OMET launched its Varyflex V2 Offset mid-web flexible packaging press and its iFlex UV flexo label press on 19 May.
The 370mm-width iFLEX features innovative pre-register and register devices that accelerate set-up after each job changeover, according to the manufacturer.
An iLIGHT pre-register system uses laser pointers to indicate the best alignment of the plate holder and to optimise die changeover, while iCAM instant cameras on each printing unit and the iVISION monitor located centrally on the machine (iVISION) help achieve a quantity of waste during set-up similar to that obtained with fully servo-motorised machines, said OMET.
Equipped with state-of-the-art V2 Mid-Web Offset print units using lightweight sleeves for quick and easy job changeover, Varyflex V2 Offset is the ideal press to print small to long runs of high quality flexible packaging.
Varyflex V2 Offset, available in widths of 670mm and 850mm, introduces a new mid-web offset unit concept granting the highest operational flexibility, simplicity in use, wide machine accessibility and maximum efficiency with any print run, according to OMET.
The patented ‘Easy Sleeve Format Change’ guarantees mechanical robustness and great printing quality at high speeds, said the company.
V2 Offset’s print unit features an innovative inking group with four inking rollers on the plate, optional mixed or separate dampening, and an user-friendly colour management system.
The press’s Revolver cart, when close to the machine, enables the sleeves to slide in and out the press with no effort and no need of hoists, according to OMET.
Further advantages offered by the job changeover on Varyflex V2 Offset presses include the positioning of the sleeves in a ‘comfort zone’ for the operator, an LED-illuminated changeover area, the transparent casing of the unit for visual checking during set-up, and the possibility of fully opening the unit front frame to perform the few manual operations.
With “the shortest web path (1.3m) in the field of narrow web machines” and all its printing cylinders direct drive-controlled, iFLEX is targeted at the “small/medium label converter” for whom it can handle a wide range of formats with little investment in the production of printing plates.
“iFLEX fills a technology gap on today’s market as it is the ideal complement of the equipment of medium to large label converters that produce large volumes of simple labels with just-in-time deliveries looking for a decrease in wastage,” said Marco Calcagni, OMET’s sales and marketing director.
“At the same time, it represents for smaller label converters with less investment capacity, the fundamental technological resource to print any job, no matter the volume, with a very high ROI.”
Varyflex V2 Offset, meanwhile, is aimed at packaging printers looking for “high print quality, efficiency in long-run printing at high speeds (up to 400m/min) and, above all, the simplicity and rapidity of job changeover for the printing of short runs with heavy rotation bringing a tremendous decrease of costs and waste”.