Fujifilm North America
Corporation, Graphic Systems Division is pleased to announce from the show
floor at Labelexpo the purchase of Graphium, a digital hybrid, four color plus
white UV inkjet press integrated with inline flexo and finishing, by Distinct
Packabilities, a Shepherdsville, Kentucky-based print provider.
Distinct Packabilities, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Publisher’s Printing Company, a fifth generation family-run
business since 1866, is a premier provider of flexible packaging and label
printing. They also offer a wide range of flexible packaging and prime label
converting capabilities, along with in-house art, graphics, prepress and
platemaking services.
“Fujiflm and Distinct
Packabilities are going to establish a new standard for digital print quality in
the flexible packaging and prime label markets,” said David Haley, Vice
President, Distinct Packabilities. “With a print asset of this magnitude in the
hands of our experienced staff of some of the best printers in the world, we
intend to shift a number of paradigms that have prevailed in these markets for
too long when it comes to print quality.”
Graphium, currently on display at
Fujifilm booth # 5621, is a high speed hybrid UV inkjet press designed
specifically for the narrow web market by FFEI, Ltd. and marketed exclusively
in North America by Fujifilm. It’s the first press to be configured with under
and over white, allowing pure white designs with opacity that exceeds
traditional flexo white. Its modular design provides the ultimate functionality
as it combines inkjet, flexographic printing and finishing, all inline.
Utilizing greyscale print heads that produce a range of drop sizes from 6 to 42
picoliters combined with inter-color LED pinning of Fujifilm Uvijet inks
enables Graphium to print fine details, smooth tones and small font text
demanded by the most exacting customers at single-pass print speeds up to 164
ft./min. Flexo stations with Fujifilm
Clarity Water Washable Flexo plates and Fujifilm UV Flexo inks are configured
inline before and after the inkjet print engine to provide the ultimate
capability to produce unique, high quality labels.
Distinct Packabilities provides a
variety of service offerings to flexible packaging and prime label end users,
and are particularly well known for producing outstanding quality on their
state-of-the-art flexo presses utilizing Fujifilm Clarity Water Washable Flexo
plates and Fujifilm Flexo inks. Expanding their services into digital printing
was the next logical step; and greatly enhances their project portfolio.
Distinct Packabilities chose Graphium based on the capabilities of its hybrid
design, incorporating digital and flexo printing into one platform, to create
spot colors, respond quickly to short run demands, and produce flexible
packaging and prime labels, without the common limitations often found
throughout the industry. These newly added capabilities will allow the company
to support brand owner’s needs for colors and graphics that stand out on store
shelves.
Haley says Graphium offers labels
and packaging printers a digital print quality and capability proposition which
had previously not been available. He is anxious to get the press into the
production environment in order to begin offering a new suite of products and
services to current and prospective customers.
“Its print capability can produce
up to 13,240 feet per hour at a resolution up to 1080 dpi and an eight-level
grayscale. This digital press will print all of the common substrates found
throughout our other production processes while achieving excellent adhesion,
light fastness, and durability. Also, for us, the ability to very quickly move
in and out of a rapidly changing print schedule is very important,” added
Haley.
Graphium is able to handle a
print width of either 13 inches or 16 inches, and can print some of the
thinnest label substrates up to heavy duty vinyl, as well as board stock.
Graphium offers printers an alternative to flexo printing on short to
medium-run, four-color plus white labels and packaging, allowing for up to six
flexo stations and inline finishing options. Graphium provides a level of
flexibility and productivity to print the complex projects that customers
increasingly require in today's market. The inline corona treatment enables
customers to print on virtually any substrate without the requirement of a pre
coating to achieve adhesion.
At Fujifilm booth # 5621
attendees are experiencing in-person the Graphium digital press with inline
flexo print a variety of ‘fit to purpose’ label applications. Each day at the
show, Fujifilm is demonstrating hourly how this hybrid system can print digital
CMYK, under white, over white, flexo spot colors and a matte clear varnish
finish. The daily demonstrations also
feature high quality Clarity Water Washable Flexo plates, along with the
bright, vibrant color of Fujifilm UV Flexo and Waterbase Flexo inks.
“We believe Graphium is the
digital print asset that will allow us to re-establish many of the legacy
paradigms throughout the industry when it comes to short print runs, fast
turnaround times and incredible print quality,” said Haley. “We’re anxious to get it into the hands of
our printers and start putting these super high quality, quick turn, short run
printed products out into the marketplace. Our customers continue to need these
capacities and their color and graphics quality demands only continue to
proliferate. We feel we now have an incredibly powerful weapon in our arsenal
that will allow us to meet and exceed these demands.”
