Tipografic signs drupa press order for Christmas delivery

Packaging Solutions at drupa

Label producer Tipografic finalised a deal with Heidelberg at drupa for the latest generation Speedmaster XL 106-7+L press, a Polar 115 Autocut and multi-station BM 105 bander.

The seven colour and coating B1 press will feature the new Prinect Press Center XL2 and the new Intellistart software that reduces the clicks to print and overall make ready time. Jeff Cornell, managing director of Tipografic says this, coupled with the CutStar reel to sheet technology, will give the company a 24% increase in productivity compared to the Speedmaster XL105 being replaced.

‘We bought a Speedmaster XL 106 with CutStar last Christmas and we have been extremely impressed by the way it handles the challenging stock, one side coated, 70 g/2 material. We now recognise that it gives us the return on investment we want and it does increase efficiency,’ he said.

The seven units maximise the flexibility of specials and finishes that Tipografic can offer its customers and the deep cleaning function will help in the quest for shorter make ready times. The press has been specified with the ink.line cartridge system, a clean minimal waste tool.

An existing Image Control spectral measurement system will ensure all the label work is produced to the top quality standards.

The company’s three Speedmaster presses handle the wet glue labels and it also has a solvent based flexo line for plastic labels used for PET bottles.

On the wet label side the company has seen a trend towards square cut labels and away from punched labels and it is for the square cut work that it has invested in a second Polar Autocut 115. It will remove the waste through a chute for recycling. Work from both Autocuts will be automatically fed through the BM 105 binder and batched and then shrink wrapped for delivery.

‘Our wet label business is more buoyant, in part because of some reduction in capacity in the UK and also because we have won work from abroad,’ said Jeff. ‘Supermarkets and other customers do regularly audit us on all aspects, quality and environment for instance, and that has been good for our business in all sorts of ways and given us the mindset to meet change in a positive way and to remain keen and lean.’

He enjoyed his trip to drupa and had been impressed by the increasing presence of LED printing technology and as a conventional UV user that will give us something to consider when it comes to press replacement. That and production and MIS workflows could be areas of investment between now and next drupa.

Pictured left to right: Andrew Young, Tipografic; Martin Rimmer, Heidelberg UK; Jeff Cornell, Tipografic; and Jim Todd, Heidelberg UK.