Page 50 - Print21 March-April 2022

Production
Currie Group consultative on labels
Currie Group has become one of the country’s biggest suppliers to the label industry, with a wide range of production solutions
flexible packaging applications as well as self adhesive labels. Daws said, “The HP Indigo 25K will enable print service providers to use the same machine for multiple applications, and is proving popular in ANZ and around the world.”
In conventional label printing Currie Group supplies OMET narrow and mid-web presses, which ANZ label printers are embracing, as well as
the hybrid XJet. Daws says, “It is a progressive family-run business that produces well-built well-priced presses, from a brand new purpose built factory in Lecco, Italy. The company has a real grasp of the realities of the label market, and is producing presses to meet those realities.”
Printing is only part of the label process, in fact Daws says, “It’s the easy part, most of my conversations are on the converting.” Currie Group supplies both AB Graphic Int and Karlville Group, with Daws saying, “ABG technology is really popular in Australia and New Zealand,
we currently have 19 pieces of equipment on order, after the biggest year we have ever had.”
ABG supplies systems for both digital converting with the Digicon Series 3 platform, and systems for conventional printed converting, while Karlville manufactures a range of products including shrink sleeve seamers, lamination, wide web slitting. It can supply entire pouch- making lines for digital flexible
packaging, with one currently installed in Queensland.
Daws says, “For Currie Group, it is about coming up with the right solution for the
application. We will work with a client and analyse where
they want to be, to ensure they are optimally
equipped for what they want to
achieve.” 21
aWble to be configured to meet a multitude of applications. ith its HP Indigo recently announced partnership with
digital presses, Maan Engineering. Linerless appeals OMET flexo, to the major supermarkets, as it fits well offset and hybrid in their sustainable goals, and can be range of presses, used in products such as meats.
ABG and Karlville converting It is the burgeoning craft food and
Environmental best practice: the
HP Indigo 6K, supplied by
Currie Group
Solutions: Mark Daws
solutions, and ANZ service coverage, Currie Group’s labels and packaging director Mark Daws says the company is well positioned to support all kinds of label printing businesses, from the big groups to the small operators, for those well established in the market, to those on the outside thinking of entering what is a growing sector.
Daws says, “Labels is a buoyant market. While the peaks of the past two years have somewhat normalised now, there are still many growth opportunities, both for those in the label market, and others who may be considering new revenue streams.”
Currie Group has worked with new entrants to the market, the likes of CMP and Next Labels making the move, and Daws says there will be others.
Self-adhesive labels still represents the biggest opportunity, according
to Daws, who says more specialist areas such as in-mould labels or shrink sleeves tend to be dominated by a handful of players. Linerless labels is an emerging opportunity, although you do need specialist equipment, which Currie Group supplies through its
beverage businesses, and the rapid multiplication of brand SKUs, that is driving growth in short run printing. Longer runs though are still very much part of the mix, with Daws pointing to the four new OMET narrow-web label presses installed here in the last year. Short run work is the major growth area, evidenced by the half dozen new HP Indigo digital label presses that Daws has seen installed over the last few months.
One of the key considerations in today’s market is environmental / sustainability, and while historically the focus has been on substrate materials Daws says that is now expanding,
he says, “People are looking more broadly, into the technology itself,
and here HP Indigo has a great
story. Its manufacturing is generated through a strong environmental matrix, its environmental credentials are independently certified, its inks are certified compostable.”
HP Indigo label presses comprise the HP Indigo 6K, the HP Indigo 8K (designed for higher volume), and the HP Indigo 25K, which is a wider width platform suited to both film /
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