The Japanese packaging printer Chiyoda Gravure Corporation has become the first company to install Screen’s Truepress PAC 830F, which is a single–pass inkjet press for printing direct to flexible film.
This follows an announcement back in October 2023 that Chiyoda Gravure would work together with Screen to develop a digital print solution for flexible packaging based around the Screen 830F. As the company name implies, Chiyoda Gravure has concentrated its efforts on gravure printing, but the company is having to deal with a trend towards smaller lots, for which gravure printing is not the most efficient approach.
At that time, the two companies pledged to work together to expand the range of applications that could be handled digitally and to identify and resolve the various challenges associated with small-to medium-lot production processes. Crucially, they also talked about establishing a digital workflow, with the aim being for digital to account for around 10% of printing by 2030.
The press has been installed at Chiyoda Gravure’s second factory in Itako in Ibaraki, just east of Tokyo, Japan. It’s now being used for commercial production, having completed its setup and quality verification. Chiyoda Gravure is hoping to attract a range of different jobs, including short term and region-specific products as well as test market items. And of course it will be easier to accommodate these shorter runs by moving them all to a digital press rather than having to juggle them amongst the longer run jobs on a gravure press.
Chiyoda Gravure is also planning to work with its customers to establish a just-in-time ordering system so that customers can reduce their packaging material inventory and reduce the number of stock keeping units. At the same time, Chiyoda Gravure is also hoping that shifting the medium to short run work to the digital press will enable it to optimise its gravure presses for longer run work, cutting its gravure set up times by around 70%.
Equally, fewer job changeovers will also mean less use of solvent-based cleaning fluids. Indeed, Chiyoda Gravure is keen to highlight the ecological benefits of digital printing – chiefly less waste – by establishing a new Eco Smaart initiative to market its digital offering.
Hiroyoshi Sato, president of Chiyoda Gravure, commented, “We are working to upgrade our production capabilities in response to the trend toward high mix, low volume production and the growing demand for environmental sustainability. Our introduction of the Truepress PAC 830F has enabled us to establish a flexible production system complementing our existing gravure printing operations.”
Screen’s Truepress Pac 830F is a single pass inkjet press that’s capable of producing 75 meters a minute at 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution. It takes PET from 12 microns thick, BOPP and MDO-PE materials from 20 microns, all up to 50 microns thick, and 830mm wide, with a maximum print width of 800mm.
Sato added, “Going forward, we aim to leverage the unique advantages of digital printing to offer new value. We believe this will make a significant contribution to the growth of our clients’ businesses.”
Chiyoda Gravure operates across a number of different market sectors. In addition to packaging — such as flexible packaging, shrink labels, and in-mold labels — the company’s other activities include printed decoration of building and industrial materials, as well as design and information publishing. It is also involved in other initiatives such as designing eco-friendly food packaging materials and establishing systems to improve productivity and quality through data utilization. It has several facilities, mostly in Japan, but with a European subsidiary based in Belgium.
You can find further information on the company from Chiyogra.co.jp, and on the Truepress Pac 830F from screeneurope.com.
First published by Printing and Manufacturing Journal on 15th July 2026.
