During the recent "Gallus Innovation Days 2014", the press manufacturer unveiled its future machine generation for digital label printing - a pre-series model of the DCS 340 (Digital Converting System) system, which has been developed in co-operation with Heidelberg and Fujifilm.
"Due to continuing growth in short run label production and personalised, versioned labels, we are seeing investment on the market steadily shift towards printing presses that utilise digital printing," said Stefan Heiniger, COO label business at Gallus. "The growth potential for this printing method is considerable and we expect to see high growth rates over the next 10 years.
Thanks to the collaboration with Heidelberg and Fujifilm, its partner for inkjet technology, the new digital inline label printing system features a printing module in which several inkjet printheads can be joined together for a greater print width, without visible transitions. A native resolution of 1,200dpi is said to deliver print quality "that is unmatched in UV inkjet printing today".
By combining the strengths of digital printing with an inline finishing process that has been specially optimised for that process, the Gallus DCS 340 gives users the chance to varnish, embellish and further process labels inline - from the roll to the finished diecut label in a single production operation.
Heidelberg's Prinect digital front end is used to automate the prepress workflow together with functions such as spot colour matching, the PDF Toolbox and Prepress Manager for even greater efficiency.
In addition, the ECS 340 line features a new Gallus high performance matrix stripper developed specifically for matrix removal with highly complex die lines at maximum speeds and enables a stable matrix removal process at all times.
www.gallus-group.com
