New Pantone guides plus several installations

News Digest: – a quick run through of all the stories from the last few weeks that didn’t merit a post in their own right, including new Pantone guides and various installations around the world for wide format, digital finishing and a folder gluer.

Pantone’s CMYK Coated and Uncoated Guides are now available printed using G7 calibration, which should make it easier for almost any print provider in the world to achieve them. The CMYK guides are printed to the G7 technical standard, using CRPC reference press spaces for #1 coated and uncoated paper to the G7 Colorspace conformance level. In addition, colors that already match main Pantone colors will be marked so that unique colors can be identified with ease.

Lou Prestia, senior product manager at Pantone, explained: “By marking the unique colors, designers can find colors ‘in-between’ traditional Pantone Graphics colors, and because the Guides are printed CMYK, all the colors are achievable on a modern printing press or digital press.”

Wim Brunsting has joined Kongsberg PCS as sales director for its business across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Brunsting is a qualified engineer and previously worked as sales operations manager for Canon Production Printing. Stuart Fox, President of Kongsberg PCS, commented: “His insight and experience are a great fit for Kongsberg, and with his appointment, we are underlining our commitment to ensuring we empower the Kongsberg team to realize its ambitions, both in terms of consolidating our leading position in packaging, sign and display production and to also successfully explore new markets.”

Kongsberg sold a C64 digital finishing table with Feeder and Stacker directly off its stand at the SuperCorrExpo event in Orlando, Florida, to Graphic Images Inc, based in Florida, which specialises in custom wide format signs, displays and custom packaging. The device, which had been the centrepiece of Kongsberg’s exhibit, will be complemented by the VibraCut tool, which allows cutting at full machine speed through single and double wall corrugated board, and the Kongsberg Dual Heavy-Duty Unit, to run corrugated jobs with cutting, creasing and perforation without changing tools. The feeder and stacker will be fitted with Kongsberg underside camera system.

Heather Roden, North America Sales Director with Kongsberg PCS. “This was the North American exhibition debut of the latest version of the Kongsberg Feeder and Stacker. While Graphic Images Inc. might not be the typical SuperCorr attendee – with their business being environmental graphics and displays while this expo traditionally hosts corrugated packaging manufacturers – my colleague Rick LeBlanc had encouraged the owners to attend this year’s event for our presentation.”

The Italian printing and graphics company Beepag installed a second Ricoh Pro T7210 UV flatbed in April, which has helped it enter new markets and offer an expanded service to customers. The company was the first in Italy to invest in a T7210, installing its first device back in May 2018 and using it expand beyond its traditional roll-to-roll work and into projects involving rigid media including wood, aluminium, glass, plexiglass and cardboard, which opened up a whole range of markets including interior décor and exhibition work.

Beepag founder Matteo Pinzaut explained: ”The first Ricoh Pro T7210 continues to be used for sign and display and visual communication applications, whereas we use the new system for special jobs, including – for example – transparent and white, or screen painting requiring polishing.” He added: “Thanks to these capabilities, we have begun reaching out to the fashion and luxury sectors, looking to innovate the way in which they interact with customers.”

Beepag also uses a Ricoh Pro L4100 latex printer for indoor and outdoor applications such as wallpapers, posters and signage, and a Ricoh Pro C7200X single sheet solution for industrial work. The company’s growth was further supported by an e-commerce platform which enabled it to expand its services throughout Italy and beyond.

American specialist packaging company Carlson Print Group, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, is to install a new 104 cm wide Scodix Ultra 6000 Digital Enhancement Press. The capability of the new press allows for more highly-detailed, short-run and data-variable personalized projects with tactile applications such as embossing, foil, metallic effects, glitter, and specialty finishes.

Darren Carlson, Carlson Print Group President and CEO, explained: “We’ve developed a well-earned reputation in the industry for designing and producing some of the coolest and most inventive work for our nationwide clientele, many of whom appear in the Fortune 100 to 500 lists. They represent a variety of businesses, who want to stand out and are willing to invest in award-winning attention-grabbing projects. The new Scodix Ultra 6000 press with its 41ins sheet size and diverse enhancement capabilities provides our clients with bold, unique products as we continue to expand our specialty print and packaging business. In addition, this press provides us the ability to transition to a complete Scodix finishing workflow solution immediately impacting our business productivity.”

Meanwhile, Boxes Inc installed a Highcon Beam 2C digital finishing system for corrugated earlier this year to support its online, customized packaging web-to-pack site, Xceed. The company since used it to support other more traditional parts of their organization. Jason Mueller, Sr. Vice President and General Manager, commented: “If I had to pick one benefit as the “key benefit” I would have to say that we have benefited most from the speed to market improvements the Highcon system has provided. We no longer have the delay from ordering tooling. We have reduced our delivery time by more than 40 percent.”

Ye Sung, a packaging printer based in Janghang-Dong near Seoul in South Korea, installed a Koenig and Bauer Allpro 70 folder-gluer back in March. The company produces a range of folding cartons for various markets including medicines and beauty products, dietary supplements, cosmetics and foods, often including complicated designs that push the processing equipment to its limits. New laws limit working hours so the company used the new device to increase turnaround times and found that production output increased by more than 30 per cent thanks to the new machine, so that overtime could be reduced. Jaewan Kim, CEO of Ye Sung Corp., explains: “The additional folder-gluer line has made us better able to group similar carton designs and sizes on individual machines, which saves makeready time and boosts production output.”