60 | L&L JETvarnish and JETcard products). The Alphajet prints at up to 3,000 sheets/hour in resolutions of up to 1,200 x 1,200dpi. The press offers full variable data printing and handles carton board up to 500gsm. Screen's Truepress JetSX folding carton press, developed from an existing print-ondemand model, uses multi-level grayscale printheads with water-based pigment inks to print standard offset and inkjet papers and boards up to 0.6mm thick. The top speed of 1,620 sheets/hour is equivalent to 108 A4 pages per minute. Files received online can be automatically preflighted, color managed, imposed and placed in the print queue. Screen's Equios front-end can interface with MIS to generate automatic billing if required. Konica Minolta IJ Technologies showed the KM-1, a prototype B2 format press jointly developed with Komori, the offset press manufacturer. Ostensibly aimed at the commercial printers, the press also has label and package print capabilities. The inkjet print engine is fitted with KM's latest printheads with UV LED curing. The KM-1's top speed is 3,300 sph (simplex) and 1,650 sph (duplex) at a print resolution of 1,200 x 1,200dpi. Generally speaking, any expectancy for high levels of quality and productivity must be backed by consistency of results, especially where packaging for global brands is concerned. This implies a wider use of color measurement systems and calibration tools, such as GMG's OpenColor. As a proofing tool it simulates the combined printing of spot and process colors. GMG also offers a cloud-based service for professional media and users, that promises to redefine how color management is used in the future. X-Rite with its Pantone subsidiary, has launched PantoneLive as another cloud-based service intended to achieve repeatable and accurate color for packaging across a variety of substrate types. PantoneLive applications range from brand owners and designers through to pressroom operators, and includes enhanced Pantone color libraries. Developments like these, plus the many strategic partnerships that have recently emerged, reinforce vendors' efforts to establish inkjet printing as a valid short-run process for labels and packaging. Of course, other digital technologies are keen to retain their strong market positions. In fact HP Indigo and Xeikon both introduced new generations of dedicated electrophotographic (EP) label and packaging presses. Xeikon has additionally introduced Trillium. Based on a new liquid image development system, it is said to combine EP's high quality with the higher speed and lower cost of inkjet. Also launched at Drupa was the highly significant nanographic printing technology from the Landa Corporation for short-run CMYK printing on either web or sheet-fed machines (as explained elsewhere). Strategic partnerships, currently involving Komori, manroland and Heidelberg, could well stir up the entire digital scene, not just inkjet printing, when it becomes commercially available in late 2013. Significantly, the world's first user will be UK-based Reflex Labels. HOT OFF THE PRESS A ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST GLOBAL LABEL STORIES UNILEVER REPORTS SUSTAINABILITY PLAN PROGRESS Unilever has published a report on the progress it is making towards meeting its Sustainable Living Plan targets. The plan, published in November 2010, committed the company to take responsibility for its impact right across the value chain, from the sourcing of raw materials all the way through to the consumer's use of its products to cook, clean and wash. As part of the update, Unilever announced that by the end of 2012 it will reach its target of 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil covered by Green Palm Certificates, three years ahead of schedule. While this is strong progress, it said, the company recognizes that the Green Palm Scheme is only a step along the road towards sustainable palm oil, not ‘the end game’. Unilever has now set a new target of purchasing all its palm oil from certified traceable sources by 2020. This means it will be able to track all the certified oil it buys back to the plantation on which it was originally grown. To help achieve this goal, it announced that it is in advanced stages of discussions with the Indonesian government for investing in a large processing plant for palm oil derivatives in Sumatra. This plant will not only cut back on transport and save money but it will make it easier to trace the sources of the palm oil used. UPM RAFLATAC TO OPEN DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN MEXICO CITY UPM Raflatac is to open a new labelstock slitting and distribution terminal in Mexico City, Mexico, which will begin operations in the second quarter of 2012. The facility will stock a wide range of paper and film labelstocks, including trimless offerings, and is strategically located to strengthen UPM Raflatac’s service to customers in Mexico and Central America. ‘The Mexican and Central American markets are extremely important to UPM Raflatac,’ said Jouko Lähepelto, senior vice president, Americas and Asia Pacific, UPM Raflatac. ‘For the past 10 years, we’ve been steadily expanding our presence in the Latin American region by making on-going investments in people, products and technology.’ The company’s new terminal in Mexico will allow UPM Raflatac to further expand its service network and offer improved delivery times to customers located in Guadalajara and Mexico City. ‘We recognize that our customers require rapid access to a diverse range of labelstock products to conduct their businesses,’ said Jose Garcia, general manager, UPM Raflatac Mexico. ‘The new terminal will extend our reach, helping UPM Raflatac deliver on its promise of serving as a full product line supplier to customers.’ STORK'S DSI 5330 LABELS&LABELING
Visit Stand #840 Are you ready for the future? The Time is Now... • ...to explore the richest history in ink • ...to learn about cutting edge ink developments • ...to see what the future holds for narrow web printing Experience the past, present and future at the Flint Group booth #840 at Labelexpo Americas 2012. Flint Group Narrow Web 15500 28th Avenue North, Plymouth, MN 55447, USA T +1 763 559 5911 • F +1 763 559 3725 www.flintgrp.com
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