Leicester-based Qualvis Print & Packaging has become the first packaging company globally to install a double digital packaging line.
The workflow investment, totaling over £2m, features a Xerox iGen 4 sheet-fed digital printer, side-by-side with an iGen5 automated line. The 5-color iGen5 – CMYK with an additional 5th station of orange, blue or green enables an even larger gamut of Pantone colors to be matched, whilst delivering an impressive 2400 x 2400 dpi resolution. Both presses include inline Tresu Pinta coating units and a KAMA DC 76 cut and crease line, offering the same finishing effects and varnish levels as Qualvis’ larger format litho print process.
The digital presses can print and produce up to 610 microns and up to a maximum sheet size of 364 x 660 mm, making the workflow a great solution for short run work and providing Qualvis’ customers with the opportunity of variable personalized printing, prototyping and market testing with the added advantage of quick turnaround. And with print on-demand, low origination costs and no minimum order quantities, waste is significantly reduced as are storage costs.
Qualvis’ managing director, Jason Short, said: We spent 18 months researching the best match for our needs and the two Xerox digital presses are ideal. As a leading print and packaging business we are seeing diminishing run lengths and increasing demand for innovation from our customers, including personalization and localization. Brands and retailers are looking for variety and having the ability to produce quick-to-market packaging is essential.”
In addition to the benefits this investment will deliver to their customers, Qualvis can also provide a host of software, e-commerce and technology solutions to complement digital packaging production, as well as the personalized fulfillment of cartons with product. Part of this offering also includes the very latest innovation in video integration technology, allowing brands and retailers to engage their customers with enticing interactions via the packaged product and being able to direct further marketing campaigns to them as a result of data capture. “Another world’s first,” adds Jason Short.
Both digital packaging lines were supplied by Advanced Business Equipment Ltd, who project managed the entire build and installation in less than 10 weeks.
Qualvis’ latest investment follows the announcement last year of the purchase of a KBA Rapida 106 7-color press. Due to be installed at their site in March, the plinth-mounted 7-color press with twin coaters complements the firm’s existing litho line-up and is set to expand their overall finishing options and product portfolio.
