d.gen Inc, Korea’s leading manufacturer of inkjet printing systems, is launching a new range of Papyrus 740K printers at KoSign 2017 using Xaar 1201 printheads. The new printers are optimized for printing dye sublimation & blue back paper, and will be available for d.gen’s Korean and European customers.

Using six Xaar 1201 printheads for printing up to six colours, the new Papyrus 740K printers are capable of a 1880 mm print width and print speeds of up to 80 m2/h at 1200 dpi, 55 m2/h at 1800 dpi  and 40 m2/h at 2400 dpi. In addition, they come equipped with a mini- jumbo roll feeder designed with flexible tension control and a strong dryer incorporated to prevent contamination. Users looking for easy print control will find the touch panel of the Papyrus 740K a useful feature, plus there is a fully integrated feeder, ‘take-up’ and dryer.

“We are delighted to be launching a new range of our trusted graphics and textile Papyrus 740K printers using Xaar 1201 printheads,” commented d.gen’s president & CEO, Mr. Kilhun Lee.  “We chose the Xaar 1201 printhead as it provides us with complete flexibility. It can print up to six colors and is compatible with a wide range of aqueous inks, such as graphic pigment, textile pigment, disperse dye and dye sublimation. In addition, it also provides very high productivity compared to other printheads in the market”.

Since its launch at drupa 2016, take up of the Xaar 1201 printhead has been extremely good.  “I’m delighted to be present for the launch of d.gen’s new printer range with Xaar 1201 printheads,” added Simon Kirk, senior product manager at Xaar. “Customers in a number of markets are already benefiting from the very best combination of photo quality and productivity at an affordable cost delivered by the Xaar 1201. I’m delighted that d.gen’s customers in Korea and beyond are now also able to access these advantages”.

Kodak’s “Print for Good” Campaign Makes a Global Impact on Literacy by Putting Books into the Hands of Thousands of Children

Across the world, Kodak’s Print for Good campaign supports communities with book drives, book donations and the printing of school materials in support of increasing literacy. Because of the tremendous efforts of Kodak’s employees, print customers and local literacy partners, in its first full year the program placed approximately 30,000 books and school materials in the hands of thousands of children in communities throughout Europe, United States, Asia, and the Middle East.

In 2017, highlights of the programs that Kodak teams supported include local literacy initiatives and partnerships stretching from Kodak’s headquarters in Rochester, New York to rural communities in India and Haiti:

Croxley Park, U.K: Kodak employees in the U.K. donated over 500 books to the JMI School & Nursery and the Peace Hospice in Watford; while also hosting a book signing with children’s book illustrator Ben Cort of the popular ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ series. · Rochester, New York: Working with the Urban League of Rochester and the Scott Spino Foundation Kodak donated over 2,500 books that have found their way into the hands of children in the Rochester metro area. · Nilmat, India: Kodak employees in partnership with “Youth For People” distributed over 5,000 notebooks to 1,000 children to promote increased literacy in this tribal region on the outskirts of Mumbai. · Memphis, Tennessee: In collaboration with Books from Birth, Kodak recently donated 1,000 children’s books from author, designer and the host of Kodak’s Press On Video Series, Tad Carpenter. The books are now finding their way onto the shelves of families participating in two different programs designed to encourage early childhood literacy–LENA Start and Reach out and Read. · Port Au Prince, Haiti: Kodak teamed up with Hearthstone Village, a non-profit based in Ukiah Valley, CA to provide funding to the Reveil Martinal Orphanage to help build a burgeoning library in support of the ongoing literacy needs of the 26 girls who live in the orphanage in Port-Au Prince.

Madrid, Spain: In Spain, Kodak worked with its customer, CAYFOSA to supply 1,500 copies of ‘Cuentos para contar en 1 minuto’ to non-profit Gallardo FUNDACIÓN MELIOR which is distributing the books to enhance the reading skills of economically disadvantaged children in the community.

Petah Tikva, Israel: Kodak’s Israel team partnered with local customer Emanuel Print to publish over 1,000 booklets that were donated to children in need during the 2017 Passover holiday. Kodak worked with nonprofit La’Sova, an organization focused on providing food to high-needs communities. The booklets were added to holiday food packages for distribution.

