SMAG Graphique, the French screen printing, finishing and inspection systems manufacturer , enjoyed a very busy and successful Labelexpo, confirming sales of six Galaxie Digital screen presses, five I-CUT converting machines, and the first converting unit to Australia.
Digital Galaxie makes screen viable in short run markets
The Galaxie roll-fed modular flat-bed silkscreen press has achieved 290 installations since its launch in 1995. It has proved popular because of its full finishing capability and the possibility to integrate digital, flexo, hot foil and screen print stations in-line.
The new generation Digital version was a crowd-pleaser at the show. This is specially adapted with intermittent technology, so that a range of label sizes can be converted without recalibration of the machine, saving tooling and set-up costs. This benefit has been especially appreciated by printers in the short-run label markets who seek to apply screen alongside the digital process, in an affordable manner. At this year's Labelexpo, the Digital Galaxie was sold to label converters in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Italy as well as to France.
Stéphane Rateau, SMAG Graphique's general manager, comments: "These agreements are a clear sign of the growing demand for high-end decorative packaging solutions in Eastern Europe's emerging markets, whose converters are showing greater confidence to compete in the global label market."
SGV high speed screen unit boosts productivity levels
SMAG's high-speed semi-rotary flat-bed screen printing unit made its début at Labelexpo. The unit enables speeds of up to 30 m/min. High speeds are possible thanks to servo motors that power both the cylinder, paper web and screen, and the web's limited contact area with the screen.
This leap in productivity means that the advantage of flat-bed screen, namely, its lower conasumable costs than rotary alternatives, becomes accessible to those who wish to print higher volume jobs.
I-CUT 330 makes an impact with digital users
Another popular exhibit was SMAG's new I-CUT 330 digital converting machine, which offers off-line laminating, varnishing and die-cutting / finishing at up to 40 metres / minute. Five units were sold at the Labelexpo stand. It is proving popular with digital label converters especially because of its accessibility and high speed changeover times of just three minutes. This offline system therefore is a viable option for printers who have many short run jobs. One new customer will be Lenzlinger Etiquettes in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where the new I-CUT will convert labels printed on its HP and Xeikon digital presses.
Based in the south of Paris, SMAG Graphique, a division of SRAMAG, specialises in the manufacture of roll-to-printing and converting equipment for conventional and digital label and flexible packaging applications. During its more than thirty years of operation, SMAG has a global network of agents and distributors and has installed more than 800 machines in 35 countries and formed strategic partnerships with the leading label and flexible packaging suppliers.
