The road to building the entire industry of digital printing equipment
Equipment suppliers in the digital printing and packaging sector emphasize their advantages over competitors in terms of productivity, quality and total cost of ownership. These arguments all make sense, as equipment on the market has its own advantages and disadvantages. But there is no doubt that many digital printing equipment suppliers have production sites with very beautiful buildings, one of which is Deishi, which is located in Tyrol in Lienz and Brixson.
Based in Brixen, north-east Italy, where the inkjet label printing press is developed, the company has sold about 450 narrow-format Tau inkjet units, including a hybrid flexo inkjet developed with OMET. It will also continue to advance its narrow web portfolio, such as adding press widths to the Tau RSC series and UV LED inkjet printers.https://www.risedongsheng.com/
Martin Leitner, product manager for labelling and flexible packaging at Durst, highlighted the latest development of Hawk Eye, a system that automatically monitors print quality, "Hawk Eye will be a game changer for the digital printing industry. This technology will greatly increase productivity and efficiency, but more importantly, it will reduce waste and the carbon footprint of customers."
The scanner and control software can correct printing defects, including missing nozzles, in real time. If nozzles malfunction, the system identifies the problem at full speed, and adjacent nozzles automatically compensate with larger droplets, so operators don't need to take action to ensure print quality is maintained.
As mentioned earlier, other developments include a wider Tau 510 RSCi press (510mm) with new automation capabilities and dual white ink printing for high-opacity white printing at 80m/min. The new UV LED ink helps to significantly reduce energy consumption while eliminating the need to replace UV bulbs and reflectors.
Durst has also expanded its partnership with Omet, the Italian flexo press manufacturer, which has been selling the XJet Hybrid Modular Press platform. The sales and service structure of Durst is now responsible for marketing and sales solutions, while the joint product roadmap will accelerate the development of the next generation of presses. In the future, Durst's product portfolio in the labeling and packaging space will be expanded with an integrated hybrid printing system jointly developed and manufactured by both companies.
Durst has also been in the news for its acquisitions. In 2021, it acquired Vanguard to expand its range of inkjet equipment in display and packaging, while the September 2023 acquisition of Aleph pushed the company's expertise in textiles forward. Vanguard has expanded Durst's portfolio with low-cost flat inkjet presses and is selling a large number of them.
They are used in a variety of product applications, with some users offering web packaging. One of them is Einfach Etiketten, based in Hilden near Düsseldorf, Germany, which offers online labels and corrugated boxes. It features a range of design templates suitable for transport and e-commerce packaging, printing die-cut blanks on the VK300D-HS flatbed inkjet. While Vanguard Press is primarily a label printing company, it means that Einfach Etiketten can sell carton packaging to existing and new customers.https://www.risedongsheng.com/
Lienz is located about 100 kilometers east of Brixen in the Tyrol region of Austria. There, a joint venture between Desch and Koenig & Bauer is developing the Delta SPC 130 single-channel inkjet press for corrugated post-printing. Two versions are already available - the standard SPC 130 and the lower-spec entry-level SPC 130 Eco +.
The platform is modular, with a pressureless top feed unit in an integrated cleaning station that can also flatten the cardboard and is equipped with an automatic detection box ejection device for defective products. High-quality cardboard goes into the inkjet primer unit and is primed only where it is needed. This means there is no need to polish the cardboard, according to Deshi.
The vacuum feed unit feeds the paper into the printing unit, which has six printhead groups. These printhead groups are CMYK, where two printhead groups in orange, green or purple can expand the color gamut. In addition, optional inspection equipment can also be added to detect print defects and monitor print quality, and then the print is dried in a mixed oven with infrared/hot air and final UV curing, before entering the cooling zone and conveying to the stacker.
Durst's ink is a water/UV pigment formulation that uses water as a diluent and eliminates low viscosity monomers. Since the launch of the press, secondary food packaging has been offered and there is now a version for primary food packaging. Both inks are based on the same formulation, but manufactured in different ways. The primary food ink is manufactured to GMP standards and complies with Swiss decrees, EuPIA guidelines and Nestle Packaging Ink guidelines. In addition, both parties have optimised for the production of corrugated cardboard and many of the samples produced by the press are very good.https://www.risedongsheng.com/
Matthias Krautgasser, Product Manager, Corrugated Paper Business Unit, Koenig & Baldur explains the rationale of the machine, "Processors who require 5 million - 10 million m2 of cardboard per year will be ideal users of the SPC 130, with availability up to 95%. The record output of one machine is 93,000 m2 per day and 1.25 million m2 per month, so there is a potential of 15 million m2 per year. In 2023, we launched the 1000dpi version model as part of our continuous improvement in quality to help our customers. The improvement in fine detail and text clarity is an important step forward for corrugated packaging, opening up new application fields for processors."
The development will be applied as an upgrade to all existing presses. The company plans to further optimise and exhibit at Druba 2024. Although all details have not been announced, there will be digital white ink printing. There are currently 11 SPC 130s in operation at the customer, with the first of these coming on stream at Schumacher's Birmingham plant in the UK. The last four are in North America and its future development prospects are good - the lead time for new orders is currently eight months.
Hardware is software-based, and Durst has developed a range of modules to support the use of its digital presses'from pixel to output '. The software portfolio goes far beyond the control of printing equipment, but is designed to automate all aspects of the print business model, from quotation to delivery. Durst offers in-store web printing solutions, pre-press and workflow software to streamline and automate production tasks. https://www.risedongsheng.com/
In order to improve business performance, Durst provides relevant professional services such as integration, consulting and training to turn products into business solutions and designs analytics software to process all production data and increase efficiency. They help to establish a production environment tailored to customer needs. Durst and the joint venture with Koenig & Ball are important suppliers in the digital labeling and packaging space, continuing to develop great equipment and understand customer needs, transform their business model and provide the necessary support to succeed.