The prominent Multitec stand right at the entrance of Labelexpo Barcelona in Hall 3 attracted a good number of the company’s customers and distributor agents from around the world. Its 200 meters per minute demonstrations of the fully-servo mid-web S3S sleeve-based 8–color flexo press printing on thin substrates for flexible packaging attracted crowds. The fully automated press is leveraging demand from label converters moving into flexible packaging for shrink sleeves, small pouches, as well as the high growth of short runs, especially from startup brands.
The S3S can comfortably print complex designs on substrates ranging from 10-micron films to light monocartons, while maintaining extremely high register accuracy. Its short-run advantages start from origination and prepress costs in comparison with gravure, ultra-fast job changeovers in under four minutes, and extremely low setup and makeready waste with zero-gap jointless printing. The live demonstrations throughout the show in Barcelona demonstrated that converters can achieve quality, agility, and profitability in applications previously considered unviable with flexo – and also without breaking the bank.
Multitec has over 680 flexo press installations in 47 countries so far, including several installations in Europe in the past year. The S3S is particularly well-suited for short-run flexible packaging, including wraparound labels for the beverage industry and for prelaminated materials and pouches for food, confectionery, personal care, and agro products. Its geographically diverse customers see it as a workhorse for in-mold labels, lamitubes, self-adhesive labels, specialty films, and shrink sleeves. Near the end of the show, Multitec’s managing director Amit Ahuja commented that the show moving to Barcelona seemed to have brought in label converters from new areas and, most importantly, several serious leads to follow up after the show.
