Gallus has announced new flexo and digital press developments at the opening of its new customer experience centre in St Gallen, Switzerland.
One of these developments is an option to upgrade the Gallus ECS 340 flexo press with a digital printing unit (DPU), transforming it into a Gallus Labelfire 340 hybrid press but without the additional platform investment. The company said this means that ‘customers are now able to access all the flexibility and versatility of digital printing, with the reliability and precision of conventional printing and further processing technology’.
A further press development is the launch of Gallus One inkjet digital label press with converting. The core press was launched last year, with a print width of 340mm, an achievable resolution of 1200 x 1200dpi and the ability to print CMYK at up to 70m/min. White can also be printed at 70m/min with 85% opacity. By combining this with inline converting options – flexo, semi-rotary die-cutting and vision inspection – Gallus claims to ‘further increase its total cost of ownership (TCO) advantage for label production’.
There was also news from Heidelberg (of which group Gallus is a member), with the formal launch of the Heidelberg Customer Portal (HCP), which it said has been introduced to automate almost every customer touchpoint. Heidelberg has recently stated its commitment to the labels and packaging sector, with these now representing 50% of the group’s total sales, and like Gallus is looking to further drive digital transformation in labels and packaging, while tackling current labour shortages and increases in costs. Future iterations of the HCP are expected to provide predictive capabilities utilising artificial intelligence (AI) for recommendations to increase productivity, reduce maintenance and boost profitability. HCP is expected to save customers, on average, up to 35% in both time and money, according to the company’s calculations.
Gallus Group CEO Dario Urbinati commented, ‘We are committed to being in touch with the market and forecasting, and then responding to, likely trends that could impact our customers and brands. As a result, Gallus and Heidelberg are committed to leading the new digital transformation – driving ‘smart, connected printing’ to unlock revolutionary levels of production automation and manufacturing efficiencies. Key to solving the labour issues of today, this will enable customers to reduce costs and increase both profitability and sustainability.
‘What’s more, utilising our new Gallus Experience Centre, we have a team devoted to exploring new technologies/processes – such as artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0 – that could be integrated into labels and packaging to better inspire and engage future generations.’
Mr Urbinati continued, ‘We’re excited to look beyond the graphic arts toward other industries – learning from how they’ve leveraged new technologies to welcome in the new digital age and cater to the next generation – so that we can modernise the labels and packaging industry and further increase our future success.’
