Page 40 - Packaging News Nov-Dec 2019

40
T
INNOVATION
LABELS & PACKAGING www.packagingnews.com.au
Labelexpo – single platform, multiple applications
November-December 2019
The title of the world’s biggest label printing exhibition is becoming a misnomer, reports Wayne Robinson from the Brussels showground.
LEFT: Labelexpo drew the crowds to the Brussels Expo Parc.
engines, with the converting devel- opers launching a raft of application specific converting systems. So we saw converters, for example, specifi- cally for pharmaceutical, for wide web, for in-mould, and for others.
Sustainability is a key area which has now reached the top of the public agenda. At Labelexpo, the issue of plastic was given a mixed reception. Pouch printing was one of the big areas of opportunity – but of course pouches are necessarily plastic, in order to contain the sauce or other liquid product within.
On the other hand, carton printing through label printing platforms and special converting units is fibre- based, and with the current anti-plas- tic sentiment, opportunities are grow- ing in carton production. Labelexpo showed that, for label printers, the ability to produce printed finished cartons is now a possibility.
The marriage between digital and flexo was also clearly evident at the show, with multiple flexo press de- velopers having new systems that had a digital engine inserted in the middle of the press, or who had rebadged digital presses with their own logo on the panel, and maybe their own unwind and rewind sys- tems. Conventional presses, howev- er, have also been developing to meet the evolving needs of the market; make ready times, for instance, have come down considerably, with flexo press manufacturers now claiming that they are most cost effective even when run lengths are less than 1000 metres – although, of course, they cannot add variable data. European label and carton printers hold an ad- vantage over their Aussie and Kiwi cousins when it comes to variable data: if they have a job for a Europe- an client, it will be produced in at least seven language versions.
Labelexpo Brussels showed that the label sector is in a vibrant mode, with solutions developers working hard to deliver new opportunities to label printers. ■
his year’s Labelexpo was the biggest ever, with 600 exhibitors filling eight halls in the Brussels Expo Parc. This com- pares with just 40 that were at the first Labelexpo 40 years ago, and highlights the surging
growth of the sector. That growth, though, is not all about labels; in fact, Labelexpo is becoming a bit of a misnomer, as packaging applica- tions were a key theme of the show.
The four days of the exhibition highlighted the vitality of the sector, with the aisles and booths crowded from start to finish. For art lovers and architecture purists the Brussels Expo Parc itself is a marvel, certainly one of the most stunning art deco building sets you are likely to see; however, it was inside the halls that was of most interest to the tens of thousands of label printers that came from around the world to Labelexpo.
One of the key themes was single platform, multiple applications, with a number of solutions vendors offer- ing platforms that print not only labels but products such as carton boxes and pouches. This is because the digital printing engines have ink- jet heads and ink that can stick to multiple surfaces, thanks to UV tech- nology, where the ink does not dry
but polymerises. This is combined with media transport systems in those digital printing presses that can handle board and plastic in addition to paper and vinyl, thus en- abling the single platform, multiple application solution.
For print service providers this can be seriously beneficial, as it means their production equipment can produce different products, enabling them to enter or engage with different markets at no great additional investment cost.
The necessary converting system needs to be added, of course; they also had their moment in the sun at the show, where the theme was almost the opposite of the print
Labelexpo Brussels showed that the label sector is in a vibrant mode, with solutions developers working hard to deliver new opportunities.”