Although Toray and Codimag have been partnering and collaborating for the benefit of the label industry for more than two decades, our joint demonstrations at Labelexpo Europe 2019 topped the charts as far as advantages we can bring to the industry.
With the introduction of the Codimag VIVA 420 narrow web press, used together with Toray IMPRIMA LJ chemistry-free waterless offset plates, waterless offset truly competes with the less sustainable flexographic printing technology for label printers and converters.
Although flexo is an established and – currently – dominant technology in label production, it does have a number of shortcomings. Flexo plates are expensive, and for most flexo configurations, it can take a significant amount of time – and generate excessive waste of expensive substrates – to bring the press up to color. And although flexo quality has improved in recent years, it often cannot meet the growing demand for even higher quality from brands.
Enter waterless offset! In the past, we had two challenges in label printing as compared to flexo, especially for longer runs. These were press speed and plate durability. With the Codimag VIVA 420 and IMPRIMA LJ plates, these challenges have now been overcome. Here’s why:
· The VIVA 420 prints at up to 85 meters per minute. This is the same speed as a flexo press with in-line die cutting.
· The new IMPRIMA LJ plates are extremely durable and deliver very high quality, especially with fine lines and small type.
· Codimag has also streamlined the entire production process with its digital workflow, from the PDF to the printed results in less than 30 minutes with its Aniflo experience, completing file verification, platemaking, press setup, to the first sheet out. Within that, job changeover is accomplished in less than 5 minutes with less than 30 meters of waste of what is quite often expensive substrate.
· Waterless offset with the new chemistry-free plates is very eco-friendly, increasingly important with the adoption of more stringent environmental regulations in countries around the world.
· Toray has manufacturing plants in both Japan and the Czech Republic, ensuring a consistent supply of plates, no matter where the printer/converter is located.
The VIVA 420 press from Codimag can use any of the Toray waterless offset plates, depending on applications that can range from labels and cardboard to security printing and plastic cards. This offers label printers/converters the opportunity to expand the range of applications they can cost-effectively provide to customers, thus growing both customer loyalty and their own revenues.
While we initially targeted Europe with the Toray/Codimag solutions, we are also now working to expand our footprint globally. We see the biggest opportunity in Asia – there are already four Codimag presses using Toray plates installed in China. But we also see good opportunity in Eastern Europe as well as continued growth in South America.
But, of course, we are not stopping here. We have several projects underway with Codimag leading up to drupa 2020, and we expect to bring even more innovation to the world’s largest printing trade show.
www.toray.com
