Cerutti details inkjet integration - online exclusive

In this exclusive Q&A, Costanza Cerutti, who heads up the company’s marketing department, details its work so far and why this project is strategically important to the company.

Labels & Labeling (L&L): Why has Cerutti looked to integrate digital into its product line-up?

Costanza Cerutti (CC): Cerutti has worked hard to integrate digital into traditional gravure printing presses and laminating equipment, mainly in order to incorporate, in the process, operations which ordinarily are made off-line, in the phase of finishing or in the post printing or converting process: application of the expiry dates of the products, barcodes, QR codes, logos, lists of ingredients, etc.

L&L: What value does this bring to your customers?

CC: Cerutti believes that this additional variable data application can represent an added value for the market, as the versatility provided by the integration of one or more units for digital printing gives the customer the opportunity to remove off-line operations, saving costs and time. Furthermore, with the solutions proposed by Cerutti, it is possible to equip the presses with custom inkjet configurations, which is difficult to achieve with standard solutions provided by traditional producers of digital printing technology.

L&L: Has this development been driven by customer or is it the result of your desires and R&D work?

CC: For many years, inkjet printing technologies presented some limitations due the very short run lengths required for a cost-effective investment, with problems of reliability and also a restricted range of suitable inks. Today, technological developments in terms of materials and print heads have generated a group of products that have transformed, in a more effective and less expensive way, the dynamics of the sector, allowing mass customization of solutions with the use of inkjet technology. This is the reason why today customers are more and more demanding on this particular topic. And we must be ready to give them answers, being frontrunner and anticipating market developments.

L&L: What does inkjet offer you than other digital print technologies do not?

First of all, digital inkjet printing ensures high quality, fine details, making it easy for coding applications. Then, as a non-contact printing process, digital inkjet can tolerate variations in substrate thickness. This ensures total consistency of print finish on various kinds of substrate. Furthermore, inkjet has the capability of printing onto a wide range of substrate, directly on the materials or after a primer application.

L&L: Does inkjet offer a higher quality to suit/match that of gravure than, as an example, electrophotography?

CC: The quality of gravure printing is not easily replicable using inkjet printing; however, inkjet has many plus that must be considered.

L&L: Which partners has Cerutti worked with to integrate inkjet?

CC: Cerutti has worked with Atlantic Zeiser, a partner with experience in the secure variable data printing and coding since 1955, and a reference in the supply of print-on-demand services. Our partner is a leading company in three key markets: passport and banknote security systems, card systems, and digital printing and coding solutions.

L&L: What are the key technical aspects of the developments you have made with integrating inkjet into your technology, such as print width and speed?

CC:  The first technical point we have faced deals with electrical, electronic and mechanical aspects. Our aim was to transfer printing functionality inside the gravure press environment. Once we consolidated this functional integration, we have focused on the whole new process: we have carried out many tests on various types of substrate and we have optimized performances and the correct mix between speed and quality. Of course we have studied multi-head concrete configurations in order to meet complex demands in the field of variable data printing.

L&L: What were the main technical challenges you had to overcome?

CC: There are two key factors that make integrating digital printing into gravure processes really interesting, and these two challenges represent an opportunity for the market. The first one is the capability to print on substrates different from paper; the second one is the possibility of reaching speeds that do not penalize the rotogravure process. Our goal is to provide a technology that allows the customer to go beyond classic inkjet performance, printing on plastic films at competitive speeds and expanding the range of printable substrates.

L&L: When will this technology become commercially available?

CC: This technology is already available today. We first introduced these solutions at our Open House about in 2015. Since then we have engineered, together with customers and suppliers, the integration of digital printing equipment on board our printing and converting lines. At drupa 2016 we will be ready to demonstrate how this combination of technologies can give new opportunities to the market.

L&L: How important is it for traditional print processes and markets, such as gravure, to embrace the benefits and potential of digital to meet the current and future needs of customers?

CC: Already in 1993 we were pioneers in this field, when we stated looking at digital with Indigo. Since then, big steps have been made. We cannot deny that in certain market segments, like for example commercial or label, digital technology is becoming the benchmark: very short runs, narrow widths. The request of flexibility, personalization and high customization is becoming more and more a reality. This opens up to new frontiers and infinite opportunities in terms of tailor-made highly dedicated products; we are definitely on the way to a big revolution in the printing media, an opportunity we won’t miss.

Cerutti is exhibiting at drupa 2016 in hall 16, stand B3

Read L&L’s preview of label and package printing and converting technology to see at drupa in issue 2, 2016