Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is debuting a new digital press for labelling developed with Gallus and based on Fujifilm inkjet technology.
Heidelberg will manufacture the Gallus DCS 340’s inkjet unit at its Wiesloch-Walldorf site, while the flexo and converting units will be produced at the Gallus plant in St Gallen, Switzerland. The system is slated to enter series production in the coming year.
“We are pursuing a growth strategy in our digital printing operations,” said Heidelberg CEO Gerold Linzbach.
“Today, less than 12 months after we started our collaboration with Fujifilm, we can stand alongside Gallus and unveil the first print-ready system. The only way to rapidly leverage growth potential in digital printing is through partnerships. This helps us get a lot closer to our medium-term sales targets in the digital sector.”
The press is targeted at cost-effective production of short, medium and versioned runs of self-adhesive labels.
Print volumes for these labels are growing globally at about 4% a year. While only about 5% of this volume is printed digitally, this figure is rising rapidly. Heidelberg forecasts that in the medium term almost half of the presses sold in this sector will be digital.