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Product of the month: Komori Lithrone G Series

Rahul Kumar — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 16:29:00

What do the Lithrone G Series presses do?
The Lithrone G Series presses are the result of Komori’s pursuit of new possibilities in quality printing. These machines are loaded with advanced functions, features, and capacities combined with outstanding technologies to meet the needs of next-generation printing.

What are the different Lithrone G Series models available?
There are three Lithrone G Series models available now in the market. These are Lithrone G26, Lithrone G29, and Lithrone G37.

How do these models differ from each other?
All the three Lithrone G Series models are designed as strategic partners for commercial printers, packaging converters and book printers. All of them have common features and capacities with slight differences in speeds, configurations and other functions.

The Lithrone G26 is a 26-inch sheetfed offset press. It is capable of printing at the speed of 16,500-sph with high-speed stability even on a broad range of heavy stocks. The model delivers a maximum sheet size of 480x660-mm with a printing area of 470x650-mm.

The Lithrone G29 operates at the same speed of the Lithrone G26. This 29-inch sheetfed offset press delivers a maximum sheet size of 530x750-mm with 520x740-mm printing area. Both Lithrone G26 and G29 can print for H-UV/H-UV L (LED) print applications.

A 37-inch sheetfed offset press, Lithrone G37 is equipped with an evolved version of KHS-AI integrated control system for quick print start-up. This offset-on-demand press can print A1 size print products, offering a maximum sheet size of 640x940-mm with 620×930-mm print area.

Is there anything in the Lithrone G Series available as a standalone?
Well, the Lithrone G Series can be used as a standalone press without additional UV coating and other added features. However, these hybrid models have additional ability to perform multiple additive and subtractive tasks which have extra advantages.

When was the Lithrone G Series launched?
The Komori Corporation announced the launch of this Series in August 2020.

What was the thought process when the Lithrone G Series was launched?
The G Series is a new avatar of the popular brand Lithrone, known for its quality prints, performance, and eco-friendliness. These presses were launched as a new benchmark of productivity and sustainability.

What are the target markets?
These newly developed high-performance Lithrone G Series presses are perfectly designed and engineered for diverse applications for printers and convertors in the different markets. Capable of printing on heavy stocks and UV coating, these machines are the right choices for packaging converters and label manufacturers. On the other hand, a lot of advancements and functions of the machines made them the right choice for commercial and book printing as well.

What kinds of substrates can these presses handle?
These presses can handle both lightweight and heavyweight media, including films and non-absorbent substrates.

How fast these presses are in terms of speeds?
Both the Lithrone G26 and G29 are capable of running at the maximum printing speed of 16,500-sph while the Lithrone G37 runs at 15,000-sph.

What’s the USP of these Lithrone G Series presses?
Compared to presses currently available in the market, Komori machines, including these newly developed Lithrone G Series presses, are cost-efficient and are designed to fulfil the demands for sophisticated, innovative, and next-generation printing needs. After all, Komori India has a strong and highly committed after-sales service support team.

How user-friendly or easy to operate these presses are?
Komori machines are known for their user friendliness and ease of operation. These new Lithrone G Series presses are designed with user-friendly interfaces that make them easier to operate for operators. In addition, Komori India’s technical support team comprehensively helps their customers in the pre- and post-sales periods to know every aspect and operation of the machines.

What training and support are on offer?
It’s not only machines with which Komori customers enjoy but also the training and support they receive from the technical team. Post-installations, Komori customers receive rigorous training and support for a period of more than two weeks. Komori India constantly invests in human resources to help its customers.

How many Lithrone G Series presses have been installed worldwide?
A total of Lithrone G Series presses have been installed across the world. We expect to add around to the number in the next two years. In India alone, we installed Lithrone G Series presses in 2024. We have some in the pipelines to be completed soon before March 2025.

Contact details
Jitender Rohilla,
general manager, sales, Komori India
Phone: 9811901595
Email: jitender@komori.in

Pamex footfalls soar and signs indicate a solid 2024

Ramu Ramanathan — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:53:00

And so, there is a feel-good factor at the show. Most companies we spoke to said, “there has been a pent-up demand after Covid - and 2023 has been a solid year”. Most manufacturers are seeing a healthy double-digit growth and even though everyone is being "watchful" in 2024, it looks to be a good year for ink-on-paper in India.

The top seven digital print firms' grip on the market continues, as print and packaging firms continue to invest. New deals have been inked at the stalls of Canon, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta, Monotech, Redington-HP, Ricoh, TechNova, Vinsak, the gap between the traditional big cities is reduced as the focus shifts to Tier 2 and Tier 3 centres. And although electrophotography has been around for long, the live demos at the show suggest the devil is in the details. Things to look out for are: tweaks in fusing technology. Also, look out for sizes and if one can print more A4 pages per sheet; plus the variety of paper weights from 64 to 450-gsm and print on a range of substrates, including synthetic papers, polycarbonate, silver met-PET and much more, What caught my eye was how a typical production line can be consolidated with a feeder, stacker, and control panel on one side for the press operator.

India is on the cusp of next-generation inkjet kits for labels and book production. The one that grabbed my attention is the Orient inkjet press. It's impressive, how it can do finishing, up to sheeting, perforation, and section gathering. Do get a demo from the TPH team and see if you can do folding with perforations which can be trimmed for perfect binding. Meanwhile, Ajay Aggarwal of Insight shared with me, “A digital print entrepreneur in Pune has installed one of our inkjet presses recently. This firm converts 5,000 books per day, in a 2,000-sq ft space. At the end of the day, all the books are dispatched.” Aggarwal said this is “book magic”. With the inkjet device Atexco web press, Aggarwal said that Insight is targeting textbooks and the education market. Devices have been installed in Delhi, Pune, Nagpur with a total of seven confirmed bookings before Drupa.

Bindwel's SigLoch for the digital print firm market is attracting a lot of eyeballs. Decades ago, the starting point in the Bindwel journey was single-clamp binders. The group was a first-time adopter of HMA binding with their entry-level post-press kit. Now, Bindwel has forayed into the digital post-press market with a raft of offerings under the SigLoch brand. Bindwel, like many Indian manufacturers at Pamex are prepping for Drupa. With 76 exhibitors from India and approximately 4,700 sqm net, India is one of the Top 10 nations at Drupa. All eyes are on Make in India.

The Pratham Technologies stall was also a curtain-raiser for Drupa. The Pune-based pharma specialist has incorporated automation-oriented features for their marquee products. All eyes are on Drupa where the group will be showcasing an outsert setup and launching two new products – the automatic commercial folder and the auto tray packer. The demo that caught my eye was: the double-head taping system for pharmaceutical printers. Smart and practical.

In terms of Product Watch, I was quite impressed with the Felix Gluer which is a XY glue-plotter table rapid gluing for corrugated packaging, POP displays and foams. Very useful for putting together display units. Also impressive is Monotech's PixelGlow - a digital UV and foiling (hot and cold) system. The special 3D effects are pretty good, and it is capable of working with materials ranging from 135gsm to 700gsm with a maximum thickness of 300 microns. But what grabbed my attention was the DC- X II at the "very busy" TechNova stall. It's a tiny tabletop kit that gets lost among all the big daddies at the show. If you find the "small is beautiful DC- X II kit" you will realise it is capable of applications like foiling, lamination, dry coating, and image coating. Perfect for the 225 sq/ft digital print shop. No wonder 25 of the machines have been sold in India.

Also, many track-and-trace technologies are available. And so, brand accountability is no longer an elusive endeavour, In fact in this day and age of QR and algorithmic decision-making, allocating blame is a fraught process. Some of the solutions at the Pamex show that isn't this doesn’t have to be a bad thing - and is an opportunity for the industry. The point is, that most regulations like traceability etc. are print-related activities. And therefore, it is "very easy for the packaging industry players to adopt". Almost every brand (big and small) is seeking tamper-proof packaging or anti-counterfeit packaging. Huge opportunity for the industry to be seen as the guardian of brand attacks.

My one big grouse is about exiting from the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre (BEC). Two hours from Goregaon East to Vile Parle West on day one and day two of the show. That's 7 pm to 9 pm - at the end of a long day. And so, an out-of-the-box suggestion for the organisers: Start the Pamex 2026 show at 8 am and wrap up at 4 pm. Just a thought!

PrintWeek India Awards 2019: Recognition for green printers

Aultrin Vijay — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 12:24:00

Likewise, printers in India have also tweaked their manufacturing process and procurement of raw material s in order to make their companies and processes greener. And one such company that has showcased the most sustainable and effective innovation will be honoured by PrintWeek India under the Green Printing Company of the Year category.

Noel D’Cunha, managing editor, PrintWeek India, said, “This award will be conferred to the print company that has done most to improve its environmental performance during the period under review. The judges for this category will be specialists and this will be the only category they will judge.”

ITC Packaging and Printing Division (Chennai) clinched the title during the 10th edition of the Awards. “The jury noted the company’s commitment to a low carbon growth path, where a vast majority of the total energy requirement of the company was met from renewable sources,” added D’Cunha.

A look at the ITC report indicated the endeavours to reduce water consumption and augment rainwater harvesting activities both on-site and off-site, as well as minimise waste generation, maximise reuse, and recycling plus deploy external post-consumer waste as raw material in its units.

Brilliant Printers, Coral Print Pack, Lovely Offset Printers, Nutech Packagings, and Vijayshri Packaging were the other companies that came close to clinching the title last year. However, Lovely Offset Printers won the category in 2017.

