At Labelexpo Americas, Xeikon has introduced Cheetah, the latest addition to its label and packaging portfolio. Described as the ‘biggest leap in its technology in 15 years’, the new digital colour press dedicated to the self-adhesive label market, runs 60 percent faster than Xeikon’s current 3000 series.
The Xeikon Cheetah can handle substrates from coated and uncoated papers to BOPP and coextruded plastics ranging from 40gsm to 350gsm in widths of up to 330mm with a true print resolution of 1.200 x 3.600 dpi at a speed of 30m/m. It utilises full rotary printing where the press speeds are independent of the number of colours used and/or the repeat length of the job.
“This increase in speed represents a huge leap forward in digital press technology,” said Patrick Van Baelen, vice-president of worldwide marketing at Xeikon. “It will enable Xeikon label printers and converters to embark on a new era of productivity and efficiency, with much greater flexibility to react to their clients’ requests for shorter time-to-market.
“The Xeikon Cheetah narrows the gap between digital printing and traditional flexo/offset methods for producing labels. In addition, the increase in speed also results in a lower total production cost.”
The Xeikon Cheetah employs dry toners that meet FDA regulations for food contact and has the ability to print opaque white toner in one pass. This enables the use of conventional substrates that do not have to be pre-treated. In addition to the standard CMYK + White, the fifth station on the Xeikon Cheetah can be used to print an extended colour gamut (such as green,orange or custom colours) or security toner. Extremely high toner light-fastness and eco-friendly printing with no VOCs are other benefits.
In addition, the new press offers easy integration of third-party workflow software and converting/finishing solutions. Furthermore, professional colour management capabilities are incorporated.
The new Xeikon Cheetah will be available commercially during 2015.