Currie Group is the largest exhibitor at PrintEx 2015 and will be showcasing the widest range of graphic machinery spanning all aspects of the printing process on stand 1325.
For the label and packaging converting sector, highlights will include the leading digital narrow-web printing solution for mainstream labels and packaging production – HP Indigo WS6800 Digital Press – and the “next generation of digital finishing” – the ABGi Digicon Series 3.
According to Mark Daws, general manager of Labels and Packaging for Currie Group ANZ, uptake of digital printing for packaging is on a rapid upward trend.
For the same reasons digital has found strong take-up in label printing – short runs, flexibility, increased speed to market, ability to customise packaging – Daws believes it will gain a foothold in packaging.
“The packaging sector is facing the same challenges as the label sector, like increased 'go-to-market' speed, product proliferation, inventory management moving to JIT/virtual models, environmental considerations... all of which digital printing can address,” Daws says.
“And increasingly, those engaged in brand marketing are realising, as their traditional advertising budgets dry up, that packaging is one of the last remaining vehicles a brand can use to connect to the consumer,” he says.
“They are seeing the potential of digital for pushing the boundaries of packaging creativity, to make packaging part of the product experience.”
Daws says the HP Indigo printing platforms Currie Group's portfolio are game changers able to accommodate these market trends.
“We think the packaging market is ready for digital. It's a mature industry here, and certainly the run sizes demonstrate the need for digital platforms in this space.”
At PrintEx, Currie Group will demonstrate the new HP WS6800, a high-capacity, high-quality narrow web label and packaging solution. It features HP Indigo's liquid ElectroInk technology which provides a print quality that matches gravure:
HP says converters can meet even the most stringent corporate branding requirements using up to seven ink stations and a colour gamut that reaches up to 97 per cent of Pantone colours.
Application flexibility is another selling point: the press enables production of pressure sensitive labels, sleeves, IML, wrap-around labels, flexible packaging and folding cartons.
It supports 12 to 450 micron materials, both standard, off-the shelf substrates with in-line printing, as well as pre-treated materials.
Customers can benefit from end-to end workflow systems including the built-in Workflow Suite powered by Esko, and an array of integrated MIS, pre-press and converting solutions provided by Currie Group.
PrintEx 2015 runs from 13-15 May at Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park. Register here.