Information about all the categories is available on the website. Don’t delay, register now at www.printweekindiaawards.com

For further assistance, contact Kalpak Shah at +91 81699 71401 or 022-2378 7551

Made in India: Pressone Chemicals UV CTP plate developer

Rahul Kumar — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 11:13:49

UV CTP Plate Developer is one of the essential chemicals for image development on printing plates, especially in UV CTP/CTCP. In this, Ludhiana-based Pressone Chemicals is an up and coming supplier, manufacturing more than 18,000 litres of UV CTP Plate Developer per month to serve more than 100 customers.

Established in 2012, the chemical manufacturing business launched its UV CTP Plate Developer in July 2015. “Right now, we manufacture more than 18,000 litres of chemicals per month,” says Mukesh Chauhan of Pressone Chemicals. Now, the company is planning to increase production as it we found the chemicals to be one of the fastest growing segments.

Chauhan has around two decades of experience in the chemical business, primarily as an employee of a Delhi-based pre-press equipment manufacturing company, before setting up his own company.

Pressone Chemicals manufacturers a range of pre-press and press room chemicals.

The pre-press segment range includes a PS Developer, PS Thermal Developer and Plate Processor Gum.

The press range includes fountain solutions, washes, alcohols, plate cleaners and corrections fluids, tack reducers, printing ink dyers, printing press care products and anti-set off spray powders.

According to Chauhan, any pre-press bureau and offset printer with UV CTP/CTCP can use its UV CTP Plate Developer. “Today, we serve 100 customers. Of these, 75 are pre-press service bureaus and 25 are offset printers,” he says.

The market

Pressone Chemicals has a strong distribution network in all the major cities of Punjab, including Baddi, Mohali, Chandigarh, Ponta Saheb, besides in Bareilly, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ahmedabad and Delhi-NCR.

“Our existing distribution set up is serving customers in the North and Delhi-NCR. We are working to increase the network and serve more cities in other parts of the country. Being a north-based manufacturer, we have our own advantages,” says Chauhan.

Chauhan is optimistic about growth and he has reasons for it. The segment has grown fast in the last five years and will grow well in future. One reason being the cost of UV CTP/CTCP printing plate is more economical compared to other technologies available in the market. Most UV CTP/CTCP developers provide 2,400dpi printing plates and to some extent in quality, it competes with thermal plates.

According to Chauhan, films have now become obsolete. Image development directly on printing plates is the norm now. This is another reason why there will be a rise in the demand. However, according to Chauhan, the most import factor is that the plates are economical.

Chauhan says as per his estimation, around 1,500 CTCPs are running in India and per CTCP device consumes an average of 150 litres of chemical. Thus, it is a 200,000 litre per month market. “We are catering to less than 20% of the market. So opportunities are huge,” he says.

The chemical

UV CTP Plate Developer comes in liquid concentrate form in a 25-litre pack. It develops images on printing plates. “We recommend using the developer with RO water and ratio between developer and water must be around 1:8/7. Some use it with normal water as well but for better result RO water is necessary,” Chauhan says.

As it is an alkaline product, users are advised to wear hand gloves while using the chemical; without hand gloves it can be harmful.

“And especially, cover your eyes while using the chemical because naked eyes are easy targets for any chemical mishap. Ideally, don’t let it touch your skin,” he cautions.

Benefits

The benefits of Pressone’s UV CTP Plate Developer? Chauhan says, “Our developer helps cleaning of plate processor. Otherwise, it can block the entire process. It does not create a layer on the tank of developer and brush of processor. Brush is an expensive part of the processor. Our UV CTP Plate developer is universal. It means it is suitable for each and every plate available in the market. Our developer ensures that the first plate is printable and saleable, thus clients can save their money on printing plates cost.”

Ahmedabad-based N-VIR Process; Noida-based Anupama Printing Solutions; New Delhi-based Japan Art Press and SS Graphics; Chandigarh-based Gagandeep Photo Lith; Mohali-based Ishan Print Services; Jalandhar-based Lucky Processors; Ludhaina-based Unique Process; Bareilly-based Anoopam Press; Lucknow-based Fine Graphics; Kanpur-based Perfect Chem & Technology and Jaipur-based Raj Block are a few key customers of Pressone Chemicals.

Around 25 people work in the 11,000-sq/ft chemical production facility in Ludhiana.

Customer testimonial

"We are using the UV CTP Plate Developer manufactured by Ludhiana-based Pressone Chemicals for the last two years and we found it to be very friendly in our operation. Our consumption is around 400 litres per month. The best part of the developer is that there is minimum sludge, or shall we say no sludge. Plus the does not go down. We use the developer on multiple printing plates and found it to be smooth. It truly is a universal developer. Pressone Chemicals’ Developer helps in functioning and keeps the process clean. People must use it. Working in a price-sensitive industry and market, the chemical manufacturing company provides the Developer on economic rate."

Arun Gupta, Japan Art Press, New Delhi

Product of the Month: Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 75

Rushikesh Aravkar — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 11:50:00

When PrintWeek India spoke to the 111 print firms who have made significant investments in the last 12 months for our anniversary issue in May, three things emerged. One, the Indian printer now realises the significance of workflow software and process automation on the shopfloor, which a few years ago was regarded as ‘only-for-biggies’ product. Two, the need for automation is driven by the urge to turnaraound more number of jobs in less time and beat the competition, but the current print volumes do not make economic sense to invest in high-end automation. Three, if the value offered makes business sense and fits his pocket, even a small Indian printer in C-tier city is willing to invest.

In that sense, this month’s Product of the Month, the Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 75, which was introduced at China Print last month, is an ideal offering for the Indian market.

The mid-range Speedmaster CX 75 is Heidelberg’s latest B2 Speedmaster, a hybrid press that combines elements from its XL 75 B2 flagship and the SX 74.

The most striking feature of CX 75 is its footprint, which aptly addresses the pressing issue of every Indian printer, the constraints with space. The CX 75 has a width of 2.81-metre and 2.05-metre height. It is the narrowest printing press designed by Heidelberg in the B2 (50x70cm) format. A five-unit press with coating unit will be 11.6-metre long.

For Heidelberg the CX 75 is an important press as it closes the gap between its Speedmaster SX 74 and XL 75 models, and completes its portfolio in the B2 format.

“The first commercial deliveries are slated for November,” informs Heidelberg’s managing director in India, Klaus Nielsen. “The Speedmaster CX 75 combines the best of both worlds – the innovative platform of Speedmaster XL 75 combined with the components of SX 74.”

The machine is based on the XL 75 platform, in terms paper travel and delivery, but uses a number of SX 74 components, including the suction head feeder, to minimise footprint and keep its price down. Unlike the XL 75, it does not come with a perfector option.

This Speedmaster CX 75 press is available in two formats. The C format, focused on commercial print, handles sheet size of 530x750mm, while the F format, which has also been available for XL 75, is well suited for board printing and inflexible substrates, with a maximum sheet size of 605x750mm. The F format with that extended print area is an interesting choice for packaging applications as it allows the user to accommodate additional ups of cartons or labels in one impression than in C format.

Thanks to its double diameter impression cylinders, just like in XL 75, the CX 75 can take substrates ranging from 0.03mm to 0.6mm in thickness. The top production speed is 15,000 sheets per hour. The CX 75 is available in four, five and six colours with a coating unit.

It has a fully automated wash programme as standard and even though it not a machine in Heidelberg’s high performance XL series, it still can be fully integrated with Heidelberg’s Prinect Press Centre 2 digital workflow, allowing for makereadies of less than five minutes and easy data transfer. The integration with a digital workflow is a big plus as the printing machine pulls all the necessary information for job setting from the software. Thus, most of the tasks in readying a press for the new job such as positions of side lays, feeder and vacuum belt and adjustments for suction and blowers on the basis of weight and size of the substrate are completed automatically. These settings can be logged for later recall.

“The Indian market is an excellent market for the SX 74 and there is a huge potential install base for this machine, especially because the customers want to grow and go to different markets, where packaging is more involved,” Nielsen said. “It will also be of interest to those print shops that operate one or two shifts and are looking for an attractive price-performance ratio.”

The user can choose between three different drying technologies with the DryStar dryer matched to the sheet travel of the Speedmaster CX 75. It can run with classic UV for carton printing as well as LE-UV and LED UV. The DryStar LE (low energy) UV dryer uses highly reactive UV inks and coatings, and therefore needs less energy. The DryStar LED dryer achieves the highest energy efficiency among the three. This again emphasises the versatility that Heidelberg is looking for. It suits “the growth in new applications without the need for excessive investment” says Nielsen.

During China Print 2017, Heidelberg’s booth featured a four-colour CX 75 running the company’s DryStar LED technology.

Competitive market

The B2 market is a very competitive space, with a wide array of alternatives, and Heidelberg knows it has a tough battle on its hands if it wants to significantly increase its market share.

So what are the main strengths and highlights about the CX75 in this crowded market? Smaller footprint, attractive price-performance ratio and the optimum level of automation will play in Heidelberg’s favour in the B2 segment.

Moreover, Heidelberg is an established brand in the market and most of its Indian customers swear by the service support and technical prowess that it possesses. This will definitely be a huge advantage for the manufacturer.

