Heidelberg adds to in-mould and carton portfolio

Heidelberg is entering into a worldwide distribution agreement with the Japanese company AN Corporation for the Kawahara TXS-1100 and Kawahara BMS-1100 automated postpress systems.

The global rollout follows a pilot scheme that ran in North America last year, and follows the launch of Generation 4 CutStar, the Speedmaster XL 106-D rotary die cutter, and a new Performance Package for in-mould label production on the Speedmaster XL 106 last year. The Kawahara equipment will be available in Australia and New Zealand from 1 April.

Rainer Hundsdörfer, CEO of Heidelberg, said, “Heidelberg is systematically investing in the growth markets of packaging and label printing. The distribution agreement for Kawahara blanking systems adds a further key production step in the workflow to the company’s label printing portfolio.

“In this way, we are helping our customers further automate their processes and thus make them as efficient and cost-effective as possible.”

Heidelberg says that as a result of the deal it now offers all the technology needed for efficient workflow in industrial label production – from job creation, prepress, and plate imaging, all the way through to printing, die cutting, and fully automatic blank stripping. 

According to Heidelberg, the Kawahara TXS-1100 and Kawahara BMS-1100 blanking stations are both high-performance models, taking less than 15 minutes to set up a job, with minimal tooling costs. It says the cycle of the TXS-1100, where a stack of 1,000 IML sheets can be quickly blanked and offloaded, takes between 1.5 and two minutes.

It says the new Kawahara TXS-1100 is a high-performance system boasting enhanced components and an innovative feeder and unloading system. Markus Höfer, head of business development for labels at Heidelberg said, "It is ideal for the in-mould label market and has proved an outstanding stripping and blanking solution for this label material, which is difficult to handle."

Höfer also said, "The Kawahara BMS-1100 offers an excellent price-performance ratio for folding carton print shops that are looking to automate blanking. The BMS-1100 can process up to 20 blank individual stacks of packages per minute and handles single cut and nested products equally well."

On April 25 Heidelberg and Gallus will be welcoming existing and potential customers to the Label Day in the Print Media Center at the Wiesloch-Walldorf site. One of the solutions on show will be a complete workflow for in-mould label production on a Speedmaster XL 106 press, a Speedmaster XL 106-D rotary die cutter, and a Kawahara TXS-1100 blanking station.