Siegwerk, a global provider of printing inks for packaging applications and labels, is now offering a new ink range for offset printing, which is particularly suitable for flexible packaging. With these state-of-the-art energy curing offset ink solutions (e.g. EB 705) Siegwerk gives flexible packaging printers access to the benefits of offset printing for short print job lengths: Low cost of print form and short set-up times allowing for quicker changeovers between the print jobs.
Short time-to-market, outstanding print quality and high fastness properties – offset printing inks already do a great job in a wide range of print applications like shrink-film, wrap-around and inmould labels. Up to now, UV curing inks are successfully used in many cases. Converters who want to avoid the use of photo initiators in energy curing inks can alternatively use electron beam (EB) curing systems to reduce the risk of potential migration problems.
Several industrial print trials on Comexi’s central impression EB offset press, called CI8, have shown, Siegwerk’s new EB technology offers an excellent print performance, low dot gain, low water dosing with less emulsification and scumming as well as fast intensity recovery after stops. The new ink technology is suitable for a variety of plastic substrates of the flexible packaging market like coex. OPP, acrylic coated PET, etc. Recently, first positive results were obtained in lamination studies with different packaging structures too.
In many market segments there is a trend towards shorter print job lengths driven by brand owners desiring packaging diversification and also an optimization of working capital along the value chain. Due to this, printers have to deal with frequent changes in the printed design and a varying average job lengths. “In the past, typical print run lengths for example in beverage wrap-around labels were several tens of thousands of squaremeters,” explained Dr. Stefan Busse, Regional Director Application Technology, Flexible Packaging EMEA at Siegwerk. “Today, more and more jobs are printed on wide web machines with only a few thousand squaremeters. In order to stay cost-competitive in these markets all cost drivers have to be minimized. That’s why some of our customers are attracted by the low cost of print forms for offset printing plates.”