SPECIFICATIONS

Max sheet size 530x750 mm

Min sheet size 280x350 mm

Substrate thickness 0.03 mm - 0.60 mm

0.03 mm - 0.80 mm (option)

Max speed 15,000 sph

Contact Peter Rego

Heidelberg India

peter.rego@heidelberg.com

THE ALTERNATIVES

Komori Lithrone G29

The 16,500sph press is bristling with the latest automation systems for fast makeready and job changeovers, and is targeted at added-value printing applications. The maximum sheet size is 530x750mm and the G29 handles stock up to 0.6mm in thickness.

Max sheet size 530×750 mm

Max speed 16,500 sph (straight printing)

Contact Sangam Khanna

Insight Communication & Print Solution India

sangamk@insightwithin.com

RMGT 760

The 760 models boast “excellent cost performance” to meet printing market needs for lower costs. The maximum printing area is large enough to easily handle 8-up printing of B5 size, and integration of the operation stand into the press reduces installation space. The press can be configured from two to six-colour unit as a straight or a perfecting press.

Max sheet size 600x765 mm

Min sheet size 200x279 mm

Substrate thickness 0.04 mm - 0.6 mm

Max speed 13,000 sph

Contact Vinay Kaushal Provin Technos vinay@provin.in

RMGT 790

The 790 models, according to the company, can be configured according to user needs, providing the optimum printing environment for increasing productivity and profitability. The thick cardboard specification model can handle sheet thicknesses up to 0.8 mm

Max sheet size 600x788 mm

Min sheet size 200x279 mm

Substrate thickness 0.04 - 0.6 mm

(Thick cardboard specification: 0.04 - 0.8 mm)

Max speed 16,000 sph (straight printing)

Contact Vinay Kaushal Provin Technos vinay@provin.in

Click here to download the PrintWeek India Awards 2017 entry form

Product of the month: KBA Rapida 106

Rushikesh Aravkar — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:05:00

When Pragati Offset felt the need to add a new UV press, the Paruchuris didn’t baulk about making a switch from the Japanese offset presses that they have been using and adopt the German technology offered by KBA. “The choice was simple,” explains Harsha Paruchuri of Pragati, “Most of the companies across the world that we visited deploy a KBA press for UV printing. We wanted to try and see for ourselves what we missed.”

This edge in the package printing segment that KBA enjoys has to do with its in-house capability of manufacturing UV curing system, stresses Aditya Surana of Indo Polygraph Machinery (IPM), which represents KBA in India.

It’s not only Pragati, even packaging bigwigs like ITC, Parksons Packaging, TCPL, Sai Packaging and York Print have recognised the benefits of advanced automation and opted for a KBA press. While Pragati’s is a Rapida 105, others have Rapida 106, which can handle a slightly larger format of 740×1060mm (29.13x41.73-inch), has a maximum output of 18,000sph, and has higher degrees of automation.

Today, there are 11 Rapida 106 machines running in India and three more are en route. “None of these presses are of less than six-colour plus coater configuration. And all but one are combi presses suitable for both UV and conventional inks,” adds Surana. The star: the KBA Rapida 106 eight colour press at Parksons’ Pantnagar plant with coldfoil technology.

The Rapida 106 handles substrates from lightweight paper to heavy board; and from plastic films to corrugated packaging. It also offers finishing in gloss or matt effects; all-over or spot finishes; single and multiple coating applications with dispersion; and/or UV varnishes. KBA has raised its speed to 20,000 sph for straight printing.

The makeready champion
When KBA introduced Rapida 106 at Drupa 2008, it was crowned the world makeready champion in medium format. At the show, the 41-inch press printed a total of 15 jobs, each of 520 good sheets, in just 59 minutes and 36 seconds.
Surana recalls, “The production run entailed 14 complete makereadies. Press operators changed all eight plates 14 times, washing the blankets and changing the feeder and delivery piles. Each of the 15 jobs took less than four minutes for makeready and printing.”

Surana points out, a print company in India needs a higher amount of sheets on pallets in a day with faster makereadies and UV curing at a higher speed.

“With the fully automatic plate changing system, all plates are changed in just under three minutes – including register zeroing – irrespective of the length of the press. This press is configured in such a way that the users are running it at full speeds. Even the UV jobs are run at 16,000 sph.”

Platform concept
After KBA adopted the platform concept of product development – a thing that is widespread in the automobile industry – the Rapida 106 was re-launched at Drupa 2012. With the new technique, KBA uses a single platform for its three models in 70x105cm format: Rapida 106, Rapida 105 Pro and Rapida 105.

“All the three presses have identical printing units so that there is no print quality difference across the range. The printing units, the transfer system, the inking unit, the dampening system are all identical. The differentiators are speed, configuration of the feeder and the delivery, and levels of automation.”

Surana says, “The new Rapida 106 (launched in 2012) was beefed up with design optimisation 1,2nin the infeed and delivery, additional software packages and a host of user-oriented details that came standard with the press.”

Designed to enable time-saving job changeovers, KBA’s automation modules include its DriveTronic concept, which includes DriveTronic SIS, the sidelay-free infeed; DriveTronic SPC, for simultaneous plate changing; and DriveTronic Plate Ident, for register pre-setting and plate identification.

The kit USP is its DriveTronic SIS (Sensoric Infeed System), which comes standard on the press. Surana says, “There is no sidelay in the press. The patented KBA sheet infeed system controls lateral sheet alignment electronically.”

Using what KBA calls integration into automatic format setting, it eliminates the need for operator intervention, it has electronic drive elements for precise positioning of the sheet, even at maximum speed and pile side edge alignment via the SIS sensor.

Inking and dampening units
Surana highlights the fast-reacting inking units on the Rapida 106, which offer precise ink metering and an optimum ink-water balance, adding that the bleed-free metering in the ColorTronic ink duct guarantees maximum repeat accuracy.

“The ink keys, with carbide blades and ceramic-coated ink duct roller, are remote controlled and the wear-free ink metering ensures accurately reproducible settings.
The ink duct roller speed is compensated to the press speed.”

Surana adds that further solutions, such as ink train separation with impression-off and the disengaging of units not required for a particular job, serve to reduce roller wear, accelerate makeready and eliminate avoidable waste.

Five washing system variants cater to the different needs of individual users. The simplest configuration incorporates blanket and roller washing. Alternatively, dual-purpose systems for blanket and impression cylinder washing (CleanTronic /CleanTronic Impact) can be combined with roller washing.

“With these systems, it is for the first time possible to realise parallel roller and blanket washing in this press class, and thus a time saving of over 40% compared to consecutive processes,” adds Surana.

Repeat orders testify for IPM’s service support
A few years ago, three of India’s largest packaging printers, ITC, Parksons and TCPL invested in a KBA and as Surana says, it got “a backdoor entry” at all the three places since all the three were either using Heidelberg or Manroland machines for their packaging production.

Surana says, “The KBA technology has proved netitself and continues to do so even today and that’s the reason why all of them have continued to invest in more KBA presses. The latest order is from ITC for its third KBA which we have received just a few days ago.”

Today, Parksons Packaging has seven KBA presses of which three are Rapida 106, while TCPL has four Rapida 106 machines.

The credit of these repeat orders also rests with IPM’s 36-strong service engineers team, which has been trained in Germany. IPM maintains spare part inventory and is equipped to provide prompt service even in the remote areas. “Quick action and reduced bureaucracy is the mantra,” says Surana.

“The target is to sell as many presses as possible,” Surana says, “As Indian packaging players with deep pockets realise the need for higher degrees of automation, KBA will have many more Rapida 106 presses running in India. We have observed strong levels of interest in the Rapida 106 and we are in serious negotiations with a number of companies."

During Drupa 2016, the Rapida 106 will be displayed as a long perfector for four back-four printing with coater, double delivery extension, plate change and LED-UV curing.

The Rapida 106 at Drupa is extensively automated. Its features include new TouchTronic operation with one button job change and QualiTronic PDF before and after perfecting.

KBA were present at Hall 16,C47-1,2.

Specifications

Max sheet size: 740x1,060mm

Min sheet size: 340x480mm (straight), 400x480mm (perfecting)

Max speed straight press: Up to nine printing units + coater or 10 printing units: 18,000sph. With high-speed package (option): 20,000sph

Stock thickness: 0.04-0.7mm (up to 1.2mm or 1.6mm with board/corrugated package)

Contact: Aditya Surana Indo Polygraph Machinery adityasurana@indopolygraph.net
www.indopolygraph.netitself

The alternatives

Heidelberg XL 106

Heidelberg claims that the Speedmaster XL 106 offers users the highest productivity potential and configuration flexibility of any offset press available worldwide.

Standard features such as the Preset Plus feeder and Preset Plus delivery are designed to boost productivity with a production speed of 18,000 sheets per hour in both straight printing and perfecting models. This allows for efficient output of longer runs, and automation features such as Autoplate Pro and Prinect Inpress control help users to reduce makeready times on the press.

Max sheet size: 750x 1,060 mm

Paper thickness: 0.03-1.00 mm (straight presses)

Max speed: 18,000 sph (standard straight printing presses)

Contact:
Heidelberg India
Peter Rego
+91 44 4347 2000
peter.rego@heidelberg.com
www.in.heidelberg.com

Product of the month: Enfocus Pitstop Pro 13.1

Sriraam Selvam — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:59:24

PitStop, with 1,30,000 users worldwide and around 4,500 licenses in India has been designed for use by people who have experience in pre-press and graphic arts.

The client roster for the PitStop Pro is impressive.

