There was the Gallus Labelfire which combined industrial inkjet printing with conventional label printing at enhanced printing speeds of up to 70 m/min, and a range of finishing possibilities with the integrated Digital Embellishment Unit (DEU).

On the Gallus Labelmaster, the company has fitted the newly launched Digital Printbar for digitally printed opaque white as well as a new rotary, quick-change die-cutting unit and further optimised features for conventional narrow web printing. The press features the new Heidelberg Anilox Rollers, a new laser technology. Gallus said the new Anilox ensures higher dimensional accuracy. Besides, a new generation register control on the press improves reading ability, especially on challenging material like shiny surfaces.

Christof Naier, head of business unit labels at Gallus, speaking to PrintWeek India, justified the slew of new introduction on its presses. “Labelexpo is about innovations. We want to show the converters new things that can be done either on the conventional process or let’s say the digital stuff.”

Naier said, “Today, if you look at it from the printers’ perspective, they are focussing on two things. One is: focus on scale, and hence these converters need to look a lot at efficiency, which the whole process is carried out in one pass. The focus is on time or the changeover of the jobs. You don’t have long-run jobs anymore in the market. Second is, when you go for short runs, it adds to not only more time, but it also adds to waste. So the question is: what is it that you can bring on the table for these kinds of jobs. That’s where you see all these kind of innovation which Gallus is showcasing at the show.”

He added, “There are label printers on the value side too. They do short runs, but they are premium labels. The Labelmaster Advanced offers functions allowing die-cutting unit in the printing area and many more functional features.

The Labelmaster Advanced on the Gallus is equipped with a 540mm varnish unit. Samir Patkar, managing director for Heidelberg India/Gallus, said, eventually, in future, the Labelmaster Advanced could be available in the 540mm size. It will also enable label printers to do flexible applications.

Explaining the reason for having a Digital Printbar, Patkar, said, “If you look at the label application, it is filmic, self-adhesive. So how does the printer address this? He will first print a screen white as the base, then overprint using flexo on top of the white. What some other printers do is they give two shots of white on the flexo units. Now if you do, let’s say screen, there no distortion but it’s expensive, plus there’s the time-consuming repro side of it. If you take the Printbar for instance, it is on a fixed position right now, though it will eventually go on a rail. Now you can print the white with inkjet, and it goes on a fly. It eliminates the repro side of using screen.”

The Digital Printbar will be available early next year, and the top-end kit will cost Euro 2,50,000, which is a bit expensive. “Yes, of course, it is a bit expensive to invest in a Printbar like that, but when you look at the life cycle, you don’t need screens at all. So, all the consumables you use, and the repro time, are all savings.”

Sharing number of Gallus LabelFire installation, Naier informed that 30 units are running all over the world. However, the number of SmartFire digital press, has not been as per Gallus’ expectation. “Yes, we have two installations so far, but as an entry-level kit, it’s perhaps not the kind of market Gallus serves to,” he said. At present, Emtex, the manufacturing partner in Portugal handles sales. “But we are continuously improving the technology, and hopefully, we should be able to sell better.”

The latest Screeny printing plates used with the Gallus Rotascreen system solution and the Phoenix UV LED direct imagesetter from Heidelberger Druckmaschinen completes Gallus’ offering at Labelexpo Europe 2019.