Bobst has announced a new series of inline flexo presses, the M8. This builds on the existing narrow web presses, but is really a mid-web press, with web widths up to 1070mm. As such this is aimed firmly at the packaging market or at least label printers that want to take on more packaging.
It appears at first glance to be a wider version of the M6 that was shown at the last Label Expo though we’ll have to wait till we see the press itself at this year’s show to see how it’s been developed.
It’s certainly faster than the M6, with a maximum speed of 400 mpm. It will be able to run UV, water-based or solvent-based inks. It can handle a wide range of substrates, including film, aluminum foil, lamitubes and paper. There will also be a cardboard version of the press that can take substrates up to 600 gsm.
It’s highly automated, as one would expect of a modern press, with camera-monitored closed loop press operations that enable fully automated pre-register and adjustment of the print pressure and register, and camera-based print quality/PDF comparisons at all speeds. Bobst claims that it will allow for automatic on-the-fly job changeover sequences and up to 95% press uptime.
Matteo Cardinotti, Managing Director of Bobst Firenze and Head of Narrow & mid-web multi-process Product Line. “Most printing companies today know they need to diversify in order to grow or even maintain revenue streams, and many label printers have been adding equipment to produce short run customized packaging to complement their revenue. The new BOBST M8 press is uniquely suited to forward-thinking label printing companies that want to move into the flexible packaging market in a way that exceeds contingency needs to allow strong and sustainable growth in this sector.”
Leave a Reply