From newspaper giant, ABP in Kolkata and Jagran in Kanpur to Art-O-Print in Ahmedabad. From Repro to Sheth Publishers. From packaging firms like Param Packaging to Shree Arun Packaging. From commercial printers like Jak to Balodhyan Press.

The first avatar was launched two decades ago, in 1997. Originally it was aimed at commercial print, newspaper and magazine production, but as the use of PDF became more widespread, features were added to help with applications such as digital print, sign and display, packaging and labels as well as the traditional repro and advertising. This explains customers that range from Spectrum Scan to Comart. Plus the direct mail players like MOS and Seshasai to pre-media top guns like Express Knowledge in Delhi to Integra in Puducherry to Crest Premedia in Pune.

So what does Pitstop do?

The software is a digital artwork quality control, editing, and production aid. It is supplied as a plug-in for Adobe Acrobat and can be used to check, verify (such as for PDF/X), report, auto-correct or convert (say RGB to CMYK) and edit the graphic and text content of PDF files.

According to Hemanshu Desai of Venus Infotech (who along with Basis System) are behind the success of Enfocus in India, the USP of the Pitstop Pro is its smooth interaction with the actual objects in a PDF.

All you have to do is just select the objects that you want, find out the attributes and also edit them with a toolset. Besides, there are manual pre-flight results, letting you directly interact with the PDF to find problem elements and correct them.

Desai says, “PitStop Pro is a digital artwork quality control, editing and production aid. It is supplied as a plug-in for Adobe Acrobat and can be used to check, verify (such as for PDF/X), report, auto-correct or convert (say RGB to CMYK) and edit the graphic and text content of PDF files. Its manual content editing abilities are notably more extensive that those of Adobe Acrobat or Illustrator. There are facilities for automatic editing using either PDF Preflight Profile or an action list or global changes.”

More than work in progress

It’s working methodology is simple. For starts, its system requirements need Mac OS X or Windows, both running with Adobe Acrobat.

As per a company brief to PrintWeek, the PDF files are opened in Adobe Acrobat, after which the user selects the PitStop Pro menu and can choose to preflight check the files or just edit them.

Preflight checks can be chosen from a standard set which include PDF/X and the Ghent PDF Workgroup standards, or users can define their own routines from a list of possibilities.

The preflight check can also include automatic fixes for problems such as incorrect colour spaces, missing fonts or unwanted spot colours. The user can also manually edit the PDF by selecting image elements or text and modifying them with familiar design tools. Alternatively one-click ‘Global Changes’ will correct all instances of an issue in a PDF file.

The latest incremental PitStop 13 update 1 has the ability to ‘restrict’ the preflight to within a contour or irregular shape. This could be a dieline or cutter guide, for example.

As Hemanshu Desai says, “Other features that were added were, the ability to generate bleed.” This Desai asserts is “the most important thing that is generally forgotten till last moment. Three different actions list are provided that will work for different conditions of the original file.”

Also the new PitStop can customise pre-flight messages. According to Desai, this means, “Instead of writing a technical message, one can now edit the message to write in simple English or for that matter any local language supported by the operating system.”

Multi-user options

Desai talks about how one can “buy the PitStop as Perpetual License, Single user or a Multi-user option (that is, above five), ‘Floating’ licenses is available for more than five users, which can be activated and deactivated via the Workgroup manager. This lets different people in a job sequence access PitStop as necessary, without needing to buy a copy for all of them. There is a stand-alone version called PitStop Server, intended for a fully automatic checking and automatic fixing workflow using hot folders.”

He adds, “Connect all is another option available to connect the printer with their clients in, a way for printers to control the way customer PDFs are created and to verify and correct them if needed before they are uploaded.

A perpetual single licence is Euro 699. Alternatively, there is an annual subscription at Euro 300 (or Euro 32 per month). Desai says, there is a floating licence (five users and above) start from is Euro 3500 for up to five users and one year’s maintenance. A free 30-day trial version is available for download from the Enfocus website.

Hemanshu Desai of Venus Infotech will offer a special price for PrintWeek India readers.

Product of the Month: Oce ColorWave 700

Rushikesh Aravkar — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 03:08:48

With the growing pressure on the wide-format industry from activists and government agencies to adopt a safe and healthy working environment, wide-format players are exploring alternative to solvent inkjet.

Oce ColorWave 700 from Canon’s stable perfectly fits the bill for low production costs, substrate flexibility and low odour prints.

Canon’s Bibhuti Kumar Narayan, manager – solutions marketing, says the latest ColorWave 700 is a workhorse, which allows printers to expand their portfolio of wide-format offerings and at the same time helps customer to get rid of investing in multiple equipment to cater the large

range of applications.

What he implies is that, commercial print firms can use it to consolidate their wide-format plan and map printing along with graphical applications onto one system, which can replace multiple colour inkjet printing systems and improve efficiency.

After unveiling the ColorWave 700 in February 2015, the company is pitching it at businesses requiring a higher print volume, including reprographics, sign and display printers and in-house printing applications in industries such as retail, hospitality, POS, education and government.

Hybrid imaging

Now, the differentiating factor for Canon’s Colorwave 700 is its imaging technology. It’s not inkjet and it’s also not toner. It’s a hybrid one, which, according to the manufacturer, combines the positives of the two while doing away with their negatives. They like to call it CrystalPoint technology and the ink TonerPearls.

The TonerPearls are held as solid balls, which by the virtue of their physical properties are safer and easier to handle than either liquid ink or finely divided powder toner. Inside the system, these solid balls are melted into gel, which is then imaged onto the substrate. As it cools, it crystallises onto the substrate.

Due to the toner’s gel state, droplets stay compact even when jetted onto highly absorbent media. The crystallisation process forms a strong adhesion with an even semigloss finish. “This offers strong adhesion to a variety of media and makes the ink suitable for outdoor or heavy-duty

use,” says Narayan.

“In use, there are no solvents and no ozone produced, meaning there doesn’t need to be any extraction and the finished prints are odourless and water-resistant.”

According to Narayan, the major difference between thermal inkjet heads and Oce’s imaging device is that the later is not reliant on any type of plumbing system since there are no liquids used in the system.

“Because the TonerPearls are heat activated, they simply return to a solid state when the machine is powered off. In theory, you could turn on and use the printer even if it has

been off for a year or longer.”

The first machine to use this technology was Oce’s ColorWave 600 launched in 2008. In 2012, it was deployed for ColorWave 550/650. “And now it has been reworked in terms of features and technology for ColorWave 500 and 700 in 2015.”

All the machines build on CrystalPoint technology have an inbuilt system to calculate the ink consumed during printing and provides meter reading in TAC (Total Area Coverage) format to the user.

“The users is charged as per the TAC reading. In TG service model Canon takes care of complete maintenance of machine including consumables and spares,” says Narayan.

How fast?

The ColorWave 700 is the fastest machine in the series. In the high-speed mode, the ColorWave 700 produces monochrome prints at the speed of 1,389 sq/ft per hour and colour prints at 1,292 sq/ft per hour. This roll-to-roll wide-format printer can print up to 1,800 A1 CAD drawings or 640 high-quality posters per eight-hour working day.

It can also print on low-cost uncoated media or high-end specialties. The machine is powered by Oce MediaSense technology that supports media thickness of up to 800 μm or 30 mil, in standard and custom sizes. “It measures the media thickness and adjusts the printing distance to the media automatically. The system extends the application range even more.”

Among other features, the machine boasts of cloud integration, automatic media sensing, multiple user support, secure workflow and an optional built-in scanner.“Up to six different rolls of media can be loaded at one time meaning that each printer can simultaneously handle a number of different jobs without having to load and unload rolls in between,” adds Narayan.

When asked about the alternatives of ColorWave 700 in the market, Narayan, says, “Customer has to choose multiple machines like inkjet, LED, toner etc to cater the application supported by Oce ColorWave 700.”

SPECIFICATIONS
Speed B&W 225 A1/hr Colour 212 A1/hr Resolution 600dpi Roll options 4-6 rolls Width 297 to 1067mm Max thickness 800μm; 30mil Contact Canon India, Bibhuti Kumar Narayan, bibhuti.narayancanon.co.in

THE ALTERNATIVES
HP Pagewide XL 5000 The HP PageWide XL 5000 Printer series includes a stationary 40-inch (101.6-cm) printbar that spans the whole printing width. As paper moves under the printbar, the entire page is printed in one pass, enabling very high printing speeds.
Maximum print speed 9 m/min (27.8 ft/min)
Roll width 279 to 1016 mm
Media weight 70 to 200 g/m²
Contact: Devang Karia HP devang.karia@hp.com

Printers' Pick: Lamination machines

Priya Raju — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 15:48:45

The demand for creative, high-quality and visually appealing packaging and books is steadily increasing in the market and printers are looking for affordable solutions in this field. With increased demands on finishing of a product from the print buyer, printers are investing in laminating machines to run alongside their presses to provide quality service under one roof and faster turnaround time.

Lamination is the process of using an ultra thin plastic film which can be applied to almost any paper or board and is more commonly used in gloss, silk and matt finishes. Lamination is used to increase both the perceived value and quality of a printed item and cannot be used to cover a specific area alone. There is a wide range of choice in lamination but is majorly dictated by the end use of the product.

The laminating process is majorly classified into hot and cold lamination. Further, the machines can also be classified into four categories based on the bonding agents used for lamination; wet, dry, wax and solvent free.