These activities are just a few of the many programs Kodak has supported around the world in 2017 to foster improved literacy outcomes. To learn more about each of these important programs and the impact they are having in their local communities, visit www.kodak.com/go/printforgood

“At Kodak, we feel that literacy is a venue for us to talk about the value of print in a very tangible way while partnering with some of our most important customers to address a vital issue that touches communities across the globe,” said Brad Kruchten, president, print systems division, Kodak. “Literacy not only enriches an individual’s life, but it creates opportunities for people to develop skills that will help them provide for themselves and their families, while also enhancing the economic vitality of the communities around them. We’re proud to be able to play a part in helping to improve literacy outcomes around the world.”

Kodak’s Print for Good initiative is an overall effort to drive the print industry in a socially conscious and environmentally friendly way. Kodak also supports the development and use of more sustainable print processes, as printers begin to migrate toward process free plates, vegetable-based inks, alcohol-based solvents, recycled or sustainably-harvested paper, printing plates made of fully-recyclable aluminum and other means of operating more sustainably

Nominations for the 2018 Wide-Format & Signage Top Products Awards are Open

It’s that time of the year to nominate your products so they can be included on the ballot for the 2018 Top Product Awards.

The Wide-Format & Signage Top Product Awards recognize the best products—including pre-press software and hardware, ink, media, finishing supplies and hardware, and output devices—in the wide- and grand-format industry. Nominations can be submitted online now through December 1, 2017.
The Top Product Awards highlight the innovative products that have been introduced to the market in the last 15 months which have made an impact on the industry and have improved the efficiencies and profits of print-service-providers.
Entries must be submitted via the online form at https://tinyurl.com/yahtqg32. Companies are free to nominate more than one product in the Awards program. There is no fee to enter. The 2018 Top Product Awards are open to manufacturers with products in the following categories:
∙ FINISHING – Cutters / Routers
∙ FINISHING – Fabric Finishing Equipment
∙ FINISHING – Laminates
∙ FINISHING – Laminating Equipment
∙ INK & TONER – Aqueous / Durable Aqueous / Latex Ink
∙ INK & TONER – Dye Sub Ink
∙ INK & TONER – Solvent Ink (Eco, Mild, & Hard)
∙ INK & TONER – UV Ink
∙ MEDIA – Fabric/Textile
∙ MEDIA – Fine Art & Photography
∙ MEDIA – Floor Graphic Media
∙ MEDIA – Grand-Format Media
∙ MEDIA – Magnetic & Magnetic Receptive
∙ MEDIA – Media for Rough Surfaces
∙ MEDIA – Semi Rigid / Rigid
∙ MEDIA – Vehicle Wrap Media
∙ MEDIA – Wall Graphic Media (Interiors)
∙ MEDIA – Window Graphic Media
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Aqueous Printer / Durable Aqueous / Latex (24-95 inches)
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Engineering Printer
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Flatbed Printer
DEVICES – MFP (24-95 inches)
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Solvent Printer (24-95 inches
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Textile Printer
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – UV Printer (24-95 inches)
∙ PREPRESS – Color Management Hardware & Software
∙ PREPRESS – Wide-Format Scanner (24 inches+)
∙ SOFTWARE – MIS Software
∙ SOFTWARE – RIP Software
∙ SOFTWARE – Web-to
∙ SOFTWARE – Workflow Software -Print
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Grand-Format Printer (96 inches+)
∙ OUTPUT DEVICES – Hybrid Printer
∙ OUTPUT
All products entered must be released, commercially available, and shipping between September 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. Pre-release products are ineligible. Product nominations will be vetted for compliance before being included in the official list of nominees released

Beginning December 15, 2017, and going through January 12, 2018, readers and subscribers to Wide-Format & Signage (online and in print) will have the opportunity to vote for the products which had the biggest impact on the industry and their business during 2017. Awards for the 2018 Top Products will be presented during the 2018 International Sign Expo in Orlando, FL, and featured in the March 2018 issue of Wide-Format & Signage magazine.

