ProPrint will become the first UK user of the FFEI Graphium inkjet press when Edale installs the machine at the company’s Wellingborough premises this month.
This is one of a handful of the all British digital machines sold since the sales channel was switched from Fujifilm to Edale. As well as using the web transport and engineering expertise from the Fareham manufacturer, Graphium uses an inkjet imaging system developed by FFEI in Hemel Hempstead, itself based on Xaar 1002 inkjet heads. The Huntingdon company has also supplied the Xaar Print Bar. This is the first to be sold in the UK since the technology was introduced a year ago.
It can apply clear varnishes, glues and can be used to create added value special effects to the label or carton being printed at ProPrint.
The packaging business has been an Edale customer since 2011, so when the company began looking for a digital investment, the Graphium was immediately top of the list. Director James Denny says: “The combination of conventional and digital printing capabilities gives us the power and flexibility to produce a wide range of products with the ability to add variable data and a variety of special and tactile effects all on the one press. The label market is dynamic and changes rapidly and our philosophy is to change with it and meet the evolving needs of customers.”
Among those customers are fresh food producers who need overnight turnaround on packaging according to the produce they are harvesting and the orders they received from the UK’s retailers. Digital print delivers in this respect with less hassle than the UV flexo capability it has.
ProPrint has further plans to exploit the potential of digital printing and will expanding its production space. Says Denny: “The time is right for us to add digital printing now and the Graphium is very strategic investment for us which marks an exciting new phase for ProPrint which also sees us expanding our production space by 50%.”
The Graphium offers four-colour plus white printing on a web that is up to 420mm wide. It has been specified in semi-rotary die cutting and will deliver finished labels ready for inspection or shipping. The press is also capable of printing to 400 micron lightweight boards for small format cartons.
While Edale has supplied a number of Graphium presses around the world as did Fujifilm with the first version of the press, there is no news as yet on a second UK customer for the machine.
ProPrint is expanding taking additional space to accommodate the UK’s first FFEI Graphium inkjet label press and with further investment ear marked for later this year.
