Xerox has unveiled a cured gel ink technology that prints on to materials like plastic and foil, enabling digital printers to compete the packaging area.
The new cured gel ink holds its shape on nearly any surface because it is not water-based like traditional inkjet technologies.
The gel hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light, resulting in a crisp, vivid and long-lasting image.
Xerox Research Centre Director Steve Hoover said the ability to print on nearly any surface will bring a world of new applications within reach of digital printers.
"Cured gel ink systems combine the best of both – the speed, low-cost and ability to print on varied materials like offset, and the personalisation of digital.
"The technology is still in the research phase but it is clearly an innovation that will take inkjet beyond the products and applications available today.
"These cured gel inks will set a new benchmark for performance, print surface options sand image quality."
M-REAL LAUNCHES LIGHTWEIGHT PAPERBOARD
M-real has launched a new lightweight paperboard, designed for use in beauty packaging and high quality graphical application.
Carta Elega is a two-side coated folding boxboard which combines superior visual smoothness with high brightness and an equal bluish-white shade on both sides, providing excellent print quality.
Lighter weight boards bring both cost savings and create less waste throughout the value chain, M-real said.
Carta Elega is available in 200-380 gsm.
FUTURE STORE ADOPTS IMPINJ RFID SYSTEM
Radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions provider Impinj has installed a groundbreaking UHF RFID System in German store Future Store, to measure food quality and safety.
Store owner METRO Group is using RFID in the butchery to guarantee freshness, increase customer safety and efficiently manage inventory.
METRO Group adds an Impinj Monza powered tag to each meat package before placing it in a customer-facing freezer.
Approximately 50 Impinj Speedway readers and 200 Impinj near-field UHF antennas inside the Smart Freezer continually monitor the "best before" date for each package and alert store personnel to remove goods before they reach that date.
Additional read points at both point-of-sale terminals and exit gates make sure that stock levels are accurately monitored at all times.
The technology provides real-time, automated inventory, eliminating a tedious and error-prone daily manual inventory.
TETRA PAK UNVEILS PACKAGING ILINE
Tetra Pak says its new integrated, aseptic carton packaging line offers processors reduced cost and increases equipment reliability and capacity.
The iLine portfolio includes Tetra Pak's new A3/CompactFlex, as well as enhanced versions of the existing Tetra Pak A3/Flex and the Tetra Pak A3/Speed.
The iLine uses a Line Controller 30 (LC30) to manage operations and an automation platform to enable each component to communicate to each other via Ethernet Protocol addresses.
Tetra Pak said that as the LC30 can automatically detect each machine there is no longer a need for manual equipment adjustment, thus lowering personnel costs.
The company said that the A3/Flex iLine has increased production capacity from 7,000 to 8,000 family packs per hour for TBA one-litre packages, while reducing operational costs 15% and lowering maintenance costs by 10% in comparison to the previous version.
It will be available in selected markets until July 2009 and then available globally.
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
