One of the highlights at Labelexpo Barcelona was the demonstration of the Spande S7 8-color press, containing two die-cutting stations and a lamination unit, apart from the flexo units. The press on the stand will go to a unit being established by Citrus Packaging, which currently specializes in pharma single and multilayer labels and medical hangar labels, at a new location in Hyderabad aimed at smart labels, and application development in printed electronics, including RFIDs.
The S7 8-color flexo press has chilled impression cylinders for printing on thin and extensible materials. Each unit has multiple servo motors, and its iPressure feature automatically adjusts the pressure between the anilox and the printing sleeve and between the printing sleeve and the anvil (impression) roller. The iVision feature is an intelligent autoregister system that matches changes in production speeds without any manual intervention. The press has a hybrid curing system using a combination of LED-UV, UV, and hot air cassettes. As shown in Barcelona, the press also has a digital printing unit.
The S7 press has a sheeter for carton production, although mostly labels are likely to be produced on the press. With a sheeter and conveyor to be attached at the end of the press when needed, the press can handle and print on 450 gsm board, while it can handle labelstock, unsupported films, and paper and board substrates in thicknesses between 12 and 450 microns.
In our conversation with Citrus’s founder, Chenga Reddy, and his son Abhiram Reddy, who has done his postgraduate diploma in printed electronics, the discussion veered to the consolidation of the label industry and the need for converters to reach out to clients and brand owners. Reddy spoke of the challenges in skilled manpower, suggesting that the new Spande press will help in reducing resources since it requires less or no human intervention in operation.
He added, “While we, the current management, are preoccupied with the day-to-day operations, we have launched Citrus Innovations with the purchase of the new Spande press, for applications such as RFID inlays and labels without having a single customer in hand. The RFID labels, tags, and solutions will be aimed at emerging segments such as retail garments, high-value luxury products, and the pharma and medical device industry segments.”
The Barcelona Fira is a good move, not just architecturally to a lighter and more modern space with accessible open-air terraces, but according to exhibitors one spoke to, it is a bit more ‘south’ – a bit warmer and sunnier and also perhaps more approachable to label and packaging converters from Southern Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The ability of the organizers to effect the change reflects their agility and their ability to maintain the loyalty of their exhibitor and converter constituencies. And while the early indications are positive, the ambition to expand the caravan to cartons and flexible packaging (beyond labels) is still a work in progress in the fragmented industrial, political, and global trade environment.
