that can give a premium, vintage or artisanal feel. And Avery Dennison’s new clear hotmelt adhesive offers a straightforward and competitive solution that allows for more design freedom in the chilled food section. It also delivers a lower total applied cost, as it does not require a barrier film facestock.