HIGH-SPEED INKJET AND LABEL & PACKAGING SOLUTIONS
For four score, there have been many, many changes in the areas of prepress, printing and beyond. As the industry continues to evolve, SCREEN’s portfolio expands to accommodate printers’ changing needs with every passing decade—needs such as addressing labor challenges, paper shortages and rising postal costs.
Whether you’re a direct mail printer looking to protect sensitive data, a label manufacturer trying to achieve opacity on multiple substrates, a flexible packaging printer striving to meet strict food safety regulations, or a publishing printer aiming for a book-of-one solution, SCREEN Americas is prepared to provide a solution for you to help you increase capacity and trump your competition.
Our inkjet technology and innovative ideas have allowed our customers to tackle their various challenges with easy-to-use technology and state-of-the-art engineering. Many of SCREEN’s customers have increased their production capacity to the point where they’ve invested in additional presses from SCREEN. Some establishments are SCREEN-only shops.
In 2024, SCREEN will build on its eighty years of experience and service to the industry with continued research and development and new technology. Presidential election years tend to be favorable for the printing industry, especially for those in direct mail marketing. And, as medical studies continue to link excessive screen time with maladies such as dry eye, more and more people will be inclined to forego a digital device for the wondrous world of print.
As SCREEN Americas continues to innovate and expand its portfolio of products dedicated to high-speed commercial, label and packaging production, it has designed captivating logos for each product line that are identifiable on a global scale.
Welcome to another edition of Inkjet IQ, a newsletter created for our customers to keep them up to date on new solutions, installations, promotions, partnerships and more. It’s been a rewarding year for SCREEN Americas as we continue to install equipment across the country from our portfolio of presses dedicated to high-speed inkjet solutions and label and packaging applications. We remain busy at conferences and conventions, having recently sponsored PRINTING United Expo in Atlanta and the Digital Packaging Summit in Florida. Many of these installations and events are highlighted in this issue.
You’ll also read about several new products in Inkjet IQ, including one for a cut-sheet device designed to complement your continuous roll-fed production and a flexible packaging press that was engineered for the paper-based pouch packaging market.
We look forward to sharing our solutions with you in 2024!
Ken Ingram
President@screenamericas.com
Question: In addition to CMYK, what three colors are available with the Truepress LABEL 350UV SAI Series? See Answer
New to SCREEN’s flexible packaging portfolio is the Truepress PAC 520P, a digital inkjet press designed especially for paper-based packaging. The press uses newly developed proprietary aqueous pigment inks that comply with food-safety regulations.
The Truepress PAC 520P offers label converters a seamless entry into the lucrative flexible packaging market, providing a competitive edge and increased profitability. With its small compact footprint and relatively low level of investment, this innovative solution eliminates the struggle label converters often face with regard to tight margins in a saturated market.
SCREEN introduced the prototype development of an in-line digital inkjet primer for the Truepress LABEL 350UV SAI. The ground-breaking primer addresses one of the biggest challenges in UV digital inkjet printing—poor ink adhesion on certain substrates.
Typically, poor ink adhesion was routinely resolved through offline pre-priming of the substrate before printing labels. With this new cutting-edge development, SCREEN now eliminates this extra step by incorporating an in-line digital primer directly inside the press.
SCREEN began accepting orders in October 2023 for the Truepress PAC 830F, a new high-speed water-based inkjet system designed for flexible packaging.
Using drop-on-demand inkjet technology, the PAC 830F can handle film up to 830 millimeters wide at an industry-leading speed of 75 meters per minute with a resolution of 1,200 dpi x 1,200 dpi. The system is also capable of printing a resolution of 1,200 dpi using a built-in primer coater that increases ink adherence. Its CMYK and white water-based inks offer color consistency and conform to food safety regulations.
In cooperation with KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc., SCREEN developed a prototype Truepress JET S320, an A3 sheetfed digital inkjet printer to complement its high-speed continuous roll-fed inkjet line, the Truepress JET 520 Series. The S320 delivers A3-sized, full-color variable printing that leverages Truepress SC/SC+ Inks.
With the introduction of this prototype, SCREEN is expanding various solutions, including the enhancement of workflow solutions integrated with its EQUIOS workflow system.
