BOBST has presented its annual Inventor Awards, given to innovators and their patents within the business that have pushed the boundaries of technology to enhance print and packaging workflows for customers. For 2023, BOBST has issued two awards for the first time. The main Inventor Award has been presented to Patrice Chatry and Maude Steiner, inventors of the Non-Stop with Automatic Swords Selection innovation, while a Special Jury Award has been presented to Rene Heinze, inventor of an intermediate dryer in particular for rotary printing presses. “We believe in expanding the boundaries of converting & printing efficiency, and each year we see BOBST engineers going above and beyond.” said Leonard Badet, Chief Technology Officer at BOBST. “Around the globe, our business is home to some of the industry’s most experienced and forward-thinking minds, making our customers production workflow more effective. This year we are thrilled to award 2 inventions supporting our Automation & Sustainability pillars. . The Non-Stop with Automatic Swords Selection, created by Inventor Award winners Patrice Chatry and Maude Steiner, is a sheet pile supporting assembly. The device automatically selects which swords are used to temporarily sustain the pile of blanks in the separation station. With efficiency central to printing success, the key advantage of this patent is that job-dependent blank separation structures can be avoided, meaning a replacement pallet of blanks can be swapped in without stopping the machine and disrupting productivity. The innovation offers packaging converters a valuable time saving of six minutes per job, creating valuable gains throughout the workflow. Presented with the Special Jury Award, Rene Heinze’s Dryer is a new geometry of intermediate rotary printing press dryer. The design features areas of both high and low pressure and comprises a novel system of nozzles and openings for the discharging of heated gas in exchange for cooled gas. In judging, the dryer was noted for presenting a 15% performance increase over conventional dryer designs, improving the yield of the overall drying process and making efficient use of hot air. Christian Zeller, Head of Marketing BU Printing & Converting at BOBST, adds: “The printing and packaging supply chain is under pressure to deliver heightened quality, speed and sustainability. To meet these evolving demands, we must be bold in our innovation and find new ways to boost efficiency – and that’s what our Innovation Award platform is all about. We’re celebrating the talented minds of the BOBST team and the novel technology patents that make a real difference for our customers, which ultimately signpost the future of effective printing workflows.”

Horizon Digital Print’s investment in a Vanguard Europe digital machine – the first in Ireland – is the central focus of its sustainability drive that has resulted in scooping Ireland’s national Green Manufacturer Award ahead of the likes of global brands such as Coca-Cola.  Described as a fabulous user-friendly machine printing excellent quality products 10 times faster than previously at a fraction of the cost, Dublin-based Horizon Digital Print has also announced a major investment in Vanguard Europe parent company Durst’s LIFT ERP software as it continues its growth and transformation into one of Europe’s most sustainable and innovative printing companies.  Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland was also among the 10 finalists in the Green Business and Sustainability Green Awards 2023 in which Horizon triumphed in The Green Manufacturer category. The robust Vanguard VKR3200-HS roll-to-roll UV-LED printer running at speed of up to 3,000 sq ft per hour. Horizon Digital Print, which employs 100 people, has an €11m turnover and is based across two sites in Navan Road, Dublin. Its primary markets outside of Ireland are the UK and France.  “The Vanguard is a fabulous, versatile and user-friendly machine – uncomplicated and the quality of print is excellent,” said Declan Kelly, Print Manager at Horizon Digital Print. “It has super-fast turnaround time, and the cost of the power consumption is predicted to be a 10th of the power our previous system, thanks to the LED functionality. The Vanguard is so versatile – from fabrics, PE, paper, mesh, PVC vinyl among many the materials we print on. It is an ideal product for our needs, with perfect image quality, and is extremely reliable. For one of our clients in Dublin, JCDecaux, we have many positive comments about the quality of the lightbox skins that are all produced on the Vanguard. We had a painless installation that only took two days followed by a couple of days training.” Derek Gillen, Managing Director of Horizon Digital Print, said: “As an already established Durst production house, investing in yet more state-of-the-art technology – this time from Vanguard – is an important step forward. Our big focus has been on energy reduction, which is why we were even more delighted to be win the Green Manufacturer Award this year, in the process beating the likes of household names such as Coca-Cola and others. The decision to purchase the Vanguard was at the centre of sustainability drive – it’s because of its green credentials.” Fabian Sottsas, Managing Director of Vanguard Europe, said: “We are delighted with this first installation in Ireland and to have played our part in the Horizon sustainability and wider company success story. It is all part of the Vanguard growing your business strategy where we work in partnership to help deliver new opportunities through our technology. The Vanguard VK3200 roll-to-roll machine sets new standards with high print quality and performance that is available at a competitive price point.”

