Three shows for the price of one

Next month's Packaging Innovations multi-show at the UK's NEC, Birmingham, will include a trio of events of especial interest for converters: Print Innovations co-located with Labelling Innovations, and the launch of Converting Innovations. Running alongside the Packaging Innovations, Packtech, Contract Pack and Ecopack shows, there will be more than 350 exhibitors, and a full programme of supporting features.

Alison Church, event director at organiser easyFairs UK, says: "Until now, the UK has not provided suppliers of converting machinery, equipment and technology with an opportunity to meet buyers and influencers face-to-face in an environment that is proven to deliver business. We are always looking for new ways to develop and build the show, and with the UK packaging converting market worth £11 billion, we had to reflect this at the 2014 show."

Along the aisles
First time exhibitor Afinia, on stand H18, is to introduce its range of label printers, notably the Afinia L-801, a Memjet-powered inkjet system that can produce high quality full-colour labels at speeds of 18m/min.

AG/CAD (stand F20) will be launching its DYSS X5 Digital Cutter, designed specifically to handle all the proto-typing, samplemaking and short/medium run production needs of packaging and point-of-sale display companies.

Dantex will introduce the Truepress Jet L350UV, a digital press said to deliver "photo-realistic quality" and fast, stable UV digital label printing for short to medium runs at up to 50m/min. Dantex says that jobs can be easily prioritised according to run length, material and finishing requirements; job setup requires minimal downtime and offers ultra-fast turnaround. Stand K12 will also feature the Dantex 1290 label press - "ideal for short runs and variable data" - plus the Star Plate and Star Proof systems.

On stand H21, the latest flexo printing innovations to be shown by DuPont Packaging Graphics are the Cyrel FAST 3000 TD system, Cyrel DigiFlow 2000 EC, and an enhanced complete Cyrel FAST round workflow to demonstrate "highest quality" precision printing for sleeve processing. Utilising the Cyrel FAST thermal flexographic platemaking technology (completely solvent-free) and the company's own sleeve manufacturing facility in Germany, DuPont is able to combine the two processes and offer "quick, efficient, consistent, high quality, greater register accuracy printing and an environmentally-conscious method of producing printing sleeves for flexo presses in half an hour". Using Cyrel FAST round sleeves on a press instead of flat plates, is said to offer new design opportunities for brand-owners, designers and retailers while enabling printers and tradeshops to address market segments currently unavailable to them.

Durst Phototechnik (stand J17) is expanding the application fields of the Tau 330 digital UV inkjet print system, and will be presenting new solutions for the food industry and fully automated industrial production. The Tau 330 can now be equipped with the new Tau Low Migration UV Inks from Sunjet to print on primary food packaging. The ink components meet all the guidelines of the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA) and the Swiss Ordnance on Materials & Articles legislation, and do not utilise materials specifically excluded on the Nestlé Packaging Inks Specification. To enhance the productivity with a complete digital end-to-end workflow, Durst is also launching an in-line digital laser finishing system that incorporates state-of-the-art technology from Spartanics, for high productivity and automatic job changeover to handle multiple jobs in a single run.

On stand K10, Epson will be demonstrating its TM-C3500 colour label printer and the GP-C831, a rugged, tractor feed inkjet label printer.

Esko (stand G17) will launch its Automation Engine Suite 14, that will be released in Q2 of 2014. Paul Bates, UK and Eire business manager, says: "One example is complete integration with non-graphical systems. In a day-to-day application this can mean a workflow setup for packaging based on the weather forecast. For example, if it is hot there might be greater demand for more strawberry containers or salad packaging. This addresses the need for more and more JIT delivery and is something we see becoming increasingly important to the customer base."

Fujifilm and FFEI will partner on stands G5 and F6 to demonstrate their solutions for the label and packaging market. Fujifilm's Acuity LED 1600 is a large format hybrid inkjet printer which produces "outstanding packaging prototypes, including solutions distinguished by special varnishing effects or spot colours". It is said to achieve a best-in-class combination of up to 20m² per hour productivity and excellent image quality, supporting substrates up to 1,610mm in width and designed to print on rigid sheet substrates up to 13mm thick. The Graphium digital UV inkjet press, manufactured by FFEI and distributed by Fujifilm in the UK, "represents a new kind of inkjet press that, when combined with the Fujifilm Uvijet Graphium ink developed specifically for labels and packaging, breaks new ground in terms of the performance that can be achieved from a digital printer of its calibre". FFEI will also be showcasing RealPro Toolkit, its software suite of advanced productivity tools for document-specific label and packaging pre-press tasks directly within Adobe Illustrator.

HP's stand (J21) will showcase the many consumer items that feature digitally printed labels and packaging that have been printed on HP Indigo Digital Presses, demonstrating the versioning capabilities of the HP technology. Also on display will be secondary packaging that has been printed on HP Scitex Industrial Presses, including wine bottles, health and beauty, pharmaceutical and other typical household products.