Planet Direct Mail recently welcomed a new full-color Truepress JET 520NX to its 115,000-square-foot facility in Manassas, Virginia, resulting in new business for the full-service direct mail marketing provider.
The Truepress JET 520NX joins a pair of Truepress Jet520EX monochrome twin engine systems previously purchased by the company.
The 520NX allows for single pass variable data color printing and eliminates the need for preprinted shells—a strategy that expedites production and results in cost savings that get passed on to Planet Direct Mail’s clients.
Printing enterprise Graphic Village of Cinn., Ohio, which serves high-profile clients in the financial services, education, nonprofit, restaurant, and healthcare industries, secured a new account worth one million dollars annually after installing the Truepress JET 520HD+ in April 2023. The full-service printer expects to expand into new markets thanks to the high-speed technology that has managed to eliminate bottlenecks in the facility’s workflow and cease the need to hire multiple press operators.
Printing enterprise Graphic Village of Cinn., Ohio, which serves high-profile clients in the financial services, education, nonprofit, restaurant, and healthcare industries, secured a new account worth one million dollars annually after installing the Truepress JET 520HD+ in April 2023. The full-service printer expects to expand into new markets thanks to the high-speed technology that has managed to eliminate bottlenecks in the facility’s workflow and cease the need to hire multiple press operators.
Print Bind Ship embarked upon the world of digital roll-fed inkjet technology with the installation of the Truepress JET 520HD+.
The full-service printing, mailing and fulfillment company based in Taylor, Michigan, is a third-party logistics company offering services worldwide.
Since installing the press, Print Bind Ship has seen an 83 percent increase in its book production capabilities. A 130-page book took only two hours to print 2,000 copies on the 520HD+ compared to at least 12 hours on a digital sheetfed device. As a result, the company plans to eventually eliminate other digital press equipment and expand its direct mail and commercial applications.
Alpine Packaging of North Versailles, Penn., recently invested in a second SCREEN label press, the Truepress LABEL 350UV SAI S. The installation has allowed the automotive label manufacturer to expand into additional markets including food and beverage, industrial, janitorial and cannabis.
The SAI Series is changing the game for Alpine Packaging. Long-run jobs that were typically reserved for the company’s flexographic presses are now performed
on SCREEN’s technology. Because the SAI is capable of printing on so many different substrates, Alpine Packaging is making the move to become an all-digital enterprise.
PBS in York, Penn., recently adopted the Truepress LABEL 350UV SAI S, utilizing CMYK, white, orange and blue inks. The compact SAI, now the sole technology for PBS's label business, brings previously outsourced work in-house. PBS plans to target niche markets like yogurt, cheese, beer and wine. With its small footprint, the SAI suits PBS's 8,000-square-foot facility. The press's ability to print on different substrates allows PBS to extend multiple choices to its customers.
SCREEN Americas joined Allegra Marketing of Plymouth, Michigan, and JD Graphic of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, as they celebrated their new presses from the Truepress JET 520HD Series.
Fully Staffed, a popular business book written by Eric Chester designed to attract and retain the best employees, was printed on the Truepress JET 520NX and finished on equipment from Standard Finishing Systems.
Chester took turns in each company’s booth to autograph copies of his paperback edition for attendees at PRINTING United Expo.
Printers aspiring to become better informed of the latest tips and techniques for digital packaging and label production met in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, November 11–13, 2024, for the ninth annual Digital Packaging Summit where SCREEN Americas served as a keynote sponsor. Panelists and speakers addressed popular topics including why it is such an ideal time to be in the packaging industry, how printers can get to know their customers better, and the best approach to thwarting traditional methods in order to appeal to brands.
Entertainment at the summit included “Casino Night” where attendees and sponsors gathered around to have a few drinks, talk about current trends, and place their bets.
SCREEN and Chiyoda Gravure Corp. of Tokyo, Japan, are working together to promote the use of digital printing for flexible packaging materials. The initiative will promote SCREEN’s Truepress PAC 830F and its ability to produce full-scale production of small- to medium-lot jobs for standing pouches, gusset bags and center seal packages. Both companies have committed to the long-term goal of constructing optimal production processes that will address the industry’s need to create a sustainable society using environmentally conscious production methods.
