Gallus Innovation Days

Gallus, now owned by Heidelberg, hosted live demonstration of the new DCS 340 hybrid conventional/ inkjet press for the first time at Gallus Innovation Days customer event at its Swiss headquarters in St Gallen.

Gallus Innovation Days held from 23 to 25 September 2014 saw 600 customers from around the world in attendance.

The new digital label press, Gallus DCS 340, has been developed by Gallus as a joint project with Heidelberg and Fujifilm, their inkjet technology partner.

The DCS 340 has a web width of 340mm and is loaded with 64 Fujifilm Dimatix UV printheads in the inkjet module, which prints using an extended gamut of seven colours (CMYK plus orange, violet and green) plus white ink at a native resolution of 1,200dpi

Gerold Linzbach, chief executive, Heidelberg during the three-day proceedings quoted, "To come up with such a product in less than 12 months is something I wouldn't have deemed possible."

Ferdinand Ruesch, vice president of the board and key account manager, Gallus atrributed the lowest cost per label to DCS 340's ability to print onto standard substrates and minimise waste

L to R – Stefan Heiniger, COO, label business, Gallus; Gerold Linzbach, CEO, Heidelberg and Ferdinand Rüesch, vice president of the board and key account manager with the DCS 340 which has been acclaimed to be a "game changer" in label printing

The ECS 340 with an upgraded matrix stripper capability was also seen running live. Gallus claims, the new matrix rewinding on the Gallus ECS 340 can handle most complex die cuts at top speeds

Niklaus Amacker of Gallus explains the advantages of direct matrix stripper in finishing of complex shaped labels on ECS 340

An unique insight into the RCS 430 prototype, an ongoing development work, with new control system and intuitive operation was being offered at the show

The yet to be launched, Gallus RCS 430, will be equipped with a state-of-the-art control platform so as to be ready for future market requirements and advances in technology

As a part of the show, media delegates were offered a visit to Gallus' biggest customer Permapack, based in Switzerland, which operates nine lines of Gallus machines under one roof

An array of narrow web rollers at Permapack

Established in 1958 as a supplier of self-adhesive tapes it has now emerged into a leading player in the packaging sector in Switzerland especially in the manufacturing of packaging films. Since the early sixties, Permapack has also been producing and finishing a wide variety of self-adhesive labels in its efficient printing department using modern production equipment

Samir Patkar, managing director, Gallus India stated,"India for us is a very important emerging market. In India our commitment towards the growth of the label industry is clearly seen with our investment in these markets over the last 15 years in various forms of market development." Since January 2014, at least three Gallus presses have come to India. Approximately 75 Gallus machines have been installed in India

Gallus team with the Indian delegates

Manjunath of Global Printing & Packaging has invested in a ten-colour Gallus press

Mumbai–based Mudrika has opted for a nine- colour Gallus.