Intec Printing Solutions will be demonstrating its Edge 850 label printer on stand E12. It offers high quality printing, on demand, making it profitable for low to medium run print jobs. Printing at speeds up to 9m/min, the Edge 850 is compact enough to sit on a desk.

On stand F14, UK distributor KTEC will be showcasing Primera's extensive range of label printers, for smaller producers though to larger companies looking for greater production volume, "providing the opportunity to totally automate and customise the label". The Primera LX-Series of roll-fed colour label printers suits smaller producers such as organic farms, beekeepers and custom cosmetics makers. With a resolution of 4,800dpi, the label print "is top photographic quality" with extra fine detail for ingredients and instructions. For companies with bigger production volumes, Primera offers the CX1000e and finisher FX1000e. The roll to roll printer with dry toner-based laser print technology is "almost maintenance-free and so simple to use". For companies with the problem of many package sizes and label shapes, the CX1200e with FX1200e QuadraCut-Multilane technology prints then cuts to size or individual shapes from just a few plain rolls of self-adhesive paper.

Finnish speciality cartonboard producer Pankaboard is to exhibit (stand L43) for the first time, following the opening of its UK sales office in Nottingham last year. The company will display information about its "innovative and diverse" speciality paperboard product ranges, including folding boxboard and groundwood-based speciality boards, as well its uncoated and bleached speciality boards. A new development will be PankaPlex, a compostable solution for the food service industry.

High Resolution Gravure (HRG) - a premium prepress and printing solution offering up to 1,500 lpi resolution, as opposed to the 150-175 lpi of HD flexo and standard gravure, will be featured by Printpack on stand E37. The technology is therefore said to offer an unrivalled and even sharper print quality than any other flexible packaging print process. According to Printpack, it delivers a superbly consistent print and can be used for all material structures, including monoweb, duplex and triplex laminates. When combined with the company's fast track service, HRG is said to offer a speed to market equivalent to current flexo expectations.

Among its exhibits, Rako Etiketten (stand F18) is featuring a 'hybrid label' consisting of a single-face printed product label with an integrated RF antenna that is attached to the back of the label and is therefore unseen by the customer. This makes it possible to secure products from theft effectively, according to Rako. The antenna is deactivated at the counter as soon as the product has been purchased. In an attempt at theft, a loud alarm signal will go off as soon as the product is beyond the store's exit. A major benefit is that anti-theft security starts as soon as the label is dispensed onto the product, so dispensing security labels by hand in-store is no longer required. The price per piece is said to be 2 euro-cents.

On stand J14, Shuttleworth will be showcasing its latest development in Management Information Systems with an iPhone and iPad mobile CRM App to help a sales team or anyone working remotely. Also, the new Milestones job tracking functionality, "puts production at the heart of the business" by automatically updating jobs, making it quick and easy to view the status of any job as it progresses through the business.

On stand J10, digital printing pioneer Xeikon is to present its latest developments in high-end digital colour systems for the industrial, document and commercial printing markets. These systems are composed of advanced web-fed printing engines using LED array-based, dry toner electrophotography, open workflow software, exclusive toner and other consumables.

Zund will bring to the show an S3 M-1600 digital diecutter equipped with a new tandem vacuum system. This allows for front and rear independent working, improving performance and eliminating interruptions through positioning and removing material on the bed. According to Zund, the S3 offers an "unrivalled price/performance ratio" and a modular concept that allows easy, future upgrades as the user's business grows.

Show features
There will be a number of new features at this year's Innovations event. They include an Eye-Tracking Technology Feature, run by Campden BRI, providing "a unique opportunity to see through the eye of the consumer, understand what drives their spending behaviour and store navigation". This will provide businesses with the necessary information to develop an enhanced strategy for POS, pack design and product positioning.

A new Recycling Clinic, run by Recoup, will feature experts providing free, one-to-one recycling advice; and a 3D Print Feature will enable designers, engineers and educators to test and perfect their work with 3D modelling.

To keep up with latest issues and trends, 50 free-to-attend learnShops seminars, will have expert and case study speakers spanning the world of print and packaging. In particular, Mike Fairley, managing director at Labels & Labelling Consultancy, will be discussing the latest print technologies - new brand and marketing opportunities.

The BIG Print Debate will bring industry experts together to discuss the crucial issues in the print world; and together with the BIG Packaging Debate and the Lions' Lair feature, the whole Packaging Innovations event will offer visitors, from all spheres of the packaging world, "a unique programme of valuable and insightful content".

www.easyFairs.com
www.afinia.co.uk
www.agcad.co.uk
www.dantex.co.uk
www.dupont.com
www.durst-online.com
www.epson.co.uk
www.esko.com
www.ffei.co.uk
www.fujifilm.eu/eu/products/graphic-systems
www.hp.com
www.intecprinters.com
www.ktecgroup.co.uk
www.pankaboard.com
www.primeralabel.eu
www.printpack.eu.com
www.rako-group.com
www.xeikon.com
www.zund.co.uk