 Germany’s Siegwerk announces digitalized processes and strategic partnerships with start-ups to further shape future of packaging

SIEGBURG, Germany , Nov. 20, 2017 (Press Release) -Digitalized processes and strategic partnerships with relevant start-ups will enable the ink manufacturer to confront future industry trends in an optimum way and further shape the future of packaging.

Siegwerk, one of the leading global providers of printing inks for packaging applications and labels, is one of the pioneers in shaping the future of packaging. With its packaging expertise and ink development know-how the company is a well-accepted partner for its customers worldwide. By providing a combination of best-in-class ink performance, optimum product safety and continuous support and guidance, Siegwerk always makes every effort to help its customers address upcoming trends and to meet their specific needs with cutting-edge ink solutions. That’s why the company has started some forward-looking initiatives to gain even more efficiency and achieve faster reaction times to future trends. Strategic partnerships with relevant start-ups as well as digitalized processes will help the company setting sails for a successful future and expanding its leading position in the packaging market.

Partnering with start-ups

The strategic collaboration with relevant start-ups is key for the company to gain important insights in new ideas and developments that might initiate innovative ink developments to address upcoming trends in the ink and packaging industry. “Start-ups are home of trendsetting ideas and an exceptional inventive spirit,” explains Christoph Barniske, Head of Digital Business at Siegwerk. “We as established market player can support start-ups with our technical expertise to develop their ideas to product maturity and successfully launch them to the market.” Siegwerk is concretely looking for technologies and innovations to support the development of pioneering packaging concepts.

The future of packaging is about connecting product and consumer by adding unique features to the packaging causing the need for innovative ink solutions. Smart packaging, for which intelligent pigments or functional coatings are needed, or the internet of packaging, that uses integrated digital tags to interact with the consumer, are just two exemplary areas of new packaging approaches. At the same time, sustainable and eco-friendly packaging and manufacturing processes will continue gaining importance for brand owners, converters and of course consumers. Assessing ways of enhancing the ecological footprint of the company’s inks with no loss of performance is one of Siegwerk’s key R&D efforts since years already.The company is always looking into further opportunities to enable entirely new and more sustainable packaging solutions.

Siegwerk has already started the first discussions with start-ups and plans to set up a systematic process for both, screening the start-up scene for potential partners and offering interested start-ups an easy platform to introduce themselves to the company and discuss the potential of a collaboration. Siegwerk has recently launched a microsite where potential start-ups can contact Siegwerk’s digital unit.

Digitalized processes

Siegwerk has made a strong commitment to digitalization this year in order to take account of inevitable changes in good time. The company has established a new digital business unit to understand how customer proximity and big data can help to improve its services to customers, to enhance the work of the sales teams and to initiate new infrastructure projects designed to generate worldwide synergies. “It’s all about making the company ready for the future and helping customers to achieve optimum performance by providing modern solutions and services,” says Herbert Forker, CEO of Siegwerk, about the goal behind the company’s digital transformation. The Berlin-based digital unit is focusing on digital services that will improve the interaction between Siegwerk, its customers and brand owners. Therefore, the team determines the relevant pain thresholds that customers have and analyzes whether digital processes could help to improve and simplify the day-to-day work of customers and thus enhance the overall customer journey and increase efficiencies.

Esko launches new Kongsberg C66 digital finishing table for short run production of corrugated applications

GHENT, Belgium, Nov. 16, 2017 (Press Release) -Esko (www.esko.com), the leading global supplier of integrated solutions for the packaging, labels, sign and display industries, has launched the Kongsberg C66, a digital finishing table designed for short run production of corrugated applications.

Built on decades of Kongsberg table innovations integrated with Esko software solutions, the Kongsberg C66 is the largest digital cutting table for heavy-duty corrugated production. It was developed based on market demand as part of Kongsberg’s robotics program. Its combination of size, speed and precision on heavy-duty rigid materials such as corrugated cartons make it a flexible and effective alternative to conventional diecutting equipment for short run corrugated productions of packaging and POP displays.

