Plockmatic has taken on worldwide sales and support for UV coaters developed by Argos Solutions in Belgium. It will add the cold cure UV and LED coaters to the Plockmatic inline finishing portfolio and will sell the same machine, with its own feeder as the Morgana DigiCoater 400.
This marks a return to UV coating for the Milton Keynes business which had offered an entry level Korean made coating machine until supply difficulties put paid to the arrangement.
The Argos machine is a very different kettle of fish and has become a staple for companies in the photo products sector. In the UK Renz has been the sales channel and will continue to sell the machine, says Ray Hillhouse, Plockmatic VP sales and marketing.
“There’s a lot of interest in coating thanks to the growth in inkjet printing,” he says. “And there is an aqueous machine under development which will appeal to packaging print, especially with a B2 version.”
The cold cure UV lamp version is installed in the Morgana showroom and an LED UV will join it. Part of the appeal is the light weight of the UV coating that the machine achieves. This helps reduce the power requirement and means a low total cost of ownership. “Because of the cold cure system, it’s low cost per sheet, it uses less varnish per sheet and achieves a very high level of gloss,” says Hillhouse.
Morgana will hold spares and will support machines through its network while manufacture with shift to the Plockmatic factory in Latvia. The deal will allow Argos and its owner Tony Michiels to focus on development of new ideas and other product areas.
Hillhouse says the initial opportunity will be offering upgrades to purchasers of the previous coater with roll out in Europe coming before North America and the rest of the world.
The Digi Coater 400 includes a choice of feeding. The VFX is for conventional sheets from a two tray configuration for continuous running and partners the Morgana booklet makers. The VFL feeder copes with long sheets, to 1,300mm. It is also possible to hand feed for finishing. Delivery can be to a deep pile stacker and smaller tray. A double-sided version is also available.
The standard MV lamp version runs at 20-45m/min with the LED UV specified to run at 20-60m/min.
