Electronics For Imaging, Inc. and Thai Containers
Group Co., Ltd. (TCG) in Packaging Business SCG, announced a new digital
printing partnership to significantly enhance TCG’s corrugated packaging
offerings. The Bangkok-based SCG Group subsidiary – one of Southeast Asia’s
leading packaging providers – has purchased an EFI Nozomi C18000
ultra-high-speed, single-pass digital inkjet corrugated packaging press.
The press will be the first EFI Nozomi installation
in Asia and will make TCG a regional leader in full-scale, inkjet corrugated
production using one of the only digital systems in the world capable of
printing up to 10,000 boards per hour.
EFI – the world’s leading developer of industrial
LED inkjet production devices – created an innovative, single-pass, piezo
grayscale inkjet writing system for the Nozomi C18000 to deliver accurate,
high-fidelity color, including consistent reproduction on solid areas. A 100%
in-line inspection system on the press actively manages print quality. With the
wide press’s unique imaging capabilities and its ultra-high-speed throughput,
TCG will gain an unprecedented ability to deliver new designs quickly and
accurately – an advantage that will help the blue-chip brands TCG serves
diversify their offerings and grow sales. The press is also able to match up to
97% of PANTONE® Colors to meet those brands’ stringent brand color
requirements.
Included with the press is EFI’s Fiery NZ-1000
high-performance digital front end (DFE), which provides world-class digital
print color management tools. The DFE also provides the robust processing power
needed to quickly process and feed extraordinarily large volumes of job data,
including variable text and images for fully personalized applications, at full
press speeds.
“The Nozomi press delivers on the market
opportunity many had hoped for with digital printing, unleashing new design
possibilities for brands looking to differentiate themselves and effectively
sell to a greater number of segmented markets,” said Mr. Poramate Larnroongroj,
Managing Director of TCG. “This installation is the beginning of an important
digital production initiative that TCG will expand as our customers benefit
from and accelerate their targeted versioning and localization strategies.”
Unprecedented
opportunities in design and versioning
TCG’s digital press, which features a six-color
inkset (CMYK, orange and violet), significantly reduces the time needed to
launch new product designs on a broad range of applications, including
packaging the company provides for footwear and consumer product shelf-ready
packaging. It also gives TCG the ability to create versioned designs for
products in the many different local markets the company serves across
Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia – an important but previously unfeasible
application given larger prep expenses, make-ready waste and inventory costs
associated with analog print.
Substrate versatility is a key advantage on the
ultra-high-speed, single-pass inkjet press, as it can print on materials from
14-point card stock to triple-wall board, including traditional Kemi, mottled,
bleach and kraft materials, at full press-rated speeds.
Given environmental concerns throughout the
packaging industry, the press also provides an important sustainability advantage.
The Western Michigan University Recycling, Paper and Coating Pilot Plant – a
leading certification organization for corrugated recycling – has certified EFI
Nozomi press output for OCC recyclability and repulpability. The EFI Nozomi
press is the only press to achieve that certification on its output.
“TCG can drive outstanding results for its
customers through this partnership with one of the industry’s true breakthrough
innovations – an ultra-high-speed, single-pass production platform that can
handle the size, imaging and material handling challenges that previously
limited the use of digital print in the corrugated space,” said José Luis Ramón
Moreno, vice president and general manager, EFI Industrial Printing. “The
Nozomi press is more than proving its value at installations in Europe and
North America, and it can give TCG the power to establish a new paradigm of
customization, versioning and highly efficient corrugated packaging supply
chains in Southeast Asia.”
TCG’s new press is part of a complete ecosystem for
corrugated production available from EFI, with leading-edge Genuine EFI Inks,
Fiery DFE technology and an EFI Corrugated Packaging Suite manufacturing
execution system workflow. For more information about advanced digital
corrugated packaging production with EFI technologies, visit www.efi.com.
