B1 INKJET GOES INTO BETA SITES

The joint venture Koenig & Bauer Durst says its first VariJet 106 B1 inkjet folding carton press is installed at a beta site in Europe, and will be running by the end of the month.

The second beta is also due to go in next month, with the first commercial customer due to start printing before the end of the year. The company has just held its first customer day, where folding carton printers were able to see the VariJet 106 in action.

It is now scaling up its VariJet 106 build programme, in order it says, “to cope with high demands for digital production in folding carton markets”, which it expects to accelerate further this year.

The Koenig & Bauer Durst VariJet 106 is equipped to be able to address a wide range of applications. The press produces up to 5,500 sheets per hour. It uses water-based inks that comply with all the main food security standards. The inks are also de-inkable, which the company says is important to future proof an investment in the light of tightening legislation around recyclability and reusage rates.

Robert Stabler, managing director of Koenig & Bauer Durst, said, “Built on market-proven technology, the VariJet 106 installations represent huge statements to the market – and we are pleased with the substantial progress that has been made. Production is being ramped up, and new machines will become available in the second half of 2023 on the back of the relatively high demand we are witnessing.”

He added, “These presses are tailored to individual requirements and afford a major opportunity for those companies that can optimise their production and reduce costs while offering new high added value business models. Challenges like these are what our VariJet 106 has been developed to answer.”