BOBST announced its latest innovations in printing, converting, services and performance to help converters and brand owners to take a big step towards the digitalization of the packaging supply chain. “The packaging industry is in the midst of a digital revolution, which is forcing every company to innovate, challenge their approach, think end to end and digital, and leverage networks and platforms to deliver new business models for their clients,” said Jean-Pascal Bobst CEO, Bobst Group. “At BOBST, our Industry Vision, based on four key pillars – connectivity, digitalization, automation and sustainability – greatly supports this transformation. The new solutions announced today are the latest in a line of continuous innovation to help our customers thrive in this new reality all together.” BOBST has a vision where the packaging supply chain becomes fully digital. At the heart of this vision is BOBST Connect, our constantly evolving, cloud-based digital platform that enhances and improves packaging productivity. Today, BOBST is proud to announce the launch of Tool Management, which is something new and unique to the market. The Tool Management solution offers unprecedented control over TooLink equipped dies, integrating tool makers, tracking tool performance, feedback, maintenance, and orders. With an intuitive interface, it provides users with a multitude of data driven insights to bring tool management to the next level. The Recipe Management for ACCUCHECK allows users to remotely prepare and set up an inspection recipe based on the artwork file, and to save recipes and retrieve parameters, anytime, anywhere, offering the beginning of the close loop solution. This feature is already being used successfully by BOBST customer Prealpi, helping them to improve setup times and quality control. A newcomer in the Group – Dücker Robotics. BOBST has reinforced its automation and connectivity streams by acquiring 70% of the equity of Dücker Robotics, a world leader in the use of robots in both loading and palletizing in the corrugated board sector, while offering opportunities in the folding carton industry. The company develops robotic systems for the most sophisticated converting machines. Below are the other newly announced highlights from each industry sector. Flexible packaging The flexible packaging market is facing growing demands for more environmentally responsible materials and better recycling, while maintaining high quality in printing, metallizing, coating, and laminating. Latest BOBST developments in this sector include: VISION K5 HS metallizer: New machine to be launched later in June. High performance and high-speed metallizing, designed to handle a variety of film types including heat sensitive, thin gauge and sustainable substrates. Includes the largest coating drum in the industry at 700mm. It is the ideal metallizing solution available for converters. NOVA MW LAMINATOR: New machine to be launched at the end of July. It is a super compact laminating machine with an ergonomic and user-friendly design, perfect for solventless lamination of all narrow web applications within the flexible packaging market. Moreover, it is the ideal lamination solution for the growing digital print market. VISION CI for paper applications: New machine to be launched in Q4 2023. A flexo printing press serving the ever-growing market for paper, with further capability for diameter and higher web tension. The machine can run 120g of paper at 400m/minute and includes features such as BOBST’s Extended Color Gamut (ECG) technology and SmartGPS to automate the start-up process. Labels The labels sector is a truly multi-technology environment with both conventional and digital solutions. As converters face manpower shortages and demands for more sustainable solutions, BOBST is committed to delivering novelties for both – flexo and digital presses, enhancing user experience, ease-of-use, new automation features and faster quality inspection setup. Latest BOBST developments in this sector include: Expanded Die-Cutting Portfolio: BOBST has expanded its portfolio of die-cutting solutions to fit every converter need. In addition to semi-rotary die-cutting, Quick Change rotary die-cutting has been introduced, which provides a 50% time saving to change magnetic cylinders. In addition to the 370mm version, BOBST has introduced a 530mm High-Performance semirotary die-cutter with automatic plate-change. Both modules include the Digi-Gap feature for even faster job changeovers. DIGITAL MASTER series update: An enhancement package is coming soon which includes new features, such as novelties for BOBST Connect, third party integration and new ACCUCHECK functionalities. Pantone validation: BOBST digital printing technology has