Multinational packaging solutions provider DS Smith has been announced as the 50th installation site for EFI’s Nozomi single-pass inkjet printer, with the landmark system destined to print display graphics at the company’s Ely, Cambridgeshire site, writes Andy Knaggs.
Speaking at the CCE International 2023 event in Munich, Mark Rust, DS Smith’s UK engineering manager, said the company hoped the seven-colour, 1.8m-wide Nozomi C18000 Plus printer would eventually see the phasing out of all of its screen printing. It still retains a single screen printer from a fleet that used to be 10-strong.
‘We have a lot of work in retail display that we are using litho and screen printing for. We’re hoping to get faster turnaround, especially since the Nozomi is single-pass, so instead of lots of processes we can get the job done in one. We will also get better utilisation of our skilled labour, and sustainability is a big factor too,’ said Mr Rust.
He added there was also work that could be switched from litho presses, which would help the sustainability argument for the EFI system, by reducing the need for chemistry and press clean-up on the litho side.
This is DS Smith’s second Nozomi, following the installation of one in Lisbon two years ago. The new system is expected to be printing commercial work in mid-May. The Ely site is being completely refitted and equipped partly with digital printing kit from DS Smith’s Aylesford site in Kent. When complete, the firepower at Ely will include two HP Scitex systems (an 11000 and a 17000), as well as die-cutting and some additional finishing assets.
