Labelexpo Europe 2017 Preview: Focusing on Smart, Efficient Printing

Eckart—Hall 7, Stand A39

Eckart presents the latest of its metallic and pearlescent pigment and ink portfolio for the printing of labels and packaging. Its ULTRASTAR UV curable metallic ink system, based on METALURE pigments for flexo printing on paper and films, offers an outstanding metallic gloss and foil-like brilliance in combination with good overlacquer abilities and trapping. ULTRASTAR UV inks are suitable to be overprinted inline. This product is one step closer to rivaling the brilliance of foil stamping while providing superior printability and potential economic savings.

PLATINSTAR flexo and gravure inks, with their mirror-like effect, lend labels and packaging an elegant touch. These so-called “Platindollar” aluminum pigments are seen between METALURE mirror-like effects. For flexo-printed shrink sleeve applications, the UV-curable metallic ink system ROTOSTAR UV SHRINK FX 68 Series, also available in gold shades, offers a brilliant metallic effect without losing film integrity during high percentage shrinkage. Further advantages are a fast cure rate and a high rub resistance. It will print on PETG and PVC films.

Siegwerk—Hall 6, Stand A17

Siegwerk is making every effort to help its customers address upcoming trends and to meet their specific needs with cutting-edge ink solutions. It offers a complete range of migration-optimized inks, gloss and matte varnishes, as well as metallic inks for all printing processes that are BPA free and meet the needs of food and other sensitive packaging applications.

The newest developed ink series for UV flexo printing is called Sicura Nutriflex PRO. It offers highly pigmented colors that are HD certified while being suitable for all food- and pharma-related applications. Sicura Nutriboard 2 for paper and selected films, as well as Sicura Nutriplast 2 for plastics, are both excellent ink solutions for heavy-duty applications. Siegwerk will also showcase metallic inks and different OPVs of its Sicura Nutriflex LEDTec range, the first-ever migration optimized UV LED flexo series for food and pharma packaging.

INX International—Hall 4, Stand B65

To meet the ever-increasing demand for high-speed UV flexographic printing, the INX Group will showcase a complete product line of UV flexographic technologies, including UV flexo inks for food and non-food compliant flexible packaging, shrink sleeve and label applications.

Addressing digital printing, INX will showcase the NW210 UV digital label press, as well as new electron beam (ebeam) inkjet inks for indirect food contact running on the new GAIA printer from Uteco.

The NW210 will run live in the INX booth, producing best-in-class images with UV LED advanced curing technology. Powered by the JetINX Printhead Drive and Ink Recirculation system, the press produces single-pass output up to 78 fpm and combines printing and conversion to deliver brilliant labels at a maximum width of 8.2-in.

JetINX also powers GAIA, the first industrial end-to-end inkjet production line with inline ebeam curing for indirect food packaging and labels. Being introduced at Labelexpo Europe 2017, it was created by combining INX Digital’s expertise in the custom integration of digital technologies and print engines with Uteco’s expertise in web handling, and an inline ebeam curing unit. This technology can be seen in Hall 4, Stand A25.

Sun Chemical—Hall 5, Stand E45

Recognizing the ever-increasing scope and number of applications being printed on narrow and mid web UV and ebeam presses, Sun Chemical will present a range of new products and solutions for narrow web label, sleeve and flexible packaging at Labelexpo Europe 2017, covering all print processes. The main focus will be the launch of Sun Chemical’s UV flexo technology platform for food and non-food applications, offering significant productivity advantages over existing systems. Complementing this will be the further extension to its market-leading UV flexo white range with the addition of a new fully upgraded sleeve white for high-performance sleeve production.

To address the continued growth of LED technology, Sun Chemical will also present new product developments for food-compliant UV LED flexo and UV LED offset label and package printing as part of its broadened solutions for LED printing.

Flexible packaging is a strong growth area in narrow web and, as part of its product solutions in this area, Sun Chemical will also showcase its new coated films in partnership with acpo, Ltd., a premier coater of flexible films, which use SunBar Aerobloc oxygen barrier coatings.

GSE Dispensing—Hall 7, Stand D59

GSE Dispensing will present ink management software, dispensing equipment and proofing solutions that enable label and packaging printers to reduce costs throughout the workflow and achieve repeatable color on demand. The highlight of the stand will be the introduction of GSE ink manager, a comprehensive ink management solution that eliminates all aspects of ink-related waste.

The new software solution offers optimized ink yields through recycling press returns, as well as improved connectivity, mobility and reporting capabilities. Features include a modern user interface offering ease of use and extensive search functionalities, a job list separating work preparation and ink production, and a modern web interface for seamless integration with other applications, like ink formulation, management information and cloud software. The unique GSE ink manager is supported by mobile apps that allow remote data entry and access to real-time information. This is made possible thanks to a Wi-Fi connection to the ink dispenser.

GSE ink manager also facilitates collection, analysis and presentation of ink-related business information. The operator can view recipe data and ink costings related to each job and store new color specifications for easy recall when jobs are repeated. The software also facilitates ingredient tracking through the supply chain, by storing ink batch data about every job.