The market is dominated by the water-based laminating method, where a dispersion adhesive is applied to the film and partially dried before the actual laminating operation.

Today, the trend is more towards using of water-based and solvent-free glue like PUR for lamination. In this section we look at the Steinemann Lotus 102SF, solvent free PUR-based lamination machines and the alternative machines by Wen Chyuan, GMP and Yii Lee available in the market.

Steinemann Lotus 102 SF

STEINEMANN LOTUS 102SF

From that day on, we standardised our packing to prep

Product of the Month: HP Indigo 10000

Rushikesh Aravkar — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:38:00

When one observes the larger format digital segment, one realises that many machines have been introduced since Drupa 2008. However, none of the manufacturers have been able to taste commercial success except HP. The B2-size Indigo introduced by HP during Drupa 2012 proved to be a game-changer for the company in this space.

The company positioned Indigo 10000 as “the machine which will take it into the heart of the offset market.” It was projected as the first offset-quality digital press in a larger format suitable for printing nearly all the commercial offset jobs possible with B2 size, including pocket folders, six-page brochures and large lay-flat books. A close look at Indigo’s construction tells us that it has been designed just like an offset press – a plate, a blanket and an impression cylinder.

By the end of 2015, there had been 230 installations worldwide of the duplex sheetfed liquid toner HP Indigo 10000 presses. Of these, three machines have come to India, which were installed at Mazda Imaging in 2013, Glo Digital Press in 2014 and Klick Digital Press in 2015.

10,000 ways to create print

Speaking to PrintWeek India, A Appadurai, country manager for HP India, highlights the machine features. “The 10000 can print regular commercial jobs digitally; it can print on a large variety of media, with many colour options and many options for workflow, including many third party solutions.”

The machine can also handle a wide range of different substrates, from 65-400 gsm in weight to 75-450 microns in thickness. In addition, it can cope with thousands of different substrates, encompassing coated, uncoated, textured, coloured and metallic substrates - to name but a few.

HP claims the press can deliver monthly production volumes of up to two million sheets. It uses HP’s ElectroInk technology and has full variable data capability. Other features of the machine include automatic blanket and photo imaging plate (PIP) changes, which save operator time, along with an automatic registration system and integrated spectrophotometer, to help ensure consistent print quality.

That’s true. The press handles a 750x510mm sheet in landscape format and prints up to seven colours at a top speed of 3,450 sheets per hour.

“HP’s unique Enhanced Productivity Mode (EPM) provides a 33% faster throughput of 4,600 colour sheets per hour, which allows customers to deliver more sheets per hour at lower unit cost. This means increased profitability and faster job delivery times,” adds Appadurai.

HP’s entry into offset class

While HP looks at the 10000 as an entry into the offset class, the three Indian installations have been in the photo album space.

Appadurai explains, “These installs might have been in the photo space, but the customers are already doing up to 40% of their volumes in the pure commercial print space. The 10000 puts the crossover between offset and digital at 500-600 copies, depending on the complexity of the jobs.”

In the current scenario, for any commercial offset printing company, 20-25% of the volumes are short-run (less than 500 copies). Appadurai makes a valid point. Consider this: If a commercial print firm with four or more offset presses installs an Indigo 10000, according to Appadurai, the company not only makes one-fourth or one-fifth of his painful jobs profitable but also releases the one offset press’s worth of capacity.

“It is just a matter of time before the offset printers take a plunge in the big format digital,” says Appadurai.

The alternatives

In the digital B2 space, alternatives to Indigo 10000 are the Fujifilm Jetpress 720 and the Screen Truepress JetSX.

Lately, the sheetfed inkjet segment has seen a flurry of activity and a lot will transpire at Drupa 2016. Heidelberg is set to launch B1 inkjet press and so is Landa.

Konica Minolta and Komori will launch their co-developed B2 inkjet press. Komori’s B2 sheetfed inkjet press, Impremia IS29, will also be unveiled at the show. The Impremia IS29 came out of collaboration with Konica Minolta, which sells an almost identical machine under the KM-1 badge. Canon has its Océ Varioprint i300 waiting in the wings.

While Indigo 10000 has proven its mettle in the market, it would be interesting to see where it stands when these competitors join the party.

SPECIFICATIONS
Max speed: 3,450 B2 sheets per hour Max resolution: 2,438x2,438dpi Max sheet size: 750x530mm Paper weight: 65-400gsm Paper thickness: 75-450 microns Contact: A Appadurai appadurai.a@hp.com

Klick banks on Indigo 10000: The first in Gujarat

Surat-based Klick Digital Press is a printing industry success story. The digital printing company was established in 2009 when the owners of Klick Digital Imaging, a digital photo lab powered with Noritsu and Kodak equipment, decided to venture into the digital photo album market.

“We have been in the business of photography since 1993. Initially as Pratibimb Colour Lab with silver halide technology and then as Klick Digital Imaging since 2001,” explains Bhavan Navapara, director of Klick, adding, “Later, we became Klick Digital Press with the acquisition of HP Indigo 5500 in 2009. We have put together what we feel is the best company in the photobook space with over two decades of experience of dealing with photographs.”

With this Indigo investment, Klick was able to establish itself as a key player in the burgeoning market in less than two years. All was well at Klick until a fire gutted its factory in July 2012.

The Indigo was gone.

“It was a tough time for us. We were losing business every day. We couldn’t wait for the insurance procedures to get through. HP bailed us out when they agreed to supply new equipment and loosened the payment terms,” recalls Navapara. Without much ado, the fire-stuck firm brought in a new HP Indigo 5600 in October and re-build the business. In 2013, it added a Scodix.

But the move was made in 2015.

Klick purchased the Indigo 10000 press. The machine was installed in December 2015. “It was a well-planned decision. With the Indigo, we had focused on photo albums. However, there was an entire textile market right in the city, which was totally untapped. We were already late,” says Navapara.

For Klick, a larger digital sheet size meant being able to do short-run saree catalogues and posters for the textile market, in addition to the bigger photo albums.

Navapara cites saree catalogues as an example of work from “an untapped space.”

He says, “These are 24- or 32-page catalogues printed on offset in the sizes of 11x16-inch and 14x20-inch. However, when it comes to printing less than 500 copies, digital is cost-effective. We could have done 11x16-inch catalogues on our Indigo 5600. However, the machine is always occupied with photobook work. In addition, we are also benefitting from the white ink of 10000 for UV coated poster jobs.”

Klick is working on converting the demand of 12x18-inch sized photobooks to 14x20-inch. “In the first year, we are confident of 30% conversion,” he adds.

The Indigo 10000 will be deployed for catalogues and posters for textile market. “To start with, 50% of the 10000’s work is catalogues, 20% is posters and 30% is photobooks, since we will take some time to create the market for 14x20-inch photobooks. Having Indigo 10000 is an advantage here. We are competitive in price, quality and service. HP Indigo 10000 gives us a great option for affordable shorter runs with very fast turnaround times,” he explains.

Navapara is impressed with HP’s service support. He says, in case of critical issues, the maximum downtime that he has suffered has never been more than one day. “Recently, they placed a service engineer in Surat, so it’s a matter of two-four hours before my machine is up and running again,” he says.

Now he waits. As Klick hopes to preside over an unprecedented roster of fortunes in Surat.

THE ALTERNATIVES
Fujifilm Jet Press 720 Fujifilm’s Jet Press 720 is a four-colour B2 sheetfed digital inkjet press, which uses Dimatix printheads. Most standard B2 offset paper can be used, eliminating the need for specialised digital paper.
Max speed B2: 2,700sph Resolution 1,200dpi, four-level greyscale Sheet size 542x382mm-750x530mm Contact SM Ramprasad sm.ramprasad@fujifilm.com fujifilm.com

Screen Truepress Jet SX The Truepress JetSX is a full-colour press that is capable, says Screen, of handling a wide range of substrates. It is also equipped to print fully variable data.
Max speed B2: 1,620sph Resolution 1,440dpi Sheet size 530x740mm Contact Nitin Wani nitin@screensp.com.sg screensp.com.sg

Zund G3 digital cutting table

PrintWeek India — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 16:31:32

With over 20,000 installations across the world, Zund’s digital cutting tables can be regarded as an established piece of kit in the market.

When the Swiss manufacturer decided to establish a fully-owned subsidiary in India in 2012, the company had 85 cutting tables put into service in the country. With another 16 machines hitting the Indian shopfloors in later years, Zund has now crossed the 100 mark this year.

Zund India’s general manager, Prasanna Venkatesh feels that the new generation S3 and G3 cutters have helped to improve the brand image further.

Zund has three series of cutters – G3, S3 and L3. While the G3 and S3 are similar kit with minor differences related to beam clearance. and the number of modules that can be upgraded. The L3 series is specifically used for leather cutting application.

“Most of the tools are interchangeable for G3 and S3, and most of the jobs that G3 can do, can also be done by S3 and vice versa,” points out Venkatesh.

When Mumbai-based Dot Digital bought the G3 model in 2015, it readied itself to cater to niche print requirements in interior designing, point-of-purchase (POP), architecture, restaurants and hotel sectors. According to the managing director of the printing firm, Suresh Shetty, modularity of the machine and its speed was a deal clincher for Dot.

Angad Shetty of Kohinoor Printers shares a similar opinion. Kohinoor’s investment in the S3 cutter at its Pondicherry plant was favoured for the host of modular options offered by the machine.

