Fespa 2015 preview: post-press

What's new on the stands at this year's wide-format expo.

Blackman & White 6, T110

Blackman & White will be showing the new Versa Tech cutter, recently added to the company’s well established MasterCut range. Blackman & White says the Versa Tech is the result of a decade of product development and offers versatile and accurate creasing, kiss-cutting, routing, drag knife, oscillating knife, driven rotary knife and laser cutting all available on a single conveyorised or flatbed heavy-duty table. Customers can purchase one tool initially, then add others over time to meet increasingly varied production needs and spread the cost. Dual-driven tooling with interchangeable ‘drop-in’ tools, both oscillating head and driven wheel, allows for easy change of cutting technique. The Versa Tech is able to cut widths up to 3.2m, and to carry out long production runs on heavy duty materials such as acrylics and Dibond. The 100W laser is well suited to textile cutting. 

Bickers 6, B60

Specialist adhesive systems manufacturer Bickers is to launch its new TapeJet machine at the show. The new machine is a multi-axis, servo-controlled automatic taping system designed to deliver accurate and rapid application of a wide range of speciality tapes. The device is targeted at manufacturers of freestanding POS products and counter-top displays, for whom it will remove the need for much hand gluing work. The machine can operate at up to 48m/min and is equipped with integrated electro-mechanical elevating table with maximum stack height of 350mm. There have been a number of installations of the new machine across Europe already, but Fespa will mark its show debut. 

Elitron 9, W50

Elitron will be demonstrating the new cutting head designed for its established Kombo SD cutter-plotter platform. The new head is intended to further expand the versatility of the machine and speed up changeovers.

Esko 6, R50

Esko is to demonstrate its new control system for Kongsberg cutting tables, i-Cut Production Console, in Europe for the first time at the show. The new system, which the manufacturer says will become the common operating platform for all Kongsberg digital finishing systems, will be on show alongside the firm’s i-Cut Suite, a collection of pre-press and pre-production software packages designed to eliminate errors, save time and reduce waste. ArtiosCAD and Studio, Esko’s structural design software for 3D design of displays and other structures, will also be on show along with the company’s Automation Engine, which manages pre-press workflow automation. While the company is focusing on its software developments, it is on the tables that all the action takes place and Esko plans to have a range of Kongsberg tables on show, both large and small, including the Kongsberg C and Kongsberg V. The Kongsberg C is a super-wide digital finisher, which incorporates the carbon-composite traverse beam, which is unique to Esko, to guarantee the highest quality, precision and productivity, according to the company. The Kongsberg V is suitable for sign and display users looking for accurate and high-quality cutting.

Fotoba 6, S80

Fotoba will be showing the high-speed version of its XLD 170 digital print cutter with a brand new JRU170 jumbo roll unwinder and new collecting table. The XLD 170 can handle most flexible media up to a maximum thickness of 0.8mm including polycarbonate, photo paper, vinyl, self-adhesive vinyl, PVC, film, canvas and laminated or encapsulated prints. It can handle media up to 1.7m wide in both sheets and rolls.

Industrial Tooling 6, U30

Industrial Tooling Corporation will use Fespa to introduce the company’s latest products, which include knife and plotting tools and a selection of balanced routing tools for high-speed machining.

Kala 6, T35

French manufacturer Kala will be demonstrating its new automatic trimmer, the KalaXY, live on stand working on a canvas stretched on a frame. Kala says the KalaXY is ideal for cutting many types of rolled media, such as paper, photo paper, vinyl, laminated substrates, encapsulated paper up to 250 microns, thermal films, light PVC banner, polyester films, polycarbonate and similar materials.

Lami 9, V71

Lami will be showing its new Auto Atlas-14T desktop laminator with automated paper feed and cutting for sheets. The Atlas-14T has a maximum laminating width of 305mm and handles substrates up to 0.4mm thick. It can process sheets sizes up to A3. Also new will be the Freesia-63C roller laminator, which has a max laminating width of 1,600mm and a top speed of 6m/min.

Matic 7, H17

Spanish firm Matic will be showing off the new addition to its Cronos range of stitching and sewing machines, the Cronos Ultimate. Matic says the new automated machine is suitable for sewing a wide range of textile print, such as flags, displays, banners, tents and curtains.

Meevo MKF 7, G90

Meevo will be showing its new automatic textile cutting machine, the MKF BR 320. The machine features an “innovative” system of eight easily adjustable longitudinal cut blades, the Easy-Adjust system, and one cross-cutting blade with LED sighting. The textile feeder is controlled by a photocell that corrects the cut alignment in real time, aided by the system of support for unwinding, which controls the speed and stabilises the textile during the process. The Reco-Tray (drawer collector of cut pieces) is automatically driven and ensures that all production is protected. The control panel console has a 7in colour touchscreen.

Metalnox 7, G60b

This Brazilian company will be showing the EL 900 manual heat press for applying sublimation print. Metalnox says the EL 900, with a press area of 700x1,100mm is one of the largest manual heat presses on the market. The machine has two digital time and temperature controllers, ensuring the uniformity of the temperature on the heat plate. 

PlastGrommet - Plasticos Alco 6, Q10

PlastGrommet, a European manufacturer of finishing solutions for digital printing, will be exhibiting the Multi Press, a new automatic eyelet press for textile and banners. The machine can set eyelets in a variety of materials including PVC banners, flags, plastics and textiles. It has a top speed of over 60 eyelets per minute. It boasts automatic feeding and cutting and a high-power engine to cut though materials.

Secabo 6, T25

Secabo will be showing a new addition to its TP series of pneumatic heat presses, the TP12, which features a press area of 1.2x1m, and the Superswing TPDS7 automatic double-plate swing heat press.

Vivid Laminating 6, U110

Vivid will be showing its new Easymount Flow finishing table, first announced in March. The worktable, which is designed specifically to complement the Leicestershire-based firm’s Easymount wide-format laminators, sits at the same height as the exit plate of the Easymount. This means that vinyl, roll-up banners and foam boards exit the system and continue straight onto the table.

Zünd 7, M20

Swiss digital cutting specialist Zünd will be exhibiting ARC, an automatic router bit changer for its G3 cutters. The company says the development can significantly reduce set-up times for routing applications as it provides the user with a carousel in which up to eight different bits can be freely combined for processing. The system automatically selects the correct router bit for the job and material at hand, guaranteeing optimal results, according to Zünd. The company is also showing a “state-of-the-art” robotic off-load system. Working in conjunction with a Zünd S3 M-800, the robot picks and sorts cut parts autonomously to achieve maximum productivity. Finally it is unveiling S3 digital cutter operating with the new RM-S 1kW routing module, which is capable of cutting materials such as acrylics and rigid foamcore up to a thickness of 25mm.