Preview: 2021 Year in Finishing
It has been a wild year of highs and lows and unique pressures, but the print finishing category met the challenge and pushed forward with lots of new offerings and opportunities.
New in Cutting
ColorCut SC5000 Sheet Cutter from Intec Printing Solutions
The new ColorCut SC5000 brings high volume digital die-cutting and creasing with a 1,000-sheet media stacker and new suction belt system for reliable auto feed and unattended operation. The dual toolhead cuts, kiss cuts and creases card, vinyl, paper, polyester and laminated sheets at speeds of up to 960mm (37.79 inches) per second.
Duplo DPC-600 B2 Format Digital Die Cutter
Following on the success of the smaller format DPC-400 digital die-cutter, Duplo released the DPC-600 this year with a larger B2 sheet size capacity and the ability to cut heavier/thicker materials such as corrugated cardboard, chip board, foam core, PET plastic, adhesive stock, magnets and paperboard up to 6mm (.236in) in thickness. The machine can cut, kiss cut, score and perforate in one pass without any physical dies.
Kala XY Large Format Trimmer
For those who produce wallpaper, posters, banners, signs and more, this trimmer from Supply55, Inc and Kala SAS offers increased productivity and cost reduction for trimming and finishing digitally printed sheets as large as 65 inches wide. It achieves highly accurate X and Y cuts at speeds of up to 60 feet per minute with three models to choose from, and user-friendly operation.
IntelliKnife from Hagedorn and POLAR
A hardware/software hybrid innovation coming from Hagedorn with POLAR as a development partner, the IntelliKnife is the first networkable guillotine knife on the market. The device consists of an RFID chip embedded in the knife and an RFID reader built into the cutting machine, which sends valuable postpress data to the cloud for reporting on grinding angle, condition, quality, cut totals and more. The technology can be retrofit into older generations of cutting machines.
BOBST MASTERCUT 1.65
Designed for the corrugated board industry, the BOBST MASTERCUT 1.65 is the only machine especially designed for litho-laminated converting. The machine also cuts carton and corrugated board, making it one machine for all jobs. It can process robust and delicate materials equally well, going from 300g solid board to BC double wall litho lam. The machine is also the only solution in the market for blanking in size VII and offers the possibility to deliver single cut, double cut and full sheets.
New in Folding and Binding
Standard Horizon AFV-566FKT iCE Series Folder
This new fully-automated high-speed six-buckle folder with integrated knife/buckle cross-folding was designed for improved efficiency, more operator-friendly production, 20% faster setup and changeover, and reduced waste and make-ready. Includes brand-new, automated register table with an adjustable vacuum drive belt, and an impressive automatic calculation of the optimal feed interval to ensure top production speeds and efficiency with no manual adjustments or trial and error. It comes equipped with Horizon’s iCE LiNK cloud-based workflow management system.
Standard Horizon AF-408 / TV-406F Small-format Folder
This fully-automated 8-buckle folder features an operator-friendly, automated setup that can handle a wide range of simple or complex applications while executing at the high level of precision required by the pharmaceutical and insert market. The folder can store up to 200 fold patterns for quick and easy set-up, and supports sheet sizes from 1.97” x 3.94” up to 16.92” x 25.98”. The AF-408/TV-406F can run at speeds of up to 590 fpm, and the suction head can run up to 30,000 cycles per hour.
Morgana DigiFold Pro XL
Designed to address the demand for machines that can accommodate the longer sheet capabilities of today’s production printers, the DigiFold Pro XL heavy-duty creasing and folding machine features a pull-out extension to handle sheets up to 1300 mm (51 in) in length. It can fold up to 6,000 sheets per hour, and up to 7,500 sheets per hour in crease-only mode. Top-fed vacuum feeder, unique air-knife sheet separator and simple user interface round out the offering.
GBC Nearline Punch and Bind
The Nearline Punch and Bind from GBC is composed of three units: a Plockmatic VFX Vacuum feeder, a GBC StreamPunch VFX and a GBC eWire VFX. Combined, the trio of machines is extremely versatile, with the ability to perform punching, collating, mechanical binding, creasing and perforating in a small footprint. Additionally, the machine is the world’s first fully-automated twin loop wire solution for the digital marketplace.
New in Labels and Packaging
LexJet RP530/RP530W printers and RF810 Die Cutter
LexJet launched a new printer and die cutter that is specifically designed to meet the needs of the growing cannabis market. Customers in this category need to print high-quality labels in house with the flexibility of variable print and on-demand production. Customers can use the LexJet RP530/RP530W to print premium digital labels in full CMYK, or CMYK+White, and then move to the RF8510 die cutter to seamlessly finish label jobs—laminate, die cut into any shape, strip, slit and rewind.