So, what is the modular design concept that all Zund cutters boast about? Venkatesh says, “It allows the customer to configure the required tooling in a few quick steps.”

The G3 cutters come in 10 different sizes and are available with a beam height of 30mm, 60mm and 120 mm. “Depending on the configuration, up to 110 mm thick materials can be processed. No matter the type of product or the run-length, the G3 line of cutters lets you select the perfect machine size for all the production needs,” adds Venkatesh.

The machine is furnished with a fully automated calibration system for blades, bits and crease wheels, which helps to make the set-up of a process fast and precise and save time. The system eliminates any manual intervention for determining the correct cutting depth.

According to Venkatesh, “The cutters are designed for sturdy operation, and one can depend on their G3 for consistently high-quality output, reliability and longevity.” The digital cutter has an intelligent safety feature which protects the operator and has to intervene in the production process only when necessary.

Integrated software

Zund Cut Centre, the software from Zund includes an extensive material database with optimal cutting parameters for every material and every Zund tool. The software is completely integrated into the digital workflow and supports the user in every phase of job preparation.

The drive system and the vacuum system are the critical components in the digital cutter. Zund’s digital cutter is equipped with a direct drive, brushless, torque motor and has no gearbox for maintenance. This reduces the noise levels. The vacuum system is built with a step-less vacuum turbine that lowers the consumption of electricity. Also, the entire vacuum table is zoned, and the vacuum fixation happens automatically based on the width of the material.

Venkatesh says, “Optimal processing methods, state-of-the-art vacuum generators and sophisticated material-advance systems keep energy demands low and contribute to the eco-friendliness and sustainability of our products.” Venkatesh adds that the machine can easily integrate with the entire workflow of the customer.

Cutting-edge technology

Zund’s digital cutting systems find applications in a wide variety of industry segments –signage, packaging, textiles, leather and composites.

From POP signage, vehicle graphics, 3D installations, corrugated boxes to innovative packaging prototypes, foam packages and textile products are part of an extensive bouquet of applications that a Zund cutter can offer.

The cutters find applications in cutting and routing a wide variety of substrates used. The substrates can be fed on to the machine in a roll, sheet and or board forms. It can be used for cutting/routing in simple straight lines to difficult profiles just by feeding in the relevant cut files (design format) into the ZundCut Centre driving software, which comes as an integral part of the machine.

A change in mindset

The attitude of printers towards cutting tables is slowly changing, Venkatesh says, “As far as the digital cutting tables are concerned the customers slowly realise that this has to be an integral part of their operations for the reason that such tables bring in the much-required ease of operation and needless to say, quality.”

According to Venkatesh, “The digital cutters can make the difference. For a packaging converter, it could be a sample maker and can also act as a marketing tool to attract vendors. Whereas for a signage customer, such a table would not only address his production requirements but can also take care of servicing his customers with new innovative and creative solutions.”

A solution

Being modularly built is one of the key USP’s of the digital cutter when compared to its counterparts. Along with the machine, Zund offers a solution for the business needs according to the customers’ requirement.

Venkatesh says, “We not only try to cater to their current requirements but also adds value to our customers’ business by enhancing their capabilities in serving their customer in a better fashion.”

Additionally, Zund machines can cater to various levels of operations in a firm. The machine can provide to a client who is looking to do a sample cutting or prototyping to a full-fledged production on the machine. The machine is equipped to handle a wide range of requirements of the customers.

The investment in the kit, according to Venkatesh, can be justified by the way of increased margins that the customers can foresee by offering additional value and solutions one can offer to their vendors.

SPECIFICATION
Cutting width 1330 mm x 800 mm to 3200 mm x 3200 mm (16 different table sizes) Max feeding height 110 mm Knife speed Linear cutting speed shall be 1.4 m/s. Contact Prasanna.venkatesh@zund.com

The alternatives
Kongsberg XP24 The Kongsberg XP is built to handle the combination of corrugated board and other rigid or roll materials used in POP products and product displays. With the kit one can produce jobs from a single unit to a full-scale production with up to a 1000 units in a day.
Cutting width	1680 mm
Maximum Cutting thickness	50 mm
Stack height using feeder	Upto 150 mm
Maximum Thorughput	180 sheets / hour
Maximum Number of Sheet Stacks	Upto 3 stacks simultaneously
Speed	100 m/min
Contact	Pradeep Ram, Esko +91 80 4352 0102 pradeep.ram@esko.com

Made in India: Swifts VDP presses

Priya Raju — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:04:00

With the advent of digital printing, Nashik-based Swifts with expertise in manufacturing mini offset printing machines diversified into manufacturing of variable data printing machines range. The machines were launched during PrintPack 2015. The product portfolio of Swifts include products for variable data printing, numbering, bar coding and UV coating. These machines offer solutions for numbering and barcoding jobs.

The Swifts VDP series is available in four variants, based on the paper size (A4, A3 and A2). These include VDP Mini, VDP Compact, VDP Surya and VDP Max.

The VDP Max is an A2 sized machine whereas a VDP Compact is the A4 size kit. These machines can be used for various applications involving numbering, barcoding, mail address printing among others.

The Swifts VDP is a combination press with piezoelectric inkjet head of large widths plus a bulking system and the traditional offset technology. Due to this, one can print anywhere on the paper effortlessly. Vasant Marathe, director, Swifts, says “Due to bulk ink system on them, they offer great cost advantage in running ink cost, over conventional thermal inkjet printers.”

The number of printheads in each machine varies and is installed as per the customer's demand. Swifts offers printheads with variable widths of 17mm, 53mm and 72mm. The VDP range of machines offers an option of installing printing heads across the entire width of the paper and thus eliminating the need to adjust the heads while printing. Depending on the type of print head used, the machines can offer print resolution from 180 dpi to 720 dpi.

“The printhead coupled with an oil-based inking system eliminates the possibility of ink clogging which is a critical factor in a VDP printer. This helps to reduce maintenance cost and the breakdown time due to the clogging of a print head,” informs Marathe.

The VDP compact and VDP Max can print at a speed of up to 2000 sheets per hour depending upon the stock thickness. Paper stock with thickness ranging from 40gsm to 350gsm can be printed on this machine.

The machine caters to industries for various jobs which require customised data in the form of numbering, bar coding, mail addresses etc.

Thermal inkjet printers which use cartridge for inking system available in the market can act as an alternative to the Swift’s VDP range of the machine. But, according to Marathe the various features of Swifts machine is what differentiates it from the inkjet systems.

“The compact design of the machine results in use of lesser floor space. Also, the large sizes of print heads help in easy set-up and the bulk ink system results in cost saving in the press," says Marathe.

He adds, “The equipment is low on cost, both in initial investment as well as running and has a smaller footprint." The machines are built as per the customer’s requirement and end applications. Hence, the pricing of each machine differs as per the requirements.

Marathe informs, “The machines are built in a way that it is very user-friendly to operate plus has a quick setup time.” Training and support services for the machine are available throughout India through Swifts’ head office in Nashik.

The first VDP Compact has been installed at Computer Appliances in Ajmer, Rajasthan. In addition to this, one of the kits is slated to go to the East Africa in 2016.

Swifts, founded by Appasaheb Marathe in 1955, is in its 60th year of operations.

Swifts has five decades of expertise in manufacturing mini offset printing machines, the company is a key player in this market segment. The product applications range from printing on paper, polythene, nonwoven bags, computer forms and aluminum sheets.

The company bagged the National Award for Import Substitution in 1978 for substituting the imported mini offset technology with its ‘Made in India’ product.

APPLICATIONS
Numbering jobs like bus tickets, railway tickets, lottery tickets Answer sheets of schools Voter lists Courier receipts Utility bills Application forms for visa, banks etc Mailing lists Telecom scratch cards Price tags for garment industry

Made in India: Vinsak's LSR and LVPI targets label segment

Priya Raju — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 17:18:00

The market need

In 2012, Creed Engineers who has been in the business of supplying and supporting of print equipment for past two decades launched its brand called Vinsak. Under the brand name Vinsak, Creed Engineers diversified its business by the manufacturing of label finishing equipment and inkjet systems.

Sensing the domestic market need in the labels and security printing market, Vinsak introduced Vinsak LSR 330 label inspection slitter rewinder in 2013. And the Vinsak LVPI, which is a variable data printer and inspection system, was launched in 2014.

The Vinsak LSR 330 slitter rewinder, for which Vinsak has entered into a license agreement with a British company who is an established European manufacturer, to manufacture this machine. The machine is already being manufactured in the Mumbai facility of Vinsak. The Vinsak LVPI is designed and manufactured by Vinsak.

Explaining the need for these equipments, Ranesh Bajaj, director of Vinsak says, “It has been seen that while printers spend a lot of time and money on the printing equipment, they tend to ignore the finishing part of the project.” He adds, “A most beautifully printed label, if not wound correctly, inspected for defects, numbered or bar coded correctly can ruin the entire project. Hence, it is important that printers pay equal or more heed to the quality and accuracy of their finishing equipment.”

The kit for inspection and VDP

The Vinsak’s LSR kit is available in 330mm and 450mm widths and an inspection camera for defect detection from any o the suppliers around the world can be integrated. . Bajaj says, “The LSR operates at a maximum speed of 300 metres per minute, which makes it capable of providing an output equal to five manually-operated Chinese machines with speeds up to 40 metres per minute that we use today. Plus, there is an advantage of the lower footprint and lower manpower and electricity costs.”