been officially Pantone validated! This means BOBST’s color management engine (DFE) and print results are validated by Pantone – giving customers complete peace of mind. New BOBST Sphere user interface (UI) for flexo and digital: A totally re-designed user interface, coming first to the DIGITAL MASTER series and in-line flexo M6, and then gradual implementation to other platforms. It combines in one single point of control all flexo and digital processes to ensure BOBST’s most user-friendly HMI yet. Folding carton There is increasing demand for more sophisticated folding carton packaging to stand out on the shelves and engage with consumers in new ways. Latest BOBST developments in this sector include: NOVAFOIL updates: Two new features have been added to the NOVAFOIL, the first inline foil stamping machine from BOBST to offer an advanced cross-foiling option. NOVAFOIL 106 with HOLOGRAM modules answers the demand for security packaging and brand protection onto the packaging of almost any product. OACS (Optimal Advance Computing System) calculates optimal foil advance – this feature is available both on the machine and now remotely too. Digital Make Ready Tool: An exciting new tool that projects the original digital layout, helping to connect prepress with production. Best combined with the NOVAFOIL 106 and DIGITAL INSPECTION TABLE FC 106, it assures impeccable stamping register quality, reduces waste and minimizes downtime. New EXPERTFOLD, VISIONFOLD & NOVAFOLD: Earlier this year, BOBST renewed its folder-gluer portfolio for folding carton. The new generations come equipped with a host of new features with the objective to enhance the three folder-gluers, increase their productivity and move closer towards the BOBST Industry Vision of a fully digitalized and connected converting process with maximum automation and sustainability. Corrugated board With e-commerce still the major driver for the corrugated packaging market, converters need to respond to the growing demand for more sophisticated types of packaging to be produced in large quantities. Latest BOBST developments in this sector include: EXPERTFLEX: Ideally suited to the production of e-commerce solutions and boxes for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Combining the post-printing power with the die-cutting precision of the EXPERTCUT 1.7 I 2.1 flat-bed die cutter, it forms a single, highly automated EXPERTLINE packaging production line – a new, complete solution for high-quality printed and die-cut corrugated board. SPEEDPACK updates: New strapping solutions will be introduced in July on this high-performing automatic packer, which delivers batches of boxes that are perfectly counted, stacked, banded and ready for palletization. The new solutions increase its versatility, enabling the bundling of boxes with 5-15mm plastic straps commonly used in the corrugated board industry. Services BOBST’s portfolio of services supports all steps of the production workflow, from preparation to the finished product. Latest BOBST developments in this sector include: EMEA logistics hub up now and running: BOBST’s new logistic hub for Europe, Middle East and Africa, situated in Belgium in the heart of Europe, with access to increased transportation solutions, is now up-and-running. One amazing feature of this new hub is the new Autostore capable of managing up to 70,000 parts in a fully automated way. BOBST Remote Assistance record numbers: BOBST continues to provide best-in-class 24/7 remote support to its customers, including video and new augmented reality support, remote connection to machine and data analysis. Around 33,000 remote sessions are now conducted each year with dedicated Technical Support Specialists. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) BOBST is deploying an active strategy on sustainability, one of the four key pillars of its vision. The company has joined the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), reflecting its commitment to urgent climate action. BOBST has clearly formalized the company’s targets and is evaluating decarbonization options for its operational activities to reduce its carbon footprint. Other key ESG-related activities include the ongoing development of recyclable substrates, the development of water-based inks, and the reduction of its machines’ electricity consumption by 10-20% by the end of 2024. “At BOBST, we pride ourselves on having a deep understanding of what our customers need, thanks to very close partnerships,” concluded Jean-Pascal Bobst. “These latest enhancements to our portfolio all resolve specific pain points that our customers have raised. And collectively, they take us closer to more automated, connected, digitalized and sustainable packaging production.”

