What is definitely the first Labelexpo in Barcelona opens its doors this week. It might also be the last Labelexpo as in order to accommodate a broader focus on printed packaging, including cartons and flexible packaging, a new name may be needed.
The shift in location from Brussels to the Mediterranean also provides additional space for exhibitors many of which plan to introduce new technology for the show.
This includes pure digital plays, for the most part around inkjet presses. It includes hybrid and flexo only machines; it involves software for scheduling, colour management and control and it covers developments in finishing, needed to keep pace with developments in print technology.
The new presses include an entry level inkjet machine from Domino, the N410. This is described as “a low cost LED label press beaked by the expertise of a trusted supplier”. The specifications include 600dpi printing, throughput of 50m/min and inclusion of high opacity white ink. The front end is Domino’s new AI enabled Sunrise DFE, developed with Hybrid Software.
Dantex promises developments on both its PicoJet and PicoColour platforms, including a new LED UV ink set that conforms to Nestlé standards more than a year ahead of their implementation. The printheads used on the PicoJet have eight greyscale levels enabled, which the company reckons to be the highest in UV label printing. The claimed benefits include finer halftones and smoother tonal transitions as well as rendition of finer text in pharmaceutical and medical labelling.
Screen will also debut a new ink at the show, but this is a water based ink rather than UV. The ink is not for the popular L350 series label presses which continue to use UV cured inks, but for a label printing version of the TruepressJet 520. Screen has already adapted this press to produce paper based flexible packaging and will demonstrate it running on substrates supplied by UPM Adhesive Materials. These include both films and a paper substrate, possible because Screen uses its high pigment SC+ inks and a NIR drying system with no impact on the substrate used. This has a top coating to ensure strong adhesion between film and ink. The combination will run at 100m/min.
Screen Europe will also be involved in a hybrid press development, combining its L350 inkjet press with a Digitistar line from Italian manufacturer Lombardi to apply flexo and finishing options.
The development follows similar hybrid projects combining flexo and inkjet, including that between Omet and Durst announced in 2023. This time Durst is stressing a partnership with Cerm to improve label production workflows via a link between the Durst Analytics application from the press and Cerm’s MIS.