Unique in the marketplace, the Kongsberg C66 can run at 100 m/min. It can handle either manual multi-zone production of large 2.2m x 3.2m (87in x 126in) sheets or single-zone production of large 2.5m x 4.8m (98in x 189in) corrugated sheets. This makes it ideally suited for the production of protective packaging with a maximum sheet size of 2.5m x 4.8m, corrugated containers made from HD double-wall or triple-wall corrugated and packaging and POP displays. The Kongsberg C66 is also capable of processing other materials required in the protective packaging environment, including foam cushioning materials.

Multi-zone production

The Kongsberg C66’s 3210mm x 4800mm (W x L) work area supports both large-format and multi-zone production. Its Carbon Composite Traverse is extremely rigid, enabling high speed, fast acceleration, high quality creasing with minimal deflection. It also delivers up to 40% higher performance than other 3 meter wide XY finishers. It allows the Kongsberg C66 to run at full production speed on much larger material without losing accuracy. The larger Kongsberg tables can be set up for MultiZone production, which maximizes production efficiency by ensuring non-stop material processing. While one zone of the table is in action, an operator can set up the other zone by clearing the finished piece and loading a new sheet. While the operator works and prepares one zone, the machine works at the other zone, with automatic zone-change based on a simple operator handshake.

Driving functionality

The i-cut Production Console (iPC) drives the table’s functionality, and includes capabilities such as camera control, machine set up, tool recognition, calibration and tool adjustments. Designed to guide and support the operator, it incorporates a number of logical, user-friendly features including an icon-based graphical interface with color-coded alerts and updates. Combined with Device Manager it offers the ability to follow production progress from a distance. Operators can prepare one job while producing another, increasing efficiency even more. The i-cut Production Console also allows estimation of cutting time based on job characteristics for more efficient scheduling. There is a wide variety of optional tool units available as well. These can be quickly mounted and prepared to cut and finish a specific job, assuring exceptional quality and prompt delivery.

“The Kongsberg C66 was designed to meet market demand for larger format solutions for finishing rigid materials,” explains Tom Naess Esko’s Senior product manager. “It boosts productivity and, when combined with robotics, ensures non-stop production. This allows for fast, efficient completion of heavy-duty packaging and shorter runs without compromising on quality. By moving shorter runs to the Kongsberg C66, operations can eliminate the time and cost associated with conventional diecutting solutions that become unwieldy when dealing with short runs and compressed cycle times.”

Cartonéo invests in first system

The first operation to install the Kongsberg C66 is the French printing and packaging specialist Cartonéo. The 100-year-old multi-site group serves a broad range of markets and sectors including food, automotive, cosmetics, wine and spirits, publishing, and pharmaceutical.

Mr. Edmond Perrier, Cartonéo’s CEO, comments: “This investment followed our decision to invest in a digital printing press, to cost effectively manufacture large format printed packaging and displays in a variety of run lengths. The new press has enabled us to win several key contracts, which is why we also added the integrated production solution to complete the work to a high standard. With both, we are now very busy and competitive in the market for short run production of display materials.”

The Kongsberg C66 is available through Esko and its resellers.

About Esko(www.esko.com)

Packaging Simplified. Esko helps its customers to make the best packaging for billions of consumers.

The Esko product portfolio supports and manages the packaging and print processes for brand owners, retailers, designers, premedia and trade shops, packaging manufacturers, and converters. For 9 out of 10 retail packages, Esko solutions are used in packaging management, asset management, artwork creation, structural design, prepress, 3D visualization, flexo plate making, workflow automation, quality assurance, sample-making, palletization, supply chain collaboration and/or the production of signage and displays.

The Esko solutions consist of an extensive suite of software and two hardware product lines: CDI flexo computer-to-plate imagers and exposure units as well as Kongsberg digital cutting systems, complemented with professional services, training and consultancy.

Enfocus, with its suite of automation solutions and PDF quality control tools for printers, publishers, and graphic designers, is an Esko subsidiary. MediaBeacon, with its digital asset management (DAM) solutions is also part of the Esko family. Esko employs about 1,500 people worldwide. Headquartered in Gent (Belgium), its sales and service organization is in daily contact with customers all over the globe.