EFI has signed an agreement to install the world’s first unit of the new EFI Nozomi C18000 single-pass LED inkjet corrugated board press at Spain-based Rafael Hinojosa, a leader in integrated packaging product development and converting. The announcement was made during the ongoing EFI Connect 2017 event in Las Vegas. The installation is expected to take place around the second quarter this year. The new press will be the latest digital printing advancement for Hinojosa, a company that installed one of Europe’s first single-pass corrugated board packaging production systems in 2013. Based in the city of Xativa,
Hinojosa offers corrugated cardboard sheets; boxes for the fruits and vegetables market; containers for industrial packaging; packaging products for the tile market, including boxes for high-speed packaging processes and wraparound boxes for self-carrying products; and pre-pressed containers.
The EFI Nozomi press was introduced by EFI at drupa 2016. Hinojosa’s new press will include an advanced, new EFI Fiery digital front end that gives the company the processing power to develop a broader range of even longer-run, multiSKU and versioned production applications. Hinojosa will use technologies from the EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite manufacturing execution system software workflow.
According to EFI, the Nozomi C18000 press helps corrugated manufacturers and brands access a wide color gamut and broader design options in corrugated board work with fast turnaround times, all the while maintaining low production costs. The press can print up to 246 linear feet (75 linear meters) per minute, producing up to 77,200 sq. ft (7,224 sq. m) per hour. It can print on materials from 14-point card stock to triple-wall board, including traditional Kemi, model, bleach and kraft materials, at full press-rated speeds.
Some other features include a 100% in-line image quality inspection system that manages and optimizes inkjet nozzle, alignment and uniformity errors. Production can happen in up to seven colors, including white (standard CMYK with optional orange, violet and white ink stations) in resolutions up to 360×720 dpi with four-level grayscale imaging. The press has a permanent head architecture that eliminates the downtime associated with replacing consumable printheads. It has a fully integrated, programmable top- and bottom-feed system that also handles media separation, lift, transport and alignment at full press speeds.