New in Coatings and Enhancements
Bobst NOVAFOIL 106 Hot Foil Stamper
The NOVAFOIL Hot Stamper from BOBST was developed to offer high-quality, versatile and cost-effective multi-color foiling for folding carton production. The machine also performs embossing, debossing, hologram application and even die-cutting on paper-based substrates and solid board up to 2,000 g/m2 and corrugated board up to 3 mm. Configured with up to eight reels of 350 mm for inline, and four reels of 250 mm for cross foiling, you can achieve a great variety of intricate foil designs on a generous sheet size of up to 1,060 x 760 cm.
Nobelus EcoElement CLS Laminate
Nobelus launched their initial offering in the sustainably sourced laminate category—a cellulose-based thermal film called EcoElement CLS Laminate. The laminate is plastic-free and offers print service providers and packaging manufacturers an eco-friendlier substrate than standard laminates which are largely derived from petrochemicals. Each production run of EcoElement CLS is comprised of highly refined wood pulp along with 20-25% reground material, yielding less than a 5% loss in the adhesive coating process. The thin, 1.4 mil laminate is available in both matte and gloss finishes, is offset, UV and screen printable, and supports post-laminate embellishments.
Ricoh Gold and Silver Metallic Toners
Ricoh has developed two new metallic toners for the fifth color station on the RICOH Pro C7200X digital color sheetfed press, enabling customers to migrate critical applications away from offset and onto digital with single pass embellishment. The toners—in metallic gold and silver—deliver great visual impact, offering the potential to increase the value and profitability on a broad range of applications from catalogues, posters, flyers, direct mail and brochures to business cards, greetings cards, tickets, invitations, certificates and packaging.
Color-Logic + HP Mosaic for Metallic Variable Data Printing
Color-Logic printers with HP Indigo cut sheet and digital label presses can now use their HP Mosaic software with Color-Logic Pattern-FX to automatically generate the white ink masks required to do variable data printing on metallic substrates. Licensed Color-Logic printers can find detailed instructions for using Color-Logic with HP Mosaic inside the Color-Logic S.M.A.R.T Centre.
New in Mail
Quadient iX-9 Series High-Volume Mailing System
The iX-9 Series automatically seals, weighs, measures, meters and stacks large mail runs in minutes, while meeting the latest USPS Intelligent Mail Indicia (IMI) and Dimensional Weighing (DIM) requirements. The system is powered by S.M.A.R.T. cloud-based shipping, mailing, accounting, reporting and tracking software. The iX-9 Series delivers simple operations, investment protection, cost savings, reliable production and maximum uptime.
Kern 3200 Multi-Format Inserting System
Designed to meet flexible and complex requirements, the Kern 3200 high-performance inserter can handle both transactional and direct mail. The multi-format machine has a newly developed inserting module, which can be equipped with more than one envelope magazine. This means different jobs can be run in succession, without an operator having to intervene and change envelopes. It is Available in three different models offering speeds of up to 24,000 envelopes per hour.
Canon Digital Mailroom
Canon Solutions America launched the Canon Digital Mailroom to address the challenge of getting business-critical mail to a remote workforce. The Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription converts physical mail components (including information on the envelope) into a standard digital format that can be sent electronically to a secured web portal for viewing. The mail can be forwarded, stored or destroyed once digitized.
Coming Up in December
If you liked this article, you’ll love the webinar. Please join me on Dec. 15 for the "2021 Year in Finishing Webinar." I’ll give you the complete rundown of all the notable launches and innovations that happened over the year, and some exciting things to watch for in 2022—and I’ll do it all in an efficient, fast paced 30 minutes.
Finishing Events You Won’t Want to Miss
PACK EXPO East
March 21–23, 2022 / Philadelphia, Pa.
See the latest in packaging and processing technology, and discover crossover applications from dozens of vertical industries. Attend to explore new solutions for your current projects, and to get fresh ideas for the future.
Amplify Print: The Finishing, Packaging and Design Event
June 14–16, 2022 / Minneapolis, Minn.
Print and packaging designers, commercial printers, print finishers, binders, mailers and creatives meet with the equipment manufacturers and suppliers to their industries. Attendees will gain inspiration, knowledge and networking opportunities.
Hunkeler Innovation Days
February 27 - March 2, 2023 / Lucerne, Switzerland
Renowned print industry manufacturers meet an elite international audience of owners, managers and experts to share the latest innovations and developments in high-performance digital printing and finishing.