Gallus Group, a subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HEIDELBERG), is the leading company in the development, production, and sale of conventional and digital narrow-web and reel-fed presses for the label printing industry. Today, it is celebrating its 100th anniversary by opening its doors to a brand-new industry hub in St. Gallen, Switzerland – the Gallus Experience Center – which is designed to serve as an industry touchpoint for customers, industry experts, stakeholders and members of the public, to drive market transformation. Importantly, Gallus is also utilizing its centenary celebrations to announce the launch of three new products across its portfolio: the HEIDELBERG Customer Portal, the new Gallus One with Converting, and a digital upgrade to the company’s successful Gallus ECS 340. With the 100-year milestone also marking its official opening, the landmark new Gallus Experience Center will welcome customers and prospects from some of the world’s leading printers and converters, as well as partners and brand owners, as part of the company’s ‘Gallus Experience Days’. Dedicated to the ‘digital transformation’ of the label and narrow-web industry, the Center aims to facilitate the industry’s future success by fostering collaboration to drive innovation and sustainability. Whether you are a manufacturer, supplier, converter, printer, or brand, you are invited to use the new facility to explore ideas, test and develop new technologies, and teach and experience a technological ecosystem. In addition, Gallus will use the facility to showcase conventional, hybrid, and digital Gallus products, software, and cloud-based solutions, nextgeneration machines being produced, and supplier partner technologies.  “As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Gallus, HEIDELBERG is delighted to stand alongside the Gallus team this week – united, as one Group. Together, we are even stronger, and have a robust growth plan looking ahead,” comments Dr. Ludwin Monz, CEO, HEIDELBERG. “With labels and packaging now representing 50 percent of the Group's total sales, the new digital and automated solutions we see introduced by Gallus today play an important role in the future of HEIDELBERG. As a result, Gallus is an important pillar within the company’s growth strategy, and we’re more committed than ever to its long-term future.” With annual growth of over 2 percent in global print volumes, packaging printing is one of the strongest growth areas in the printing industry. Together with label printing, it is an important core area for HEIDELBERG. In line with its dual-track strategy, HEIDELBERG is also focusing on growth in digital printing. This technology is used in label production, for example, which offers some of the greatest growth opportunities in the printing industry. One third of all labels worldwide are already printed digitally today. Digital printing is thus driving change in this promising market segment, with inkjet growth of around 6 percent a year. HEIDELBERG intends to expand its position here with the Gallus One. Dario Urbinati, CEO, Gallus Group, comments: “We are committed to being in touch with the market and forecasting, and then responding to, likely trends that could impact our customers and brands. As a result, Gallus and HEIDELBERG are committed to leading the new digital transformation – driving ‘smart, connected printing’ to unlock revolutionary levels of production automation and manufacturing efficiencies. Key to solving the labor issues of today, this will enable customers to reduce costs and increase both profitability and sustainability. What’s more, utilizing our new Gallus Experience Center, we have a team devoted to exploring new technologies/processes – such as artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0 – that could be integrated into labels and packaging to better inspire and engage future generations.” To further drive the labels and packaging ‘digital transformation’ and help solve current labor shortages and increases in costs, Gallus is today also unveiling a revolutionary new HEIDELBERG Customer Portal (HCP) that automates almost every customer touchpoint. In an industry first, future iterations of the solution will also provide predictive capabilities utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to provide recommendations to increase productivity, reduce maintenance, and boost profitability. The new platform is expected to save customers, on average, up to 35 percent in both time and money. Further increasing its Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) advantage for label production, Gallus is additionally using the event to launch its new Gallus One with Converting. This solution brings everything inline and features a digital printer with an inline flexo station, a semi-rotary die cutter that can change a job within one minute and process up to 70m per minute, and vision inspection systems to ensure the highest level of quality and minimize waste. The company is also announcing the option to upgrade an existing Gallus ECS 340 flexo press with a digital printing unit (DPU), transforming it into a Gallus Labelfire 340 hybrid press, but without the additional platform investment. This means that customers are now able to access all the flexibility and versatility of digital printing, with the reliability and precision of conventional printing and further processing technology.The new Gallus products being launched are the result of a comprehensive consultation process with customers and brands. After discovering that the next generation of retail consumers engages with the world in a completely different way, and in light of demographic challenges and other macro trends that are adding new and considerable short-term and long-term business challenges for converters, Gallus rewrote its vision and mission statements to support a new business direction. Dario Urbinati concludes: “We are thrilled to welcome so many friends and colleagues this week to help celebrate our centenary in business, and to have the opportunity to share our exciting new products and thank the many amazing people within our business who have worked so hard to support us, as well as our incredible portfolio of customers. But this week is as much about the next 100 years and what we do next. This is why we’re excited to look beyond the graphic arts toward other industries – learning from how they’ve leveraged new technologies to welcome in the new digital age and cater to the next generation – so that we can modernize the labels and packaging industry and further increase our future success.”  

Mutoh Europe nv, EMEA business unit of Mutoh Industries Co. Ltd., Japan, announces the appointment of Akihisa Ogawa as Managing Director, Chairman of the company. This strategic decision is driven by Mutoh's strong commitment to accelerating its growth in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) business area. Akihisa Ogawa will combine this new role with his existing role as Managing Director in charge of overseas sales at Mutoh Industries Co. Ltd, Japan. While Mitsuo Takatsu as Mutoh Europe’s Managing Director will continue to oversee Mutoh Europe’s daily operations and the execution of the company strategy, Ogawa will be determining - in direct sync with the board of directors of Mutoh Industries Co. Ltd in Japan - the long term business objectives of Mutoh in the EMEA business area and the overall strategy and direction of the company towards achieving sustainable growth and expanding its footprint as a trusted and preferred provider of innovative digital printing solutions.  Aged 64 and holding a Master Degree in Economics obtained in 1982 at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, Akihisa Ogawa joined Mutoh Industries Co. Ltd. in February 2019.  Before joining Mutoh, he built up a proven track record of success and experience in overseas sales at the company Panasonic®,  with executive missions of in total 16.5 years in the US and nearly 3 years in China.   