Vinsak’s LVPI, which was launched in 2014, is targeted at the labels and security printing market. “When it comes to printing personalised security labels with fully variable information, or frequently changing print, Vinsak LVPI is the perfect solution,” claims Bajaj. “It’s reliable, versatile and flexible with high performance and lowest cost of operation vis-a-vis print quality,” he says.

The machines take large printed rolls of labels in multiple lanes, inspect, number and slit them and rewind them on designated core diameter. These finished rolls carry a predefined number of labels, which the print buyer can use for his automatic labelling equipment.

These machines are normally used in conjunction with narrow web label presses like Lombardi, Gallus, etc. and can also be used for the marking of holographic labels and stamps.

Benefits for the converters?

Speaking about the USP of Vinsak’s LSR and LVPI, Bajaj says, “The machines provided by Vinsak are rugged with a proven design. We ensure that the components used in our machines are of high quality and that the equipment performs optimally for years.”

All the equipment sold by the firm comes with one year warranty. The firm currently has nine service centres across the country. Bajaj says, “In most cases we try and provide the service for the equipment on the same day. In some cases, after the warranty period we also offer an AMC.”

Both the machines come with options among which a printer can choose according to their requirement. The price for these machines depends on the configuration selected. Talking about the alternatives in the market, Bajaj says, “Starting from leading British and European suppliers, East European companies, few Indian companies and a host of Chinese companies who offer similar equipment. So the spectrum is fully covered from the lowest to the highest cost.”

Customer base

Regal Creative and A&A Labels are among the firms in India who have opted for the LSR slitter rewinder machine.

Delhi-based Regal Creative started its operation in 2003. The factory in Delhi is spread across 15,000sq/ft; is run by Rakshit Chawla and KK Bajaj, serving as director of the firm. Chawla, says, “Growing need of paper proper inspection system to send 100% defect free labels to customers prompted us to invest in this equipment. We started our label printing facility in 2003, and it has been growing at a rate of 10 to 12% year-on-year.”

While Saurabh Jain, managing director of A&A Labels, commenting on the purchase of Vinsak’s LSR says, “The machine enables us to improve the quality of slitting while reducing the labour challenges. It operates at a high speed of 300m/min as compared to other slitting machines in our factory that run at 35-40m/min, thereby increasing productivity.”

Vinsak currently has 15 installations of the LSR and 10 of the LVPI in India. Bajaj informs that there are more machines in the pipeline.n

Top digital products at Pamex

PrintWeek India — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 15:58:09

Canon India, is the third biggest exhibitor at the show. In 2010, Canon acquired Océ, and combined forces to bring together customer input and intensive research. The result: Océ VarioPrint i300 sheetfed inkjet press. The Océ VarioPrint i300 prints up to 294 (letter) images-per-minute. It handles paper format sizes up to 13.9 inch x 19.7 inch (B3) and targets heavy production volumes of 1-10 million pages per month. Expect to see the press at the show.

For the first time, EFI will showcase its EPS/MIS software which include EFI Radius, DirectSmile, DSF (Digital StoreFront) and Pace. Also on show will be EFI’ Matan industrial three-meter superwide roll-to-roll and hybrid printer and the EFI H1625 LED-curing wide-format printer. EFI’s flagship Fiery will include the Command Workstation, the Workflow Suite and Color Profile Suite.

HP India, with 495 sq/ft space is the biggest exhibitor at the show, as of now. For the first time in India, HP will have on display the HP Indigo 10000 press. The press has a maximum sheet size of 750x530mm, prints up to seven colours and has a monthly duty cycle of 2m sheets. There are two HP Indigo 10000 in India, one at Mazda Imaging and the second at Glo Digital.

Ricoh India’s focus at the second biggest stand at the show will be on its new kit Pro C9100 series and the Pro C7100x, the white and clear toner press launched late last year at the Eastern Printpack in Kolkata. Also in action will be Ricoh’s wide-format press with the new Geljet print head. The new printhead holds 1.27-inch long nozzle rows containing 384 nozzles, capable of distributing more ink, faster with each pass.

Me & My: Shree Refrigerations Ecochill

Rahul Kumar — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 15:55:12

Describe your company...

Founded in 1948, Amar Ujala is the face of Amar Ujala Publications. Besides this, the newspaper publication house has a tabloid daily, Compact, and more than 120 titles of educational books and competitive magazines. Right now, we have more than 120 editions of Amar Ujala from 18 printing centres. Other than newspapers, the company has also expanded to commercial print production. The 2013 Indian Readership Survey reported that, with 5.510 million, it had the twelfth largest daily readership among newspapers in India.

What does the equipment do?

The chilling system maintains the required temperature during printing. The ideal temperature is 14 degrees celsius. We use the chilling systems from Shree Refrigerations at all our printing centres and the number is 18.

What were your reasons to choose the equipment?

There are two main reasons to choose the chilling system from Shree. It is the most economical chilling system and it is a perfect fit for the Orient web offset machines that we use in our facilities. There is collaboration between The Printers House (TPH), the manufacturer of the Orient presses, and Shree Refrigerations.

Did you look at any other similar systems?

Yes. We studied others brands, but did not find anything within the price range.

What features do you particularly like?

The chilling system contains two major components – temperature controller and pressure to supply water (includes other chemicals) to all points. We like the supply pump best. We also like that the system is cost-effective.

Why did you make the purchase?

Being a TPH consumer, it was an obvious choice. We also found it to be a value-for-money product.

Is there anything in the system that you dislike?

Availability of spare parts for the systems is not up to the mark. The manufacturer needs to work on it. We would like the company to provide services like services printing presses’ manufactures’ offer.

What’s the quality like?

The main function of a chilling system to maintain the temperature during the print production which is 14 degree celsius and this chilling system constantly provide it. So we can say it is an appropriate system for us.

Is there anything that you wish it had that it doesn’t?

Not actually. Now, they have added auto-doser as well, which add fountain solution automatically whenever the PH and conductivity change during printing.

How reliable is it?

It is reliable enough to meet our production demand. We are using their chilling systems in all our printing centres so there is no doubt about reliability. During the peak production time, we run the machine at its full speed and we never faced any failure of the chilling system.

Who do you think the system is right for?

For those who wants to maintain the temperature moderate during print production. It reduces print waste, thus it saves both our time and money.

Under what circumstances would you buy another?

Whenever we will buy new machines, or when our existing systems are defunct.

CONCLUSION
User’s verdict Speed 4/5 Quality 4/5 Reliability 4/5 Value for money 4/5 Supplier’s Response Abhijit Saoji of Shree Refrigerations says, “It’s a great achievement for us that Amar Ujala is using our chilling systems in all its 18 printing centres. The publication house is on expansion mode, so you may hear more chilling systems sale from us. If a newspaper publication house like Amar Ujala uses our system in all its printing centres, it shows the reliability and confidence they have in our system.” Contact Shree Refrigerations Abhijit Saoji +91 09370745523 abhijit.saoji@shreeref.com www.shreeref.com

CONCLUSION

User’s verdict

Speed 4/5

Quality 4/5

Reliability 4/5

Value for money 4/5

Supplier’s Response

Abhijit Saoji of Shree Refrigerations says, “It’s a great achievement for us that Amar Ujala is using our chilling systems in all its 18 printing centres. The publication house is on expansion mode, so you may hear more chilling systems sale from us. If a newspaper publication house like Amar Ujala uses our system in all its printing centres, it shows the reliability and confidence they have in our system.”

Contact

Shree Refrigerations

Abhijit Saoji

+91 09370745523

abhijit.saoji@shreeref.com

www.shreeref.com

Product of the Month: The Arziro way to protect brand

PrintWeek India — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 16:26:21

Earlier this year, in June 2015, Agfa Graphics introduced a new security design plug-in for Adobe Illustrator, which is believed to be a significant development in brand protection and anti-counterfeiting sector.

According to a European Commission report, 7-10% of world trade is infected by counterfeit goods, costing brand owners approximately EUR 500 billion. The report calculates counterfeiting as being responsible for the loss of around 2.5 million jobs across the G20 countries.

Anit Kumar Saha, lead consultant, software services at TechNova, says, “The Indian market has realised the importance of security design as a form of brand protection as well as an element of differentiation, and this will help popularise Arziro, which fills this requirement perfectly.”

Not that, there have not been any powerful tools in the general security market. Traditional brand protection solutions deploy holograms, OVD’s, taggants, serialisation, etc, at the end of the production process by the printer or the finisher. However, something which overlooks the most basic and critical element of graphic design makes Agfa a unique contender in the security printing arena.

Arziro Design is a dedicated product for the general security market inspired by Fortuna, Agfa Graphic’s high security design solution.

“The layout and graphic design is the most basic step of the overall printing process. Arziro is unique, as it enables the brand owner and graphic designer to add protection in the primary graphic elements of the package or document design,” says, Saha.

To achieve a solid brand protection and anti-counterfeiting programme, brand owners and printers have relied on a layered approach. According to Saha, Arziro is the ultimate tool in the layering process.

It gives complete control to the brand owner and graphic designer allowing them to create each design that can be as unique as their creativity allows them.The combination of aesthetics and security is in the hands of the graphic designer.

The bottom line, says Saha, is that security graphic design is now brought in-house, close to the package creation, resulting in increased control, full integration and reduced design costs.

