The Labelmaxer, one of the new breed of Memjet-driven systems
Expanding into the label market need not be an expensive direction for commercial printers to make, with affordable specialist labels presses on the market, and wide format printer/cutters that can be used for a variety of applications.
The label market can cover a multitude of printed pieces, from short runs of bar codes and serial numbers, through die-cut decals for a bike shop, to high end metallic printed champagne labels. There are opportunities for commercial printers to capitalise on what is a strong market, and comparatively low cost digital printing technology makes the opportunity even more realistic.
Companies are already investing to take advantage, according to Duncan Jefferies, marketing manager for Hybrid Services, which is the Mimaki reseller in the UK.
‘Isuspect lots of commercial printers are turning this work away because they think the finishing is too complicated or the run lengths are too small to crank the press up. They are needlessly turning it away. It’s a consistently stable area for us to get new business from printers of every type. If they have got some sort of digital capability it’s a pretty easy add-on, and the capital investment to get in is extremely small.’
‘It is simple and the connection to their existing customers is already there. It’s not massively left-field; you would almost expect a commercial printer to be able to print labels. And the unit margin on this sort of thing is pretty substantial.’
There are several printing technologies that can see print companies come into the label market at the entry level, ranging from super-fast Memjet-driven devices to wide format printer/cutters such as Mimaki’s.
One of the former is the M1C Labelmaxer label and tag printer, which is available from Addressing & Mailing Solutions (AMS) at just under £7000. It is a colour printer with five individual 250 ml ink cartridges, that can print at a rate of 300 mm per second, or 18 metres per minute; it can print from 50.8 mm up to 215 mm wide at 1600 x 1600 dpi and is available in roll-to-roll or fan fold; options include media unwinder and rewinder.
Impression Technology Europe (ITE) has also used the Memjet heads inside its Rapid range of label printers. The X1 and X2 models in this range also boast up to 18 metres per minute throughput. The X1 is a table top printer, while the larger X2 is floor standing.
Both machines have the same specification as far as printing is concerned, with the main difference being the roll size of media they can handle. The X2 also has the ability to link to other machines in the range, such as the D2 cutter/slitter/laminator, giving a complete production platform. ITE has two further printer ranges which include label systems. The Compress range features the more traditional inkjet LP1, which has a maximum print speed of 37 pages per minute or 5.14 metres per minute in black or full colour. Also in the Compress range is the LP4 LED dry toner engine, which can print vibrant colour, roll to roll at up to 9.14 metres per minute. It can be paired with the Eclipse LF3 slitter/cutter/laminator. Eclipse is indeed the third range, and ITE reports that the LF3 will soon be joined by the larger LF330.
Primera Technology is another company with a large range of label printers, with the LX900e being its latest model, capable of printing at 4.5 inches per second in draft mode. It uses Canon’s Bubble Jet thermal inkjet technology. The system can print onto many different inkjet-qualified label and tag materials, including Primera’s own TuffCoat Extreme white and clear polyester and white BOPP. The company additionally sells a range of label applicator devices, with the semiautomatic AP550e flat surface label applicator being launched in June 2013.
The semiautomatic AP550e flat surface label applicator
In tune with toner
Toner technologies also have a place in the label printing market, mostly it seems based upon OKI LED engines. One such of these is US firm Allen Datagraph Systems’ tabletop iTech AXXIS HS Digital Label System, which is actually a combination of printer and label finisher, able to laminate, integrate die-less die cutting, and then strip, slit and rewind the finished roll of labels. The print speed is up to 9.1 metres per minute on a maximum width of 216 mm, with 1200 x 600 dpi quality. Running a wider web width but also with OKI technology at its heart is Allen Datagraph’s iTech CENTRA HS Digital Label System, which also includes the finishing capabilities.
‘The iTech CENTRA HS Digital Label System offers better economics for printing and finishing 1000 to 3000 linear foot run lengths than other technologies,’ claimed Mark Vanover, the company’s vice president for sales and marketing.
The Edge 850 is another OKI-based label printing system, developed by Canadian company iSys and sold in the UK by Intec Printing Solutions. It has very similar performance statistics to the iTech AXXIS. It is claimed to be an ideal system for short to medium runs and can print up to 2000 labels in less than 20 minutes. iSys also sells the Apex 1290 label printer, which can print both narrower and wider webs than the Edge 850 (76.2 to 327.7 mm) at the same speed and output resolution. Intec Printing Solutions says it has customers using the Edge 850 printer in a number of European countries, including the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Finland and Slovakia.
Wider view
It is possible to approach the label market from a completely different direction to these specialist printing systems however.
Wide format inkjet systems from manufacturers such as Epson, HP, Roland DG and Mimaki can be turned to good use as label printers, as well as offering many other potential applications too.
For less than £6000, a printer can invest in the Mimaki CJV30-60 printer/cutter. Hybrid Services’ Duncan Jefferies explained: ‘This is a 610 mm wide integrated printer/cutter that’s able to output very high quality labels onto self-adhesive stock utilising process, metallic and white inks. Whilst it’s the baby brother of the rest of the range (there are 1 metre, 1.3 and 1.6 metre versions also available) as a label printer it works superbly, especially due to its automated cutting process.’
He said the kisscutting ability of the Mimaki system was a feature that ‘really stops people in their tracks’ at trade shows, adding: ‘Mimaki patented digital ‘die cutting’ many years ago, and this technique allows label makers to offer a printed and cut label delivered on a shaped backing sheet – all done in the same process. It uses either a soft cutting strip or one with a recess to cut all the way through the sheet, leaving tiny tabs to hold the label in place, but making it easy to press out when required.’
Mimaki’s CJV30-60 printer/cutter
Roland DG also offers low cost print and cut systems, such as its desktop VersaStudio BN-20, which it says is ideal for the label sector. It has a maximum print width of 51 cm, can be used with metallic and white inks, has integrated precision contour cutting and uses fast-drying Eco-Sol Max inks.
Roland said its VersaCamm SP-I series of wide format printer/cutters (the 54-inch SP- 540i and the 30-inch SP-300i) are also applicable to printing of labels and decals.
Epson said that its SurePress L-4033A (without white ink) and L-4033AW (with white) are ideal for commercial printers wanting to invest to take a first step in the label market, though these systems are considerably more expensive than the wide format printer/cutters, priced in excess of £200,000. They have an adjustable web width from 80 to 330 mm, and can print at up to five metres per minute at 720 x 720 dpi. Colour gamut is increased through the inclusion of green and orange in the SurePress AQ ink set, while white ink enables printing on clear film and metallic substrates.
What is clear is that for any digital print company considering adding label production to its armoury, there are a number of choices to make in respect of technology, and the answers will very much depend on the type and volumes of label work being addressed, as well as whether it requires any investment it makes to also realise alternative revenue streams as well.
Epsons Surepress L-4033A is a higher end label printer