At the Fespa 2023 exhibition in Munich, wide format printer manufacturer MUTOH, represented by Mutoh Europe for the EMEA territory, will preview a new flatbed C, M, Y, K, White & Varnish UV LED printer model with moving gantry, called XpertJet 1462UF.    The new printer has a print bed of 1470 mm (57.87”) x 740 mm (29.13”) and will print on a variety of substrates and products up to a height of 150 mm (5.91”). Mutoh will be offering the printer with a new generation state-of-the-art soft UV LED inks compatible with a broad range of substrates and free of any SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern) ingredients.  The new printer will be an extension to Mutoh’s existing award-winning XPJ-461UF (A3+) and XPJ-661UF (A2+) direct to object desktop UV LED printer models. Engineered & developed at Mutoh Japan, the new XpertJet 1462UF UV LED flatbed model has a print bed of 1470 mm x 740 mm and a print area of 1420 mm x 700 mm.  The printer has an integrated multi-zone vacuum bed and is equipped with two piezo drop on demand print heads mounted in a staggered setup.    The first head will print CMYK, the second head White & Varnish, which will enable 2-layer printing or braille and 2.5D structure prints without speed loss.  Fast curing is enabled by two new 4” wide UV LED lamps.     The XpertJet 1462UF printer will be released later this year by Mutoh in the EMEA business area.

Mimaki Europe, a leading provider of industrial inkjet printers, cutting plotters, and 3D printers, is debuting the new Tiger600-1800TS, Mimaki’s most productive sublimation transfer printer, on its stand (H7-C304) at ITMA 2023. This latest high-speed, compact and robust roll-to-roll inkjet printer has been designed to accelerate the analogue to digital transformation within the textile printing industry. The Tiger600-1800TS boasts a maximum printing speed of 550 m2/h (143% faster than the previous model) owing to the renovated high-speed printhead and Mimaki’s proprietary image quality enhancement technologies. The printer’s size has also been halved compared to the previous system, with the paper mounting and winding system both located at the back of the machine. This smaller footprint enables customers to easily install multiple units to meet fluctuating demand, whilst also increasing overall production capacity.  “All of these latest and innovative developments ideally position the Tiger600-1800TS to compete with analogue textile operations and support the move to digital print production,” explained Arjen Evertse, General Manager Sales, Mimaki Europe. “The benefits of digital printing are wide-ranging compared to lengthy, complicated and unsustainable analogue production methods. Digital printing offers a seamless, cost-effective solution for producing smaller quantities that can be adjusted to fit varying demand. It also enables greater design flexibility and reduces environmental impact by enabling local production, minimal inventories and therefore, wasted products, as well as completely cutting out the wastewater that results from the analogue process.” A further environmental benefit of the Tiger600-1800TS will be the imminent bluesign® (1) certification of its MLSb510 series sublimation transfer inks. This certificate, expected to be awarded in June 2023, will provide assurance that these inks are of highest quality combined with due consideration for the safety of consumers and print operators, and environmental conservation, and therefore, contributing to the sustainability of the textile industry. Mimaki’s renowned expertise in developing reliable, easy-to-use and efficient solutions has also not faltered in the development of the Tiger600-1800TS. The printer’s ink tanks can be replaced without interrupting the printing process, minimising down time. Maintenance of the printer is also reduced with its roller paper feeding method eliminating the need for the application of adhesives onto a belt. “The Tiger600-1800TS captures the needs of our customers and prospects perfectly with all of its advanced engineering and practical, user-friendly features. We’re confident this new addition to the Mimaki portfolio will further promote the shift to digital textile printing, thereby supporting this inspiring industry to be quicker to adapt to changing production requirements, whilst also being more environmentally conscious,” Arjen concludes. Mimaki is a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting machines for the sign/graphics, industrial, textile/apparel and 3D markets. Mimaki develops the complete product range for each group; hardware, software and the associated consumable items, such as inks and cutting blades. Mimaki excels in offering innovative, high quality and high reliability products, based upon its aqueous, latex, solvent and UV-curable inkjet technology. In order to meet a wide range of applications in the market, Mimaki pursues the development of advanced on-demand digital printing solutions. Mimaki Engineering Co. Ltd., (President: Kazuaki Ikeda) Nagano (Japan), is publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.