Saha adds, “By themselves, the printing process and materials have zero or little protection; it is the inventive combination of many techniques including the graphic design that brings a harmonious intrinsic balance and unites all elements together to create the total layered solution.”

SPECIFICATIONS
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit or Windows 8.1 64-bi Processor: Single Intel Xeon E5-1603 processor or higher Memory: 8 GB RAM or more Hard Disk: 500GB SATA disk Video Card: Nvidia NVS 310 Monitor: 1280 x 800 monitor Contact: Anit Kumar Saha, TechNova, +91 9920642420, anit.saha@technovaindia.com

During a demo to the PrintWeek India, one thing is clear: The plug-in, which is available for both Mac and PC, works seamlessly with Adobe Illustrator CC2014 and allows the designer to incorporate existing designs with security elements. In addition, since the solution is parameterisable: a user can choose from pre-defined parameters or created custom ones, which makes it unique.

Arziro allows the graphic designer to create elements that are difficult to reverse-engineer. Typically, reverse-engineering, today, is done with commercially available off-the-shelf graphic design and desktop publishing software.These widely available products offer many tools, which make it possible to efficiently create simple illustrative graphics.

It was also clear: Arziro creates ultra-complex structures, anti-copy features and relief patterns that cannot be re-created by simple duplication or other basic tools that are commonly available in graphic software.

Arziro offers twelve security design tools to create counterfeit-sensitive designs. The solution also provides the opportunity to enhance already existing labels and packages with very complex and hard-to-copy Arziro designs.

A Case-Study: The Power of Arziro

Saha explains the features with an example. The carton design illustrates the usage of Arziro as a very effective anti-counterfeiting tool, by highlighting two parts of a package.

Saha says, “The design was created in such a way that is uses the full output capabilities of the digital printing device (Xeikon3000 Series) using CMYK and one spot colour.”

The illustration (along side) clearly shows the complexity for a counterfeiter to reproduce the design without the proper tools and the original design elements.When trying to copy or to reproduce such a design, fine elements are lost and depending on the reproduction method parts of the designs are colourised. In this case it is instantly visible without the usage of magnification tools that the reproduction is fake.

Figure 1- Enlargement of a part of the original printed design using variable line thickness

Figure 2 - Enlargement of a part of a reproduction of the package using a printing device with the same resolution as the original.

‘Figure 3’ contains a magnification of a part of the original illustration. The black planes are obtained by using the Arziro Path Definition tool in combination with rich black. These elements have a glossy 3D effect on the original print, but almost invisible in the reproduced print (Figure 4). The fine details in the polygons are deteriorated and almost invisible to the naked eye.

Figure 3 - Enlargement of a part of the original printed design

Figure 4 - Enlargement of the reproduction

The complete design was created using Adobe Illustrator and a combination of the following tools: Special Rasters, Special Reliefs, Crystal Patterns, Path Definition, Line/Object Generator, Guilloche Library and Multiply.

With Arziro’s Special Rasters tool, any security screen one can think of can be created using custom design elements. This tool replaces a template design (such as a picture or a drawing) by a set of objects, which are positioned and modified according to the grey values of a template image or design. Very small, yet printable, line work elements compose exclusive customised screens.Security screens can generate interference patterns when copied.

With the Special Reliefs tool, relief designs based on a line or object and an image template can be created. This tool generates beautiful relief backgrounds in no time. The security aspect in these designs lies in the very fine relief lines that follow the luminance of the template image Very fine strokes enhance the security aspect of your designs.

The Crystal Patterns tool develops beautiful decorative patterns consisting of repeating shapes, based on crystal types appearing in nature.

Finestrokes and small objects make copying a problem.

The Path Definition module generates complex backgrounds with a continuously varying shape and position of one or more objects. The objects can be repeated either on a constructed path or on a path defined by parameters.Because of the very complex nature of a background created with PathDefinition, reproduction of the design is virtually impossible.

With the Line/Object Generator tool patterns can quickly be generated and automatically fill selected objects with these patterns. This tool is typically used to create latent image designs,each of which filled with the same pattern at a different angle so that the individual objects are difficult to distinguish.

The Guilloche Libraryis used to create copies of pre-defined guilloches, which are repetitive patterns with very fine detail.

Multiply is a repetition tool to quickly create complex object patterns consisting of large numbers of repetitions based on a single object or several objects as a whole.

Opposite Ink Selector is a colour scheme exploration utility, but was not used to create the package design, as there was only one spot colour available. This utility tool is used to create colour schemes that are difficult to reproduce because the colours are out-of-gamut or completely opposite. The system will search the closest match for these colours in a specified Adobe Illustrator colour book.

According to TechNova, the Arziro Design Solution has been available since June 2015 and will be gradually improved by adding dedicated copy-sensitive design patterns and a SaaS (Software-as-a-service) solution to generate physical protection marks that can be authenticated using a smartphone.

In India, TechNova has been working with customers with specific requirements and helping them evaluate Arziro within their printing conditions and environs.

The Alternatives

Founder super line

The China-based company’s Super Line is an anti-counterfeit digital design software for producing printed products. Improvements in SuperLine 4.7, since its release in 2012 now supports full package and customized package with selected modules like texture, lace, microtext among others.

Jura high security design software

This proprietary software from Hungary-based company includes its flagship graphic design application to create and compose elements and finalise up-to-date graphic artwork of all kinds of security documents at top level, and additionally its optional software plug-in modules.

Me & My: Maxima Exb 35

Rahul Kumar — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 15:51:26

Key person: Rakesh Kumar Gaur.

Model & Configuration: Maxima Exb 35.

Year of installation: 2013.

City: The Naraina industrial area in New Delhi, which is a famous hub for printing.

Why Maxima: Now is the time to automate. As the margins become thinner and thinner, only automation will help you beat the price war. It will increase your productivity, efficiency and is because of the accuracy, theirs is little chance of rejection. Moreover, its much safer than the manual process, reducing the chances of accidents.

Production record: 36000 sheets in 12 hours.

Commitment you could fulfil: Produced 5-lakh cartons with crash lock bottom and pasting of tobacco 8up die in three days.

About Maxima: Maxima fulfills all our need and necessity after its installation we have confidence that we can supply the material same day. Because of this machine, we could executive a perforation as well as cut job with 4mm gripper margin, which is a difficult job.

Future plans: We hope to start a packaging unit in Uttarakhand.

Me & My: Maxima Exb 35

Noel D'Cunha — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 15:41:51

Key person: Samir Dayal.

Model & Configuration: Maxima Exb 35 capable of die-cutting at 5,000sph.

Year of installation: 2013.

City: Pune. The decade from 1999 to 2009 was the golden era for the print industry. Large investments were made during this period to level the demand-supply skewed curve. But now, there is stagnancy in the demand for commercial printing, but packaging printing, however, has a potential to grow.

Why Maxima: Reliability in terms of accuracy, build auality, productivity, after-sales support and cost were the major factors that tilted our decision in favour of Excel’s Maxima machine.

Production record: Approximately 30 lakh impressions so far.

Commitment you could fulfil: We recall punching 4000-5,000 sheets of art paper with much effort and wastage. But now, we are able to clock over 20,000 sheets in an eight-hour shift. Our customers appreciate the quality and faster turnaround times by placing more orders.

About Maxima: I will just say that all our apprehension about an Indian machine not performing as well as their foreign counterparts have been laid to rest after installing the Maxima.

Future plans: Although we have a straight line folder gluer, we plan to go in for a good Folder Gluer with crash lock bottom pasting.

Me & My: Bobst Ambition 76A1 and Novacut 106

Noel D'Cunha — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 23:54:12

Key person: Kapil Roongta.

Model & Configuration: Bobst Ambition 76A1 folder-gluer and Novacut 106.

The Ambition 76 A1 is capable of gluing and finishing crash-lock bottom cartons, small panels eye-drops cartons, large outer cartons of open size 76cms, catch cover, multi panel cartons.

The Novacut 106 is capable of converting 8,500 sheets/hour.

Year of installation: 2013 and 2015.

City: Vasai, a fast-growing town, which is attracting a large number of print and packaging companies.

Why Ambition and Novacut: Ambition, because of its automation and accuracy and Novacut because of its speed and accuracy. This product synchronises the offset output to folder-gluer speed and hence throughput is achieved.

Production record: Produced 5,50,000 jobs in three hours flat, pasted, packed and dispatched.

Commitment you could fulfil: Far too many to mention.

About Bobst: We bought two Bobst machines in a span of a year and a half. We have realised the importance of good equipment after installation of a Bobst kit.

Future plans: To utilise the installed capacities to its optimum.

Me & My: Bobst Novacut 106E

Rahul Kumar — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 23:42:43

Key Person: Kapil Tanwar, director.

Model & Configuration: Bobst Novacut 106E.

Year of installation: 2015.

City: Kundli, an industrial area in Sonepat district of Haryana, a book printing hub, which is expanding into packaging printing, especially rigid boxes.

How has the kit benefitted you: We run boards from 220 to 400 gsm on the machine without any problem. It has reduced our turnaround time and we can do more jobs now. Thus, productivity has increased.

Production record: Not as such but we do 55,000 sheets in our 12-hour operation time.

Commitment you could fulfil: We are capable of meeting any demand that comes to us from our customers.

About Bobst: We are really impressed with their after-sales and client services. Bobst machines are really user-friendly and a few days of training of a newcomer is enough to run the machine. It’s an excellent business partner.

Future plans: We are planning to invest a printing press to meet our metPET print production demand.