Confirming the purchase at this week’s LabelExpo Europe in Brussels, Springfield will install the machine in early November, with an investment of around £600,000 minus additional configurations, and the business has not ruled out taking another in the near future. Northern Ireland-based James Hamilton Group’s labels division is this week in the process of installing the world’s first L350UV+ without low-migration inks, which it purchased in July.
Springfield joint managing director Dennis Ebeltoft said that he, along with his fellow managing director Matthew Dass, visited Screen’s Japanese R&D site last October to advise on what they were looking for, a low-migration machine with extra features, including a chilled roller for thinner substrates and the ability to print simplex.
Ebeltoft said: “We’ve been working with Screen for the last three or four years now and we really wanted a machine that meant we could do all of our food labels as we’ve had British Retail Consortium (BRC) accreditation for five years now.”
The chiller roller, integrated on Springfield’s recommendation, helps dissipate the heat from the UV lamps and allows for thinner materials.
“We tried to put in additional rollers in to make it work and ended up recommending a chiller,” added Ebeltoft.
Dass said the machine would allow the group to bring digital inkjet technology to new markets.
“It will enable us to be more efficient in the way that we work and once it’s in hopefully it will help production,” he said.
Screen’s senior sales vice-president Bui Burke said Springfield was “forming a habit of making landmark purchases from Screen”.
Screen says its newly developed low-migration inks offer enhanced safety and unrivalled levels of functionality to food packaging label production, and the press has an additional nitrogen purge mechanism to accelerate UV ink-curing, preventing ink migration and UV odour.
Dass added: “We hope there’s going to be really no comprise in terms of what colours our clients see. From their points’ of view they shouldn’t see an difference we’ve got a fantastic colour management team and expertise in repro has enabled us to transition from various different technologies and inks over the years."
The five-colour (CMYK plus white) specified machine, which runs at speeds of up to 60m/min and prints at a maximum resolution of 600dpi, also has an orange option Springfield has not configured but may take up in the future. It takes media at widths of between 100mm and 350mm and has a maximum roll diameter of 750mm. When not installed with a chiller roller it has an optional wrinkle reduction roller.
A frequent Screen investor, Springfield has made a name for itself as being quick off the mark to embrace new technologies and it became the first in Europe to take the L350UV following its launch in 2014, purchasing its third at Drupa last year.
Earlier this year, the circa-£9m turnover company, which is on course to produce more than 200 million labels by the end of 2017, invested £1.3m in expanding its premises after reaching full capacity, also installing two new Digicon finishing lines.
